When the plot-skips players into the game world

Aiwass prayed silently to the Candle Master while coolly analyzing the situation in his heart.

...He wasn't sure whether the Candle Master could hear Aiwass's muttered words in such a predicament.

According to the words of the Penalty Demon, the Giant Prince seemed to have come to seize his "Book of Law."

Aiwass knew the name of the object because he had once sought divination from Mrs. Mina. He never mentioned the name to anyone else...The Giant Prince must have known because of that Eye Demon Lord.

He vividly remembered that the Giant Prince had a relative who had joined the codex.

It was an Eye Demon whose body could drop a token related to the Noble Red storyline. It had once been the pet of a powerful member of the Rose Cross Society, summoned by them, but later its master was casually crushed to death by the Fallen Celestial Marshal—on the flip side, being killed by the Fallen Celestial Marshal proved its strength.

Due to a degree of clairvoyance, the Eye Demon could be considered a demon form of a prophet. It also had Clairvoyance and Perspective Eye among other special vision abilities, making it of great strategic value and a very precious and rare Demon.

After turning into a Demon, most would cast aside their former identities, and the Giants were no exception—Aiwass did not know what had happened in between.

However, if one were to combine the words of the Penalty Demon, assume its words were true, and reason backward from the current outcome... it must have found its relative, seduced its younger brother into betraying its then-teacher Jacob, and found him a new teacher—none other than the Eye Demon's current master.

—So that's how the Noble Red originally came into existence.

Nonetheless, Aiwass still did not understand what qualification the piece of equipment he found through divination had that would compel a Fifth Power Level wizard to come such a long distance to seize it...

Mrs. Mina was only at the Fourth Power Level, and the maximum clue she could divine was purple—meaning she could not predict the location of equipment above deep purple. Since Aiwass was seeking "equipment," it probably wouldn't be some kind of Codex Book.

And gold-colored ones would be sacred equipment, which weren't generally available from monster drops or card draws, but were rewards given at the very last stage of some lengthy plot lines. Extremely long, extremely grueling. However, Aiwass remembered these quite clearly... After all, at first, he would follow along with video guides, and later, after learning, he did power leveling for his friends and became very proficient.

Of course, in terms of practicality, golden equipment may not be as useful as purple equipment.

Because sacred equipment emphasized functionality more... or rather, sacred equipment was usually at the core of a construction. It had little to no interaction with other golden equipment. In contrast, purple equipment had much more freedom in its attributes.

—Could the equipment divined by Mina be a Curse Ritual Magician's exclusive weapon?

This was indeed possible. After all, Jacob was a Curse Ritual Magician, so it wasn't unusual for his relics to be related to a Curse Ritual Magician...

But now, the Giant Prince was being hunted by the Great Guardian, yet he had still sent away one of his most important subordinates to find the equipment—could it be that he believed the "Book of Law" had the strength to immediately resolve this crisis?

This notion excited Aiwass.

—It was as if he had drawn a card, not knowing its strength or how to use it, only to be silenced when boasting about it in a chat group. Then it was likely quite powerful.

Having finished his prayer, Aiwass extinguished the lit candle. He stored it back inside his bag.

"Since you desire it so much, then I must obtain it."

Even if it meant a direct conflict with a high-level wizard, it would be absolutely worth it.

Aiwass made up his mind.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The situation was slightly different from what Aiwass had thought.

Prince Wolfram the Giant was firmly locked in an Array by blue-white ribbons of light, marked with black runes.

He stood naked on the deep blue Array, surrounded by more than a dozen other Arrays of varying sizes. Some blue-white Arrays were connected to those ribbons of light, while others rotated and emitted a strange and ominous black glow, and the largest white Array was behind the Giant—projecting a magnificent long spear made of golden light that impaled him through the back.

His hands were immobile, and a black "X" formed out of thin air over his mouth. Black runes were written on either side of the X, spreading all the way to his earlobes and neck.

As of now, Wolfram appeared to be assaulted by the force of death—his entire body had withered noticeably, and his once Fourth Power Level warrior's robust physique looked as if it had collapsed, his skin sagging loosely. His veins turned purple-black, revealing a horrifying dendritic pattern, and his eye sockets became pure purple-black, his cheeks sunken in.

