Currently, the Shadow Demon summoned during the ritual resides within the shadow beneath Aiwass's feet.
He uses a wheelchair, not because his legs were sacrificed and rendered immobile, but because if he were to step on his own shadow, he would instantly awaken the Shadow Demon and cause it to materialize.
This wheelchair was something Aiwass requested from the old butler immediately after waking up.
That was because his [Shadow Affinity] level was currently too low.
The Shadow Demon belongs to the Upper Demon class. Shadow Affinity needs to reach at least Level Three to control the Shadow Demon and Level Five to merge with it. Before that, he could only draw upon a fraction of the Shadow Demon's power to use his "supernatural abilities."
Although the Shadow Demon would not harm him and was even contractually obligated to protect Aiwass, he was completely unable to restrain the Shadow Demon's actions.
From this perspective, a Demon Scholar who contracts a low-level demon is like walking a dog; Aiwass, however, is being walked by the dog.
How to seal the Shadow Demon was not something "Aiwass" should know. It was knowledge originating from memories of another world.
Aiwass Moriarty, Path, Demon Scholar, Kingdom of Avalon... this was the world of an MMORPG called The Ring of Ouroboros.
This game was published and operated by their company, "Faceless God Studio."
Though he called it "their company," the game's production actually had nothing to do with Aiwass, as he was not a member of the development staff. He was a recently hired Human Resources Manager, commonly known as an HR.
Three years ago, Aiwass resigned and became unemployed. Because he was restricted by a non-compete agreement and couldn't find work in the same industry, his best friend dragged him into the game.
That friend was the company's game writer, constantly pitching the game to him and talking about the many Easter eggs he had designed.
Eventually, Aiwass, unable to bear the constant nagging and coinciding with a dry spell for new games, started playing for a while and felt it was indeed a good game. Its drawback was that it required a serious time commitment—but it was perfect for passing the time while unemployed at home.
Later, when he heard that "Faceless God Studio" was hiring an HR and his restriction period had passed, Aiwass submitted his resume and came in for an interview.
As he was still transitioning roles, he was hit by a dump truck while crossing the road and replying to a message on his way to work, sending him to this world... If he had known he would transmigrate here, he would have asked more about the company's internal documents or spent more time reading plot discussion threads on the forums!
This was his biggest oversight.
Because Aiwass, fundamentally, was the kind of hardcore grinder player who didn't pay much attention to the story or care much about the characters.
Although he had learned a lot of hidden lore, character backgrounds, and future main story plots that ordinary players didn't know through chatting with friends, and had passively absorbed some early plot details from group chats, he was never interested in the main story. He found the various character side quests much more interesting.
When Aiwass started playing back in the 1.0 era, right after clearing the first raid boss, he used a Main Story Completion Scroll to instantly finish all old main quests up to the start of 1.0.
Not only that, but he skipped every cutscene he could during leveling and at the start of dungeons. Any cutscene that couldn't be skipped was quickly fast-forwarded through by constantly clicking the left mouse button.
As a result, Aiwass now couldn't recall the early main story at all. He only had a deeper impression of the later plot because the story presentation in the main raids was quite good. Even without carefully watching the preceding story, one could generally piece together the plot through the unskippable raid cinematics.
At the very beginning of the main story, "Aiwass" made his appearance.
In the winter of Celestial Balance Year 1890, he was kidnapped and taken to an altar to perform a ritual.
The passing "Player" accidentally broke the barrier that kept passersby away and witnessed the brutal sacrificial scene.
In an emergency, he pretended that he had already reported the incident to the Supervisory Bureau and was guiding the Supervisory Bureau's Griffin Knights, which immediately scared the two people away.
Aiwass was rescued from the ritual altar by the "Player," and then invited the Player—who was homeless after having their wallet and identification stolen—to his home for food and rest.
Afterward, Aiwass would enroll in school with the Player, grow together, and continue to investigate the case together.
The investigation revealed that the case was much larger than anticipated, even implicating high-ranking officials within the Kingdom...
And because Aiwass fell into mortal danger, his sister Yulia suddenly lost control—catalyzed by Blood Crystals, she transformed into the "Phantom Demon · Paradoxical Flame Butterfly," the first eight-person raid boss.
That was also the first Phantom Demon the Players encountered in the game.
Her true form was curled up, encased within the amber-like translucent thorax of the butterfly, protected by butterfly wings composed of blaze spirits.
Because the dungeon level was low, this eight-person raid was the easiest one to queue for in the daily random dungeon rotation; players averaged three or four fights against Yulia per week.
