Chapter 1059: Chapter 397: Eh, How Did You Die?

After pushing open that door, Aiwass’s spiritual body stepped into the corridor filled with fantasy.

Once again, he came to the three different doors.

This time, the first door had disappeared–it had turned into the painting Aiwass had seen before, the one he had completed.

Aiwass stopped, admired it carefully for a while, and then smiled satisfactorily.

“It looks really nice…”

He murmured softly.

–This is my own handiwork.

The painting, dominated by red and black hues, had an awe-inspiring strength. If a Transcendent of the Path of Love, especially a Banquet Master believer saw this painting, they would surely receive resonance and inspiration from the Path of Love.

As for the remaining two doors… they were both still open.

There were even more vines entwined on the second door now.

Of the three petals on it, two were lit up, one brighter and the other dimmer.

As for the last door, it was very eerie…

The iron door showed no change on the surface, still looking the same as before–with two petals lit up, one brighter than the other.

According to Aiwass’s memory, the dimmer of the two petals on these doors was about the same brightness as the dimmer petal on the second door in the previous round. But the brighter petal in the third painting was only about as bright as the second door in the previous round.

Aiwass paused in front of the two doors, lost in thought.

Given Candle Master’s preference for the number “three,” it is highly likely that there are three ascendants in each of the three paintings.

And if the “brightness of the petals” represents other ascendants who have chosen different “possibilities”…

Then in “The White King,” the group of ascendants should have all chosen the same direction in the first round, but in the second round, one or two people diverged, choosing another possibility.

In other words, the second round choice for “The White King” could only be 5:1. “With Me,” however, becomes strange.

The ratio of his score in the previous round should have been 2:1, but the third round became 3:1.

–Why did it suddenly lose two votes?

In this promotion ceremony, even death does not affect completing tasks. Just like Aiwass, you can still cast a vote and complete the painting normally.

“… Is it the same situation as Andrea?”

Aiwass fell into contemplation.

It was possible.

From seeing the puzzle to finalizing a choice, there was only a minute of thinking time.

Although the entire world would be frozen in time, and there was no one else in that space but oneself, making it impossible for other ascendants to directly interfere with the vote… But if one were already in a state where they could not act upon entering that state, then voting would be impossible.

For example, if they were frozen, petrified, sealed, or severely injured but not yet completely dead.

“…Interesting.”

Aiwass chuckled lightly.

The third door really had the highest difficulty. Just one round and two people had lost their right to vote.

However, he was not worried about Aleister encountering any trouble.

Although Aleister was not as fond of thinking as he was… in such a ceremony, being too good at thinking isn’t exactly a good thing either.

Just like Andrea’s actions–as long as one does not think at all, one can still achieve victory. Decryption only decides the distribution of contribution and the speed of completing the painting; in the end, you still need to defeat the opponent.

And without saying anything else…

–At least in terms of “being able to fight,” Aleister is the strongest.

Now, apart from the Little Crow, she should even be able to bring the Wild Hunt King with her.

Little Butterfly was registered here because Aiwass had used it once in the Path of Devotion promotion ceremony. And as Aiwass got closer to the Fifth Power Level, his frequency of using a Fifth Power Level Little Butterfly decreased even more.

But Aiwass did not need to level up in the Path of Dusk, so the Wild Hunt King could only be assigned to Aleister’s side.

In other words, Aleister had at least two Sixth Power Level Summoned Beasts on her. Moreover, their specialties were different from each other… add to that the fact that Aleister herself was not without magical abilities either.

Whether it’s the magic of Star Ice, Charm of Radiance, or Light of Paradise, as well as the reversed summoning effect of the Wild Hunt King, all these give Aleister the ability to protect herself, not to mention she could also use low-level ritual spells without materials.

“…Let’s take a look at the second painting first, to see if she’s there.”

With that thought, Aiwass chose to enter the second door.

And the world around him changed in an instant.

From the painterly style, so vivid as to appear moist and thus somewhat distorted, the world turned suddenly into a fairy-tale style–or rather, like a cartoon or a children’s picture book.

“This artistic style…”

It seemed to make Aiwass a little uncomfortable.

He checked himself and found that his spiritual body had now reverted to the attire of a Cardinal. It was different from before, where even as a spirit, he’d still retain the suit of the “guest” he was playing.

But what was different this time was that there was a halo above his head. His body had also become semi-transparent, with the part below his waist almost completely transparent.

…Is this implying that I am dead?

“Are you… Mr. The Sun?”