He resembled an old man.

Yet, he showed no signs of pain but was instead extremely alert—

Because not far from him, just a dozen meters away, was the original marshland.

The marshland had since dried up. When the solidifying power of Dusk receded, a purple glow radiated from its bottom.

—That was the color representing the Path of Transcendence!

The Book of Law! It must be it!

Wolfram cried out in his heart.

Without a doubt, this was the Book of Law that the Eye Demon had once spoken of to him!

"The book will appear in mid-December, near Flute Town in Shepherd Bay County, at a place 'closest to death'"—Isn't this the very place?

Indeed, it is the place closest to death... The swamp was filled with the power of the Path of Dusk; for some reason, its seal had been lifted, and the breath of death released in one fell swoop was enough to prove the meaning of those words.

The Eye Demon also said that the book "contains secret knowledge about Celestial Marshals and Pillar Gods, involving great strength that can change the world, influence the future"... And now it was personally sealed by Amber, wrapped tightly by this breath of death. Could this not prove that those words were true?

——However, the problem was, even though the book was right in front of him, he couldn't move at all.

He couldn't move, cast spells, or speak.

Because the person standing opposite him was none other than Merlin.

Merlin seemed to be unaffected by the surge of death breath. He appeared to be waiting for someone, hence he did not kill Wolfram directly.@@novelbin@@

But that was all—He did not even glance at Wolfram, just gazed thoughtfully at the bottom of the swamp, radiating a bright transcendence, pondering something.

"...Strange, I'm certain I checked this place. Just now there was definitely nothing here..."

He muttered.

What exactly is the "variable"?

At this moment, Merlin suddenly frowned and sighed, "Why is it you again...?"

"Yes. It's been a long time, Mr. Merlin."

A deep, hoarse, and rich voice resounded, sounding like that of a smoker who had indulged for twenty years.

It was a huge grey werewolf nearly the height of a man.

It slowly emerged from the village that had turned into amber, with crimson pupils. Its grey fur, however, was not tainted with even a sliver of the amber formed by the condensed power of Dusk. Explore hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"To reiterate, I've been separated from that woman for a long time now."

Merlin said wearily, "Vivian letting you go has nothing to do with me."

"I know, Mr. Merlin. I have something important to tell you."

Ye Zhi bowed slightly, calmly stating, "I've been sent by my master to prevent those Giants from getting close to the swamp. If possible, she also asked me to stop everyone from approaching the swamp."

"...Oh?"

Seeing Ye Zhi give such an absurd answer suddenly piqued Merlin's interest, "I've already bound him up, isn't that enough of a deterrent? And you can't stop me, either.

"It seems this place is indeed their laboratory... But you've now told me this so straightforwardly, aren't you afraid I'll cause trouble for her? I would think she must have specifically told you not to trouble her, considering she's disappeared from the Shadow Realm for so long; she's probably reincarnated already."

As Merlin finished speaking, Ye Zhi was suddenly completely bound by those bands of light. Particularly its long muzzle, which was also restrained by a single strip of light, and even adorned with a bow.

"—Or could it be, you, this abandoned stray, now have some ideas of your own?"

Merlin pushed up his monocle, smiling as he asked.

But his face bore not a hint of a smile, rather the imposing authority of a deity.

Merlin gripped his staff a bit tighter, his tone even, "I think the 'important matter' you want to talk about isn't this."

After a moment of silence, the werewolf spoke without opening its mouth: "Jacob is my friend. A long time ago, Jacob guided me into joining a secret society... called Golden Dawn. As a discriminated wild elf, I first came into contact with supernatural knowledge there, becoming a Deceit Master of the Path of Love through the Codex Book provided to me by Mathers.

"In return, I brought Jacob to a hidden village known only to the locals. I've realized for a very long time how terrifying this village was, yet everyone viewed it as normal."

Ye Zhi didn't resist at all, simply responding directly, "I'm from Flute Town. And the place I brought him to...

"...is called Eagle Cape Village."