When the plot-skips players into the game world

The code-named "Bone Sculptor," Lars Graham, fell into contemplation.

He crouched beneath the Aiwass dormitory building, having waited for almost half a week.

He went there every evening to wait, maintaining his stealth until dawn. But when the dawn came, he still hadn't returned… At first, Lars waited for another half day, then he began to feel tired and went back to rest.

After all, he was already of considerable age, and his physical and mental strength had clearly begun to lag behind.

Old Lars had reached the point where he couldn't go on living unless he took up a side job in the Path of Dusk.

Even using Spiritual Medicine to cure his diseases was of no use because his entire body and even his soul had begun to irreversibly age… This was also related to the damage to his soul when his ascension failed in his youth.

But after Lars set up his ambush, Aiwass, as if triggered by some instinct, never returned. Thus, old Lars could only crouch and wait until dawn before leaving on time.

—And today, Aiwass finally came back.

There was just a slight problem.

That was, the Grand Arbitrator Meg had come back with him.

As a Transcendent of the three Paths, Lars, despite his aging, still held an advantage over another fifth Energy Level Transcendent. Even within the same energy level, the disparity in strength was remarkably obvious.

If he faced the Guardian, Lars had at least the confidence to retreat intact. If luck was on his side, he might even manage to mount a very effective counterattack—although the chances of turning the tables were slim unless the Guardian didn't ride his mount.

But his oppressive force against the Guardian was nothing compared to Meg's pressure on him.

The two most troublesome Transcendents in all of Avalon were the Grand Arbitrator and the Grand Justice. Those two were also among the oldest Transcendents and were not much younger than Lars.

Compared to the Grand Justice, the Grand Arbitrator's combat power was a significant level higher.

—He must not confront Meg.

Lars's thought process was very clear—he clearly chickened out.

So he chose to continue waiting. It wasn't until two hours later that Meg finally left.

Seeing Aiwass was still remaining in the dormitory, Lars breathed a sigh of relief.

But the cautious old man decided to wait a little longer… wait until it was completely dark and the streets were empty.

Because before killing Aiwass, there were some things he needed to ask him.

For instance, whether that "Miss Aleister" was really Croix? If so, he might even need to kidnap Aiwass to force Croix out.

At the very least, he couldn't give him a chance to send a distress signal.

After all, Aiwass had already been the target of assassination three times. It would be utterly shameful for Avalon if it continued. From this point of view, it wouldn't be impossible for him to be accompanied by a fourth or even fifth Energy Level Guardian.

—As a fifth-level Transcendent, the Bone Sculptor thought he was being too cautious.

Even when dealing with a second-level Path of Devotion Transcendent, he was ready for a fight with an equal-level adversary. He had to strike with full force right from the start—only then would the ambush make sense.

If Croix were as cautious as himself, she definitely wouldn't encounter any trouble.

It was just unfortunate that she probably wouldn't be able to witness this perfect demonstration of assassination anymore...

When the sky had completely darkened, the Bone Sculptor gently tightened his grip on his staff. A semi-transparent white ghost appeared beside him.

"Go inside and take a look."

The Bone Sculptor softly instructed, "Check if he is inside, asleep or not—and if there is anyone else there."

As a high-level Transcendent of the Path of Beauty, he possessed the ability of "Artistic Vision." However, while Yanis as a Painter could project her sight onto her paintings, as a Sculptor, he could only peer through sculptures at others.

Compared to paintings, sculptures were not only rarer but also had a more limited field of view. The advantage was that he could animate a large area of sculpture.

From the perspective of surveillance, it was simpler to send a ghost to have a look for him.

The ghost girl, dressed in a Priest's robe, nodded slightly and turned into the void that mortals couldn't directly see with their eyes.

She passed through the wall, stealthily entering number 14 Roning Street. She wandered a bit in each room, looking around every area.

Seeing Aiwass sleeping soundly, she hesitated for a moment, but still extended her finger and lightly touched Aiwass's lips.

After confirming he still had the warmth of a living person, and wasn't an illusion or a puppet, she finally left.

The ghost whispered, her lips moving slightly, but no sound came out.

This was an inherent trait of the resurrected dead who had lost their bodies.

However, through the Bone Sculptor's Path feature "Creation Communion: Sculpting," he could communicate directly with the life he created, regardless of their spirit, intelligence, or language.

This ability was usually used to communicate with animated statues, doors, and reliefs on walls, giving them passwords to monitor certain areas, or directly dispatching them for combat.

