NOVEL WEB Chapter 130 This Is Not His Home
The Shadow Demon's slaughter did not leave behind any bodies for the Giants to resurrect.
Or rather, it had consumed all of these bodies itself.
Apart from the Antlers, the monks resurrected by them, and Red, were all torn to pieces and devoured by the Shadow Demon as well.
The Shadow Demon seemed particularly adept at dealing with these resurrected undead—it always precisely attacked the hearts and skulls of these beings at the same time. A mere effortless penetration was enough to kill them directly. It was as skilled and elegant as a gourmet peeling the shell off a crab.
Watching the Shadow Demon turn back into a liquid, dripping down from the hole and flowing back into its shadowy pool beneath it, Aiwass asked curiously, "Is the slaughter and consumption you do in your dreams also a true and effective 'nourishment' for you?"
"Of course,"
The Shadow Demon's voice rumbled deep and hoarse, like a lion's growl, "Rather, it's an easier meal to digest.
"These lives are but shadows condensed by the power of the Pillar God. Humans can be used as sacrifices and nourishment for Demons because they are a race directly affected by the Serpent Father and the Eternal Self. Just like the Supreme Heaven influences Giants, the Candle Master influences Elves, and the twilight influences the Undead... Humans are naturally endowed with the adaptability for the Paths of Transcendence and Love, only varying in individual strength.
"The desire for Transcendence in humans becomes fuel and sustenance for Demons. However, this process requires digestion.
"But the existences in the Dream Realm, the illusory bodies you use, including the other lives resembling humans like the Giants, are essentially and truly Phantom Demons... They are our kin, weak to the point of lacking self-awareness.
"Although I regret that this ritual was not constructed by the Serpent Father himself and consuming them won't make me stronger... in terms of taste, they can be considered quite the delectable little cookies."
Aiwass understood.
It was like taking a Great Sin Beast to grind a dungeon, thereby gaining experience for corresponding attributes. Phantom Demons could grow by consuming other Phantom Demons of the same attribute. The living beings constructed in the rituals of the Dream Realm were intelligent and capable of acting according to certain rules because these "intelligent individuals" were actually Phantom Demons mimicking corresponding individuals.
Their strength was an illusion, granted temporarily by the Pillar God.
Just like spirits who are unaware of their own demise.
...No wonder the Nine Pillar Gods could so easily construct various "instances"; the world wasn't created bit by bit, but was instead directly imported in bulk from history.
What they needed to do was to extract a fragment of history: a timeframe of about a few hours, and a restricted narrow area, and then grant temporary life and intelligence to certain people within it.
Because those people are just "Phantom Demon AI" constructs, and scenarios can be adjusted. Under the intervention of the Nine Pillar Gods, the ultimate developments might differ from actual history.
Therefore, this would be "another possibility of history." Experience more tales on empire
The NPCs in the rituals could not perceive that they were in a ritual because they truly were NPCs! Or rather, they actually knew their NPC status; they were just playing dumb.
Rather than being a game or a script, it might be more appropriate to say it is a ritual, an experiment, a sandbox—constructing a simulated environment, then introducing nine variables, observing how things ultimately change.
That is why they have "imported identities," and why there are various tasks to earn points. This is a reward mechanism to encourage action, to prevent complete inactivity that would waste a simulation opportunity.
And it could also be about constructing a simulated environment... and then introducing people from nine Paths into it for selection.
Both possibilities exist, with the latter being more likely.
Because for the two rituals Aiwass had participated in so far, it was apparent that not all stories from history could involve all the nine Paths.
In the first ritual, at least the "Newsboy" that Sherlock was playing clearly should not have appeared in real history. The same with the Inspector role played by the Knight. They might have little roles in history, but at most they were just passing extras, unrelated to the incident of Alexander's Couple's murder.
The second ritual was even more obvious.
The bodies they used for the nine participants would have all belonged to warriors of the "Path of Strength" in real history.
Not to mention, there absolutely couldn't have been a Knight from the Path of Authority—because in the era when Supreme Heaven still existed, the Path of Authority didn't even exist. That is to say, if they really emerged in a simulated environment, then the Knight's Transcendent powers would have been utterly unusable.
Quite strange.
The Nine Pillar Gods seem to want to do something but don't seem to care much about the outcome. At least the low-level promotion rituals are left to their Angel Envoys to preside over, which indicates They don't particularly care about the results of these lower-level promotions. But They still take the trouble to make instances, write tasks...
Perhaps Aiwass will only get the correct answer when he is promoted to a higher position and participates in a promotion ritual presided over by a Pillar God themselves.
"Shall we go look for the Holy Lance now?"
Lily's voice came from behind Aiwass, who was deep in thought, "We've actually succeeded in progressing, haven't we?"
"Of course," Aiwass temporarily set aside the fruitless pondering, looked up, and smiled lightly, "I still completely don't know the full extent of this ritual."