When the plot-skips players into the game world

Aiwass found it surprising that Isabel and Yulia, two girls who normally had no social interaction, got along quite well after meeting each other.

Although he did not know how much of it was a performance, they indeed quickly became inseparable after meeting. Lily also joined them for a chat, and they seemed to have a good time.

Aiwass just sat nearby, nodding gently from time to time, then adding a few words to show he was still listening.

In the midst of their enjoyable conversation, it seemed only natural for Yulia to leave with Isabel.

Although Isabel had a general idea of Aiwass's plan from the time she drew for him, he reminded her again—just in case—if he were to disappear, not to worry too much or interfere.

For some reason, Isabel's mood actually improved after hearing this.

Once Yulia had left with Isabel, Aiwass stood up from his wheelchair and began to arrange some defensive rituals around the house.

Even though he had the Shadow Demon as a safety net, Aiwass was at least going to fight back. Any use of Transcendent power could be detected through residual traces of Path. If there were no traces of Path of Devotion left, only the Shadow Demon's traces of Transcendence, then Aiwass's plan would indeed have a loophole.

It was best for Aiwass to annihilate them all using only the power of Path of Devotion. In this way, the logic of him being attacked by a Shadow Demon not accounted for in the information and taken away would make sense.

And since Aiwass was going to let the Shadow Demon take action, the residual traces of Transcendence in his home were perfectly normal. All he had to do was destroy these rituals before leaving.

For this reason, Aiwass could use the rituals as defense and counterattack in this ambush—after all, those people would all be killed by him.

This was also a kind of natural silencing.

This was the first time Aiwass, as a Demon Scholar, fought a battle "with preparation."

The first thing he prepared was a countermeasure against curses.

There were four Demon Scholars among the attackers. Although their Energy Levels weren't high, at least they had reached the third level. This meant it was possible they had the ability to cast curses.

Without a medium, cursing from afar was very difficult. They could only curse the entire house, and the strength of it wouldn't be too intense.

In such a situation, using gemstone ornaments could guide the curse.

Aiwass adorned himself with sapphire jewelry. Then, he burned black sage and used the ashes to draw an "8" with an open top side on the ground.

At the circle's position, Aiwass left a strand of his hair, which he wrapped around a sapphire ring. In the open position, he placed many pieces of obsidian.

High-quality sapphire could resist curses, while obsidian could attract curses.

In this way, curses without a specific target would automatically flow towards the thing most easily cursed.

Just as when a house or an area is affected by a non-specific curse, the first to be impacted are usually the elderly and young children, followed by weak and sick individuals.

Before that, one might even notice some incongruities—like the inexplicable death of house rats and cockroaches, and the gradually disappearing chirping and buzzing of insects in the yard, turning silent.

The Avalonians knew little about curses, but the Star Antimony people understood them a bit better. Star Antimony nobles would place some obsidian statues in their homes, thus attracting weak curses to the statues. Cursed obsidian statues could then serve to ward off evil spirits.

Subsequently, Aiwass began preparing for a sniper attack.

Although, in theory, they were Demon Scholars and should use some supernatural power to attack Aiwass...

But there was no rule saying Demon Scholars couldn't use guns.

Aiwass could counter their spells and block the demons they summoned, but he truly couldn't dodge a bullet. Therefore, he used ritual spells to protect himself.

As a result, Aiwass's figure became hazy and ethereal. Even if he didn't move, his image would constantly change randomly around him. This way, neither projectile-type spells nor firearm sniping would easily target him... effectively preventing ambush from hidden attackers.

Next was "life preservation." Aiwass then spent two hours performing a complex ritual, transferring about a third of his life force into a red apple and healing himself using the Fire Rite Skill.

That way, when Aiwass got injured, he could immediately recover his life force by destroying the apple.

After that came the Defiant Flame Butterfly.

Once he had paid the Mana required to summon the butterfly and fed it a portion of fresh blood using the Shepherd's Nurturing, Aiwass could pray once more to restore his Mana Points.

This was the first time Aiwass summoned the Defiant Flame Butterfly... to be honest, he was somewhat nervous.

"Defiant Flame Butterfly..."

Aiwass murmured softly.

In between his right thumb and index finger, a pure red card appeared out of thin air. On it, the image of a butterfly was outlined in black.

