Glass Island, White Queen District.
In a pure white room on the second floor of the Brown Hotel, a well-dressed, genteel young gentleman leisurely savored a freshly seared steak in his room.
Standing by his table was a spirit maid in her soul state. She had a translucent white spectral body that appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen years old, and her attire resembled that of the "Fox," both wearing white priest robes without the mitre. The only solid part of her was her spine, and through her translucent white form, one could barely make out the pale color of her backbone.
Suddenly, the girl leaned down and whispered something into the gentleman's ear. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
However, the gentleman reacted as if he had heard something, raising his eyebrows and taking out a gold pocket watch encrusted with gems from his chest. He flipped it open.
"It's almost over, eh?"
After glancing at the time, he put the watch away and stuffed the remaining small piece of steak into his mouth.
He chewed vigorously, with meat juice seeping out. Some of the tougher sinews made a crunching noise as he chewed them, but thanks to his good teeth, he ground the meat and swallowed it.
The young gentleman muttered to himself with a mix of satisfaction and reluctance, "I really hate to part with such a young and healthy body..."
In the room below the gentleman's, a maid who bore a resemblance to a newsboy cleaned the room in a leisurely fashion, sighing with some worry.
"It's finally ending… what a torture. It's really too horrific."
Elsewhere, Sherlock, hiding with Lulu in the abandoned chemical plant along with Her Royal Highness, had no common topics at hand and thus maintained a polite yet somewhat awkward silence.
He focused on the sun as it slowly climbed to its zenith and suddenly said, "It's about time."
Lulu asked subconsciously while holding a child, then quickly realized and perked up, "Is the ritual about to end?"
"There are four survivors left. Those two haven't died until the very end."
Sherlock said quietly, "'Bone Sculptor'... Lars Graham, is it? I'll look into him."
"If it's not—don't say I told you!"
Lulu whispered nervously.
"My respected princess," he said languidly, "Normally, even if I did mention it, he wouldn't know it was you. I know 'Lulu,' not 'Isabel Du Lac.'"
"...Eh?" Lulu, who had been earnestly playing the role of "Annie Alexander," was suddenly taken aback as her real name was revealed.
"Master Yanis is being far too irresponsible. Although a failure in the first advancement ritual carries no punishment, and with your noble status, you do not fear your real identity being discovered, I think some basic knowledge still needs to be taught in advance. Not all setbacks have their meaning—especially when the setbacks you've faced have been numerous."
The newsboy adjusted his newsboy cap, looked down, and spoke indifferently, "I will report to Her Majesty the Queen in great detail about this ritual, including the unusually difficult nature of this ritual, information about the 'Bone Sculptor,' the 'Knight,' the 'Fox,' and 'Coco,' as well as matters between you and Mr. Fox. Of course, this also includes the mistakes you made in this ritual—I have them all memorized without missing a single detail.
"This time is an exception. But remember... from the second advancement ritual onwards, failure and death in the ritual will come with a price.
"I am one of the rare Transcendents of the Path of Wisdom in Avalon. Unless there is an unexpected turn of events, Her Majesty the Queen may entrust me to advance alongside you and protect you during the ritual. I hope that the next time we meet, you will have somewhat corrected your naively reckless behavior."
Having said this, the newsboy gazed into "Annie Alexander's" somewhat flustered and bewildered eyes, pondering for a moment.
Then he added, "I'll try to investigate the real identity of the 'Fox' for you. But don't get your hopes up too high; my priority for the next while will be on the 'Sweater Brothers Association' and the 'Bone Sculptor.'
"...Eh? Then, then thank you, Mr. Sherlock…"
Although Lulu didn't know when she had been exposed, it was not surprising to be found out by the renowned Mr. Sherlock Hermes. So, she wasn't overly shocked.
But when Sherlock mentioned he would help investigate the "Fox" for her, she still felt a touch of embarrassment. However, she didn't refuse.
Seeing this, Sherlock sighed again and said nothing more.
At that moment, a burst of light suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes— it was the pure white brilliance that flashes when the world collapses and disintegrates.
