When the plot-skips players into the game world

When the illusion shattered, Don Quixote, who was half-kneeling before Aiwass, did not shatter with it.

In the pitch-black, lightless environment, transparent white ripples appeared around Don Quixote.

He lifted his head, gazing at Aiwass.

His long black hair draped messily like seaweed, and his emerald green eyes resembled a wolf's pupils.

Compared to the original "Balin Knight," he had become much leaner. His face, which had a three or four-tenths resemblance to Yulia, didn't look too handsome because of his thinness but instead had a sharp, cold edge like that of a serial killer.

"O great savior... Your loyal Knight has finally awaited your arrival."

Don Quixote's voice was fervent and mad, yet his eyes appeared rational and sorrowful.

For a moment, it was impossible to discern which was the real him... or whether this madness was just a pretense.

"...Don Quixote..."

Aiwass uttered his name softly, then, driven by some impulse, added the suffix to the name that Don Quixote had given himself: "...de La Mancha."

Don Quixote's name could be understood as the "Guardian of the La Mancha region, the noble Sir Quixote," which is to say, "Sir Quixote." But the La Mancha Territory had long ceased to exist, even before the Civil War of the Helasal Empire...

This was the name of a fairly fertile and peaceful central region during the early days of the founding of the Helasal Empire, analogous to places like "Taoyuan Village" or "Xinghua Village."

And "Quixote" means a type of thigh armor used by a Knight, extending downward to cover the knees and shins.

This piece of armor is crucial for knights on horseback because, for infantry, the thighs are not as vulnerable. However, a knight's thighs are exposed and, considering the horse's height, are precisely where infantry can easily attack. Hence, it is considered an "essential item for a Knight."

Without a doubt, this name is an alias. Its structure is too meaningful, like a name a writer would give to a character in a novel... always laden with various metaphors and references, making it anything but arbitrary.

As he saw the light momentarily erupt in Don Quixote's pupils, Aiwass suddenly felt as though he understood this man.

He was not merely a fictional spiritual body dreaming of becoming a Knight. Nor was he entirely a memory-lost Heracles or a Phantom Demon reconstructed with the soul of the Balin Knight as its raw material.

There was an unspoken pain and fervor in his heart—from his address to Aiwass, it was clear he had his own will and story. He was simply willingly drowning in the radiance of Knighthood, using this method to mask his void.

Rather than an ignorant spiritual body learning and mimicking the Knights of the Round Table, he was more like Aiwass' father-in-law, Prince Albert, desperately imitating the Bard Yunus, another form of escapism through indulgence.

Much like players wishing to retreat into games or personal hobbies to forget everything, stabbed by anguish, and seeking solace in their escapism.

Aiwass had met someone similar—Clown Laro of the Star Antimony.

He too was another deranged madman... Yet he loved Star Antimony more than anyone else, loyal to Valentine. Those dignified and elegant nobles and scholars were merely wolves in sheep's clothing. Ironically, that mad clown was the most lucid and the most sorrowful.

For such a person, there was no need to drag him from a manic performance he was already aware of. That wouldn't be polite—it wouldn't make oneself seem intelligent, like a Path of Wisdom Transcendent who has seen through everything.

Aiwass lowered his gaze gently, his clear voice resonating in the void:

"In the name of I, Aiwass Moriarty, I dub thee as the Guardian of the La Mancha Territory.

"Although at present, neither Avalon nor New Herasal holds claim to this land... I promise you, this territory will soon be born... or perhaps rebuilt. It may not be large, but it will be where my home is."

Aiwass looked at Don Quixote, articulating each word: "I shall dwell in the La Mancha Territory that you guard, Don Quixote."

Don Quixote gazed at Aiwass, his rational, sorrowful eyes visibly growing bright and fervent.

"...I shall fight for you, my Lord."

He said nothing more.

The previously verbose and excitable man now became silent and reticent.

Aiwass then extended a hand forward—

"Don Quixote de La Mancha!"

Aiwass proclaimed each word loudly, raising the two cards manifested in his hands, declaring: "I call upon your name at this moment, bestowing upon you the Greed Mark!

"My life is yours, my fate is yours—

"——Submit to me, Phantom Demon of the Path of Authority!!"

With Aiwass's proclamation, a dragon's roar echoed from afar.

A breath of frost descended, instantly freezing and solidifying Aiwass and the half-kneeling Don Quixote.

A pure white array, encircled with a band of frost markings, gradually sank into the icy surface, glowing with radiance.

——As if a thick sheet of paper wrapped around a flame, with invisible carving knives gradually chiseling and hollowing it, tiny beams of light seeped through.