When the plot-skips players into the game world

Although Isabel was not needed at all for this operation, as the landing point of the teleportation portal, she still had to be informed of the details of the action.

When Meg went to see Aiwass in the afternoon, she took Master Yanis's Demonic Painting with her.

To ensure Lily's safety, she had already been transported to the Hall of Silver and Tin through the Demonic Painting earlier. Otherwise, the Bone Sculptor could have killed Lily before even getting to Aiwass.

It was from that time that Meg realized... something was bound to go wrong tonight.

It was precisely because Yanis must have known, that he had made arrangements in advance.

Different from her outward appearance, Meg's feelings were rational and contemplative. She simply chose not to express her inner thoughts.

So, although Aiwass had told her about the conversion method and various taboos of the lost profession "Ascension Sorcerer" and had explained in detail a ritual called "Shedding Skin Ceremony."

She still didn't undergo the transformation immediately. It was because she wasn't sure what she would become after the conversion, and tonight she had to make sure that enemy was eliminated.

As for the curse, spy, Noble Red, and other issues, they could be set aside for now.

Meg had confirmed through her own means that Aiwass had neither lied nor omitted anything.

Nor did Meg want to force her advancement. She knew well that her chances of success were almost nil.

—But she had no other choice.

Even if she died in the Dream Realm, her soul shattered, it was still better than slowly withering away on a deathbed... Such a state would be far too ugly.

And here she was, at her age. Her many years of experience in mystical studies enabled her to confirm after just one listen that the ceremony was completely feasible.

She could even improve upon the ritual with her experience—and she was confident that she needed only one attempt at the ceremony to successfully complete the "Shedding Skin."

It was merely about signing a contract with the Serpent Celestial Marshal to gain the potential for Shedding Skin, then borrowing the power of the Butterfly Celestial Marshal through the ritual. The process of signing a contract with a Celestial Marshal posed no danger, and the price for borrowing power from the Butterfly Celestial Marshal would be paid by the Serpent Celestial Marshal.

After completing the preliminary preparations, the only thing that really needed serious attention was the Shedding Skin Ceremony itself.

Like a caterpillar forming a cocoon and transforming into a butterfly; shedding the old body to obtain a stronger one... The only things to be mindful of were two points, first was the "determination to transcend the past self," and second was to endure excruciating pain.

To tell the truth, Meg had actually already completed the "Shedding Skin Ceremony" before.

It was just that she didn't know it was that ritual at the time.

Meg's former husband was a powerful adventurer. He was a free-spirited foreign swordsman, nearly twenty years her senior, who had already traveled through eight nations. And Meg was only twenty-five when they married... She had just graduated from Royal Law University at the age of twenty-two and had traveled with him, gradually growing in the process.

Their wedding was not the usual kind blessed by friends and relatives—it was a ritual performed before challenging a dragon. The wedding took place in an adventurers' camp in the wild, attended only by their teammates.

The reason was simple—the journey of an adventurer was to challenge dragons. With the dragon being so near, if they let go of this opportunity, he wasn't sure if there would be a next time.

He was prepared for death, but he didn't want to die unmarried. So, he married the besotted Meg... That was more of a joke than a formal wedding ceremony.

She hadn't even worn a wedding dress, and the priest who blessed them was an illegal priest from within the adventuring party.

But for Meg, there was no doubt that she was already married.

When she finally waited in the camp and learned from the mouth of the sole surviving thief of the Path of Adaptation that her husband had not returned... she had already made up her mind to one day avenge him.

Over the course of twenty years, she never forgot the hatred of the past. She used every means to enhance her power.

Twenty years later, she was the same age as her husband had been. And she encountered that dragon once more.

This time, she killed the dragon with her own hands and bathed in its blood—a wish her husband had once had.

He was a demon of the Path of Transcendence, and if he could successfully bathe in dragon blood, he could gain enough strength from this act of transcendence, and possibly even the blood of the Dragon Clan.

But at the time, Meg, being of the Path of Authority, was unable to absorb the dragon blood. The ceremony only caused her immense pain, with her flesh disintegrating and bringing her no benefits whatsoever.

And as she lay dying, the Silver-Crowned Dragon personally bestowed its blessing upon her.

"—The brave shall be rewarded, the loyal shall be awarded, and the strong shall become stronger than others,"

boomed the voice of the Silver-Crowned Dragon in her heart. The Pillar God bestowed upon her a Decree Spell stronger than that of ordinary people.

She named this unique power Dragon Blood Edict, to commemorate the motive for which she received her decree.

If only she had known about the Shedding Skin ceremony at the time...

Standing in front of the shattered statue, Meg shook her head slightly, dispelling the rising thoughts in her mind.

There were not so many ifs. If she had benefited correctly from the ceremony back then, she wouldn't have been compensated by the Silver-Crowned Dragon. At that time, she didn't have so many desires for transcendence, and perhaps wouldn't have been recognized by the Serpent Celestial Marshal.

