When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 688: Chapter 77 Is Aiwass Delicious?

Chapter 688: Chapter 77 Is Aiwass Delicious?

Aiwass held the Scepter of The Sun as he followed Matilda deep into the Department of Sanctity.

He walked on the deep red carpet, feeling momentarily like a movie star on the red carpet.

On either side of the red carpet, spectators began to file in quietly.

Most of them were Elves, and though there were many, they maintained silence with impeccable politeness, creating no clamor.

It took a while before Aiwass caught sight of Sherlock, Lily, and Pure White standing at the forefront.

As the crowd halted its advance, Matilda led Aiwass to the very end.

There stood a relief made of uneven dark gold metal, reflecting brilliance under the flames.

It seemed to be copper, perhaps even gold.

The lines within it were all raised, rendering a three-dimensional effect.

The depiction was simple and easily understood.

Two females and one male, three unmistakably Elven figures worshiping before the Candle Master.

The crimson stag adorned with Sin Thorn was unmistakably conspicuous—its immense antlers stretched towards the sky, each branching tip resembling a candle flame, piercing the darkness.

The entire scene was irregular… or rather, the relief reflected an area illuminated by the stag’s light.

Aiwass’ gaze was inevitably drawn towards that relief.

Matilda raised both hands, as though to praise The Sun.

With reverence, she proclaimed before the relief, “We beseech the Stag God of the Candle!”

The next instant, all candles in the room snuffed out, then simultaneously reignited.

It was no longer the unchanging, calm, red candlelight like before, that seemed merely plastered on.

What emerged was a delicate, pure white radiance—

The candles became so slender, they resembled vertical pupils.

The room, which had been somewhat dim, suddenly became as bright as day.

“I solemnly call upon you, exalted Thief of Fire!

“God of the sacred triad, The God of Thorns Bound, The God Who Burns Body and Pursues Darkness—Stag God of the Candle!”

The next moment, both the candle that Aiwass was staring at and the entire world in front of his eyes rushed towards him like a speeding dump truck coming from afar!

In an instant, Aiwass’ vision was swallowed by the rapidly expanding pure white flames.

Everything around him instantly became deathly quiet, and Aiwass seemed to find himself in a realm of pure whiteness.

Only briefly hesitating, he soon realized where he was.

Indeed, he had been here before.

From his first encounter with the Fire Worship Skill in St.

Genvieve Chapel, Aiwass had glimpsed the Candle Master in the heart of the flame.

If nothing went amiss…

In this world of pure white light, a majestic and beautiful stag approached leisurely.

Its entire body was a pure red, and its antlers, a shade darker.

At the tip of each antler burned a white flame.

Even amidst the white surroundings, one could still discern the color and shape of the flames—that was light within light, white within white.

Dark Sin Thorn vines wrapped around Him, piercing His skin and making Him bleed as if ablaze with red.

His blood dripped from His hooves onto the ground, leaving behind eternal, unquenchable red flames as His footprints in the pure white realm.

During his first ascension, Aiwass couldn’t make out the Candle Master’s appearance.

Now, Aiwass was instantly struck with awe by the breath-taking beauty and divinity before him.

He was robbed of all capacity to speak or move, frozen in place.

The Candle Master approached slowly and lowered his head to lick Aiwass’ arm.

Looking down, Aiwass saw the crystal snake scales on his forearm slowly fading away.

They were an adverse reaction that had appeared on Aiwass when he was suffused with the power of the Serpent Celestial Marshal.

Even after Aiwass’ ascension, the scales hadn’t faded, for his very soul had mutated, like an illness within the body.

Now, under the Candle Master’s licking, the influence of the Serpent Celestial Marshal completely receded.

As it completely vanished, Aiwass was suddenly moved in an indescribable way—it felt as if he had just finished a high-stakes exam, as if something pressing on his heart had been lifted.

He felt entirely at ease, even the heavy backpack he carried seemed less burdensome.

“You shall burn to ashes,” a gentle and deep voice whispered in Aiwass’ ear.

“Or you may spread your wings and soar, illuminating all of creation,” the voice of the Candle Master was warm and bright, inexplicably moving and comforting.

It felt like the gentle care of a father, the reliability of an elder brother, or the awe-inspiring yet affable guidance of a teacher.

Strictly speaking, Aiwass no longer remembered his own father’s voice, but this was the feeling it fostered within.

“I will… burn?”

Aiwass murmured.

“This is the paradox of illumination: though light reveals, it can also blind.

No creature with whole eyes can look upon the light directly, save the light itself.

Are you to burn?” the Candle Master answered.

—I don’t understand.

Aiwass thought ruefully.

He dared not interpret these riddles hastily, fearing a misinterpretation would be worse than not understanding at all.

However, seeming to know Aiwass’ confusion, the Candle Master elaborated:

“There are but two paths to pursue the light—become the fire yourself or behold it not with your eyes.”

“You have chosen the latter; now is the time for sealing the windows.”

Aiwass understood.