Since Yulia did not wish to harm Aiwass, she was an entry-level boss with virtually no mechanics and no desire to attack, featuring the classic pattern of "hit what appears, dodge what appears."
In fact, if the level was high enough, one could ignore all mechanics and continuously attack her main body to barely clear the fight.
If one used the Main Story Completion Scroll after defeating Yulia, they would receive some cosmetic rewards.
Finally, she was defeated. After losing most of her spirituality, she shrank down into a Flame Butterfly, which Aiwass contracted as his first familiar.
Aiwass used this method to preserve her spirituality, hoping to later find the legendary master, Insect Amber, who possessed resurrection magic, to bring her back to life.
It wasn't until the main story of the 1.0 version that Aiwass mastered a new ability.
Aiwass, who could seal theoretically immortal Phantom Demons into cards and use them as enhanced equipment to arm his familiars, finally received a massive personal enhancement.
After that, he stopped accompanying the Players in dungeons and became a plot device in cinematics used to execute Phantom Demon-type bosses.
"...Brother?"
Just as Aiwass was thinking this, he suddenly heard a tender voice.
He was startled.
Senior Haina, who was excitedly discussing "Sherlock and deduction" with Aiwass, heard the voice and instinctively turned around.
She saw a little girl standing silently in the doorway.
"When you woke up yesterday, I was asleep. After I woke up, you had already fallen asleep again."
Having just woken up in the evening, she spoke with a hint of grievance and astonishment: "Brother, why... are you in a wheelchair?"
"—And who is she?"
She was wearing the same style of pure white fleece pajamas as Aiwass. Her silver-white hair reached her shoulders, and her deep red pupils brought roses to mind.
Her features were delicate and soft, making one think of a white cat or a rabbit. She was a completely different type of beauty compared to Aiwass's dazzling handsomeness.
Her eyes, hair color, and pupil color all served as proof that the two shared no blood relation.
If there was any similarity between them, it was a shared sense of frailty and illness.
She possessed a similar frailty to Aiwass, but hers was more pronounced.
The girl's skin was pale, almost transparent, in a sickly way. When she stood at the doorway, she unconsciously held onto the door frame, her body slightly tilted to shift her center of gravity and reduce the pressure of standing upright.
—What a cute girl!
Haina's eyes lit up.
Like seeing an adorable pet, she wanted to get closer but worried she might scare the girl away.
"It's alright, Yuli. It's only temporary. This is Senior Haina; she came to ask me about something."
Aiwass smiled, calling the girl by her nickname as he remembered doing. Yet, for some reason, he felt the name sounded awkward and unfamiliar.
It was like calling friends by nicknames for a long time and then suddenly using their full names one day, making it feel as if that wasn't actually their name.
After a moment of disorientation, he slightly opened his arms toward Yulia: "Come here for a hug."
"...Mhm."
Yulia obediently walked over, swaying slightly. She looked as though she had just woken up, possessing a frailty that made one worry she might fall down.
As he embraced Yulia, who leaned into him, Aiwass suddenly felt a moment of confusion.
He was holding Yulia now, but it also felt as if he were holding another "Aiwass."
The memories of the "Aiwass" of this world, having received a prophecy of the future, suddenly felt a certain terror.
Yulia would turn into a monster... and then she would die.
—At this moment, Aiwass's memories overlapped with reality. They completely merged, and the memories of his dual lives became crystal clear.
It was like someone groggy from sleep being suddenly awakened by a nightmare, finally distinguishing whether he was dreaming or not.
Two days after arriving in this world, he finally realized that he wasn't dreaming. He had truly transmigrated.
He had arrived in another world.
However, he also clearly realized something else—the current storyline was already different.
The Aiwass in the game definitely did not contract the Shadow Demon.
That was because the ritual had been interrupted by the Player and never fully succeeded.
And this likely meant that there was no "Player character" present in this world.
In an epic fantasy game, the Player usually takes on the role of a one-time Savior; but if the game is an online multiplayer game, the Players are typically continuous, high-frequency, low-tolerance Saviors.
Having to save the world once every major patch... that would be troublesome for him.
This was because the "Player," according to the lore, was a descendant of the Snake Father, who once controlled The Path of Transcendence and was one of the Nine Pillar Gods.
It was precisely for this reason that Players could possess "experience points" and "levels," allowing them to constantly grow stronger without prerequisites or reliance on talent.
In the lore, the Player actually never queued for dungeons or grouped up; they defeated all enemies alone.
