When the plot-skips players into the game world Chapter 1413 - 124: Great Sin: Holy Sword Holding

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

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

He lifted his head, gazing at Aiwass.

His long black hair draped ssily like seaweed, and his erald green eyes resembled a wolf’s pupils.

Compared to the original "Balin Knight," he had beco much leaner. His face, which had a three or four-tenths resemblance to Yulia, didn’t look too handso because of his thinness but instead had a sharp, cold edge like that of a serial killer.

"O great savior... Your loyal Knight has finally awaited your arrival."

Don Quixote’s voice was fervent and mad, yet his eyes appeared rational and sorrowful.

For a mont, it was impossible to discern which was the real him... or whether this madness was just a pretense.

"...Don Quixote..."

Aiwass uttered his na softly, then, driven by so impulse, added the suffix to the na that Don Quixote had given himself: "...de La Mancha."

Don Quixote’s na could be understood as the "Guardian of the La Mancha region, the noble Sir Quixote," which is to say, "Sir Quixote." But the La Mancha Territory had long ceased to exist, even before the Civil War of the Helasal Empire...

This was the na of a fairly fertile and peaceful central region during the early days of the founding of the Helasal Empire, analogous to places like "Taoyuan Village" or "Xinghua Village."

And "Quixote" ans a type of thigh armor used by a Knight, extending downward to cover the knees and shins.

This piece of armor is crucial for knights on horseback because, for infantry, the thighs are not as vulnerable. However, a knight’s thighs are exposed and, considering the horse’s height, are precisely where infantry can easily attack. Hence, it is considered an "essential item for a Knight."

Without a doubt, this na is an alias. Its structure is too aningful, like a na a writer would give to a character in a novel... always laden with various taphors and references, making it anything but arbitrary.

As he saw the light montarily erupt in Don Quixote’s pupils, Aiwass suddenly felt as though he understood this man.

He was not rely a fictional spiritual body dreaming of becoming a Knight. Nor was he entirely a mory-lost Heracles or a Phantom Demon reconstructed with the soul of the Balin Knight as its raw material.

There was an unspoken pain and fervor in his heart—from his address to Aiwass, it was clear he had his own will and story. He was simply willingly drowning in the radiance of Knighthood, using this thod to mask his void.

Rather than an ignorant spiritual body learning and mimicking the Knights of the Round Table, he was more like Aiwass’ father-in-law, Prince Albert, desperately imitating the Bard Yunus, another form of escapism through indulgence.

Much like players wishing to retreat into gas or personal hobbies to forget everything, stabbed by anguish, and seeking solace in their escapism.

Aiwass had t soone similar—Clown Laro of the Star Antimony.

He too was another deranged madman... Yet he loved Star Antimony more than anyone else, loyal to Valentine. Those dignified and elegant nobles and scholars were rely wolves in sheep’s clothing. Ironically, that mad clown was the most lucid and the most sorrowful.

For such a person, there was no need to drag him from a manic performance he was already aware of. That wouldn’t be polite—it wouldn’t make oneself seem intelligent, like a Path of Wisdom Transcendent who has seen through everything.

Aiwass lowered his gaze gently, his clear voice resonating in the void:

"In the na of I, Aiwass Moriarty, I dub thee as the Guardian of the La Mancha Territory.

"Although at present, neither Avalon nor New Herasal holds claim to this land... I promise you, this territory will soon be born... or perhaps rebuilt. It may not be large, but it will be where my ho is."

Aiwass looked at Don Quixote, articulating each word: "I shall dwell in the La Mancha Territory that you guard, Don Quixote."

Don Quixote gazed at Aiwass, his rational, sorrowful eyes visibly growing bright and fervent.

"...I shall fight for you, my Lord."

He said nothing more.

The previously verbose and excitable man now beca silent and reticent.

Aiwass then extended a hand forward—

"Don Quixote de La Mancha!"

Aiwass proclaid each word loudly, raising the two cards manifested in his hands, declaring: "I call upon your na at this mont, bestowing upon you the Greed Mark!

"My life is yours, my fate is yours—

"——Submit to , Phantom Demon of the Path of Authority!!"

With Aiwass’s proclamation, a dragon’s roar echoed from afar.

A breath of frost descended, instantly freezing and solidifying Aiwass and the half-kneeling Don Quixote.

A pure white array, encircled with a band of frost markings, gradually sank into the icy surface, glowing with radiance.

——As if a thick sheet of paper wrapped around a fla, with invisible carving knives gradually chiseling and hollowing it, tiny beams of light seeped through.