When the plot-skips players into the game world

The Knight clearly did not want to mingle with them, and he even subtly advised "Alistair" not to continue conversing with Mr. Antlers and his group. However, since Aiwass was intentionally playing the part, his advice was obviously in vain.

After trying to persuade him a couple of times, the Knight gave up, while Aiwass, disguised as "Alistair," chatted with Antlers, Red, and Thunder. Through the trio's suspiciously detailed questioning and the Shadow Demon's improvisation, the character of "Alistair" gradually became clearer—

The current "Alistair" was a young man who had been possessed by a demon since childhood. He studied in the countryside and after middle school, went to Grei County. His parents were both believers, but he only worshipped the Serpent Father; after his father's death, he inherited a modest fortune and in Avalon, he worked odd jobs while climbing, mountaineering, challenging himself, conquering nature, and when traveling near Glass Island in Garden City, he was accepted by the local Noble Red Society.

He had only just joined Noble Red and was not very clear about its purpose or philosophy. However, his "mentor" provided him with a path to promotion and taught him how to conduct rituals. This was his first promotion ceremony attempt—and he planned to hold the New Moon Ritual for the first time because the person leading him had boasted about his talents.

A perfectly reasonable, vividly alive character. Except for the fact that this person didn't exist, there were no issues. Your next journey awaits at empire

Aiwass had already decided that after the ceremony ended, he would have Lily help him recall, and transcribe this character setting to memorize in its entirety.

Their conversation lasted for over an hour, and the initially sluggish, silent atmosphere gradually lightened. The Knight also slowly realized that this Demon was not a criminal, just a bit arrogant—he wasn't soaked in blood because he used it as a material, but rather due to his clumsy hands.

—About this point, although the three people to Aiwass's left did not believe it, he was certain that Sir Knight must have believed it.

For this reason, Mr. Alistair, who was in Sir Knight's age range, had a very pleasant conversation with him, while the silent figure in a grey hood had gradually been ignored by everyone.

While they chatted, the remaining three people also appeared one after another. They were evidently very far from Glass Island, so they had been dragged here by the ritual when it couldn't match any suitable Transcendents nearby.

The atmosphere was completely different from the Full Moon Ritual. Two of the three new arrivals didn't even introduce themselves, nor did they mention their Paths.

One of them was a man so gaunt that he reminded one of rotting wood. His back slightly hunched, his black hair, which fell below his shoulders, looked like damp sea grass, forming little curls as he mumbled something to himself.

The other was a monk. He wore a coarse brown cloth robe, looking like a rag, and after entering, he simply pressed his hands together in silence.

By now, Aiwass knew that Mr. Antlers was of Path of Dusk, Red was of Path of Love, Old Gordon was of Path of Devotion, he himself was of Transcendence, Lily in the grey hood was of Path of Adaptation, and Sir Knight was of Path of Authority. This meant that the remaining three people must be of Path of Balance, Beauty, and Wisdom.

Fortunately, the ninth person promptly eliminated a wrong choice for everyone—

"Hello everyone, I am from Path of Balance, the 'King,' a seasoned 'Botanist'! If brothers and sisters need alchemical incense or essential oils, you can buy from me, I'll give a 20% discount off the market price to my brethren! Free home delivery within twenty kilometers around Mainz, and for international customers, just pay half of the normal customs duties, and it will be delivered within half a month!"

The slightly disheveled middle-aged man announced loudly as soon as he appeared, repeating in a booming voice, "Hello everyone, can you hear me? I am from Path of Balance, the 'King,' a very professional botanist..."

"—So annoying!"

"Alistair" complained loudly and rudely.

Although the others didn't speak up, their furrowed brows made their feelings clear.

But actually, Aiwass couldn't help but exclaim in his heart:

Shock! It's that advertising brother from last time!

He marveled at the wonders of the world, the fate that brought them together, and your audacity—getting instantly defeated at the Full Moon Ritual, what gave you the courage to come to the New Moon Ritual?

Anyway, getting defeated upon meeting is the same, right?

And besides, wasn't it 10% off last time? Why change it to a 20% discount now? Are you short on cash lately?

