Just to be safe, Aiwass still pulled the others together and quietly waited until nightfall.
All sorts of potions and equipment had been prepared in advance, and even Aiwass’s mana had been fully restored through prayer. This was to prevent another surprise attack by the Penalty Demon at dusk.
The recovery speed of demons is quite fast. As long as they aren’t dead and can still move, eating a few people can replenish them quite significantly in about a day.
But as night fell completely and the moon rose, the Penalty Demon still did not appear.
"Has it given up?"
Hayna asked seriously. Continue reading stories on freewebnovel
She felt extremely guilty for not being present as the team’s shield when Aiwass and Lily fell into crisis.
At the Royal Law University, they repeatedly learned an important concept—armored professions must never let their vulnerable, unarmored companions be directly exposed to enemy threats.
This is the mark of an absolute failure as guardians.
No matter whether those vulnerable Transcendent companions are capable of dealing with the enemy or not, the team’s Inspectors must step forward. The same spell that might leave them unharmed could be fatal to others, and even if they suffered fatal injuries, the Inspectors with robust vitality could endure much longer, recover more easily after treatment, and are less likely to suffer lasting aftereffects.
Just like the attacked Supervisory Bureau—if the Law Court had been attacked, they would hardly have lasted until Aiwass came to the rescue. The same goes for the Inspectors who were seriously injured at Aiwass’s award ceremony.
"I think the Penalty Demon is preparing even more."
Aiwass shook his head.
The batch of Demon Scholar troops he had brought previously were wiped out by Little Butterfly’s self-destruction—from an emotional standpoint, Aiwass hoped he would bring some more; but rationally, he probably wouldn’t bring so many next time.
Because they had become a burden when facing Aiwass.
If not for the need to protect them, there was no need for him to use the "Flame Nullification Barrier" to stand in punishment. As a Demon Incarnation, he had robust vitality and decent mobility, with strong bursts of power—he could have easily used other offensive rituals for a more fierce attack.
And most importantly—the Defiant Flame Butterfly clearly suppressed him.
Generally speaking, in spells of the same level, defense must take priority over offense; otherwise, defensive spells would be meaningless.
The "Elemental Nullification Barrier" is a Sixth Power Level grand ritual that, within its effective range, can nullify pure mana projectile attacks of light, darkness, wind, earth, water, and fire elements. As long as you stand inside, all pure elemental spells of the Sixth Power Level and below can be ignored within its active range. The downside is that it also nullifies spells inside the barrier—meaning you can’t cast spells either.
And the "Flame Nullification Barrier" is a Fourth Power Level downgrade of it.
Though it’s a downgrade, it is still a legitimate Fourth Power Level defensive ritual.
Even an attack of the same Fourth Power Level should not be able to breach the barrier.
Yet Little Butterfly’s flames and lasers clearly couldn’t be blocked by that barrier. The Penalty Demon is intelligent and has lived for centuries as an old Transcendent—he must know what this implies.
—Superior Phantom.
Because if the Defiant Flame Butterfly were Fifth Power Level, then it would be on the same level as the hatched Penalty Demon, easily capable of killing all of them. There would be no need to self-destruct the moment it saw him turn into a Penalty Demon.
So there’s only one possibility, that Little Butterfly’s spell power is only of the Fourth Power Level. But with the Superior Phantom’s priority boost, it penetrated the Flame Nullification Barrier’s resistance.
And lower-level Superior Phantoms are not undefeatable.
To put it in gaming terms, although spell penetration, effect accuracy, and abnormal resistance all receive a Power Level priority boost, the attributes, Path traits, and spell list are all ten levels lower. A level 40 enemy with a priority boost is definitely much easier to defeat than a level 50 without.
If the giant’s memory hasn’t deteriorated, he should remember that the first time he saw him, he used a dispelling-type Flame Butterfly right on the street, even in front of the Great Guardian.
That "spell" and the Defiant Flame Butterfly are both in the form of a Fire Butterfly; he should easily connect the two abilities. This would naturally lead him to recognize it as a power of Aiwass’s Path of Devotion... and from that distance, he should be able to sense that Aiwass’s Path of Transcendence is only of the Second Power Level.
In other words, in his perception, he should have completely seen through all of Aiwass’s cards. And even with the Defiant Flame Butterfly, at most, he would only feel "trouble" and "nuisance," not "fear."
So he definitely wouldn’t back down.
"They will definitely come back,"
Aiwass affirmed, "Although I don’t know why they originally came here—I killed a team of their elites, and they are bound to seek revenge."
Especially when they were so certain of winning.
"He should be looking for special countermeasures against flames."
Sherlock commented with a frown, "Based on your description, the only thing that could hurt him is fire. The habit of Demon Scholars to use ritual spells predisposes them towards ’preparation in advance’ rather than adapting to skirmish battles.
"The moment your intelligence was exposed, he would surely prepare thorough countermeasures—this is very dangerous."
Is that so?
Aiwass’s lips curled slightly upward.
——He didn’t quite see it that way.
After this promotion, he would be able to use Shepherd’s Nurturing again; and once Lily gains Shadow Affinity one more time, her Shadow Affinity level would reach Level Four. This means she could further unleash the Shadow Demon’s strength.
Level Three Shadow Affinity is enough to fully accommodate the Shadow Demon’s power, meaning it could hide in her shadow without being noticed; it is not until Level Five Shadow Affinity that one could merge with the Shadow Demon, completely unleashing strength that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Lily herself had been nurtured with the essence of the Shadow Demon, with half her strength stemming from it.
Whether to continue enhancing the Fifth Power Level Shadow Demon’s strength or to elevate the Defiant Flame Butterfly at the peak of the Fourth Power Level to the Fifth Power Level, both options would give the Penalty Demon a big surprise.
——That Penalty Demon, I have already sealed its fate!
Aiwass thought to himself.
"Prepare for the promotion ritual, both of you."
As the new moon had already risen high in the sky, Aiwass spoke softly to Hayna and Lily.
Hayna nodded seriously, while Lily calmly responded.
Sherlock stayed inside the house as the Guardian of the ritual. He had already stuck red paper on the windows, filling the inside of the house with a blood-red glow.
"——All nine are present,"
Aiwass chanted softly, "and I am among them."
Strangle the seagull; shatter the mirror;
Drive the nail soaked in poison blood through the heart of the lamb;
Melt the wax figure of the great man with a candle, soak black salt in blood;
Stab the well-fed rat to death with a knife, skin the snake with a blade;
Drive the nail through the tip of the horse’s genitals; pry open the oyster and drip your own blood into it.
Aiwass kept the snake, Lily the rat, and Hayna the horse’s genitals.
"Apart from me, all eight are dead,"
The three said in unison.
The next moment, black-red flames blazed within the room.
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The Ritual Array lit up, shining with a red glow.
The room filled with a crimson and evil glow, as red as blood—