When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 998: Chapter 351 Count Leipzig: I Have a Bold Idea

March 23rd.

It wasn’t until after nine in the morning that Aleister slowly opened her eyes.

“…My head is still a bit dizzy.”

She stared blankly at the ceiling for a while before contentedly closing her eyes and snuggling back into Isabel’s blankets.

This place was not Star Antimony, not the dangerous and chaotic Leipzig. This was Avalon, Glass Island, the Hall of Silver and Tin… it was Isabel’s bedroom.

This place was absolutely safe… home.

“Don’t give up on my dreams, keep sleeping…”

Muttering to herself, Aleister curled up warmly in slumber.

Half asleep and half awake, she felt someone quietly lifting the blanket, stealthily sneaking in, and then silently wrapping their arms around Aleister’s slender waist.

Aleister had no reaction, even turning to embrace that arm in return.

“Ah~”

Isabel’s voice, as if whispering a secret, resonated next to Aleister’s ear, accompanied by the warmth of her breath and the tickling sensation of her falling hair: “How did you know it was me who came in?”

“… If it wasn’t you, your guards would have thrown them out, I guess.”

Aleister turned around, her arms encircling Isabel, nuzzling into Isabel’s embrace and murmuring softly.

Of course, there was another reason—she could smell Isabel’s scent.

Thanks to the keen sense of smell of the Son of the Moon. Aleister had detected Isabel’s scent early on as she tiptoed closer.

Isabel tenderly stroked Aleister’s head in her arms and softly said, “If you’re tired, take some more rest.”

In Isabel’s memory, Aiwass had hardly ever truly rested for a period of time. Even when there seemed to be nothing going on, he was always diligently studying or handling state affairs. Since Isabel met Aiwass, he had never taken a day off.

Even now, as Aiwass lay in a truly deep sleep, he was still guarding the Eternal Theocracy in another way. And at the same time, he took on another role, entering into even busier and more dangerous work…

Anyway, Isabel had already asked—Aleister’s schedule was quite free. Several days’ worth of time was enough for a round trip.

The chance to clear her mind and rest well now… It was an extremely rare opportunity.

For this, Isabel handed over all the big and small matters of these two days to Mycroft Hermes. It was to spend a bit more time with Aleister.

She gently patted Aleister’s back, softly singing the lullaby that she had sung in a dream when they first met.

Back then, Aiwass was struggling against the drowsiness her lullaby brought… but now, Aleister had no need to resist.

She had already fallen into a peaceful and deep slumber.

At this very moment.

Far away in Star Antimony, Leipzig, the City of Knowledge.

Count Leipzig was forced to wake up before the sun rose.

It wasn’t that there was any work to deal with… rather, it was the arrival of someone bearing work that forced him to act.

In the swimming pool of Leipzig Manor, Pengbonazi casually wrapped his arm around a young girl and stepped out. Water droplets trickled down with his movement, scattering on the ground, while he simply shook his head casually, like a dog shaking off water from his hair.

From the tray always held aloft by a butler at his side, he took a glass of iced, sugared lemon brandy and took a sip.

The First Red Prime Minister chuckled lightly, leisurely saying, “Still haven’t found Lady Bayard?

“—In your territory, you can’t find one person even after several hours. You’ve disappointed me, Feyn.”

Pengbonazi rarely ever uttered the name of Count Leipzig, and leisurely poured the rest of his drink over Count Leipzig’s hair.

Leipzig valued his hair quite a bit, often giving an angry glance to anyone who touched it casually. But now, he dared not move a muscle, allowing the sticky-sweetened alcohol to flow through his hair and down his neck, staining his expensive suit.

He couldn’t afford to wipe off the liquor and was momentarily lost in thought.

Feyn… it had been a long time since he had heard this name.

After the former Feyn Heinrich became the beloved of the Queen, people respectfully addressed him as Prince Heinrich; and after he was ordered to build Leipzig, the City of Knowledge, as his domain, people even more respectfully called him Count Leipzig. Now his friends usually just called him “Leipzig” or “Heinrich.”

Nowadays, probably not many people still remembered his name.

…What did his father suddenly calling him by his name mean? Was it dissatisfaction? Or affection? Or perhaps, it was control… or a warning? Was it implying that before him, he was still a child, or perhaps dissatisfied with my control over Leipzig…

Count Leipzig thought quickly but still couldn’t decipher Pengbonazi’s intentions, so he could only respectfully say, “At least we already know that Lady Bayard has been staying with Prince Xiyaldo this whole time…”

“She likes that type? Then give him to her.”

Pengbonazi casually said, “I’ll go remove little Xiyaldo from Valentine’s list, she can take him directly if she wants.”

“Yes, we also found out she took a monster to the Spirit Summoning Tower…”

“…Monster?”

Pengbonazi raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised: “A Shadow Demon?”

Count Leipzig shook his head: “No, it is a creature of flesh and blood. It looks… somewhat like a young Dragon.”

“Perhaps it’s her pet,” he suggested.

Pengbonazi dismissed it with a chuckle: “It could also be her lover or her child, or perhaps both lover and child. Who knows.”

