Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 831 One Third of the Three Paintings
It seems a bit strange.

...Why was there no specific time given when the ceremony began?

This was Aiwass' last thought before he was taken away from consciousness.

But he soon regained consciousness.

However, when Aiwas opened his eyes again, he immediately felt an extremely strange sense of disharmony.

Everything around me seemed too bright and colorful...

...Is it because its "picture quality" is too high that it seems a little less realistic?

At this moment, Aiwass was at a grand banquet, wearing a tan suit and holding a glass of red wine that was only one-third full.

Under their feet was a carpet as red as raspberry jam, and beneath the carpet was a three-tier circular platform as white as a cream cake. The surrounding walls were covered with dark curtains, and a chandelier was hanging above.

Men and women around were talking and laughing, and the noisy voices echoed in the center of the dance floor. From time to time, a cheerful or loud laugh could be heard, and in the corner there was a band playing melancholy blues-style music that was completely opposite to the current joyful atmosphere.

As Aiwass walked forward with his glass in hand, the crowd in the middle of the dance floor slowly parted to the sides, like splitting the sea. They didn't talk to Aiwass, or even look at him, their bodies just moved on their own.

——Suddenly, Aiwass realized that something was wrong.

Everyone had a smile on their face, but no one "stopped smiling"!
Aiwass suddenly raised his head and looked at the pure white wall in front of him.

It was a huge deer head statue.

It looked like a candlelighter, but it was not a red deer, but a pure white one that blended into the wall. It was as white as the cream and icing on a cake, and it had many branched antlers on its head. Those antlers were also made into the shape of candlesticks, with many candles lit on them.

Another strange thing was that the "white candlelighter" also had a very clear smile on his face, the same smile as all the guests.

A deer, but smiling...

Aiwass realized something and took two steps back.

As a result, the crowd still dispersed - or rather, it was not that people were actively making way for him, but that no one was willing to get within two or three meters of Aiwas.

Aiwass observed the smiles on the faces of the people around him and gestured with his hands on his face.

Slowly...he also showed a similar smile.

When his smile was adjusted to a certain degree, the crowd around him rushed towards him in an instant. They did not avoid Aiwass again, but danced with him on the dance floor.

A blonde girl with the same smile also walked over and stood in front of Aiwas, motionless. At this distance, the traces of the oil painting on her face became more and more clear.

Aiwass gradually began to understand the mechanism of this ritual.

This is indeed the interior of a painting.

It was also thanks to the fact that he once knew what kind of abilities Janice had after she used the Tiansi fragment and lost control...that's why he was able to react immediately.

Aiwass stretched out his hand to her in an invitation gesture, and the girl put her hand on Aiwass's hand.

Aiwass had never learned this kind of dance. But it was not difficult, and the rhythm was very slow. He could roughly learn it after watching it for a while.

As the two began to slowly dance, Aiwass paid attention to everything around him.

On the front of the ballroom was a strange-looking bust of a candlelighter... and on the other side were two spiral staircases, one leading up and one leading down. Both places were pitch black, and the music seemed to be looping endlessly, as if people's dance could loop endlessly here for eternity.

Suddenly, Aiwass finally heard the childlike voice of Winged Flame:

"You woke up, but you didn't know who you were or why you were here. You even forgot what era it was.

"You are determined to find the truth and escape from it."

A brief introduction to the plot that basically says nothing.

But one thing is certain - the information that was deliberately hidden may be important clues in itself!
The task given immediately afterwards confirmed this.

