When the sun rises, the swamp that is a forbidden place rises with a white mist as usual.

And today is different.

The silent swamp suddenly cracked open in it, revealing a narrow, clean passageway.

Dressed in dark blue robes, Merlin held a staff and slowly stepped out of it. He casually tapped his staff to the ground, and as he advanced, the clean, soft ground rose up one staircase after another.

It wasn't until Merlin left the swamp once again that the living cramp, which had been avoided on either side, closed again. The makeshift stairs dissolved and collapsed into a mass of sludge.

“…… Jacob, that's really going to get me in trouble. ”

Merlin sighed and reached out and pushed his monocle.

But having said that, he didn't seem to be at all unhappy when he was in trouble. On the contrary, he looked very energetic and interested.

He had already arrived at Jacob's workshop yesterday from the fairy kingdom.

Just as he had expected - Jacob had placed his ritual workshop at the bottom of the swamp.

To be exact, the bottom of the swamp to the middle of the fairy kingdom. It does not exist in either the fairy kingdom nor in the material realm...... It's inside the Fairy Cave.

Of course, this place was not discovered by Jacob.

Because this "secret room" was carved out by Merlin back then.

This kind of large-scale ritual will continue to run for hundreds of years when it is made. If it is placed in the material realm, it can be corroded and weathered, and no matter how well defended, it is bound to be discovered, destroyed, or manipulated.

The reason why he didn't put it in the goblin kingdom was because Merlin knew the character of those goblins too well.

They are full of curiosity and have a sense of "I don't know anything but I want to try it". If they discover a ritual, they will inevitably alter it.

So Merlin secretly opened a mezzanine in the fairy cave and stuffed this formation base into it.

- If the elves want to go to the material realm, they must go through the door directly. Not many people will look down when they enter the door to see if there is a problem with the keyhole.

Only humans trying to reach the Fairy Cave from here can discover its existence by looking carefully through the portal.

Then just keep the humans out, and no one will find out about this ritual.

So Merlin made a swamp and buried the fairy hole.

It was originally just a deep pit. It's the kind of bottomless pit with black holes and holes - ordinary people jump into it, and maybe they will fall to their death. And if you use the earth attribute spell in a panic during the fall, you will fall directly into the fairy kingdom.

And this kind of pure material swamp can't stop the goblins anyway. Neither water nor mud can wet the elve's body, so the elves won't realize what's wrong with it. Naturally, there will be no report to the queen that there is a problem with the hole.

In order to prevent passers-by from accidentally falling, Merlin simply made this place into a swamp. That way, no one will stumble and fall. It also prevents people from being seduced by the fairy cave, and unknowingly walks near the entrance of the cave and falls in.

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

Jacob apparently found the village along the elf barrier, but it was strange not to find the elf cave. So he finally found the swamp and successfully used a spell to open the door to the fairy cave.

But it's different from other humans. Jacob was the idler who would stop halfway through the door to study the lock.

So it was only natural that he discovered the secret room left behind by Merlin and the Shadow of Avalon ritual in it.

The situation was simple after that.

Jacob had always been in contact with Vivien, apparently learning about the nature of the ritual from Vivien and attempting to modify it. Even the ordinary swamp left behind by Merlin has been changed to a special material for making swamp people.

Anyway, this workshop is very wide, and there are many ritual formations that can be hidden inside. The person who wanted to destroy this ritual could not find it no matter how much he looked outside, and at most he rushed into the fairy cave with a search.

All he had gotten was second-hand information - whether it was Ivas or James, what he had been told was vague after all.

And after seeing the formation base with his own eyes and studying it carefully, Merlin finally understood the effect of this ritual:

Although this ritual is very immature, it can really pull Kagetenji down directly.

Why does it do this?

Because this ritual also contains the power of the Heavenly Division, and even the power of the pillar god.

The purpose of this ritual is not just to pull Kagetenji down. Rather, it is to pull her into the material realm, let her have a real body, and after being bound by the power of balance, then seal her in a shell and kill her in the material realm...... In this way, he usurped her Celestial Fragment.

