Pastor's Tantra

When the illusion was shattered, Don Quixote, who was half-kneeling in front of Aiwass, did not shatter with it.

In the pitch-black environment, transparent white ripples appeared around Don Quixote.

He looked up and looked at Aiwass.

Her long jet-black hair was scattered like kelp, and her emerald green eyes were like wolf pupils.

Compared to the original "Knight of Bahrain", he has become much thinner. His face is about 30% similar to Yulia's, but because he is too thin, he doesn't look too handsome. Instead, he has the cold and sharp feeling of a serial killer.

"Great savior...your loyal knight has finally waited for you."

Don Quixote's voice was fanatical and crazy, but his eyes looked rational and sad.

For a moment, I didn't know which one was the real him... I couldn't figure out whether he was pretending to be crazy.

"... Don Quixote..."

Aiwass whispered his name, and somehow added the suffix of the name he gave himself in front of Don Quixote's expectant gaze: "... De La Mancha."

Don Quixote's name can be understood as "the guardian of the 'La Mancha' region, the honorable Don Quixote", that is, "Sir Quixote". But La Man understood that, let alone the Land Rift War... it had already disappeared in the middle of the Helasar Empire.

This was the name of a rather fertile and peaceful rural area in the central region during the early days of the Horasr Empire. It is probably similar to the meaning of "Taoyuan Village" or "Xinghua Village".

The name "Quixote" means a kind of thigh armor used by knights, below which are knee pads and greaves.

The armor in this position is extremely important for knights on horseback - because for infantrymen, their thighs are not so easily injured. But the knight's thighs are exposed, and considering the height of the horse, they are exactly the position that the infantry can attack directly most easily. Therefore, it can also be regarded as a "knight's necessity".

This name is undoubtedly a pseudonym. Its composition is too meaningful, just like the name a writer gives to a character in a novel...it always carries various metaphors and allusions to make it less casual.

Looking at the light that suddenly bloomed in Don Quixote's pupils, Aiwass suddenly felt as if he understood this man.

He is not just a fictional spirit who dreams of becoming a knight. It's not entirely Hercules who has lost his memory, or it's an illusion reconstructed using the soul of the Barin Knight as raw material.

There is unspeakable pain and passion in his heart - judging from the way he addressed Aiwass, he obviously has his own will and story. It's just that he actively indulged in the glory of the knight, using this method to cover up his own emptiness.

Rather than an ignorant spirit who learns and imitates the Knights of the Round Table, he is more like Aiwass's father-in-law - Prince Albert tries his best to imitate the bard Yunus, and it is also a kind of escape in which he indulges.

It's like a player who is stabbed by pain and wants to escape quietly in the game or various personal interests, forgetting everything by indulging in it.

Aiwass had also met a similar person. That is Lalo, the clown from Xingti.

He is also such a crazy madman...but he loves Xingtan and is loyal to Valentine more than anyone else. Those sanctimonious, polite and elegant nobles and scholars are nothing but wolves in sheep's clothing. On the contrary, the crazy clown is the most sober and saddened person.

For such a person, there is no need to pull him out of the farce that he is well aware of. That's not polite - and it doesn't make you look smart, like a wise and extraordinary person who has seen through everything.

Aiwass lowered his gentle eyes, and his clear voice rang out in the void:

"I, Aiwas Moriarty, appoint you as the guardian of La Mancha.

"Although neither Avalon nor New Herasl has this territory yet...but I promise you that this territory will soon be born...or rebuilt. It may not be too big, but it will be where my home is."

Aiwas looked at Don Quixote and said word by word: "I will live in the territory of La Mancha that you protect, Don Quixote."

Don Quixote looked at Aiwass, and his rational and sad eyes became brighter and hotter at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"…I will fight for you, my lord."

He didn't say much.

He was talkative and excited before, but now he became silent and taciturn.

And Aiwass reached forward his hand -

"Don Quixote de la Mancha!"

Aiwass recited loudly word by word, raised the two cards in his hand, and declared loudly: "I call your name at this moment and give you the mark of greed!

"My life is your life, my fate is your fate--

"——Obey me, the Phantom Demon of the Way of Authority!!"

