When the plot-skips players into the game world

——Given the nature of that Pillar God, no matter where they run, the army will probably catch up with them.

After all, as Sherlock, he had to escape with Princess Isabel.

Since the essential mission was to escort Isabel, it meant they were bound to encounter danger. It could even be the greatest danger.

But with Grand Adjudicator Shafiya following, how could they possibly encounter danger? And if Aiwass were to go along with them, it's possible he'd bring the Guardian Spirit with him... If a group of this scale could encounter danger, then there was only one possibility the Counselor could think of.

That would be if those two Chancellors took action. Or there could be several Fifth Power Level Transcendents arriving with the army.

Otherwise, it just didn't make sense.

For this very reason, he had initially wanted to kill Isabel. In doing so, he would be freed from the shackles of playing "Sherlock" and would no longer have to fulfill his duty or take risks with Isabel.

What if he killed Isabel and stayed put?

He also had the task of "The Day of Ruin Is Nigh," requiring him to remain on Glass Island until the very last day.

Merely the turmoil of the change of Avalon's throne could be settled in two or three days. So the "Day of Ruin" mentioned in the mission probably referred to something else.

For instance... the complete destruction of Glass Island.

This meant that something would definitely happen on the last day, causing a catastrophe for anyone remaining on Glass Island.

Moreover, the Counselor believed that the other ascendants must have the same task.

The Counselor had another task, which was to aid the Grand Guardian in commanding the Gryphon Legion to accomplish the beheading action.

Putting aside his ignorance of the Gryphon Legion — after all, the Counselor was not a pure Path of Wisdom Mage, nor had he commanded wars. He was unsure of his command ability, didn't know if it would bring about the risk of exposure, or if it would make the situation worse... so he decided not to touch it at all.

And both of these tasks were worth five hundred points.

This showed that, in the eyes of the Lord of Scalefeather, the risks involved in undertaking these missions were essentially the same — keeping all secrets from Drost's imprisonment and torture and safely escaping was worth only two hundred points.

But now it was clear... if Isabel had such a personality, then the plan to assassinate her was outright negated.

Even the instant he harbored a murderous thought, she might see through his identity.

The Transcendent intuition of the Path of Beauty was just like that, difficult to deal with and completely unreasonable.

The Counselor silently sighed.

...one would never have guessed that as one of the Star Antimony's high officials, he would one day find himself escaping from the Star Antimony's troops during an ascension ceremony.

After Aiwass healed his body — tortured and weakened by Minister Drost — his energy was replenished, and his brain could finally function normally again.

So the Counselor took a deep breath and invoked the power of the Path of Wisdom.

As azure flames ignited at the base of his pupils, his head cooled, and his thoughts suddenly became clear. The Counselor entered the "Hypersmart State" and began rapidly thinking of strategies and organizing action plans.

——Although there were many tasks in this ascension ceremony, there were really only three paths.

Evacuating with Isabel, staying on Glass Island, or fleeing to the countryside.

The dangers they would face meant "facing multiple Fifth Power Level Transcendents"; "waiting under the threat of a potentially exploding Flame Demon for Star Antimony's troops"; and "facing Star Antimony's troops alone without any support." Undoubtedly, the third was relatively the safest and also the hardest to score points with.

As for whether or not to kill Isabel, it was just a matter of fighting for the initiative in ending the ascension ceremony. But if the number of survivors was less than six, the initiative could also be given up.

That way, it would only take one more ascendant's death to ensure all remaining ascendants could survive till the end to complete the ascension.

So how could one ensure survival?

——There was only one answer, help Isabel conduct the Ceremony of Avalon's Shadow.

If it's said that the Avalon ceremony could be triggered when only one person from Du Lac is left... then now it's either already possible to activate, or it could be triggered by killing Prince John.

What he had overheard while pretending to be unconscious was not only about the secrets of Avalon and Isabel.

It was also the key clue to this ascension ceremony!

By resorting to a trick such as "feigned death" to obtain information while undercover. This was exactly the kind of plot development that the Lord of Scalefeather favored, perfectly aligning with the Adaptation Path's logic.

Of course, one would still need to avoid the possibility of losing points.

