When the plot-skips players into the game world

Following the same initial preparation process he used for making the "Enchantment Card: Blade of Shadows," Aiwass returned to his room and readied an unactivated Tarot card that had stored four mana points. Then he immediately went to sleep, planning to wake up early the next day to replenish his mana and make the card directly.

He was now planning to create a new "Moon" card.

Phantom cards made from the same Tarot card could only be used once in a day. The Shadow Demon was not a Superior Phantom; it was only compatible with the Moon card, whereas a Superior Phantom had multiple possibilities. This meant that if he used a new card extracted from the Shadow Demon, he would not be able to use the old "Blade of Shadows" that day.

But more and more, Aiwass felt that Blade of Shadows might not be able to handle all situations—take, for example, the time he confronted the Aberrant Limb Demon, when Blade of Shadows became completely useless.

Aiwass got out of bed after just seven hours of sleep. Seven hours were enough to fully replenish his mana.

It was five-thirty, and the first thing Aiwass did after getting up was to go to the table to pick up the half-finished Phantom card he was working on.

Aiwass hammered a rusty nail into the card, emitting a creaking, acidic sound—counting the Blank Card, this was Aiwass's third card. He had gradually become more skilled at this.

The process of making a Moon card using the Shadow Demon was exactly the same as before. The only difference was in the final injection of mana, which entirely changed the attributes of the resulting Phantom card.

Ten or more points of Dark Attribute Mana could make a "Spell Card: Shadow Cloak," twenty or more points resulted in "Spell Card: Shadow Impact," and thirty points made a "Field Card: Shadow Cellar."

—[Shadow Cellar] was the most useful card for the Shadow Demon. It could temporarily transform the surrounding space into a sealed area filled with shadows, forcibly establishing home ground where there was a lack of shadows. Inside the "Shadow Cellar," even the sacred light summoned by Illumination Art would become extremely dim, and all non-mystical light sources like torches, candles, and lamps would be snuffed out.

In this area, the Shadow Demon could move at high speed, mimic its surroundings with ease, and receive ongoing boosts to all attributes, without being confined to Aiwass's shadow. It was as if it had entered a state of burst.

Therefore, once Aiwass could make a "Field Card: Shadow Cellar," he would hardly use Blade of Shadows anymore. This would likely be possible only when his Demon Scholar reached level 19.

After all, Aiwass wasn't a real Great Sin Scholar who could directly turn wild phantoms into Phantom cards. Currently, Aiwass could only bully the Shadow Demon who had signed a contract with him. Since there was only one chance per day, he could set aside skills that he could acquire with his normal professional abilities.

"Shadow Impact" was a pure offensive spell with no other effects aside from damage.

And for dealing pure damage, other spells could do the same, and even the combination of Blade of Shadows and a handgun might suffice. Its advantage was that it was instant... but this advantage wouldn't become apparent until there were more Tarot cards to play with. Then Aiwass could flip several different Phantom cards in a moment, resulting in a flashy burst of power.

But in Avalon, Aiwass wouldn't dare blast someone with pure shadow power; and during rituals, Aiwass could just have the Shadow Demon take direct action—so the twenty-point "Shadow Impact" was actually less useful than the "Shadow Cloak" made with ten mana points.

One might even say that although Shadow Cellar greatly enhanced the Shadow Demon... during PVP, the card slot for the "Moon" card should still be reserved for Shadow Cloak.

Soon, Aiwass finished making the card, with only one final step left: asking the Eternal Self to endow the new Tarot card with spirituality.

This time, unlike before, Aiwass was now a bona fide Priest. He didn't have to stand still and hang there waiting for the Eternal Self to notice the ritual after sprinkling black pearl powder—he could directly message this Pillar God of the Path of Love. This also prevented the card from failing during creation.

"I beseech the Eternal Self, God of the singular number, God of rebirth from death, God of Enduring Obscurity—like the constant moon itself!"

Aiwass's eyes shone with a golden-red brilliance as he held his hands over the Tarot card, praying earnestly, "Please grant me love!"

—Is the big shot there? Can you take a look, please?

Since it was not yet fully light, the Eternal Self responded swiftly to the prayer.

Soon, a breeze swept through the room. It was gentle enough to slightly lift leaves off the ground.

But as the breeze blew, the shadows beneath Aiwass stretched out like strands of cotton candy, each thread being pulled away.

"...What power is this?! What's happening?"

The astonished voice of the Shadow Demon rose beside Aiwass, "Why can you directly siphon away my power—"

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It wanted to transform into a human, but collapsed in an instant; it then mimicked a hound, but the shadows that composed its disguise were also blown away by the chill wind—it boiled and evaporated on the ground continuously.

What technique is this? What mystical skills?

Last time Aiwass created a Phantom Card, the Shadow Demon did not awaken.

It merely had a vague sense that Aiwass had drawn a part of its power. But because that portion of power was so feeble, it hadn't felt much. Although it knew that there was a part of itself within that card, at the time the Shadow Demon did not know how Aiwass had achieved it.

But this time during the creation of the card, Aiwass wasn't seated in a wheelchair. The Shadow Demon was fully awake and watched the entire process.

—It had never heard of a Demon Scholar being able to plea to the Nine Pillar Gods to directly extract the powers of one's contracted demon!

Are you a Demon Scholar or a Priest?

Soon, the Shadow Demon detected a familiar scent from this aura:

"This is... the ritual of [Great Sin]?"

As a demon, of course, it recognized the Celestial Marshal who held dominion over almost all demons.

The ritual undoubtedly originated from that primordial Great Beast—another name for Him is the Fallen Celestial Marshal. Reverently referred to by demons as [Great Sin], He who governs concepts of downfall, sin, and the like.

Great Sin ranks among the top three levels of Celestial Marshals in the Path of Transcendence, only the [Ouroboros] can firmly suppress Him. Because Great Sin once raised a banner of rebellion against the Serpent Father and subsequently fell, most of his records have been erased from the Material Realm by the followers of the Serpent Father, with only rare phrases about the "Fallen Celestial Marshal" known through the most esoteric Demonology Knowledge.

The Shadow Demon then realized, Aiwass was not altogether ignorant of the Fallen Celestial Marshal—he wasn't just mouthing a name and claiming he would kill the Fallen Celestial Marshal to the demon without true knowledge.

Aiwass not only knew enough about the Fallen Celestial Marshal... he could even use His ritual!

—He was serious!

Such pure and arrogant desire for transcendence!

This made the Shadow Demon excited and trembling, but at the same time, it felt an intense unease—could mortals truly defeat a Celestial Marshal?

For the first time, the Shadow Demon genuinely worried about Aiwass's safety. Not because of loyalty, but fearing he was too rash, courting enemies he could not beat, leading to a meaningless defeat.

The essence of transcendence is rebellion, but rebellion must be predicated on victory. Otherwise, it's just a revolt.

The Shadow Demon felt that almost one-fifth of its power had been drawn away before the ritual finally ceased.

The card, which looked almost identical to "Blade of Shadows," lifted itself up, flew into Aiwass's hand.

Its attributes also appeared before Aiwass:

[Spell: Shadow Cloak (Moon)]

[Requirement: Darkness 1]

[Instant, Non-contact, Immediate Effect]

[Effect: Repel all targets nearby, immediately release all seals of freeze, burn, bind, petrification states affecting oneself, and enter a state of complete invisibility, lasting for one minute (+30%). The invisibility granted by this effect, when broken, will afflict all enemies that see you with a curse, with an effect equivalent to "Blinding Curse."]

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