Among the two possible advancements, Torchbearer and Illuminator, he had chosen the latter.

Now it was time for his body to be transformed.

An Illuminator need not burn his life away as a torch.

Yet, as one born to Illumination, he cannot gaze too long upon the light.

If Aiwass hadn’t misunderstood, he needed to sacrifice at least one eye.

Otherwise, he couldn’t continue to ascend.

“I choose…

my right eye.”

Aiwass answered thus.

—If one didn’t care about the convenience of daily life, sacrificing both eyes would inevitably grant a powerful buff.

Such was the Path of Devotion—the more one gave up, the more one gained.

The Candle Master gently licked Aiwass’s right eye.

There was no pain—Aiwass only felt a touch of warmth when his field of vision in the right eye disappeared.

The next moment, Aiwass felt a moist sensation.

He reached out to touch it but was suddenly pricked.

Aiwass let out a soft hiss, feeling blood flow from his right eye.

He reached out forcefully to pull it out and found a black Sin Thorn.

—The beans he had previously eaten had indeed turned into Sin Thorns.

After Aiwass plucked it out, the black Sin Thorn quickly withered.

While withering, it condensed into small red fruits.

Eventually, the black Sin Thorn turned to ash, leaving behind a small handful of about thirty pomegranate seed-sized red fruits in the palm of Aiwass’s hand.

“Are these…

sour dates?”

Aiwass said in astonishment.

Aiwass knew thorns could bear dates.

…But now he was also growing dates?

Instinctively, he felt he wouldn’t be able to rid himself of the growth of Sin Thorns in his eyes while dreaming for some time.

Meaning he could grow a handful of these small sour dates periodically.

—So, can these be eaten?

Are they tasty?

How should they be eaten?

Aiwass held the sour dates, such thoughts popping into his mind.

He subconsciously opened his eyes only to discover that his right eye hadn’t completely lost sight—he clearly saw the dates shining with a red Dedication glow and a faint black aura.

It seemed to be some kind of True Vision.

As Aiwass thought this, the white space around him rapidly receded.

In a daze, he found himself back at the coronation ceremony.

The ceremony had reached its conclusion.

The Sun scepter that had been in his hand was now in Cardinal Matilda’s possession, and at that moment, his hands were clasped, holding a handful of red fruits.

A trail of fresh blood slowly ran down from his right eye, which had changed from its original azure to an amber hue as dark as honey.

Cardinal Matilda was reverently placing the mitre upon the candle and lighting it.

One large candle and two smaller ones, the same number as Bishop Mathers had.

These candles, made from The Great Tree, could burn for a long time, emitting a steady light.

Next, Cardinal Matilda placed the mitre on Aiwass’s head and gently touched it with the Sun scepter.

A golden radiance rippled through the space like waves.

Both of Aiwass’s heterochromatic pupils ignited a bright crimson glow.

The golden ceremonial cloak on his body fluttered without wind, the inscriptions on the golden sash like a scarf lighting up one by one, shining brightly.

Even the “Wings of Freedom Offered” on Aiwass’s back were activated and began to shine.

As the flames of the mitre atop Aiwass’s head flared and extinguished, the light on his body gradually faded as well.

Authentication complete.

All the onlookers around Aiwass bowed respectfully, then gradually dispersed in small groups.

They had witnessed the ascension of the new Archbishop and were clearly quite satisfied with it.

Pure White nodded at Aiwass while Sherlock and Lily clapped their hands in joy.

“Archbishop Moriarty, congratulations.”

Cardinal Matilda smiled and nodded at Aiwass, “The ceremony is now completely over.

I’ll take you to your room in a while.@@novelbin@@

After some time, when the study of the Advanced Divine Arts officially begins, we will meet again.”

She looked curiously at the fruits that had suddenly appeared in Aiwass’s hands, and asked politely, “By the way…

what are these?”

“These should be dates,” answered Aiwass.

The dates that grew on my body—looks like you might not grow these.

Quite curious, aren’t they?

Aiwass said to himself.

“A bit presumptuous…

may I try one?”

Cardinal Matilda asked curiously, “Of course, if not, it’s alright.

I can help you find some container to save them.”

This was the first time she saw an archbishop ending up with a handful of dates after his ascension.

Usually, one’s body would be engulfed in flames, leaving behind several scars.

The holy oil applied beforehand was to prevent the flames from inflicting too much harm on the body and at the same time to protect the clothes—to avoid igniting them before the public.

But Aiwass didn’t catch fire at all.

Instead, he was blinded in one eye and ended up with a handful of dates.

…Was this a gift or compensation from the Candle Master?

“—Please,” said Aiwass.

He had no hesitation in offering the dates held in his hands.

After all, he was still looking for someone to test their effect.

Cardinal Matilda was a Cardinal Archbishop of the Fifth Power Level.

Just in case the dates were inedible…

the thick-skinned and highly resistant Transcendents of the Path of Devotion probably couldn’t be poisoned to death by them.

“Feel free to try, please don’t be shy,” Aiwass said warmly.