When the plot-skips players into the game world-Chapter 1326 - 49: Vandome’s Fateful Death

"...A curse in the bloodline?"

Aiwass furrowed his brow.

Why does everyone else’s healing fail? Why does his healing work?

The only answer he could think of was "priority."

Healing actually comes in two forms—"injury" and "illness."

If a person has an arm cut off by a steel blade, the mana required to heal the wound or reattach the limb is fixed, whether the deed is done by a mortal, a Third Level assassin, or a Fifth Power Level warrior, and even the weakest Transcendent can do this.

Pure physical damage can ignore most resistance caused by energy level differences, but likewise—wounds caused by physical damage can also be easily healed by the most basic means.

But there is another situation...spell damage.

Take, for example, the classic ritual magic "Cursed Infant." This powerful ritual spell that requires a baby cursed to death as ritual materials can be cast by a second ability level Transcender, and its power can even instantly kill a Third Level Transcendent—the cause of death is a broken heart.

The recipient’s heart will be frozen by the Cursed Infant and gnawed to pieces, resulting in sudden death within a short time.

—Then, if there is a healer beside the wounded, capable of extending the recipient’s life or restoring the heart before death?

If the spellcaster is second ability level, then it would require at least a Third Level Priest to achieve this.

Because after spell damage, the Path Power involved does not immediately dissipate but entangles within the body. To apply healing to it, one either needs to wait for the power to completely disperse or resist this portion of power. And this part of power itself will resist healing. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Although a second ability level Priest can also counteract spell damage, the heart’s shattering death is too swift. Even if it takes only three minutes to dissolve the powerful dark energy lingering in the heart area, there’s no time to reconstruct the heart—the second ability level Priest needs at least ten units of mana and about ten minutes of casting time to reconstruct an organ. Even if the heart is restored, other organs are basically dead.

Only a Third Level Priest can instantly dissolve the spell through healing energy level suppression and quickly reconstruct the heart within two minutes, potentially saving the person.

—Similarly, with fatal injuries, severe anemia caused by multiple wounds is quite treatable; even a second ability level Priest can casually heal it; but being stabbed in the heart or bisected is hard to recover from, and even if recovery occurs, aftereffects are possible; and if burned by a Mage, perhaps it can’t be treated at all...it’s the same principle.

Take Bishop Mathers of those days, for example, he could continually eliminate the high fever’s damage to the body’s organs while Yulia was in the state of the Phantom Demon Egg, yet couldn’t remove the fever itself. Because it’s the power of the Defiant Flame Butterfly constantly leaking. Even as the Superior Phantom, the Defiant Flame Butterfly was at least Fourth Level when Yulia was still a child...Mathers’s Divine Arts couldn’t resist such power.

Priests can easily heal "injuries," but cannot heal all "illnesses."

The curse endured by the Vandom Family is likely Fifth Power Level. Therefore, to cure it, another Fifth Power Level is necessary.

A Priest who reaches Fifth Power Level will definitely be a Cardinal Archbishop. As human nobles, they probably won’t even get a chance to meet one.

However...while Fifth Power Level Priests are indeed hard to find, are Fifth Power Level Cursing Sorcerers really that hard to find?

"Have you tried having a Fifth Power Level Cursing Sorcerer remove the curse?"

Aiwass asked.

"Of course, we’ve tried."

Old Argon slowly shook his head: "But he said...this is not a curse. With his abilities, he couldn’t see a curse lingering over us."

"Perhaps it’s not his problem."

Aiwass added: "I actually didn’t see it either."

His right eye is currently in a sacrificial state, lacking normal vision...but able to directly see the special sight of Path Power. If there was a curse, he should have clearly seen a dark aura on them...that’s the Path Power used to maintain the curse’s existence without being dispelled or driven away, equivalent to a "self-sustaining battery."

However, he really didn’t see any curse on the two people; otherwise, Aiwass would have immediately dispelled it when he met Annie.

However...

"Why say it’s a blessing?"

Aiwass asked puzzledly.

Even though the possibility of curse was ruled out, this anomaly was described by the Old Duke as "unknown whether a curse or blessing," which in itself is peculiar.

"Because it gives us a possibility..."

The Old Duke slowly said: "Until now...

"—Every generation of ’Vandom,’ all are Transcendents."

"...All of them?"

Aiwass was shocked: "Even the nobility of Heracel cannot achieve that...though Path inclinations and impulses can be inherited, it’s not that the offspring of the strong will definitely become strong."

