When the plot-skips players into the game world

When the Art of Herding proceeds along the Path of Devotion, its manifestation is in prayers and sacrifices.

But when the power of the Path of Transcendence is used to employ these Mystical Skills, it transforms into a ritual—

The Ritual Magic Circle was once again inscribed upon the ground by Aiwass and Lily. However, unlike before, this time the Octagram Magic Circle did not bear the names of any of the Nine Pillar Gods; it was filled with the name of Aiwass and its various variants, written in different languages.

They had prepared a fine cup of wine before midnight, soaking cinnamon inside. After soaking it for half an hour, they heated it slowly over a low flame and then removed the cinnamon sticks.

Afterward, Lily added the most crucial element.

It was an amethyst carved into an eight-sided die by Aiwass.

Amethyst is the guardian gemstone of the Path of Transcendence. It can balance the discordant parts of various rituals, and the core skill of the Path of Transcendence is ritual.

The rituals that were nearly complete, yet failed due to subtle imbalances, would be effectively activated after being harmonized by the amethyst... that is, it increased the rituals' tolerance for errors.

The Nurturing Skill is a taboo, just like making water flow backward or keeping flames burning ceaselessly. Without using amethyst to create balance, the ritualistic part of it was bound to fail.

After the amethyst eight-sided die had been placed inside, Lily let the wine cool naturally. Once the wine had cooled to room temperature, the ritual could begin.

Lily kneeled before Aiwass, while Aiwass sat in an armchair, placed within the Ritual Magic Circle.

His feet planted firmly on the ground, the Shadow Demon flowed spontaneously into Aiwass' body. This turned Aiwass' entire body pale and cold, emitting a faint black smoke. His eyes, too, were completely filled with a dark fog, and his hands appeared as though they were clad in black silk gloves—limbs and orifices are the parts of the Demon that most easily manifest outwardly.

"I am your Shepherd, and I shall make you want for nothing,"

Aiwass said softly.

As he spoke, he took out the ritual dagger previously used for nurturing the Shadow Demon.

He used the blade to cut open his own finger, writing his first name, devoid of his surname, on Lily's forehead with the bloody fingertip. All the while, Lily looked up at Aiwass, as if pleading for a blessing.

After writing the short name, Aiwass let the blood flow downward. A trace of the Shadow Demon's essence infused into the blood, making the droplet that fell particularly thick and pitch black. It even carried a faint scent like rotting wood.

Lily then bowed her head and held aloft the cup of ritual wine.

Amethyst signifies the God of Wine and also denotes loyalty and love. This also represents the other two attributes of the Path of Transcendence—rebellion and contract.

"Here, I bestow upon you grace, hope, and bliss,"

Aiwass declared with a voice overlapping with that of the Shadow Demon, as he dropped the blood into the wine: "Seeking nothing in return."

Lily lifted her head and drank the wine in one gulp, keeping the eight-sided die in her mouth.

Then, she placed the wine glass at Aiwass' feet and carefully spat out the eight-sided die from her mouth.

If the ritual had been successful, no matter the likelihood of other numbers coming up, at this moment, it would only show the number 8.

The number 8 signifies infinity and eternity, cycles and transcendence. It is also the sacred number that symbolizes the Serpent Father.

As expected, the die tumbled within the cup and then lay still. The slanted face displayed the number 8, which to both Aiwass and Lily, appeared to be lying on the ground. Hence, it looked more akin to "infinity."

The moment the die came to a stop, an infinite black mark abruptly appeared beneath the feet of Aiwass and Lily. Two rings encircled them individually.

Aiwass's Dark Attribute Mana drained away wildly while the Shadow Demon instantly overflowed from Aiwass, flowing onto Lily, and then back again.

After a few seconds, as Aiwass's mana bottomed out, the volumes of swirling dark mist around both of them balanced out.

Aiwass distinctly perceived that at the end of his contract with the Shadow Demon, there was now another person—the relationship between Lily and the Shadow Demon had become extremely intimate, as if they were two halves of a whole. Lily had permissions over the Shadow Demon, while the Shadow Demon's permissions lay with him.

—It was as if he had acquired a "family edition" of the Shadow Demon and then shared its child user permissions with Lily.

"The ritual succeeded."

Aiwass replied joyfully.

"About half of the strength was divided away."

Without waiting for Aiwass to ask, the Shadow Demon replied in Croix's voice, whispering, "However, if you feed me a bit more, I can slowly recover..."

"What about Lily?"

Aiwass asked his maid.

Lily bowed her head, feeling the additional shadow essence within her. Like ink dropping into water, she instantly blurred and dissipated in the Material Realm. Then, like time rewinding, she coalesced back together.

Looking up, delight filled her tone, "My bond with the shadows has suddenly become so intimate! I feel like I could stealth into the shadows right now!"

"Of course,"

The Shadow Demon's voice turned unexpectedly stern, "You are now half a Shadow Demon, even though all the skills that a Shadow Demon possesses need to be trained from scratch. But if you can fully exert your own power, you will be like a Shadow Demon with a physical body... Do not waste the master's gift."

In truth, the Shadow Demon was astonished by the Nurturing Skill's mystery as well. However, in front of Aiwass and Lily, it didn't want to seem overly shocked; therefore, although surprised, it acted as if it were to be expected.

After the ritual was established, there emerged a mysterious and firm bond between the Shadow Demon and Lily.