If conducting the Ceremony of Avalon's Shadow is part of one ascendant's mission... then as a ritual, it's likely related to the Path of Transcendence. It must be the last mission and therefore the hardest one. Because even getting this mission clue was incredibly difficult.

...Luckily, considering Star Antimony has enough Demon Scholars, the three paths he despised did not include the Path of Transcendence.

Then, apart from finding his two students and sharing this important information with them...

He had three other things to do.

First, locate the Transcendent of the Path of Transcendence "Olive" and cooperate with him to complete the Ceremony of Avalon's Shadow within three days; second, convince Isabel to entrust them with the Avalon's Shadow ceremony, as he cannot directly ask her for specific details since he had eavesdropped on the information; third, if by that time no one has died yet, find a way to kill another ascendant.

——Olive is a fitting target.

Using the excuse of "silencing," he incited Isabel to kill him. With Isabel's profound character and ruthless methods, she would most likely agree... And thus, the murder by proxy would be effortlessly completed.

The deep blue flames at the bottom of the Counselor's eyes gradually dissipated.

He rubbed his head, which was somewhat aching, feeling a heaviness in his brain.

...What on earth is wrong with this body.

He had only activated the Hypersmart State for a short while, yet he felt a splitting headache... He would usually be in that state constantly.

Is Sherlock's body too frail, after all?

He hadn't heard about him having any incurable diseases...

He could only close his eyes and lie back down to rest for a while.

He had only slept for a short while when he was once again woken by noises from outside.

The Counselor quietly got up and walked to the door, calmly listening to the voices outside.

He quickly realized that someone had appeared who definitely should not have been there at this time——

"...Court Alchemist Nobel?"

The Counselor murmured, his eyes widening in disbelief.

——Albert Lorey, is that you?

Your most proud student, a genius in Necromancy whose talent had made half of the Spirit Summoning Tower's tutors envious... clearly lacked sufficient life experience.

A Court Alchemist coming to Moriarty Manor to seek the Princess.

Don't you think that saying this out loud makes you sound rather idiotic?

What business is it of yours what the Princess does!

Nobel is a Star Antimony!

As a Star Antimony, in a situation where the queen is suspected to have been assassinated by someone from Star Antimony, you safely escaped from the flaming Hall of Silver and Tin, and then sought out the fleeing Princess Isabel...

... The only advantage is that, because this move is too foolish, he likely won't be exposed.

But it's possible that he'll be imprisoned— and being locked up means he won't be able to continue his mission. And if he gets tortured, it'll be even more dangerous... the Path of Authority possesses the ability to make people tell the truth, and it would be easy to torture out the truth of his being an aspirant for Transcendence.

Then there would be trouble.

It's really troublesome that I can't take my eyes off you for a second...

The Counselor felt a numbness at the back of his heart.

... No, I still have to find a way to save him.

Thinking this, "Sherlock" cleared his throat and pushed open the door to step outside.

Meanwhile, Bishop Mathers had also pulled Aiwass aside.

His expression was clearly filled with astonishment.

"...Why is Princess Isabel actually in your place?"

"What do you mean 'actually' in my place?"

Aiwass raised an eyebrow and asked in a lowered voice, "What happened? Tell me in detail."

Bishop Mathers' expression turned sour: "There may have been trouble, Aiwass... Remember to lock up Master Nobel later.

"He told me about what happened at the Hall of Silver and Tin. Everything before matches what I know, but there is a problem with something he said afterwards.

"Though the two princesses looked exactly alike, why was he so certain that the one rescued by Lady Shafiya was the real princess? Moreover, he attempted to find this fleeing princess... I feel that this is definitely not right. So, I lured him here with the help of Carter Family's child, then..."

——And indeed, Princess Isabel is really in your place.

Bishop Mathers had originally held a piece of the Holy Sword, going against the flow of people coming from the Cathedral of Candle Master, intending to go to the Hall of Silver and Tin to check the situation.

If that highly dangerous Phantom Demon was the legendary Flame Demon... Perhaps his self-sacrifice would be needed to banish the Flame Demon from the Material Realm.

"I truly did not know Princess Isabel would be at your place..."

Bishop Mathers couldn't help but justify himself.

He felt the frustration of having told a casual lie that had turned him into an unwitting informant.

He really didn't know anything!