Hearing this intelligence, he looked at Count Leipzig again, slightly satisfied, he nodded: “Not bad, you haven’t disappointed me too much.”

“All thanks to you…”

Before Count Leipzig could finish his sycophantic remark, he was cut off.

“—But it’s not enough.”

Pengbonazi casually handed his now-empty wine glass to Count Leipzig, gently patting the back of his hand: “Don’t make me wait too long… When can you find Lady Bayard? Give me a precise time.”

“If all goes well…”

“I don’t want to hear vague talk like ‘if’.”

Pengbonazi’s gaze was deep: “By tonight, before darkness falls, I want to see her. Don’t we already have a lead? Then go find her.”

Count Leipzig replied: “Yes…”

“Oh, and remember to be polite, don’t cause me any trouble.”

“…Yes.”

After a moment of silence, Count Leipzig still bowed his head and replied.

The blond, red-eyed youth emphasized, his eyes full of weariness. It was the fatigue of dealing with various enemies that his “children” kept enticing—despite Pengbonazi’s capricious, extravagant, and decadent nature, he didn’t actually have many enemies of his own.

After all, Pengbonazi was a follower of the Banquet Master, believing in “all meetings are but encounters with guests.”

His attitude towards guests was far better than towards his own children. Instead of threats and coercion, he was more inclined to invite people out for fun, to make friends through endless joy. But after getting to know him better, his attitude would gradually sour, revealing his irritable and fickle side.

On the other hand, his children—those Sons of the Moon he transformed—tended to be much more rampant and high-profile in their actions. They were never afraid of causing trouble; in the worst case, they would just come back and be chastised by Pengbonazi. After venting his frustration, Pengbonazi would always clean up their messes.

Among them, the most infamous was the “Succubus” Emma.

But in the past twenty-odd years… Count Leipzig had precisely sensed that Pengbonazi was becoming increasingly irritable and aggressive. In the past, the foolish acts of those children would be met with a laugh or even a guffaw, but now he was getting angry more frequently…

His desires were also not as intense as before, seemingly in need of venting every moment—back then, he was relatively more inclined to throw parties, sharing blood or wine with friends he met. Listening to music every day, watching performances, gossiping and critiquing the foolishness and failure of the King and other factions, his carnal desires took up less than one-tenth of his interests.

The fact that he has left so few legitimate offspring over the years is evidence of this.

—It seems to be a kind of anxious emotion.

It could also be a sign of mental aging.

Count Leipzig knew from chatting with friends at the Spirit Summoning Tower… the longevity from the Path of Love doesn’t mean immortality. That is a kind of “extremely powerful life force,” but the spirit is not of the Longevity Species.

The lifecycles of the Sons of the Moon, compared to the genuinely long-lived and therefore very slow-paced Elves, are much closer to humans. This is the proof.

And this also means that the Sons of the Moon have another type of “lifespan”: their spiritual lifespan. Even the Sons of the Moon, being creatures of multiple paths, will grow more extreme with increasing lifespan. This is because all material life will lose control due to overwhelming energy from the paths, so the Sons of the Moon will also become increasingly extreme with age. The Sons of the Moon inherently lack a so-called “true nature,” so the loss of “true nature” does not apply to them.

—Clearly, Pengbonazi’s sanity is on the brink of collapse.

If he cannot embark on The Way of the Perfect Human and ascend to the Sixth Power Level… when his Path of Love completely mutates and begins to overrun The Path of Transcendence, he probably will no longer be able to ascend.

However, perhaps there is another way…

A sensational idea suddenly popped into Count Leipzig’s mind.

Even at the moment of conceiving this idea, he felt his own stagnant Path of Transcendence begin to activate at a visibly tangible pace.

“Father… I suddenly have an idea…”

He hesitated slightly, stammering—because the idea was all too presumptuous.

And Pengbonazi gave him a glance.

Normally, he would have immediately erupted in anger at such hesitance, weakness, and refusal to be direct, chastising or even beating the other person.

But seeing the clear purple halo in Count Leipzig’s pupils, Pengbonazi took interest and casually accepted a towel handed to him by a girl beside him. He simply draped it over his shoulder, then crossed his arms and waited patiently for Count Leipzig to organize his thoughts.

Since the girl beside Pengbonazi was also in the know—her father being a participant in the Ring of Ouroboros, and even almost a sacrifice—Count Leipzig did not avoid the topic:

“…Father, that [Ring of Ouroboros] ritual, obtained from the ‘Ouroboros Continuation’ tablet, is actually not restricted for use only by those on the transcendence path.”

“Hmm, I’m aware,” he responded.

“The Rose Cross Society is summoning Transcenders from around the world of the Fifth Power Level, bringing them together… planning to use the Ring of Ouroboros ritual to steal the power of the Fallen Celestial Marshal. For this purpose, they need more Transcenders to draw down enough power during the ritual…”

Count Leipzig spoke slowly with some hesitation: “Could it be that we, the Sons of the Moon… can also utilize the [Ring of Ouroboros]?”