After Edward left to sleep, Aiwass was still somewhat uneasy.
He gave Yulia one last treatment for both her body and mind, and once again drew that peculiar magical power.
This time it was his right arm that became half-congested with it... But as Yulia's condition completely stabilized, Aiwass felt no more energy draining when he performed the Illumination Art.
Moreover, as Yulia fell deeply into sleep, the restless energy accumulated in Aiwass's arms began to dissipate gradually. The swelling pain was quickly subsiding.
— It was Phantom Demon Power, Aiwass confirmed.
Once the Defiant Flame Butterfly fell asleep, its power dissipated quickly like rootless duckweed.
Just as Aiwass, before acquiring level three Shadow Affinity, couldn't use the Shadow Demon's power... Of course, he did not possess the trait of Fire Affinity either, so the power of the Defiant Flame Butterfly was also fatal to him. It was probably because the process of healing Yulia incidentally aligned with the "Shepherd's Nurturing Skill," which caused energy to flow back—like blood flowing back when a needle is inserted into a vein.
… At this rate, it would probably take more than an hour for the swelling to fully subside.
He couldn't sleep for the time being.
Aiwass frowned, covered Yulia with a quilt, and then gently pushed the wheelchair back into his bedroom.
Sitting at the desk, he lit a gas lamp.
Gazing at the light, Aiwass fell into thought. He began to sort through his memories.
He remembered that in the original timeline, Yulia had not lost control prematurely, and instead, her condition had been quite good. Until she triggered a rampage on her own, she was merely "a slightly frail, cute little sister."
It certainly wasn't as severe as it was today—a loss of control so serious that if Edward had discovered it a moment later, the Defiant Flame Butterfly would have emerged prematurely.
There were indeed "sporadic combustion incidents" occurring, continuing until the fourth one. And after Yulia's death, the combustion incidents did indeed stop.
But at that time, all these clues eventually pointed toward the Noble Red Society.
… Now it seemed that the investigation direction might have been deliberately misled by Professor Moriarty.
In that timeline, Aiwass's foster father had not left Avalon at this time... With him overseeing it, it would be normal for this matter to be suppressed.
"Could it be the butterfly effect caused by James leaving Avalon?"
Aiwass muttered softly, "'The Forgotten Seal'... Can those words be trusted?"
He believed that Edward had not deceived him.
But whether James had deceived Edward was another matter.
He had no evidence, just a simple thought... As the final boss of version 6.0, Old James wouldn't likely forget such an important matter.
Aiwass also faintly sensed that his older brother seemed to have some doubts about it in his heart. He probably just told a deliberate lie to set Aiwass's mind at ease.
But to say that Old James did it intentionally... seemed unlikely as well.
Edward being called away today was entirely an accident. His foster father had left early in the morning, and it was impossible for him to know that Sherlock would take Edward to the Lohar District, preventing them from returning home until the evening; he also couldn't precisely confirm that Yulia would lose control tonight.
Edward was right. In a normal scenario, if he got home on time, even if Yulia lost control, it wouldn't have reached this life-threatening extent. He could have sealed her immediately.
Therefore, this must be a mere coincidence.
And Aiwass could see no benefit for doing this—if the situation got out of control, it would only bring trouble to the Moriarty Family. It was clearly not conducive to his concealment.
When the foster father was not involved, Edward was a silent and reliable person. And Aiwass had a bit of understanding of the spell "Soul Shackles."
The time Edward estimated should be correct. This seal indeed could last for at least a month.
But this event rang an alarm for Aiwass.
Following the plan for everything was unreliable... because emergencies can always arise, leading to chain reactions.
Therefore, Aiwass decided to start making the Blank Card in advance.
Fortunately, he had chosen the Vessel of Blaze and Brilliance trait during the advanced ritual. Now his fire attribute mana had reached 44 points. Two more points, and he'd have the minimum required to make a fire attribute Blank Card—store up four points in advance, and use all the mana the next day after it had recovered.
According to Aiwass's calculation, he only needed to reach level 13 to have 46 fire attribute mana points.
This shouldn't be difficult.
Even without using experience points, he only needed to increase the level of three different Mystical Skills by one level each.
Had it not been for the need to give Defiant Flame Butterfly time to regain strength slowly, Aiwass would have wished to level up that very night using experience points—if the Defiant Flame Butterfly did not awaken, Aiwass could not completely seal its consciousness into the Blank Card. It would be troublesome if there were any remnants left inside Yulia.
Action followed thought.
Aiwass decided to make an embryo that night.
He picked a suitable Tarot Card for sealing the Defiant Flame Butterfly, then infused it with four mana points and stored it away. This was to save time, in case he found himself pressed for time later and had to wait until the next day to finish the creation.
However, he wasn't certain which card should be used to seal the Defiant Flame Butterfly.