"Miss Meg... the enemy should indeed be defeated this time."

The Guardian sighed with relief and confirmed, "What do we do next?"

Meg pulled herself out of her reminiscences and laughed heartily, "What else to do? Quickly record this matter—say that Master Lars Graham from the Irisflower People was actually an assassin, attempting to murder an important figure when I caught him red-handed!

"Then he tried to retaliate, planning to destroy Glass Island at the cost of his life. Subsequently, I countered his spell, and cut him into mincemeat! We've got all the evidence prepared, Master Yanis is the witness... Next step is to write to the Holy Nation, have them condemn the Irisflower People."

"...Is that all right?"

The Guardian was somewhat worried, "You're handling all the matters? Aren't you supposed to be... ascending?"

The enmity of the Irisflower People would only lower the success rate.

"Hmph."

Meg just scoffed, "Sherlock and Aiwass, those two lads like playing dead, don't they? It's a tradition of ours in Avalon... after all, strictly speaking, Lancelot I is also playing dead, isn't he?

"Since they're all so eager to see me dead, I might as well pretend to die this time," Avalon said.

Perhaps by the time tonight passed and The Sun rose, "Meg" would no longer exist.

With this thought, another idea sprung up in Meg's mind.

Perhaps dying together with "Lars Graham" would be a fitting end for "Meg"...

Meanwhile, Lily and Isabel were getting dressed, gathered around Aiwass's bedside.

Strictly speaking, this was actually Isabel's bed. It was just that Yanis had teleported Aiwass here.

Her teleportation had no fluctuations, it was exceptionally smooth. Even Aiwass did not realize he had been silently teleported, his sleep was not disturbed at all.

Because Meg had said, nearly everyone was present this time. He didn't need to worry about anything, he just needed to sleep peacefully.

If she had said this to someone else, they might have become so nervous that they couldn't fall asleep.

However, Aiwass chose to fully trust Meg.

Not to mention, this painting indicated the involvement of Yanis.

——If even Meg and Yanis couldn't be trusted in Avalon, then there was no one else to trust.

With the great Guardian, Yanis, and Meg still alive... even in the future war that would devastate nations, Avalon couldn't muster such high-end powers. By then, Avalon, at best, would only have two left.

One was the Grand Adjudicator whom Aiwass was not familiar with, and the other was the old man who had served as the Grand Justice even before Queen Sofia's accession to the throne.

What then was there to be afraid of?

Let alone Noble Red, even if the Rose Cross Society came, they could definitely protect him—being woken up would mean they had been negligent or had underestimated the enemy.

Thus, although Aiwass did not know who would attack him tonight, he fell into a very peaceful sleep.

This was the first time Isabel had ever seen a man sleeping, and especially her first time seeing Aiwass's face so peaceful and unguarded.

She quietly approached Aiwass, wanting to reach out and touch his face.

But her heart was beating so fast—thumping loudly, making her feel as if it were about to leap out.

Feeling somewhat nervous, she turned back and grabbed Lily's hand, and at the same time, wiped the sweat off her own palm.

Lily moved her lips as if to say, Shall I wake up the young master?

——No!

Isabel shook her head vigorously.

This fun and rare opportunity, if missed, might not come again!

Advancing and retreating, she finally reached out her hand and gently touched Aiwass's face.

...Huh?

Aiwass didn't wake up? Find adventures on empire

Isabel was somewhat surprised.

Last time she observed Aiwass napping, she noticed he was a light sleeper. Just her and Lily approaching had been enough to wake him up. If not for his steady breathing, he seemed as if he hadn't been sleeping at all.

But now, Aiwass was sleeping so deeply...

So Isabel carefully sat down on the edge of the bed.

After making this move, she waited a little while.

Seeing that Aiwass didn't wake up just because the bed had shaken slightly, she quietly placed her hand on the other side of Aiwass's body.

She slowly leaned down, wanting to kiss Aiwass's forehead.

But as she lowered her head, she suddenly realized that her long hair, falling naturally under gravity, brushed against Aiwass's face.

Aiwass reflexively furrowed his brow slightly, startling Isabel.

She immediately leaned back, and the bed shook noticeably. This time, Aiwass actually woke up.

Upon opening his eyes and seeing Isabel with flushed cheeks sitting beside the bed, the still groggy Aiwass was confused for a good while.

…Oh, I'm not fully awake yet. Going back to sleep.

This thought crossed his mind, and he turned over and closed his eyes again.

Aiwass wrapped his arms around the blanket of Isabel, who was in his arms, hugging it tightly, and curled up into a ball. Startled, Isabel stood up and edged closer to Lily, and the two of them moved away quite a distance.

——Did he wake up? Didn't his eyes open just now??

——No, the young master sleeps like that. Today he's actually quite deep in sleep; usually, you sitting down might already wake him...

The two of them whispered to each other, murmuring behind closed lips.

And on the painting behind them, Yanis appeared, shaking her head with a sigh.

You had your chance but didn't make use of it...