When the plot-skips players into the game world

When the sun rose, the swamp, known as a forbidden land, sprouted a white mist just like any other day.

Yet, today was different.

Suddenly, the tranquil swamp split open, revealing a narrow and pristine path.

Merlin, clad in a deep blue robe and wielding a long staff, stepped out from it. He casually tapped his staff on the ground, and as he moved forward, a staircase with clean and soft steps naturally formed one after another.

It was not until Merlin had completely left the swamp that the swamp, which had parted on either side like a living being, closed back up. The temporary steps also dissipated, collapsing back into a mound of muck.

"Jacob, that fellow, really knows how to cause me trouble."

Merlin sighed, adjusting his monocle with his hand.

However, despite his words, he did not look the least bit displeased at being troubled. On the contrary, he looked very spirited and full of enthusiasm.

He had already arrived at Jacob's workshop the day before through a door borrowed from the Fairy Kingdom.

As he had anticipated—Jacob had indeed situated his ritual workshop at the bottom of the swamp.

To be precise, it was situated between the bottom of the swamp and the Fairy Kingdom. It existed neither within the Fairy Kingdom nor in the Material Realm... but inside the Fairy Hole.

Of course, this location was not discovered by Jacob.

Because this "secret chamber" was carved out by Merlin himself back in the day. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

Such a large-scale ritual would need to operate continuously for several hundred years. If it were placed in the Material Realm, setting aside the possibility of it being eroded or weathered, no matter how tightly guarded, there still remained the chance that it might be discovered, destroyed, or tampered with by someone.

And the reason it wasn't placed in the Fairy Kingdom is because Merlin knew all too well the nature of those fairies.

They were filled with curiosity and possessed a confidence of "although I don't understand anything, I want to give it a try". If they discovered the ritual, they would surely meddle with it.

So Merlin secretly created an interlayer inside the Fairy Hole and stuffed the ritual's foundation into it.

—Fairies would certainly go directly to the Material Realm if they were to pass through a door. Very few would bother to look down and check the keyhole for issues when entering.

Only humans trying to reach the Fairy Hole from here would carefully search for its presence while passing through the portal.

So as long as humans were kept out, this ritual would remain undiscovered.

Thus, Merlin purposefully created a swamp to bury the Fairy Hole.

Initially, it was just a deep pit. That sort of black and bottomless abyss—regular people who jumped in might just fall to their deaths. And if they panicked and used an Earth spell during the fall, they would land straight in the Fairy Kingdom.

And since a mere material swamp couldn't stop fairies, neither water nor mud could dampen their bodies, so they wouldn't notice anything amiss here. Naturally, they wouldn't report any problems with this hole to their queen.

To prevent any passerby from accidentally falling in, Merlin simply transformed the area into a swamp. In this way, no one would mistakenly fall in. This also indirectly prevented people from being enchanted by the Fairy Hole, unwittingly approaching the entrance and tumbling in.

But at that time, the swamp was still just an ordinary swamp.

Jacob apparently followed the fairy enchantment to find this village, but it felt strange not to find the Fairy Hole. Eventually, he discovered this swamp and successfully used a spell to open the door to the Fairy Hole.

Unlike other humans, Jacob was the kind of idler who would stop halfway through a door to study the lock.

Thus, naturally, he discovered the secret chamber left by Merlin and the Ceremony of Avalon's Shadow within it.

After that, things were straightforward.

Jacob had always been in contact with Vivian, and he evidently learned the nature of the ritual from her and attempted to modify it. He even transformed Merlin's regular swamp into a special material for creating Swampfolk.

Anyway, the workshop was very spacious, capable of hiding many ritual foundations. Those trying to destroy the ritual from the outside would never manage to find it; at most, they would end up rushing headlong into the Fairy Hole while searching.

Previously, what he got was after all second-hand information—no matter if it was Aiwass or James, what they told him was ultimately vague.

But after seeing the foundation personally and studying it carefully, Merlin finally understood the effect of the ritual:

Although the ritual was naive, it really could pull down a Shadowy Celestial Marshal directly.

Why could it do this?

Because this ritual also harbored the power of Celestial Marshals and even the power of Pillar Gods.

The purpose of this ceremony was not just to bring down the Shadowy Celestial Marshal. It was to pull her into the Material Realm, give her a tangible body, and after binding her with the power of Balance, to seal her within that body and kill her within the Material Realm... thereby usurping her Celestial Marshal Shard.