A somewhat surprised voice rang out: “Could you possibly be from the first painting…”

Can you see me?

Aiwass turned around bewilderedly and saw another soul floating beside him.

It was an old man with a white beard, clutching a peculiar magic wand in his hand.

Above it hovered a deep red tetrahedron, while below was a purplish-pink, copper-colored scepter – even the wand itself had become much simplified due to caricaturization. Originally, its design was quite complex, with numerous encryption structures to prevent decryption and copying. Now, having discarded those elements, it had become a “wand” that fits the popular imagination.

The old man wore a long mage robe, with a lengthy white beard. A halo like Aiwass’s crowned his head, and his semi-transparent body radiated light.

Isn’t this… old Sandro? Hey, how did you die?

“…Mr. Pelican?”

Aiwass first confirmed the other’s identity, then politely asked, “Did you die here?”

Upon hearing what Aiwass said, Old Sandro felt utterly absurd.

-Why does this man take ‘death,’ a serious and dangerous matter, for granted like this!

“Where did you kick the bucket,” was greeted as naturally as “Have you eaten yet?” – so much so that Old Sandro, who had intended to come and complain, was choked up.

Old Sandro wanted to say that the “Great Snake” probably had a screw loose. But considering that the “Great Snake” and “The Sun” were likely allies, he held back.

The old mage pondered for a bit and decided to start from the beginning, explaining how they ran into one another in a more tactful way: “I think this ritual is a selection from past events…”

He also took the time to educate Aiwass.

Transcendents from other places, unlike the mages from Narcissus Duchy, lack systematic research on promotion rituals–their knowledge spans from the types of games, basic rules, universal openings, to the promotion keywords at the end, all backed with statistics and investigations.

“This promotion ritual is clearly the ‘ally score-snatching mode’, which is a classic mode in the New Moon Ritual’s promotion ceremony — that is, a team collaboratively completes a difficult task and then receives scores based on corresponding contributions.

“If you believe you’re strong enough, you can carry out the task alone, monopolizing all the points; if you think you can’t complete the task swiftly by yourself, you band together to finish the task, using the numerical advantage to accelerate the task’s completion and outpace solo powerhouses.

“In the rules of promotion rituals studied by the Mage Tower, this is one of the most strategic ones. Deciding on your own strength and allocating your team to achieve the optimal solution involves a complex set of mathematical formulas… I won’t go into details, but in short, not fighting is the best outcome.”

Old Sandro was explaining earnestly, and Aiwass was attentively listening and learning.

— If the two sides start fighting, it would waste time and delay task completion, possibly allowing other teams to come over, complete the task and take the contribution, or disrupt the nearly finished task. All these possibilities make the promotion ritual under this format favor peace; once a fight begins, it’s a disadvantage.

The ritual even specifically includes a clause that “you can still complete the task after death” – clearly signaling that killing is meaningless, so get on with the task!

The crux of this ritual is “scoring” – you have to snatch scores from both your opponents and your teammates.

“– But I even withdrew voluntarily, and she still chased after me to kill me!”

At this point, Old Sandro’s grievances finally burst through.

The old mage complained: “The Holy Number of Candle Master is three, and there are three paintings here, meaning there are three people in this promotion ritual–I had already left this place for another, and I even gave you a heads-up before leaving… If you were planning to act, you should’ve gone after that hidden individual first!”

You don’t need to kill anyone to clear this ritual, why the heck did you rush over to kill me!

Are you out of your mind?!

And what’s with that Demon? Is that a demon hatched inside a Demon Incarnation’s body? How can it move around so freely…

Even the spell guided by the “Fire Tetrahedron” failed to harm that demon.

At this thought, Aiwass pondered.

If she still hasn’t appeared by now… Perhaps the Princess has gone to the third painting.

“Since you’re already dead,” Aiwass began to inquire, “you’re essentially free–so who is that third ascender in this painting who hasn’t died yet?”

“It’s Clown Laro.”

Old Sandro’s emotions cooled slightly, and he nodded in response: “Here, all living people are turned into animals. For instance, I’d become a baboon, and the ‘Great Snake’ a fox. So it’s difficult to confirm who the ascender is if they choose to hide… My making myself known was clearly a gesture of goodwill.”

“What about Laro?”

Aiwass asked with interest: “What animal did he become? A donkey? A mule? Or perhaps a clever pig?”

But the answer from Old Sandro was beyond Aiwass’s expectations: “He is a dog.

“–There, that’s the dog sunbathing over there.”