It had originally thought that Aiwass had only shared a portion of its power, which Lily would need to replenish by seeking it out after using this portion up. But that was not the case—the more apt analogy would be that it spent half of its own power to add a species trait to Lily.

In a certain sense, they now had a kinship—something more intimate than a Demon's possession.

...Like a mother.

An impression of this nature faintly surfaced in Lily; the Shadow Demon, which had seemed somewhat fearsome before, now felt affectionate.

She could even vaguely perceive the thoughts and ideas of the Shadow Demon.

For instance, at this moment, the Shadow Demon was puzzled by the power of the Nurturing Skill.

Thus, Lily affectionately said to the Shadow Demon, "I feel like I might be able to harbor your existence too..."

Lily said as she gently pressed a finger onto Aiwass's shadow.

Immediately after, the Shadow Demon flowed from the shadow cast by that finger into Lily's shadow and nestled securely within it, even more stable than under Aiwass's shadow—at least it didn't incessantly tremble like when Aiwass remained perfectly still.

"So it really works?"

Aiwass was somewhat surprised.

"Not too far, and not too long."

The Shadow Demon's voice came from beneath Lily: "Moreover, I feel like I can't unleash all my strength while I'm with Lily..."

"We can start with an experiment. Follow Lily and see how far you can go and how much strength you can exert."

Aiwass said as he stood up from his chair: "I'll tidy up the room first. If you encounter Oswald, you can also share the good news about Yulia's recovery."

At this moment, his shadow finally stopped trembling. It was as if it had returned to that of an ordinary person.

Lily nodded and left soundlessly with the Shadow Demon.

Only after the Shadow Demon had left did Aiwass mutter lowly: "I've finally felt the texture of the cashmere carpet again..."

This was the first time he had walked normally since regaining the memories of his past life.

When he normally walked, no matter what kind of surface he was on, he would feel as if he were stepping on some kind of soft, elastic ground. In fact, it was the body of the Shadow Demon.

Walking on the Shadow Demon felt like treading on slightly soft rubber.

The advantage was that Aiwass could run normally on rugged terrain—possibly even in swamps or sand. The downside was that it's indeed not very comfortable to walk on.

It was even slightly sticky... like half a bottle of cola had been spilled on a rubber floor.

That was why Aiwass was wearing cloth shoes for clergy, and not leather shoes or boots. At least it wouldn't be too sticky.

Aiwass sighed twice and then began efficiently cleaning up the ritual.

He had already cleaned up the ritual site three times that night... Aiwass was even contemplating whether he should just set up a basement or some room that no one uses and turn it into a permanent ritual space. Of course, his bedroom was out of the question; it would smell too bad.

Aiwass could faintly smell an odor like that of slaughtering chickens. He didn't even know where the smell was coming from, as the room had been exposed to blood too many times that night. Even the floor might have been soaked through with blood.

If he sprayed Luminol Reagent, Aiwass's bedroom would probably light up like a slaughterhouse.

When the Shadow Demon returns, I'll have it move across the floor and corrode the blood away.

...It felt oddly like having a small dog clean up dropped food scraps.

In order not to wake Yulia, Aiwass moved very gently. He cleaned up the ritual site quickly, and a shadow zipped across the ground, merging back into his own shadow.

After a while, Lily also came back to report.

"The furthest I could go was up to Master Edward's room, any farther and it would automatically return. But the Shadow Demoness can only extend five or six steps outside of me."

So it's like a parent-child router, Aiwass mused internally.

And why the 'Miss'?

Was it because of Croix's voice that made them perceive the genderless Shape-shifter as female?

Whatever, it doesn't matter. Aiwass didn't bother to correct Lily.

"If it can reach up to Edward... that means roughly a fifty-meter radius, and Lily's five or six steps are just over three meters..."

Aiwass murmured softly.

A radius of three meters meant that, at most, the Shadow Demon could only serve as personal protection and couldn't exert significant destructive power. But conversely, it also meant that the Shadow Demon could follow Lily outside for reconnaissance.

Without the "Field Card: Shadow Cellar," the Shadow Demon would be constrained.

It could only appear on Aiwass's own shadow; attached shadows were inaccessible to it. Otherwise, in the nighttime, it could go anywhere.

For instance, when Aiwass stood in the corner of a wall, the Shadow Demon couldn't operate from the shadow cast by the wall corner; and when Aiwass was with others, it couldn't enter other people's shadows.

That's why the Shadow Demon spread like a fungal mat, expanding its shadow domain to directly enlarge the size of Aiwass's shadow.

But now, Lily could also serve as a temporary host for the Shadow Demon.

With a radius of three meters, Lily could use pretty much the same mystic skills that Aiwass used in rituals.

In some sense, it was as though Lily's offensive capabilities had been indirectly boosted!

And Aiwass realized another significant benefit—

"Lily, raise your hand a bit."

Aiwass silently instructed the Shadow Demon in his heart.

He wanted to conduct an experiment.

Sure enough, after about two seconds, Lily lifted her hand in a somewhat puzzled manner.

Aiwass's eyes brightened. It really worked!

If the Shadow Demon was considered his Contractor, and Lily was the Shadow Demon's Contractor... then Aiwass could now give Lily precise commands remotely without speaking a word, using the Shadow Demon as a relay station!

On the surface, it appeared like telepathy with a slight delay. Or perhaps...

This was squad voice communication!