Without a doubt, this was a ceremony of the Path of Transcendence.

"—This is definitely not one of Vivian's pranks."

Merlin, unfortunately, realized this problem.

Because when he realized this problem, it also meant that he was now involved in a conspiracy of celestial proportions.

But Merlin was not afraid.

He simply found it all very interesting—

He had missed the last one, but this time he could finally be part of the excitement.

The power provided for this ceremony came from the Son of the Serpent Father, the Ouroboros... the Celestial Marshal known as the Serpent Celestial Marshal. He was the second-most powerful being in the Path of Transcendence, next only to the Serpent Father.

The Serpent Celestial Marshal possessed the powers of "reincarnation, rebirth, and arriving at infinity." The essence of this ceremony was not to violently pull down a Celestial Marshal... but rather, it was a ritual that allowed a Celestial Marshal to further undergo rebirth. For this reason, it was very hard to resist.

—Of course, Merlin knew about this ceremony.

In ancient times, there was a legendary human warrior who, through a Transcendence ceremony of slaying the Dragon in blood, gained the body of a Dragon and ascended to the Dream Realm. He ultimately became the Crowned Celestial Marshal in the Dream Realm, continuously surpassing his former self and becoming ever more powerful until he reached the position of the Celestial Marshal of the Path of Strength.

At that point, the Crowned Celestial Marshal faced a dilemma.

He could no longer become stronger. For he had already concentrated all the powers of the paths available in the Dream Realm within himself, yet there was still a significant gap between him and the Supreme Heaven. He needed to re-enter the Material Realm and, through "action," gain the additional new power of the path of rebirth.

However, unlike the Angel Envoy who could interfere with the Material Realm, it was virtually impossible for a Celestial Marshal who had gained authority to re-enter it... yet the Serpent Celestial Marshal broke this common sense.

The Ouroboros kindly provided Him with a ceremony called the "Ring of Ouroboros."

The Crowned Celestial Marshal who had reached the limits of strength successfully reincarnated as a mortal. He dispersed his excess powers to create the "Knights of the Round Table"—these Knights became stronger through the powers dispersed by the Crowned Celestial Marshal. And in the end, they followed Arthur to accomplish the extraordinary feat of defeating the Giant's Country with their mortal bodies.

Only then was He able to compete with and defeat the Supreme Heaven, becoming the new master of the path, the Silver-Crowned Dragon.

Like the Ouroboros, reborn by devouring itself.

To devour all of oneself and achieve a complete sense of rebirth was essentially a "Shedding and Rebirth," transforming into a stronger form, making it possible to transcend once again.

—Whether it was the ceremony where He usurped the body of the Dragon all those years ago, or the ceremony of His later descent back into the world of mortals, they were all provided by this Serpent Celestial Marshal.

Even in the earliest times... when He was not yet the Crowned Celestial Marshal, had yet to defeat the Dragon, he was still a Contractor to the Serpent Celestial Marshal.

Merlin remembered Arthur telling him stories about that era.

It seemed to be an Extraordinary Profession related to the concept of "Shedding." This was also the fundamental basis for the Crowned Celestial Marshal to be able to return to a mortal body and grow stronger again.

But the Shadowy Celestial Marshal was different from the Crowned Celestial Marshal.

The Shadowy Celestial Marshal did not have the affinity with the Path of Transcendence, nor did she wish to replace the Eternal Self.

If the Queen of the Shadow Nation were to be brought down into the body of Lancelot I, imprisoned and prevented from returning... that lunatic would definitely go mad. A deity of the Path of Love was much crazier than a Transcendent of the Path of Love.

However, as far as Merlin knew, there was no conflict between the Serpent Celestial Marshal and the Shadowy Celestial Marshal. Moreover, there was almost no interaction between them.

So this was definitely not personal revenge.

—In that case, reactivating this ancient ceremony could only mean one possibility.

"Serpent Celestial Marshal, do you desire to go... even further?"

Merlin lifted his head and looked up at the sky.

His gaze was profound as he murmured softly, "Jacob... are you with Him? Are you also His Contractor?"

So where does Aiwass fit into your plans?

Is he a pawn, an assistant, a collaborator, an heir...

...or perhaps, some kind of obstacle?