When the plot-skips players into the game world

Time had flown, and now it was Sunday.

The attack that had been scheduled in advance by the Lohar Society was supposed to take place next week, the Noble Red Society had suddenly gone quiet, and news of Professor Moriarty's death had not yet arrived. The Minister of Commerce hadn't made a move, and Miss Assassin's superior still hadn't come looking for her.

It was an eerily quiet, very peaceful week.

So peaceful that it made Lily somewhat restless.

However, everyone seemed to enjoy it in their own way, probably with the exception of Sherlock.

His nature was always to be busy. He kept himself engaged with something or another, only by doing so could he put his unstoppable brain to work. Now he had forced himself to take a break and not cause any trouble—according to Hayna, by the weekend, he was already studying spells at the bishop's house.

Through Hayna, he had also sent a long letter back to Aiwass. It listed in detail the various problems Aiwass might encounter at the Lohar Society, along with how to deal with them; and proposed seven hypotheses that could only be confirmed with a Lohar Society member's identity, for Aiwass to verify whenever he had time.

From the length of the letter, one could discern the level of his concern for Aiwass, as well as how much his idleness troubled him.

And of course, Aiwass had no time for it.

He rarely had nothing to do, so he quietly attended a week's worth of classes. Methodically, he studied the knowledge of mystical studies through the school library. He even ascended to level nine quite naturally without much effort.

Aiwass was like a sponge, constantly absorbing knowledge. After reviewing his studies and finishing the two books he had planned to borrow, he began self-studying Elvish Language in his spare time—because his prayer study instructor, Miss Maya, intended to lend him a Codex Book from the Path of Devotion, which was translated into the Elvish Language.

To understand this Codex Book, Aiwass had already begun his preparations in advance.

The only thing that surprised Aiwass was... Lily actually reached the peak of the first Energy Level in just one week.

Strictly speaking, it was even less than a week. By Thursday, she had already touched the wall of the second Energy Level. She had achieved this three days earlier than the best scenario Aiwass had anticipated.

That meant this New Moon Ritual could indeed be advanced with Lily—after all, they were both in Avalon, and both the Path of Adaptation and the Path of Transcendence were very rare, which also meant they were almost certain to be lined up together tonight.

And considering the house at number 14 Roning Street, Isabel had a key...

Although it was unlikely, considering the possibility that she might come over to see Aiwass on Sunday night, Aiwass still took the precaution of asking for a Monday off from his advisor in advance, preparing to go home with Lily for the advancement ceremony and to seal the Defiant Flame Butterfly.

It wasn't until they got home that Aiwass realized... the "Golden Dawn" that Master Yanis had promised had already been delivered and installed.

When Aiwass arrived home on Sunday morning, he found the living room to be exceptionally bright.

It was as if that were not a wall, but a huge window that spanned time and space—

Mingled with the deep red of the dawn, the purest golden brilliance rose from the center of the sacred structure built of gold. The Nephthys guards of the Horus Empire worshipped The Sun directly below, where the human figures were tiny and blurred but felt very real. The brilliance penetrated the surrounding buildings made of crystal and gold, being refracted repeatedly and shining with a hazy halo. Even though it was a silent painting, it seemed as if one could faintly hear the solemn hymns of praise.

This window created a peculiar visual illusion—it looked as if one was looking out from inside, yet it gave the impression of both "viewing from level ground" and "looking down from the sky."

And as Mr. Aiwass entered from the doorway and walked forward, the angle and distance at which he viewed the painting changed, causing the angle of the light emanating from the painting and the perspective of the surrounding buildings, along with the angles at which they reflected the light, to change as well.

The surrounding buildings were realistic and detailed, with even a protruding brick and a small flake of peeling gold paint on the wall appearing exceptionally clear. However, if one looked at the entire painting, it was as though one could faintly make out a golden hawk soaring in the blue sky, through the repeatedly refracted brilliance of these sacred buildings and the sense of depth they created.

This was Mr. Aiwass's first time seeing "Golden Dawn" in reality. It was so sacred and magnificent that just by looking at it, he felt his spirit become clear and peaceful.

Even those completely ignorant of art could understand the timeless beauty it contained. Indeed, this was the pinnacle of pure technique among the Demonic Paintings created by Master Yanis.

"When the painting arrived, young master Edward was utterly astonished,"

The old butler Oswald, with his hands behind his back, followed Mr. Aiwass like a ghost and spoke softly, "He kept confirming that it was a gift from Master Yanis to young master Aiwass, and he kept saying 'inconceivable' and 'how could it be' over and over. It took a lot of phone calls in the middle of the night to figure out what happened."

His dry, wrinkled face was filled with a pleated smile, his wolf-like green pupils cheerfully narrowed.

"Does Mr. Aiwass like it?"

"Of course, I like it."

Mr. Aiwass said with a smile, "It's not just this painting..."

As he spoke, he looked towards another portrait hanging on the opposite wall.

It was a painting drawn by Isabel for him.

In that painting, Isabel had not depicted Mr. Aiwass's wheelchair, and naturally, Lily who would have been standing behind him was absent too. The background was not a classroom but a sky filled with the morning glow.

Whether by intentional design or coincidence, the background of that painting resembled a muted version of "Golden Dawn." It was as if both paintings shared the same instant in time, with only Mr. Aiwass being a little farther away, looking down upon them from above.

When placed together, it was clear that Isabel's skills were still not as mature.