Both the dead and the surviving participants of the ritual saw a succession of ever-changing images before their eyes.
A young priest with black hair and blue eyes pressed his hand against the back of a child's neck, his palm emitting light;
A gravely injured young Inspector, with his guts spilled by the Hook Demon, turned his back to fleeing civilians, holding the short sword symbolizing the authority of law and radiating pure white light, still standing his ground;
The green claw of a water demon tightly grasped the Hook Demon, hissing with white smoke. The Hook Demon, with a vicious face, seemed to be screaming something;
An hourglass was thrown into the air, emitting a yellowish light, and pure white smoke curled out from it, wrapping around the hourglass and forming a blurry, translucent ghost of a young girl;
The young priest held a box cutter, determined and fearless, using it to slit his own throat;
A dark-skinned fatty, whose entire head was grasped by a pale, withered right hand, his facial fat and terrified, trembling eyes slipping through the fingers;
Annie Alexander held Little Aiwass, still in the throes of sleep, under the setting sun, her face a blend of sorrow and fortitude.
—In the next moment, the view before her, along with the entire world around her, began to turn to sand.
Everything in front of her dissipated like sand in the wind.
The grains of sand flew into the air, then reversed course, drawn back into the glowing giant hourglass.
Aiwass awoke and gathered his complex emotions. He decided first to probe with indirect questions before jumping to any conclusions.
After all, the information given during the ritual might not be entirely correct... right?
...But as much as he said that, he actually already had a similar suspicion in his mind.
It was something he had anticipated.
Aiwass sighed and looked up, only to find himself once again in the guise of the "Faceless Priest," seated upon his frighteningly large chair.
But before him was no longer pitch darkness, nor were there eight other chairs and participants of the ritual.
Instead, there was light.
It was like the first time he ascended, a bright world devoid of a single shadow.
Screens of light swiftly descended before his eyes, showing Aiwass's points tally:
[Mandatory Mission Completed (Points: 600)]
[Self-Preservation: Ensure your own survival (Incomplete)]
[Heart is the Sanctuary: Choose not to hide within the Cathedral of Candle Master, take the initiative to go to Judiciary Square (Points: 100)]
[My Unforgotten Nature: Heal those destined to die (Points: 100)]
[Once and for All: Find and kill the killer (Points: 500)]
[My Favorite Jasmine: Ensure the survival of your wife, Annie Alexander (Points: 500)]
[Live Longer: Among the nine ritualists, survive as long as possible, or at least die later (Points: 100)]
[The Beginning of Everything: Find the mastermind behind the scenes (Points: 1000)]
[Total Points 2900, Ranking First]
The familiar figure of a stag, as transparent and pure as a ruby, emerged again in the distance.
Its blood fell to the ground, igniting red flames where its hoofprints landed.
It approached Aiwass once more and gently licked his cheek.
The black thorns around its neck pierced Aiwass's cheek, leaving an almost invisible wound that oozed black blood—
Three words materialized before Aiwass's eyes.
[Light Affinity LV1 (Blue): You were scratched by the Sin Thorn of the Candle Master and gleaned a bit of the essence of light.]
He hadn't yet had a chance to see if the remaining two lines expanded on the entry, as the two lines of blue and white text were completely incinerated by the black flames.
Two beams of purple radiance erupted, emitting a deep hum.
This all too familiar sound made Aiwass's eyes widen and he immediately became alert.
He hit the jackpot on his first ascension!
...Could it be that the ranking of points really determines the quality of the rewards?
That's not a setting in the game... but it actually makes more sense this way.
Though it seemed more like a setting that should have always been there, possibly cut for the sake of fairness...
Aiwass's eyes flew open as he caught sight of two rare lines of purple text:
[Vessel of Blaze and Brilliance (Purple): Fire springs from light, and light floats atop fire. Your soul is nourished by both.]
[Tainted Light LV1 (Purple): No light is absolutely pure, just like the human heart. You attempt to infuse deadly poison into your own light.]