"Not just the children," the Old Duke negated.

"Not just..."

Aiwass repeated, inadvertently glancing at Sherlock beside him, as if he thought of something, then looked at Arsene.

He widened his eyes: "Your meaning is...?"

"Whether marrying into the family or taking a spouse’s name, as long as the surname ’Vandome’ is adopted, within eight years... ordinary people will become Transcendents and develop this strange illness. If one is already a Transcendent... they can resist for a while longer. If they follow the Path of Beauty, they can resist even longer."

The old man sighed, "The Irisflower People all think our family only selects Transcendents of the Path of Beauty for ’marriage,’ to gather the artistic greats of Iris Flower... yet they do not know we have no choice but to choose this way.

"All the artworks you saw on the way here were not purchased by us. They are the accumulation of generations of the family.

"These art masters either directly hailed from Vandome; or eventually changed their surname to Vandome."

"...Then, what about those who marry out?"

Upon hearing this, Aiwass couldn’t help but speak out.

At these words, Annie’s expression became complicated, her countenance dark. She stayed silent, saying nothing.

Seeing Annie’s expression, Aiwass thought again of his mother.

He thought of the Swampfolk—could this be one of the reasons for Annie’s self-replication?

Generally speaking, if one knows they have such a perfect replica... they might fear or loathe it, yet most would keep it secret... However, Annie clearly told everything to her father. Because of this, the Old Duke could easily accept the fact that Aiwass also carries the blood of Vandome.

"It’s not just cold illness," the Old Duke replied, "The consequence of abandoning the surname ’Vandome’ is only one—death. Whether marrying out... or divorce."

"Divorce?"

"Yes, if through marriage one obtained the surname Vandome, regardless of whether they got the cold illness or not, they will quickly die after losing the protection of the surname. This is the reason why historically, those who abandoned the name Vandome died quickly... People regard it as ’family pursuit,’ not knowing it is a form of sorrow. It is a resolve to rush towards death."

"How do they die?"

Aiwass couldn’t help but ask, "Do they die of illness? Or... could it be anything?"

"They all die from qi and blood depletion, weakened and frail. First comes fatigue and powerlessness, then it’s insomnia, loss of appetite, the strength of limbs gradually waning... To the point of paralysis on the bed. As if the whole person is gradually being frozen. It is precisely this dying to live that led to the birth of so many... art masters among us."

The old man cast a glance at Arsene, frightening Arsene into silence.

"The desire to create arises from a chaotic impulse, coming from many human experiences."

He continued, "And the birth of art itself is a death of experience, signifying it has reached the end. Yet it also means the proliferation of this experience... It will continue to sail into the future.

"The death of all things is their destined outcome for fate. People are born destined to die one day... No matter how one’s life deviates, they always aim towards the singular end—death. Thus, no matter how bewildered a person is, they will always find an answer."

The Old Duke’s words harbored an inextinguishable deathly aura.

People usually only sense the approach of death during terminal illness.

Yet if one could touch death day in and day out...

Hearing this, a question suddenly formed in Aiwass’s mind.

Seeing Aiwass’s expression, Argon smiled before he could ask, and proactively questioned, "Are you wondering... if any Vandome has become the Son of the Moon?"

"...Yes."

Aiwass slowly nodded, admitting, "Since life is so painful... I also wonder if anyone has succumbed to temptation. Of course, I’m not saying that becoming the Son of the Moon is correct..."

"—No, not a single one."

The old man slightly raised his head, his words calm as ice yet filled with unmasked pride, "To this day... every single ’Vandome’ has greeted their destined death with serenity. No one has tried to extend their life by becoming the Son of the Moon or a Werewolf, nor has anyone ever treaded that forbidden Dusk path.

"Because that is the wrong path... a mistaken route cannot be walked."

Hearing this, Aiwass was momentarily speechless, not daring to speak.

He himself actually had an incarnation of the Son of the Moon form...

...Wait, so it’s like this!

At this thought, Aiwass suddenly widened his eyes.

Aiwass suddenly realized why the Gemini Mirror showed him this form.

At that time, the Shadow Devil Beiad form was Aiwass’s "disguised self"; whereas now, the "No. 14" as Aleister’s vessel is Aiwass’s "dream self."

That Son of the Moon Aiwass is not a mirror image of Aiwass Moriarty!

But rather a mirror image of Evans de Vandome!

He represents an "impossible self"!

—They are both a kind of mirror.

Symbolizing the opposite that Aiwass can never reach, nor become.

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