But Aiwass, even though he was an important character, knew that world-ending calamities like the Fallen Angel, the Calamity Dragon, and Avalon's Shadow could not be defeated by a conventionally defined "strong person."
Aiwass knew that the Kingdom of Avalon would likely face trouble in about half a year.
Although he didn't remember the main story clearly, he at least remembered critical junctures like version updates.
What he told Haina was not a lie. The Kingdom of Avalon would indeed face catastrophe in more than half a year, and it was directly related to the demon ritual incident they were currently experiencing, which no important figure cared about.
But now, Aiwass still had a chance to change everything.
To change everything—
He subconsciously tightened his embrace around Yulia, and the girl keenly sensed something: "Brother?"
"...It's nothing."
Aiwass smiled calmly: "I just had a very long dream yesterday... I dreamed that Yulia left me."
However, at this moment, he suddenly felt Yulia's body in his arms abruptly tense up... Huh?
Aiwass's heart stirred slightly.
As if trying to conceal her reaction, Yulia suddenly asked, "How long... do you have to stay in the wheelchair, Brother?"
"About... a year, I suppose?"
Aiwass said, looking toward the old butler: "The doctor said that, didn't he?"
"Yes, Young Master Aiwass."
The old butler asked without hesitation: "So, will you be taking a year off from school? You've already been absent for three months anyway."
This was a lie.
And both parts of it were lies.
There was no doctor who told Aiwass to use a wheelchair; Aiwass requested it himself.
Demon Scholars who contract Shadow Demons use this method to seal the Shadow Demon when they are not yet capable of controlling it.
Besides needing a wheelchair for daily movement, one must also minimize strenuous activity and slow their movements to lower their heart rate—this is a standard method for suppressing demons.
In addition, one can take heart rate suppressing drugs to keep the sealed demon dormant inside the body.
"No need," Aiwass replied, "Once this incident is resolved, I will return to school."
"...Resolved this incident?"
Haina belatedly realized something.
She instinctively realized that in that very instant... Aiwass's demeanor seemed to have changed.
That feeling was quite familiar to her.
As a freshman, the naive Haina thought she was still the genius from her remote small town. However, during the final exams that year, she barely scraped a passing grade in Astrology, which gave her a cold sweat.
But precisely because of that, she became serious, realizing that in the highest-ranking academy located in the Red Queen District of Glass Island in the capital, she was far less outstanding than she had imagined.
At least... she was not a pure genius, but a hardworking one.
Taking the attitude of just casually studying, as she had before, meant that even without skipping classes, she might actually fail...
The fact that she could now graduate with the seven-petal flower stamp, which represented a perfect score, was precisely because Professor Moriarty's bright red, three-petal flower stamp—which meant "pass"—had served as a wake-up call back then.
For the average student, this stamp was a mark of freedom, worth cheering and celebrating; but for the proud Haina, it felt like a scorching slap across the face, leaving her silent and blank-minded.
Aiwass gave her that exact feeling now.
The feeling of being suddenly awakened from a dream, like when seeing a report card—
"Yes, I intend to participate in the investigation."
Aiwass suddenly became serious: "If they kidnapped me once, there will be a second time. Unless those cultists are purged, I cannot safely leave my home; similarly, I cannot wait comfortably at home for an investigation result that I might find unacceptable—therefore, I must participate in the investigation."
Hearing this, Haina felt somewhat awkward. This was undoubtedly a subtle reference to the Supervisory Bureau's extremely slow investigation efficiency.
The Supervisory Bureau, which strictly adheres to "rules," must report everything to superiors and follow standard procedures for every step. These are the regulations set by the noble knights of the Senate.
It is precisely because they almost never manage to find anything that they often need to request assistance from Detectives.
The "Sherlock" Haina mentioned earlier is a Detective who has recently become quite famous in the newspapers.
Sherlock graduated from Royal Law University many years ago but chose not to enter the Supervisory Bureau, the Law Court, or the Arbitration Hall.
As a result, he is now a Special Consultant for the Supervisory Bureau. His investigations are not bound by the Supervisory Bureau's various regulations, and he has successively cracked several major cases, giving him a significantly higher status than his former classmates who joined the Supervisory Bureau after graduation.
"If Miss Haina cannot make a decision, you might as well report my words to your superior and ask for his opinion."
Aiwass crossed his hands and said calmly: "In any case, according to the rules, you must submit the entire content of this conversation to your superior, mustn't you?"
For some reason, Aiwass at this moment reminded Haina of an Inspector interviewer.