He infused his Mana into it.

Subsequently, flames like a running stream flowed out from the very center of the card. This startled Aiwass, who instinctively let go of his hand.

The butterfly card remained suspended in midair, as the roaring flames gushed forth, forming four fiery wings. A heat so intense that it distorted one's vision assaulted the senses.

The stream of flame condensed into four transparent butterfly wings, shaded with a gradient from red to deep red, to purple-red and to black, reminiscent of a tragic sunset. It seemed as if the outer edges were slowly burning, the furthest extremities already turned to pure black ash.

The wings fully extended, reaching a wingspan of two meters.

And at the center of the wings, there appeared to be a little girl about eighty centimeters tall.

Her features bore a resemblance of about fifty percent to Yulia's, yet they were noticeably more childlike. Her hair was the complete reverse of Yulia's, like ashes from a burnt out fire, though in the same hairstyle as Yulia.

But because she was much shorter than Yulia, what would reach Yulia's waist flowed down to her ankles.

Her pupils were also red, yet not the warm, candy-like red of Yulia's, but rather a dull, lightless dark red; the rest of her eye, rather than the white of humans, was a matte black.

The Defiant Flame Butterfly wore a widow-like black gauze dress, edges of the skirt faintly aflame, like smoldering charcoal. It fluttered in the steaming heat, along with her long hair that billowed behind her.

Black and red stylings. Fire and charred embers. Sunset and nightfall.

This was the impression the Defiant Flame Butterfly gave to Aiwass.

She appeared as though she had just awakened, drowsy and lethargic. Quietly floating in the air, it took a while for the Defiant Flame Butterfly's gaze to focus and then to rest quietly on Aiwass.

Aiwass too felt somewhat nervous.

Theoretically, he should be able to perfectly control his own Great Beast. Yet this was also his first Great Beast.

"Do you know who I am, Defiant Flame Butterfly?"

Aiwass asked softly.

"…Brother."

In a voice distinctly different from Yulia's, hoarse and gentle, the Defiant Flame Butterfly whispered, "I remember you.

"You said, I wouldn't die…

"I survived, brother."

She sounded like a little girl who had fallen ill, unable to project her voice fully. It was a hushed, fairytale-like whisper one would use to lull a child to sleep.

Her image didn't differ significantly from what Aiwass had remembered of the Defiant Flame Butterfly.

As a dungeon boss, the Defiant Flame Butterfly in the normal version was simply a gigantic butterfly with a Yulia at its center, her entire body cracked like porcelain.

However, players later fought two different versions of the Defiant Flame Butterfly at levels fifty and eighty.

Those weren't depictions of events that had actually happened, but rather possibilities built from fantasies. It meant that, in theory, players didn't fight the Defiant Flame Butterfly again; rather, after recounting their own stories to a certain NPC, the NPC created a 'battle story' with a certain degree of dramatic exaggeration.

In the level fifty version, Yulia held nothing back and displayed the full combat power of the Defiant Flame Butterfly—meaning "the possibility where Aiwass isn't in the team".

At level eighty, the version involved the Defiant Flame Butterfly maturing into its complete form. It was a timed assault event.

That version of the Defiant Flame Butterfly had such black hair, with eyes of black and red.

But unlike the small butterfly now, that version of the Defiant Flame Butterfly was mature, resembling a twenty to thirty-year-old version of Yulia—her black dress engulfed in roaring flames, her butterfly wings even more magnificent. The mechanics became more complicated, the frequency substantially increased, along with many new abilities.

Aiwass hoped that the future Defiant Flame Butterfly could grow to be like that…

"Shrink down for now, little butterfly. It's too hot like this…"

Aiwass murmured softly, "Show me your following form."

The Defiant Flame Butterfly did not respond.

Instead, she kindled a flame—and when the fire had completely dissipated, she had turned into an actual butterfly.

It was like a dancing fallen leaf, or a cluster of sparks in the shape of a butterfly.

Her entire body ablaze with a golden-red flame, she slowly danced down into the palm of Aiwass's hand. He slowly closed his hands, yet she neither avoided nor hid. Even as his hands came together, Aiwass did not feel the touch of anything, nor the sensation of crushing anything.

She seemed no more than an illusion.

Not scorching, but warm.