He knew that a "Shadow Demon," a type of demon, could only be made using The Moon Tarot Card because the Shadow Demon was a quite commonly used summoning creature in the latter stages. But he wasn't familiar with the Defiant Flame Butterfly. After all, in the original history of the game, the Defiant Flame Butterfly was not sealed into a Tarot Card by Aiwass but entered Aiwass's necklace instead.
Or to say, the game did not have "Defiant Flame Butterfly" as a selectable summon. It was supposed to be Aiwass's sister, who was to be resurrected. How could it become your pet—even though it didn't manage to be resurrected even after Aiwass's death?
So before that, he had to perform a simple test to divine the Defiant Flame Butterfly's compatibility.
The Blank Card material consisted of two different Tarot Cards. When glued together, they became a "Blank" card.
The base card represented the Phantom Demon's essential attribute, while the representation card stood for one of the Nine Pillar Gods. It must be a card that could properly restrain and suppress the base card.
By the power of the Nine Pillar Gods, the Phantom Demon was suppressed and sealed as the "Great Beast."
This was tantamount to exploiting the Nine Pillar Gods to suppress the Phantom Demon on one's behalf, allowing oneself to command the entity at will without fear of rebellion—the act of "using true gods" was the unforgivable sin of the Great Sin Scholar.
But it had to be said, it was quite useful.
In theory, this kind of test should be performed by the person involved or decoded forcibly using the exclusive mystical skills of the Great Sin Scholar. However, after treating Yulia, Aiwass had a portion of the Defiant Flame Butterfly's power revert back into his body. At this moment, he could also be considered "Yulia," thus he had another method to take a shortcut.
Although Aiwass was not a man of the Path of Adaptation and lacked the power of foresight, it wasn't always necessary to have such ability.
He was a Priest, close to the divine.
—He could simply ask the Candle Master directly.
A prayer ceremony was also a kind of ritual. The bonuses to ritual skills by the Demon Scholar could increase the success rate.
His old man's temper was quite good, and he probably wouldn't get angry if Aiwass knocked on the small window to ask once in a while...
Aiwass opened a brand-new set of Tarot Cards, and after a simple shuffle, laid them face-down in a line on the table.
He lit a new candle and, with fingers interlocked, offered a few respectful prayers to the Stag God of the Candle as preparation.
Then, he drew a new Ritual Dagger and symbolically swept it over the candle flame on both sides to indicate that he had purified himself.
Following that, Aiwass cut across his own left thumb.
Intensely hot blood immediately surged out as if a sunny-side-up egg had been pricked.
Aiwass smeared his blood horizontally across the laid out Tarot Cards. From the first card to the last, all were dabbed with a bit of his blood.
He did not immediately heal himself but began to shuffle the cards seriously, repeatedly, while keeping the bleeding going.
"I solemnly call upon you, noble fire-stealer!"
"Holy God of the number three, The God of Thorns Bound, The God Who Burns Body and Pursues Darkness—the Stag God of the Candle!"
His pupils shone with a golden-red radiance as he prayed earnestly, "I implore you to descend within the candle flame!
"I am a follower of the Path of Dedication, a Priest of the Nine Pillar Gods! I am Aiwass Moriarty!
"Please protect my spirit as you protect the candle and flame in the corner of the wall; please ignite my light as you watch over all the candles of this world.
"I now offer my own blood in exchange for true knowledge. I swear this blood is shed for the benefit of others. Please, Candle Master and your Angel Envoys, answer me..."
Having spoken, he paused for a few seconds.
For Aiwass suddenly felt a bit dizzy. The sensation of being watched gave him shivers down his spine and even caused his heart to skip a beat.
And without any injury to them, his palms silently cracked open.
A vast amount of fresh blood seeped out, completely staining the Tarot Cards red.
But Aiwass wasn't the least bit panicked.
Such a phenomenon clearly indicated the descent of an Angel Envoy to the Material Realm.
Because his spiritual vision was inadequate, he couldn't see the existence of the other. But this phenomenon told Aiwass that he had arrived.
The other was watching him from within the candlelight.
Not to waste the Envoy's time, Aiwass immediately began to inquire, "Please reveal to me the true nature of the Phantom Demon's power in my blood."
"Please reveal to me the true nature of the Phantom Demon's power in my blood."
"Please reveal to me the true nature of the Phantom Demon's power in my blood."
Because the Candle Master was the Holy God of the number three, Aiwass deliberately repeated the question three times.
At this moment, he had just finished a round of shuffling the cards.
Aiwass solemnly drew a Tarot Card from the top of the deck.
The Candle Master would provide him with three answers, hence three cards.
These three cards could all serve as bases for a Blank Card, but the powers they brought would vary slightly.
—The first card soaked in blood was The Lovers, reversed.
Having seen it, Aiwass placed the card above the candle flame, signifying he wouldn't pass on the secrets revealed by the Angel Envoy to others.
The bloody Tarot Card easily turned to ashes.
Then Aiwass drew the second card.
—The Hanged Man, upright.
He didn't immediately interpret it—that would be disrespectful to the Angel Envoy.
Clearing his mind, Aiwass quickly drew the third card.