And naturally, the Spirit Servants created by the Bone Sculptor's own hands counted as "creations" sculpted by him.

"…There's only one person, huh."

The Bone Sculptor nodded slightly, approvingly said, "Good, very good."

Since this was an assassination mission, he couldn't bring his sculptures, and there weren't many statues in the area that could be animated.

Otherwise, even if Meg truly did engage in battle with him, the Bone Sculptor at least had the confidence to escape safely—with the sculptures of knights at the entrance of the Hall of Silver and Tin alone, they were powerful enough to be of considerable assistance.

Fortunately, he had his spirit servants.

It was just a pity that he had left the school a long time ago. If he wanted to continue creating spirit servants, he would have to return to the Iris Kingdom—as a vice-dean of Westide University Art Academy and a bona fide master, he could still find plenty of lovely and talented students.

He needed more ghost servants, the Bone Sculptor thought to himself.

He stretched out his hand and made a downward swipe.

The Bone Sculptor's entire body transformed into a spectral figure—as if sucked away by something in front of him, he crossed through the walls and barriers in an instant, pulled by some invisible force into Aiwass's bedroom, and then reconstituted.

But as soon as he crossed over, he immediately stiffened.

—Because the bedroom was empty.

Hadn't he just confirmed it?

He abruptly turned back to look at his spirit servant—but from her panicked, surprised expression, the Bone Sculptor instantly realized what the problem was.

He quickly scanned the room and noticed that at some point, a Demonic Painting had been added.
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The painting depicted Isabel reading in her bedroom.

—[Gallery of Paintings]!

This was the "art" from the Path of Beauty, controlled by Yanis!

Aiwass must have been transported to the other side of the painting by Yanis!

"Long time no see, Mr. Lars Graham,"

Yanis's voice came from the air, "Or should I say... Bone Sculptor?"

The Bone Sculptor turned toward the direction from which the voice was coming, only to find another rather mundane painting.

The painting was originally just a spring landscape meant to hang on the wall as a decoration, at least giving the wall a bit of color.

Now, that painting had changed into a portrait of Yanis.

She was in the painting, wearing a white wide-brimmed hat, dressed as if she were on a spring outing. It was as if Yanis had always been part of the landscape painting—

She turned around within the painting, smiling at the Bone Sculptor: "Now that you're here, don't leave."

No sooner had she finished speaking than the Bone Sculptor felt a force pulling from the painting. Like a vortex, it viciously tugged on his spirit—his spirit servant was the first to be affected.

The bone sculpting staff in his hand did not fall off, but the ghost was directly sucked into the painting.

As the ghost was sealed, the Bone Sculptor immediately felt the connection with his staff severed.

Her priest robe instantly transformed into a white dress. Her translucent body also regained its solidity.

She looked like a shy little girl, sitting on the grass, at a loss. Yanis, with a smile, pinched her face, making her look into her own eyes.

"I waited for you till the wee hours. You're just wasting my time."

A hearty voice came from outside: "Damn, you really know how to stake out—anyway, [shut your mouth first]. If you want to surrender, raise your hands."

Before he knew it, Meg appeared outside the window.

And a half-elf woman he had never seen before was holding a wooden staff almost as tall as herself, following behind Meg. She was silent, not saying a word, only the staff in her hand glowing faintly. Both she and Meg had thus acquired the ability to fly freely.

Although the Bone Sculptor did not recognize her, this tall half-elf likewise exuded an aura that made one's heart palpitate. Her pupils shone like glowing mercury, radiating dazzling light.

By process of elimination, this must be the very mysterious Grand Adjudicator.

—What's happening?

Almost immediately, the Bone Sculptor realized he was surrounded—incomplete gear, surrounded by three Transcendents of the same level, including Meg. Thunder rumbled from outside, a phenomenon caused by the Gryphon releasing its electrical power.

This meant that he had almost no possibility of fighting back, his previous ambush completely pointless.

"...Interesting,"

The Bone Sculptor wasn't afraid, but calmly spoke after resisting Meg's spellbinding with a strong will.

—Aiwass was merely a trap. The bait on a bear trap.

And he was the beast that had fallen for it... A trapped beast, though, might not be vulnerable. Being of the fifth energy level, Meg's Word Spirits might not be effective.

"—My plan was supposed to be perfect, foolproof."

"Where did things go wrong? At which point did it start to unravel?"

The Bone Sculptor tightened his grip on the now useless bone sculpting staff, still remaining composed as he asked in a deep voice.