After Erini made the sound, the dark and lightless space immediately took on shape and color.
That was a scene that Aiwas was very familiar with—
This was where Lloyd's and White Queen met, a place called Legal Square, where he passed on his way to the Pelican.
The setting sun was slanting in the sky, and the clouds were thick. The dim yellow light sprinkled on the gloomy streets, giving a damp omen that a storm was about to come but had not yet arrived.
But Aiwass soon realized something was wrong.
This is considered a busy area, but there is no one on the street. There is a kind of deathly silence.
This is not an illusion.
Because at this moment, time is still stagnant.
The nine of them sat in the middle of the road, surrounding the glowing hourglass.
Aiwass observed that only the old man and Sherlock had no reaction at all. Everyone else, including himself, was more or less surprised.
In the face of an emergency, everyone was cautious. The moment everyone chose to remain silent, the atmosphere became silent.
"Are the apostles... the angels in the legend?"
Only a second or two passed before Cheese broke the silence first.
She murmured in a low voice, her voice full of childish expectation and longing: "Is it the angel sister who helps us advance?"
"-Unfortunately."
Sherlock calmly interrupted the girl's beautiful imagination and gave a calm explanation: "The essence of apostles is actually phantoms. It's just that they are willing to obey the Nine Pillars and are responsible for assisting the Nine Pillars in responding to various rituals."
"… They are servants who help the Ennead Gods do small things."
Coco, who was standing by, explained softly, "Don't be afraid... They are only responsible for leading us in the ceremony, and are not responsible for judging or deciding the content of the ceremony.
"The original name of the advancement ceremony is 'Nine Pillar God Ceremony', which is a ceremony to call the Nine Pillar Gods to descend. In theory, all the Nine Pillar Gods should be summoned. But there are too many low-level extraordinary people like us, and the Nine Pillar Gods have no time to visit us... So they will send apostles.
"The nine pillar gods must send at least one apostle. We are too weak now and can only attract one apostle... Only when the apostle arrives can the ceremony be established."
"Don't worry too much about the apostles."
Sherlock suddenly spoke up: "Lady Erini is an apostle of the Path of Balance, and is very particular about fairness. But not every time you advance, you will happen to meet an apostle of the hourglass. If you meet an apostle of the Path of Love, the Path of Wisdom, the Path of Authority, or the Path of Transcendence to preside over the ceremony, it is very likely that they will maliciously favor or deceive the participants of the ceremony.
"But in fact, the biggest influence is the preferences and inclinations of the compiler of this ceremony... that is, the Pillar God."
The hourglass is another name for the sand timepiece, which is the pillar god of the path of balance. It is also the symbol printed on the Avalon copper coin.
Each country has different ways of prohibiting and restricting things. Generally speaking, it is mainly related to the opposition to the mainstream ideology, and secondly, it involves political reasons.
For example, the main ideas of the Kingdom of Star Antimony are the Path of Transcendence, the Path of Dusk, and the Path of Balance, while the mainstream ideas of the Kingdom of Iris are the Path of Beauty and the Path of Love. They are adjacent to Avalon, and their relationship with each other is not very good.
Considering issues such as cultural invasion and espionage infiltration, the paths of these three countries are mutually opposed.
—But even so, under the premise that the Kingdom of Star Antimony was founded on alchemy, Avalon and Iris still did not prohibit the Path of Balance.
On the one hand, technology and alchemy cannot be abandoned. On the other hand, the path of balance is based on fairness, neutrality and no national boundaries. This kind of "fairness" that is always implemented is from top to bottom.
“Generally speaking,” Sherlock glanced at the old man who remained silent, paused before speaking again, “The host also has personal likes and dislikes—after all, if there is no clear will, personality, and memory, it cannot be called a true phantom demon.
"Because of this, the host will choose to be slightly inclined to help the extraordinary people of his own path, or to cause trouble for the path he dislikes."
The glowing hourglass finally made a sound after hearing this:
Don't worry too much, guys.
After all, in theory, this is a ceremony that all nine gods are concerned about, so it won't be too much.
We are not examiners or question setters, but invigilators. We are here to witness the ceremony and make sure no one is cheating. Flattery is useless. Even verbal attacks are fine—of course, although I don't care, this enthusiastic "detective" is right, and I also don't recommend that you attack the apostles of other paths.
Erinni's voice was gentle, and she didn't even interrupt Sherlock or refute him. She was obviously the type with a good temper.
So everyone, according to tradition - at the first promotion ceremony, I will explain to you
This time, three advanced people have multiple paths, but please note: in the advanced ceremony, you are only allowed to use the abilities of the advanced path and the extraordinary items that you made by yourself and correspond to the path.
—Everything you encounter in the dream world is related to the real history of the material world, but different.
Perhaps a ritual to call on a higher being, an assassination of a great figure, or a local war could change the world. Or perhaps the world has already been changed, but no one can remember the original history.
In the advanced ceremony, you will see the "other possibility of history" deduced by the Nine Pillars.
The dreams you use each time you advance will only be used once, and the content is all fictional and different from the development in reality.
Therefore, you must solve puzzles, search for items, defeat enemies, or survive to prove your ability under the watchful eyes of the Nine Pillars.
The ceremony is limited to four hours, with a one-to-one ratio with the real world.
You will play a role in the venue and complete your own tasks. You will get corresponding points for each corresponding goal you complete.
Because this ceremony is a full moon ceremony, cooperation is allowed and cooperation points are calculated: the cooperator will receive 10%-50% of the points earned by the person being helped, depending on the effort and income.
But you cannot cooperate with the opposing path you have chosen in this ceremony, otherwise you will deduct 50%-100% of the points gained by the person you help.
Note: If you help someone without knowing the identity of the opposing path, you will still lose points; but if you do not recognize and directly say the correct identity of the cooperating path, you will not get any points for helping. After the ceremony is completed, the three people with the lowest points will be eliminated.
In this ceremony, all sentient beings except the participants do not have complete intelligence and souls, and are all made of "amber". Therefore, killing, healing, and sacrifice will not trigger oaths, taboos, agreements, or curses.
The difficulty of this ritual is "safe". Any injuries or deaths during the ritual will not affect the health of the physical body, and failure to advance will not cause weakness or damage to the soul.
Separate statement: The dream of this ceremony was constructed by 'Amber', and the task and role arrangement, plus and minus points were handled by 'The Lord of Scales and Feathers'. It has nothing to do with the witness of the ceremony, that is, myself.
After speaking all this in one breath without pausing, Erini finally paused after issuing the disclaimer.
Is there anyone who doesn't understand something? Next time when you advance, the new host won't explain so much to you.
No one made a sound, just like the atmosphere in a classroom when the teacher asks, "Is there anyone who didn't understand?" It was completely silent.
And Erini was not surprised by this.
She added kindly:
This ceremony is very simple and the process is not long, so don't be nervous and don't necessarily look for teammates. If you still don't understand something, you can ask your guide after waking up.
Remember, everything you see in this ceremony is fiction. Do not regard everything you see here as real history.
When she said this, the sand in the hourglass had just run out.
As the hourglass slowly turned over, Apostle Eirini uttered the last words:
In 1884, a horrific serial murder occurred in the capital of the Kingdom of Avalon...
When the hourglass turned completely over, Aiwass suddenly felt extremely dizzy.
The world in front of his eyes was frozen motionless, but the nine people sitting on the chairs disappeared like water waves.