Following Aiwas's announcement, a dragon roar was heard in the distance.

A breath of frost dragon fell down, instantly freezing and solidifying Aiwass and Don Quixote who was half-kneeling on the ground.

A pure white magic circle wrapped in a circle of frost gradually sank into the ice surface and began to shine.

——It was like wrapping the lamp with thick paper, and as it was gradually carved out with an invisible chisel, tiny beams of light seeped out from it.

An increasingly bright glow hatched from the ice.

Like life hatching from an egg—

After it was carved, the pure light array rose into the air.

As it gradually rose, like 3D printing, it gradually thawed the frozen Aiwass and Don Quixote layer by layer. When it rose completely to a higher level than Don Quixote, the ice on both of them completely disappeared.

When the light array rose to its highest point, a majestic and ferocious lion head pattern emerged in its inner ring.

Afterwards, the magic circle began to gradually collapse and shatter from the outermost circle, falling into the void and turning into nothingness. In the end, only the white lion head ring that looked like a badge remained.

Two brand new giant tarot cards were also slowly printed out from the void, one above and one below, with the front sides facing each other and appearing on the upper and lower sides.

The one below symbolizes Don Quixote himself.

--【justice】.

The goddess, wearing a crown and a red robe, holds a scale and a sword, sits on a throne with two stone pillars behind her.

The goddess high above symbolizes the majesty of God - the scales represent fairness and measurement, and the sword represents decision and punishment. The two stone pillars represent tradition and law, the red robe symbolizes the authority of religion, and the crown symbolizes the authority of the king.

Obviously, the standard of "justice" comes from the definition of authoritarianism.

Its card surface gradually changed... the scorching red card surface turned into a quiet green. The goddess no longer sat on the throne, but stood up and covered her eyes. She holds a double-edged sword in her hand and stands on a huge scale. The two ends of the scale are "Alpha" and "Omega", symbolizing the beginning and the end... and they have reached a delicate balance at this moment.

The two simple stone pillars turned into complex spires with light and darkness at both ends. The two stone pillars became four spires. At the ends of the four spires are eight layers of light and darkness. After an extremely complex and dangerous balance, light and darkness reached a state of equilibrium.

When both the origin and the end point are placed on the scale and measured, we will find that they are balanced. This process, like an acrobat standing on a ball, requires constant concentration and a calm mind.

[Justice] becomes [Adjustment].

Compared with the static and harsh "justice", the "adjustment" that constantly tends towards balance is undoubtedly dynamic and calm; compared with external and material authority, it turns to internal and spiritual definitions.

The card above represents the Silver Crown Dragon used to seal Don Quixote.

——It is a “chariot” that symbolizes victory and authority.

Originally, the warrior stood on the chariot, with two sphinxes in front of him, one black and one white, which corresponded to the two pillars on the Justice card. The chariot is surrounded by mountains, rivers, cities and fortresses. It symbolizes invincibility, conquest and victory. It also symbolizes the control of willpower over strength - if the two lions of opposite colors cannot move in the same direction, the chariot will not be able to move forward and may even be damaged.

And this kind of command is called authority.

——Authority is the control of power!

But at this moment, this card also changed - the two sphinxes turned into four cherubim, also two black and two white. And the directions faced also changed from one to three... As the light and darkness became more complicated, the situation also became complicated, corresponding to the complexity of the "pillar" when "justice" became "adjustment".

Tradition symbolizes morality and law symbolizes authority. As society develops, morality and authority can no longer solve all the complex problems.

The warriors on the chariot were holding spears, showing their faces that made them look glorious, and wearing laurel wreaths on their heads that symbolized triumph.

But in the new card, the warrior is covered in full-coverage armor as strong as a can. He no longer stood to welcome the glory, but sat safely in the car; he no longer held a spear, but held a shield that was like the Holy Grail - or perhaps a Holy Grail that was like a shield.

He no longer needed material ropes and shackles, and four cherubim prostrated themselves before the chariot. Because the external victory obtained by giving material constraints... has become a "victory without fighting" obtained by spiritual elevation, inner integration, and adjustment of light and darkness.