[Necessary tasks——]

【Complete a painting (points: none)】

[Escape from the world in the painting (points: none)]

[Additional Quest——] ["Laughing Friends": Complete "Feast Tower"]

[Friends Who No Longer Laugh: Completing the Tower of Joy in Another Way]

Endless Feast: Another way to complete Tower of Feast

[The total score of "Tower of Joy" is 3000, which will be distributed based on contribution after completion]

[The Mole's Day: Complete The King on White Horse]

[“Snow Queen”: Completing “The King on White Horse” in another way]

[Animal World: Complete The White Horse King in another way]

[The total score of "The White Horse King" is 4500, which will be distributed based on contribution after completion]

["The Ring": Complete "Stay with Me"]

[A Thousand Years Later: Completing "Stay with Me" in Another Way]

【Goodbye: Complete "Stay with Me" in another way】

[The total score of "Stay with Me" is 6000, which will be distributed based on contribution after completion]

...This was the first time that Aiwas had seen a mission of this style.

Unlike all previous promotion ceremonies, all tasks do not give clear completion goals, but there are no tasks such as "unnecessary killing" that encourage killing each other.

According to Aiwas's experience, the Lord of Scales and Feathers has the clearest mission style. He always gives clear goals such as "where to go", "what to kill", and "how many to kill", which is more like the "mission" in Aiwas's impression.

The Silver Crown Dragon and the Snake Father tend to give out some extremely difficult but highly rewarding tasks to encourage the promoted to take risks; the Twin Mirrors like to have fun, and their tasks are all not afraid of big troubles; Wei Zhe's tasks are the most extreme, the tasks themselves will serve as hints and misleading, and seeing through the puzzles of the tasks themselves is also part of the task.

At present, Sizhu seems to be the most compassionate and the most mysterious one among them.

However, although the task itself is a bit of a riddle, the rules of "what should I do" are extremely clear. This is also very magical - although the language is complex and has a threshold, the specific steps are clear and easy to understand.

Although there is no side quest to kill people for points, the positions of the promoted people are conflicting.

It is obvious that they are in a world within a painting.

There are three paintings here in total, and Aiwass doesn't quite understand how to switch back and forth among the paintings.

Needless to say, these side quests are obviously conflicting with each other - that is, each painting has three possible changes, and it will eventually be completed as a certain "possibility".

All those who choose this possibility will receive points based on their contributions.

As for those who chose other possibilities for promotion, they obviously could not gain points from this possibility - because they made no contribution at all, and it was Sizhu's mercy not to deduct points for being a drag.

In order to complete the direction they want to complete, there will be conflicts between the promoted people who choose the same painting. They will tend to destroy each other to make the painting complete in the direction they choose. In this way, they can monopolize more points.

But this conflict is not absolute - they can change the direction of their completion at any time. And if someone dies early, because the soul cannot be destroyed, the actions will be less restricted and the task will be completed faster.

The weak are not without a chance of winning...these killed souls can even unite and use their numbers to turn the painting that the killer is completing in another direction. If the painting is successfully turned in another direction, then the other party will not be able to complete their task.

If too many people unite, they will become weaker - their ranking after dividing the points will definitely not be high, which means they will definitely lose. But since they have already decided to lose, why not just surrender and admit defeat?
If you want to complete the ritual, you must want to win... and the two people who survive to the end must complete at least one painting to be considered a winner.

If both of them failed in their main quests and were successfully diverted by others, then they would not be considered winners. The final winner would be the person who got up again because of [Holy Resurrection] - the only person, and the dead person who got the most points.

"If you want to win..."

Aiwass pondered: "There are only two strategies.

"Either you complete the main quest - the quest to finish the painting and escape from the world in the painting - and survive until only three people are left, and then continue to survive to the end from the 'choose one of three'; or you get the highest score after death.

"It's useless to just stay alive. You have to complete at least one painting, otherwise it's better to be dead. But if they can't complete the painting after death because they hold each other back, then they won't be able to get any points at all, and everyone's points will be 0. It's even possible that no one can be promoted in this ceremony... and those who die are truly dead."

In other words, violent conflicts are bound to occur among those who are promoted.

But this conflict can turn into cooperation and game at any time, and even death cannot completely end it...

...Is the level 4 to level 5 ceremony so difficult?
After sorting out his thoughts, Aiwass had a clear goal:
First, we need to determine how to complete the painting... Secondly, we need to find other promoted people, preferably Aleister.

(End of this chapter)