There is no doubt that this is a ritual that goes beyond the path.

"—this is definitely not Vivian's woman's prank."

Merlin was unfortunate enough to be aware of the problem.

Because when he realized this problem, it also meant that he was involved in a conspiracy at the level of the Heavenly Division.

But Merlin was not afraid.

He just thought it was all very interesting—

Last time he missed it, but this time he was finally able to catch the excitement.

The one who gave strength to this ritual was the son of the serpent father, the Ouroboros...... The head of the Celestial Division, who was revered as the Celestial Division. He is the Celestial Division of the Transcendent Path after the Serpent Father, the second most powerful being in the entire Transcendent Path.

Huantenji has the power of "reincarnation, rebirth, and reaching infinity". The essence of this ritual is not to pull down the Celestial Priest's violence...... Rather, it is a reincarnation ritual that allows Tenji to go further. Because of this, it is very difficult to resist.

- Merlin, of course, knew about the ritual.

Once upon a time, a legendary warrior of mankind usurped the dragon's body with a transcendent ritual of slaying dragons and blood, and ascended to the realm of dreams. He eventually became the Celestial Commander in the Dream Realm, surpassing the former and becoming stronger until he reached the position of the Celestial Commander of the Path of Strength.

When he got here, he had a problem.

He couldn't have gotten any stronger. Because he has already concentrated all the power of the path that he can obtain in the dream world to his side, and at this moment there is still a big gap between him and the supreme heaven. He needed to re-enter the physical realm and regain the power of the new path through "works."

However, unlike the apostles who were able to interfere in the material realm, it was almost impossible for the Celestial Division, who had been given authority, to enter the material realm again...... However, the Celestial Division broke this common sense.

Ouroboros provided him with a ritual called the "Ouroboros" for his friendship.

Reaching the limit of his power, the Crown Celestial Division successfully transformed into a mortal. He dissipated his excess power and created the "Knights of the Round Table" - these Knights of the Round Table became stronger through the power dispersed by the Crowning Celestials. And in the end, they followed Arthur and completed the transcendent cause of defeating the Giants with mortal bodies.

Only then will He be able to contend with and prevail against the Most High Heaven as the Lord of the New Path, the Dragon of the Silver Crown.

Like an Ouroboros, it devours itself and is reborn.

Devouring the whole of oneself and achieving a new life in full meaning is essentially "molting and rebirth", turning oneself into a stronger form and having the possibility of transcending again.

Whether it was the ritual of his usurpation of the dragon's body, or the ritual of his subsequent re-incarnation, it was all provided by this Celestial Priest.

Even in the first days...... When he was not yet the Celestial Priest and had not yet defeated the dragon, he was still the contractor of the Celestial Circle.

Merlin remembered that Arthur had told him stories from that era.

It seems to be a transcendent profession related to the concept of "molting". This is also the fundamental basis for the Crown Celestial Division to be able to transform back into a human body and become strong again.

But Shadow Celestial Division and Crown Celestial Division are different.

Kagetenji didn't have the nature to transcend the path, and she didn't want to replace Heng I.

If the queen of the Shadow Nation is allowed to descend on Lancelot I's man's shell and imprisoned her from returning...... That crazy woman is going to go crazy. The gods of the path of love are much madder than the transcendent beings of the path of love.

However, as far as Merlin knew, there was no contradiction between Celestial Rim and Shadow Celestial. Not only that, but they didn't even have any contact.

So it's certainly not a personal vendetta.

- Then there is only one possibility to reactivate this ancient ritual.

"Huantenji, you want to ...... Take it a step further? ”

Merlin looked up at the sky.

His eyes were deep, and he muttered in a low voice, "Jacob...... Are you with Him? Are you also His Contractor? ”

So, what is Aihuas's identity in Ling's plan?

It is a pawn, a helper, a collaborator, an heir......

…… Or is it some kind of obstacle?

(End of chapter)