When the plot-skips players into the game world

Sherlock had mixed feelings.

He had never imagined that he would be involved in a battle of such caliber.

When he and Aiwass arrived at the scene on the Gryphon Liz, Prince Wolfram the Giant was clearly at a stable disadvantage.

Without a doubt, the Giant wanted to escape. Over the years, he had prepared many strategies and aces up his sleeve, which he played one after another, barely holding off the first wave of attacks.

The mysterious, bizarre, and powerful magical rituals alarmed Sherlock—if they had all been used against the Guardian, Mr. George would most likely have been in trouble.

—However, the Wild Hunt King was simply too strong.

It almost completely ignored all spells, constantly attacking the Giant. The regular Undead were constantly being crushed, but that had essentially no effect on the battle... they would resurrect the next night anyway.

The Giant was merely relying on various status effects he had pre-enchanted on himself to barely contend with the Wild Hunt King.

Previously, using only one-tenth of his power and his own skills, without using his Path abilities, he was able to severely injure the newly appointed Inspector of Glass Island. He truly had skill, enough to maintain a position where he wouldn't be too badly hurt, even at an absolute disadvantage.

Despite being at a disadvantage, he had gradually stabilized the situation.

If they approached at this moment, they were very likely to be directly affected by the ritual spells—Aiwass could turn into bats to dodge, but what about him and Liz?

Yet Aiwass gave incredibly precise orders—

He directed Sherlock to use the "Stone Dispel Ointment" made by Yulia to form a Mud Hawk, then crash it into the Giant Prince.

—This was a combat thought that echoed the cleverness of the "Aqua Demon Hand - Sulfuric Acid Fill" used by Sherlock during his first meeting with Aiwass at the promotion ceremony!

Aiwass was not even a Mage, but he captured the inspiration from that battle and judged what they should do right now...

Despite Aiwass having mentioned how strong the Wild Hunt King was earlier, witnessing the battle up close still terrified Sherlock—it probably had the legendary sixth power level strength, as just the aftershocks of its attacks could tear apart the atmosphere.

Sherlock made such a judgment because it was far stronger than the Guardian. Even alone, it could potentially obliterate the entire Gryphon Legion... and this was when it had hardly used any special abilities.

The Giant Prince battling it was even a top-tier powerhouse at the fifth power level of the main Path and fourth on the secondary Path—even being completely suppressed in front of it, it was still not a battle Aiwass could join. Even if they summoned the Phantom Demon known as "Defiant Flame Butterfly," it would likely be killed in just two moves.@@novelbin@@

He even saw various status effects on the opponent that counteracted fire damage—the Wisdom Path's "Transcendent Wisdom: Analysis" allowed him to pinpoint these status effects' functions. Hence, he could infer the outcome of a simulated battle.

And the result was, Aiwass and Sherlock could not get involved in a battle of this scale.

—However, Aiwass's command had a surprising effect.

Of course, the Mud Hawk didn't cause any damage and was even destroyed before it could self-detonate.

But even so, some of the "Stone Dispel Ointment" still splashed onto the Giant Prince.

This directly led to the removal of his "Petrified Epidermis" status!

And Aiwass did something else.

A Tarot card with a bizarre image appeared out of thin air in his hand, which he threw directly at the Wild Hunt King like a dart—

Sherlock held his breath in fear.

The Wild Hunt King slapped it away carelessly, paying it no mind—the Giant Prince's enmity was too solid.

But the moment the long spear touched the card, the card suddenly shattered into a mass of shadows, covering the spear in the Wild Hunt King's hand.

In an instant, Sherlock analyzed that it was an incredibly powerful enhancement status. The Wild Hunt King also seemed to realize this, looking over with a hint of surprise for the first time.

So, Aiwass enhanced the Wild Hunt King's attack while Sherlock weakened Wolfram's defense. Their combat styles didn't change abruptly with these gains and losses, and as a result, the Wild Hunt King's attacks suddenly pierced through Wolfram's petrified body.

Using this attack as a breakthrough, Wolfram finally crumbled. After only a few moves, he was defeated and directly slain.

"Indeed, as Aiwass said, sometimes just one key spell can turn the tide of battle..."

This finally allowed Sherlock to breathe a sigh of relief and he gained even more respect for Aiwass.

His combat awareness was just too strong. After just two glances upon arriving at the battlefield, he was able to command someone utterly unfamiliar with the Path profession to make the most correct response.

But just then, Aiwass told Sherlock that Wolfram was not completely dead and directed him to "search the body." Sherlock simply understood this to mean he should collect the post-battle rewards.

—He wonders where the kid learned that sort of slang. Full of jargon.

Little Sherlock muttered to himself, but still obeyed Aiwass's orders to "search the body."