Just like the situation of the Silver Crown Dragon at this moment.

He once transformed into the human warrior Arthur, conquered the kingdom of giants, and then conquered the highest heaven, and transformed into the new pillar god, the Silver Crown Dragon.

But at this moment, the Silver Crown Dragon no longer needs to achieve material victory... He now needs spiritual unity and inner harmony.

Finally, as the two cards gradually formed and became clear, they slowly moved towards the center.

The moment the two cards were closely combined together, it suddenly burst into a chilling glow.

As the illusion collapsed, Aiwass opened his eyes.

The holy sword Clarent beside him had disappeared.

In front of him, there was a pure white transparent card slowly rotating in the air. The pattern of a lion's head is outlined on it with metallic silver-gray.

Aiwass stretched out his hand and wrote his name fluently with his right index finger.

Its properties also emerged after the violent vibration:

[Major Sin: Holding the Holy Sword (Adjustment, Chariot)]

[Level: 50 (Suppressed)]

[Path of Authority, Light Attribute]

【Upright Summoning: Nothingness】

[Required: Light 5]

[Immediate, forward, effective immediately]

[Effect: Summon the spirit of the Paladin Don Quixote, who sacrifices himself to become a huge light shield, defending all attacks from the front for all the allies behind him.]

[Reversed Summoning: Holy Sword Holding]

[Required: Light 5]

【Maintenance: Light 5* daily】

【Action, Summon】

[Effect: Summon the Beast of Greed·Holy Sword Holder to fight for you. The Holy Sword Holder is considered a summoned creature. When not in combat, the Beast of Greed·Holy Sword Holder can transform into the Holy Sword Clarent and enter the follower state. Only one Sin Beast can exist at a time.]

"...The Holy Sword is held by someone else, and I have nothing..."

Aiwass gently stroked the cold card surface with his index finger and murmured softly.

Of all his Sin Beasts... maybe even of all his Phantom Cards, this one has the simplest card description.

——Pure numerical values, no mechanism. Or rather, the mechanism is not written on the card at all... After all, Aiwass has no idea how thick the light shield is or what additional properties it has. There is nothing written on it.

But even if it's just a particularly thick shield... As a group protective light shield that can be summoned instantly just by showing the card face, it is a very practical ability for Aiwass.

After all, Aiwass didn't lack attack power and healing ability. The shield that was summoned instantly was extremely useful to Aiwass - if he had this thing when he was fighting against the Fallen Angels, he wouldn't have to fight against the Fallen Angels in fear.

But why…

This skill that can protect allies from damage is called "Nothing"?

Why did he call himself "Holy Sword Holder"?

Aiwass remembered that Bishop Mathers, who was originally possessed by the spirit in the red-handled sword, should be called the "Holy Sword Guardian".

...Is it because Bishop Mathers is guarding the red-handled sword, but Don Quixote does not have the holy sword Clarente now?

Shelter also comes from the charity of others...

Don Quixote clearly distinguished between other people's things and his own things, so he only called himself "the holder of the holy sword." This means that the sword is not his, and he himself is "a penniless person."

He also lost the last thing that belonged to him.

Aiwass' heart was touched and his lips were slightly pursed.

"... Let me see you, Don Quixote."

He murmured softly and showed the cards in his hand.

Under the gaze of Isabel and the others, a knight in silver-white armor appeared in front of Aiwas in a brilliant glow.

He wore a majestic and handsome full-cover silver-white helmet, and his whole body looked like the most glorious and sacred knight - his dragon scale armor was covered with golden runes, and his every move was filled with warm brilliance. There was even a white halo behind his head that looked like thorns - it was a white ring, and then there were white spikes in the eight directions.

To anyone who saw it, this was a noble and honorable Paladin.

The holy sword Clarent in his hand was also fully awakened. The huge sword like a door panel could be used normally for Don Quixote.

When he appeared, he was half-kneeling on the ground, with his right hand on his chest and his head lowered.

"Your knight, Don Quixote de la Mancha, has come to answer the call—

"——Fight for you!"

As the knight raised his head, a fanatical and loud voice rang out at the same time!