Chapter 1561: Chapter 256: Ancient Phantom Cards
The child held the battle flag in hand, and wore a wreath on his head. Strangely, the sunflowers were not gazing at the Sun, but at the child—as if he shone brighter than the Sun itself.
The Sun in the sky had a solemn and beautiful face, radiating twenty-one rays of light. Eleven of them were straight and infinite, while ten were twisted and short.
“… Eleven is the holy number of hope, and ten is the number of the Void?”
Aiwass murmured softly, closing his eyes.
As he gradually immersed his consciousness and mana into the card, it began to ignite with radiance.
The originally old and faded “Agitation” emitted a steady glow, like a red-hot iron ball. Every inch of the card was filled with golden radiance, and suddenly a system panel popped up in front of Aiwass.
It was as if an invisible pen of light was writing—word by word, accompanied by bursting sparks, gradually emerged stroke by stroke.
[Enchantment: Thorn Crown (The Sun)]
[Discard: Light 11 or Dark 10]
[Action, Self]
[Effect: Reduce own maximum life by 21%. If life value is not full, gain the “Thorn Crown” effect for 12 minutes; if “Thorn Throne” count is 3, user dies immediately]
A very simple and straightforward effect.
When it materialized, it was so simple that it stunned Aiwass for a moment—he hadn’t seen such an effect outside of a small essay in a Phantom Card for a long time.
But in contrast, was the effect of the “Thorn Crown.”
[Thorn Crown: This status is regarded as a negative status, a curse, and cannot be dispelled or removed. Under this status, considered to be critically injured, life and mana cannot be restored or decreased, cannot accept any special status, cannot move, cannot use spells, cannot blink or teleport, cannot deal damage.]
[When the effect ends, the “Thorn Throne” count +1]
“This is…”
Aiwass gasped.
This Phantom Card… is indeed useful, but also very troublesome.
He definitely couldn’t use this card himself… Not to mention it overlaps with Little Butterfly, and the cost is too high. But it could indeed be used to preserve “Bai Ke’s” life…
Unlike Aiwass’s Phantom Cards, and the conventional transcendent equipment of this era, it requires mana as “necessity” but demands “discard”—a special clause that usually appears only in divine artifacts or cursed equipment.
Simply put, it doesn’t reduce mana, but the maximum value of one’s own mana. One must permanently discard eleven points of light attribute mana or ten points of dark attribute mana…
What it requires is not burning one-fifth of health—but removing one-fifth of the health limit. And it can’t be used when low on health, it must be used at full health to be effective.
Also, as long as this card is used for the third time, one would die instantaneously.
This means, a person can only safely use this card two times. And by the second use, the person is practically ruined… so frail it would be difficult not only to fight but even to ascend.
And with such harsh conditions and such a heavy price, it naturally has an incredibly powerful effect.
That is, 12 minutes of invincibility!
Not only does it lock life, but it also locks mana—
Although this invincibility is rather crippled…
Mana points cannot decrease, but spells cannot be cast; life value cannot decrease, but no damage can be dealt, movement is not possible, and teleportation is not an option.
Though this seems somewhat like the “ice box” from early MMO games, a spell allowing the mage to control themselves while being briefly invincible… its immense cost clearly isn’t meant for blocking damage.
Who in their right mind would use a life-saving item that first heavily injures themselves and then pins them down like a log!
As for its use…
“Could it be… sacrifice?”
Aiwass’s heart stirred.
He suddenly realized, this is a Shepherd’s Phantom Card. But the Shepherd at that time hadn’t mastered the Priest profession… meaning he had no condition to heal himself with the Fire Rite Skill.
Although the Fire Worship Skill is widespread, it is an extremely powerful spell. One only needs to pray, consume mana, and they can heal themselves to the state of perfection, even approaching reversing aging and eternal youth. Whether crippled or cursed, as long as enough mana is infused, one can heal themselves…
This spell is essentially considered a “welfare subsidy” given to priests by the Candle Master.
To reward and support priests for their acts of dedication, the Candle Deer personally ceded many benefits to heal his followers. If a priest’s injuries are severe enough, they might see an illusion of the Candle Master licking them during the Fire Worship.
That might not be an illusion.
And evidently, the Shepherd did not possess this technique—Aiwass remembers reading “Nurturing Secret Sequel,” seeing the Shepherd in that vision.
He doesn’t recall if he saw the Shepherd’s face clearly; he only remembers it being a scrawny man cloaked in black robes. Under his black robes were scars, his body severely malnourished… all evidence of feeding himself to the Phantom Demons.
He was inherently very frail. Despite not appearing old, he had the skeletal body of an elderly man.
His arms were as thin as sticks, resembling a skeleton, as if one touch would make him collapse. His thighs were even thinner than a young person’s arms, and his skin had lost its elasticity, like someone who had suffered a serious illness.