With the "Transcendent Wisdom" status activated, he was indeed well-equipped to analyze various things to determine if they were useful or Extraordinary Equipment.

Meanwhile, Aiwass turned into a bat and hurried back to the other battlefield.

Initially, all Aiwass required was to hold the fort and not let anyone escape, but Hayna, having received the Golden Path Trait and activated the Holy Sword, seemed unnervingly powerful... with the support of the Defiant Flame Butterfly, Lily, and the Shadow Demon, she effortlessly defeated the Penalty Demon in a few rounds. She even managed to injure it without killing it—which was a more difficult feat than simply slaying it.

And facing the Penalty Demon, which had completely given up resistance, Aiwass could tell they had demonstrated overwhelming strength.

Only then would the Penalty Demon obediently wait here for its death instead of attempting to counter-attack or flee.

...But you didn't expect this, did you? There is no chance for you to resurrect now.

Aiwass chuckled lightly and recited aloud:

"—I summon the Great Sage, the god of the sacred number four, the god who sees the truth, the god who dwells in silence!"

A bullet, shackles and a key, three Gryphon feathers, four Owl feathers.

The materials floated on their own in the air, tracing out a Wheel of Destiny.

The original Wheel of Destiny in the center was a wheel divided into four parts. At its four corners were a lion, an eagle, an angel, and a bull, these four animals representing fire, water, air, and earth. These animals were all reading books, with wings on their backs. It was truth and wisdom that allowed them to control their own destiny.

The Wheel of Destiny had three layers, and above the wheel and to the bottom-left and bottom-right were three guardians. They were the blue Sphinx holding a sword above, the yellow Apophis in serpent form to the left, and the red Anubis to the right. The serpent's head pointed downward, indicating that the Wheel of Destiny was rotating counterclockwise.

Sinking downwards, rising from hell, reaching new heights, and then descending again—this was the cycle of fate.

Aiwass felt the mana within his body being furiously drained.

Not just the five points required for card creation, but much more—with over sixty points of mana being drawn away.

But Aiwass did not resist. Instead, he let the ritual draw the mana from his body.

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A bolt of thunder struck down, landing on the Penalty Demon who controlled thunder!

It seemed to be an ordinary bolt of thunder.

But the Penalty Demon was almost instantly turned to dust—and that dust, attracted by sapphire particles, flew towards the Tarot card in front of Aiwass.

This was a bolt of thunder personally cast by the Great Sage!

The Tarot card in front of Aiwass began to change abruptly, stained by the soul of the Penalty Demon.

It turned into a blue-purple Tarot card.

The card spun and fell into Aiwass's hand, revealing its attributes:

[Equipment Card: Thunder Javelin (Wheel of Destiny)]

[Requirement: Air 3 or Darkness 3]

[Action, Summoning, Incantation]

[Effect: Summons "Thunder Javelin" (Extraordinary Weapon - Javelin, heavy, Punishment, Armor Piercing, with the module "Demon Slayer", Thunder Attribute Attack)]

[Effect: When used again, increases the holder's "Affinity for Lightning" level by +3 for one minute]

To activate, mana cost is two points higher than that of a regular Thunder Javelin.

But it has an additional incantation effect... is this the enhancement gained after completely absorbing the Penalty Demon?

This should have been a joyous event for Aiwass.

But now his attention was captured by the image on the card:

At the top remained the Sphinx holding a sword—it also represents sulfur, which in alchemy symbolizes the spirit.

To the right was Typhon, the legendary god of hell Tartarus' son and father of the hellhound Cerberus. It represents salt, which symbolizes the physical body of living beings.

Anubis had moved to the left. Crawling upwards, while Typhon on the right side fell downwards, signifying the Wheel of Destiny's reversal—from counter-clockwise to clockwise rotation.

Unlike the previous composition, the four animals at the wheel's corners and the heavenly clouds were gone.

Instead, those shining things had changed into stars in the sky.

The entire Wheel of Destiny was shrouded in thunder, but the thunder didn't harm the three gods at all—proving that this thunder was the great force that destroyed the old Wheel of Destiny and set it right. It also foretold the Great Sage who controls thunder.

At the very bottom of the Wheel of Destiny was added a tiny, almost invisible fist.

It was the clenched fist of a human.

Humans, with their own will, grabbed the Wheel of Destiny, causing it to spin.

This fate didn't require the control of four sacred animals, and humans couldn't afford to lie down comfortably to read—instead, they had to stand up and seek change.

—To change fate with their own power.

Aiwass gazed at the card, as if enlightened.

He murmured softly, "So it is said... that every person... is a star."

No sooner had he spoken these words did he feel an immense sense of familiarity.

As if, at some point, he had once heard this phrase before...