The Mr. Aiwass in the painting would move slightly and breathe, slowly blinking, with the hair at his temples fluttering in the wind, looking just like an L2D from a mobile game's character summoning. Although it also looked nice, that was all there was to it. Even the movements were not quite natural…the hand extended seemed less like he was greeting or teaching and more like he was offering a hand to someone.

Yet even so, Mr. Aiwass still liked it more.

"Because The Holy Temple of Horus does not belong to me, and that brilliant The Sun even less so. But this is entirely mine."

Mr. Aiwass gazed at the painting and spoke earnestly.

After completing the painting, Princess Isabel felt that it still wasn't good enough. She told Mr. Aiwass that after she advanced again, she intended to paint another for him.

But according to Mr. Aiwass's understanding, she would never stop there. As soon as her skills improved, she would create an even better painting.

In the end, Mr. Aiwass could arrange these paintings together. They would become his photo album, about his memories.

Lily, standing behind him, silently pursed her lips, saying nothing.

Although she didn't think she should be in the painting... she wondered whether omitting Mr. Aiwass's wheelchair from the painting by Princess Isabel was a bit unrealistic?

Yet at that moment, Lily felt an unexplainable joy in her heart.

Even though Princess Isabel was becoming increasingly close to Mr. Aiwass, only she knew about his hidden identity as the Demon Scholar. Now, only she could join Mr. Aiwass in participating in the most dangerous New Moon Ritual.

Moreover, Mr. Aiwass had walked right off his wheelchair and together with her, had begun to arrange the ritual in his room—

The trajectory of the New Moon Ritual was completely different from that of the Full Moon Ritual.

Since there wasn't the concept of a team, naturally, there was no need for sacrifice.

Compared to the Full Moon Ritual, the New Moon Ritual leaned more towards darkness, therefore it required a more cruel and dangerous ritual.

Under Mr. Aiwass's command, Lily fed poison to a pair of roosters and hens. While they were still alive, she killed them with a knife, sprinkling their blood on the ground, first filling two ritual arrays carved out with a knife with chicken blood.

After the blood dried, she used a scraper to remove the excess parts around the ritual circle, leaving only a complete, dark red circle. The original carved ritual arrays turned black due to the increased amount of blood.

Immediately following, Mr. Aiwass smeared the silver ritual dagger with essential oils and repeatedly scorched it over a candle until the blade turned slightly black, then set it aside for later use.

He also took a smudge stick made of black sage and roasted the silver hammer. After blackening its exterior, he burned the remaining sage to ashes and smeared it onto a rope.

He coated the large iron nails with the rooster's poisoned blood. These were nails thicker and longer than a human finger, of which he made six. All the other ritual items were also prepared in pairs. He didn't leave this delicate task to Lily to ensure there were no mistakes.

He covered the windows with red, light-transmitting paper. Just in case, he also covered the lampshade with one, and temporarily sealed the window leading from Mr. Aiwass's bedroom to the inside of the house with a wooden plank.

All the ritual materials were also prepared by Mr. Aiwass in doubles.

Each set of ritual materials included a living petrel, the heart of a deer that had died today, a mini wax figure of a Philosopher, a snake, a handful of black salt, a horse phallus, a well-fed mouse, an oyster, and a mirror.

The only thing was the petrel, which Mr. Aiwass couldn't find a second one of immediately, so he fetched a passing pigeon instead.

The materials for the New Moon Ritual were harder to find than those for the Full Moon Ritual, but fortunately, only their symbolic meaning was required. Thus, many items could be substituted with similar objects.

The only issue was that these materials couldn't be purchased from the same place, and many of them had time sensitivities...

Mr. Aiwass arranged them in sequence at the nine points of the ritual array—that was a nine-pointed star drawn with one stroke, but the nine angles were not equal. Quite the contrary, each of the nine angles was completely different in size.

Following the order from smallest to largest angle, Mr. Aiwass placed the seabird, mirror, deer heart, wax figure, black salt, mouse, horse whip, snake, and oyster at the nine corners of the ritual magic circle.

The two of them then quietly waited until evening, Mr. Aiwass and Lily had agreed upon a password to confirm each other's identities upon meeting. Afterwards, they both changed their clothes—Mr. Aiwass found a red and white robe at home, which he completely dyed red with the remaining chicken blood; while Lily dressed in an extremely loose, grey hooded sweatshirt that could cover both face and body.

Once the sun completely set and the new moon rose, as the red light penetrated into the house from outside, Mr. Aiwass turned on the gas lamp with the red lampshade.

Watching the red light fill the entire room, the Ascent Ritual finally officially began.

"—All nine are present."

Mr. Aiwass chanted in a low voice, "I am among them."

Lily mimicked Mr. Aiwass's chanting and followed his actions.

He picked up the rope and strangled the bird; took the hammer and shattered the mirror; then took the nails, using the hammer to drive them into the deer heart.

He lit the wax figure with the candle, allowing it to melt slightly; then he cut open his own finger, soaking the black salt with his blood; he stabbed the mouse dead with the black ritual knife; used the nails to pierce through the horse phallus from the tip; and pried open the oyster to drop his own blood into it.

Mr. Aiwass didn't touch the snake, and Lily didn't touch the mouse—she nailed the frozen snake to the ground and peeled off its skin with the ritual knife.

But Mr. Aiwass's snake didn't move, just quietly coiled in its place; and Lily's mouse lifted its head, with a glint in its eyes as if it harbored a human spirit.

"Aside from me, all eight are dead."

They both declared in unison.

The next moment, eight black and red flames blazed up vigorously. The ritual array lit up, emitting a red glow.

—The ritual was successful.