The twilight had passed, and the sky quickly darkened.
In the sky, the continuous bursts of fireworks took the place of the setting sun.
These fireworks would go on until the banquet came to an end.
This signified that the birthday celebration was about to start, and the guests took their seats.
It was also a kind of universal ritual. Just as lighting candles on a dining table or illuminating one’s house with light can be seen as summoning ’purification’ with ’light’; adorning one’s house with artwork can be seen as ’art’ protecting ’nobility’.
And a grand firework display could satisfy the realms of "light," "art," and "fire" of three True Gods, thus receiving the blessings of Mr. Radiance, Yawen, and the God of Fire.
Such a universal ritual is definitely not completely ineffective. But in reality, it’s just a way to feel at ease.
Nevertheless, fireworks are not overly complex transmuted objects.
If the patterns and colors are not particularly complicated, their transmutation difficulty could even be much lower than that of black fire. Therefore, the cost of fireworks could be considered cheap—at least, within the realm of transmuted objects, it’s cheap.
As a result, fireworks are essential for some major ceremonies.
This time, the "curtain-opening" explosives were hidden within the fireworks.
The purpose of these explosives was not to kill or injure a number of people. The main goal was to start a large fire... and the purpose of that fire was to induce panic.
To cause instant panic, it was impossible to trigger the explosion at the beginning of the firework show.
As this was Henry VIII’s eightieth birthday, the eightieth firework was the only giant one—after its explosion, the band was to begin playing.
And at the moment it lifted off...
Everyone turned their attention to the fireworks.
Annan gripped "Miss Quiet."
He suddenly jumped down from his seat.
Noticing Annan’s movement, Philip instinctively turned his head.
—Following which, he saw a pair of gray pupils.
A strong sense of apathy, unreasonably, rose within Philip’s heart.
Annan’s body suddenly melted, and a tall, black-haired, black-eyed middle-aged man leaped out from "Annan’s" body!
Philip Noah was quick to react, and he immediately realized something.
In an instant, fear filled his eyes—but to Annan’s surprise, Philip managed to break free from the effect of "Lazy Eye" in less than two seconds!
—Was he a Transcendent?
Such a thought flashed through Annan’s mind.
The moment Philip opened his mouth, Annan had already drawn his gun and pulled the trigger at the same time.
Annan was unsure whether the death threat he had declared earlier would still be valid after such a long time... If it had already expired, then firing it from under Kafney’s skirt might potentially injure Kafney.
Fortunately, it was indeed still effective.
Before the bullet could leave the barrel, it burst open at Philip’s chest. The immense pain robbed him of his ability to dodge.
And Annan reached out with his right hand, grabbed Philip’s neck, and crushed it with one squeeze!
Then he punched Philip in the chest. The Breath of Extreme Cold entered his still-warm heart, freezing it. The bullet was sealed inside Philip’s chest.
The more complex the plan, the more likely it is to go awry.
Annan’s plan was very simple—
He had Ferdinand’s body, affected by Cold Touch, found and let Elizabeth go with old Merlin to identify the body.
Elizabeth naturally knew it was unlikely that old Merlin killed the person—if he had killed someone himself, he wouldn’t have left evidence detrimental to himself.
But Merlin was proficient in Disabling School spells; he could definitely tell Elizabeth the specific mastery over the spell by the wizard who attacked Ferdinand and give an estimate of his height.
If Merlin could cooperate a bit and information with Elizabeth... in Elizabeth’s mind, a "little black figure" representing the suspect should emerge.
After that, the only way to completely clear himself of suspicion was one method...
A ruse of self-injury.
To have similar wounds inflicted on both Philip and himself.
With Kafney’s direct testimony, plus Elizabeth’s statement and Merlin’s alibi, one could fabricate a non-existent... powerful and tall killer using Disabling spells!
Even if the spells of the Prophet and the Decree School were used to verify, at best they could only obtain the information that the murderer was named "Giralda David Buonarroti"!
At that moment, fireworks bloomed.
A gigantic, lifelike golden lion roared silently in the sky, as if it were a living creature. Then, eighty stars burst forth from all around the lion, exploding a second time in the sky, weaving into a splendid tapestry that covered the entire night sky!
People couldn’t help but marvel at this grand sight, and as the music sounded, they all stood up, preparing to bow to Henry VIII as he was about to enter.
At this moment, Annan reverted to his original body and aimed the muzzle at his own abdomen.
He pulled the trigger without hesitation!
His complexion instantly paled, and his body shook. Even with Curse Binding that weakened his sense of pain, Annan felt a sharp and unbearable agony for a moment—the pain of his organs being pierced through.
Luckily, "miss. Quiet’s" sealing ability had robbed Annan of the capacity to make noise.
He could not let out a scream!
Yes, Annan chose to attack himself with miss. Quiet’s last bullet to ensure that all his actions remained absolutely silent for ten seconds!
Because the last transformation into David was brief, his cooldown was also short.
Two seconds later, Annan transformed back into David’s appearance.
He bore the pain and stuffed "miss. Quiet" into Philip’s mouth, then took out Ferdinand’s silver pocket watch—he did not use the last piece of silverware on himself to save himself, but instead aimed it at the gun in Philip’s mouth and mercilessly shot a "Resonating Object"!
His target was originally just to destroy the gun and catch Philip’s expression before death.
But unexpectedly... the "Resonating Object" unleashed with this pocket watch far exceeded Annan’s imagination in power!
The intense silver sonic boom erupted silently.
It turned Philip’s head, and even the part of his body above his shoulders, along with the cursed gun, into silent fragments!
And Annan instantly turned back into himself and reached for his abdomen to freeze his wound, attacking himself once more.
By the time all these actions were completed, Annan had only 8% health left.
—This would be Annan’s only oversight.
For with Merlin’s experience, he could naturally tell that the caster level of "Cold Touch" on Annan’s abdomen was not the same as that on "Philip" and "Ferdinand"!
But Annan was willing to take a chance.
It was a meaningless challenge.
Failure would mean wasting a nightmare that could have been cleared...
If successful, he would receive the most perfect decryption reward—the Elemental Power.
But Annan did not crave this Elemental Power... or rather, what he longed for was not just Elemental Power.
For some reason, a strong desire to win surged in Annan’s heart.
He didn’t want to lose.
Only in this event... only while using "Annan’s" body, did Annan wish to become the "main character"!
Maybe Philip was right, Annan’s desire was too strong...
Satisfying that desire itself was more important than any material reward!
He believed Merlin, upon seeing Ferdinand’s corpse and sensing the remnants of the ritual, would realize what Annan was doing and provide cover for his strategy.
Can you understand the message I left behind... Merlin!
"You can start crying out for help loudly now, Kafney... The rest is up to you."
Annan whispered, managing a wan smile through the pain: "And... happy birthday."
"...Thank you. I will remember this day because of you."
Embracing Annan’s increasingly chilled body, Kafney whispered softly: "Even if no one sings praises... even if no one knows, you are the hero who saved us all, and I..."
Annan didn’t get to hear the rest as he lost consciousness in Kafney’s arms.
Even without any evidence.
In the moment before he collapsed, Annan still believed he would seize victory.
It was a sensation that came from deep within his soul... and intuition.