Short on cash and still entering the New Moon Ritual? Why not go to the Full Moon Ritual and do your routine?

However, what Aiwass didn't expect was that the man's goods actually sold.

The seats that made a round, the ninth and the first were right next to each other. Mr. Antlers, ever friendly with everyone, leaned over with interest and quietly inquired of the King about his goods.

From Mr. Antlers' tone, it seemed he might place a big order for alchemical incense—at least worth over five hundred White Coins, exciting the King so much that he trembled all over, almost jumping straight from his seat to engage in earnest discussion with Mr. Antlers.

Aiwass just shook his head.

...Incomprehensible.

"Can such a method of selling goods actually work?"

"Is this the very definition of 'Heaven rewards the diligent'?"

At that moment, the stone Knight sculpture regained its color. It shone with a brilliant silver-white radiance, with the golden Holy Sword in its hand shining bright.

["Participants of the ritual, please remain silent."]

A stern voice emanated from beneath the Knight's helmet:

["I will preside over this ceremony, I am a Knight under the Silver-Crowned Dragon, Gavin."]

As Gavin finished speaking, the space around him took on shape and color, centered on him.

This was a gloomy and dark enclosed structure, but everything around them was toweringly tall. The sea of blood that was beneath them turned into a pot of boiling meat soup, and they were in the pot with white steam billowing around them.

The surrounding buildings were immensely large, the door handles at least a dozen meters off the ground; and the handles themselves were gigantic, roughly estimated to be two meters long.

It was as if they had arrived in the Giant Kingdom, or as if they had been shrunk to even shorter than a cat.

This Angel Envoy had absolutely no intention of making small talk with them.

Upon arriving, he began his relentless explanation without pause.

["In the first advancement ceremony, I must explain to you the special rules of the New Moon Ritual."]

["There are six Advancers with multiple Paths this time, but be aware: during the advancement ceremony, only the abilities of the advancing Path and any Extraordinary Items corresponding to that Path which you have crafted yourself are permitted."]

["What you will experience is not a real story that has happened, but rather a play staged in history, scripted by the Nine Pillar Gods."]

["The Dreamland you use for each advancement will only be used once, and its content is entirely fictional, differing from reality."]

["Thus, under the watchful eyes of the Nine Pillar Gods, you must solve puzzles, or search for items, or defeat enemies, or simply survive to prove your capabilities."]

["The ritual is limited to one hour, with a reality ratio of one to one."]

["You must survive until the end of the ritual, or complete special victory conditions before the time is up."]

["Since this ritual is a New Moon Ritual, killing rewards points will be calculated, and at the end of the ritual during the settlement, winners will be selected in descending order based on points held; if all other participants of the ritual are killed the ritual will immediately proceed to early settlement, and without special victory conditions, it will be judged as a loss."]

["There will be three winners for this ritual, with special victory conditions in place."]

["The special victory conditions for this ritual are: 'Relics Contest,' 'Killing Spree.'"]

["Relics Contest: A powerful Relic exists in this ritual, the one holding the Relic will have their position sensed in real-time by other participants, and the holder who survives until the end will win outright, regardless of other victory conditions."]

["Killing Spree: If, at the end of the ritual, the surviving participants cannot achieve a point victory, but one has a kill count greater than the combined kill count of the other survivors, they win outright, regardless of other victory conditions."]

["The difficulty level of this ritual is 'Challenge,' and death within the ritual will result in weakness for four to ten days in reality."]

["Additional declaration: The dreamscape for this ritual is constructed by 'Silver-Crowned Dragon,' while the script and additional scoring rules are managed by 'Serpent Father.' It is completely unrelated to the witness of the ritual, that is, myself."]

Gavin said this, raising the blood-stained Holy Sword in his hand.

He solemnly read out the script for this ritual:

["In the year 1320, within the Giant Kingdom of Alktoth, a Giant Couple captured nine humans as reserves for their winter food supply..."]

As the blade swung down from its highest point, Aiwass felt a strong sense of dizziness.

The world before his eyes twisted and dissipated, and the nine people sitting in chairs vanished without a trace.