Chapter 1582: Chapter 273: Hero Ismail
That was not an ordinary statue or plaster figurine, nor a yellow stone statue petrified by the Petrification Technique, but rather reminiscent of an old-style black-and-white film.
The colors on everyone were completely stripped away, leaving only black, white, and varying shades of grey.
They maintained their previous actions, sealed in place as if by magic.
Some had a mocking look toward Aiwass, some were laughing and chatting with others, and some watched Aiwass with fiery eyes.
Yet at this moment, none of them could speak.
It was as if the whole world had frozen—
Those protected by Aiwass’s Preservation Arts retained a muted yellow hue.
While the people around Ismael transformed into black, white, and grey.
Throughout the world, only he and Aiwass were in color. Besides them, no other colors existed here.
Even the Benevolent Lords—even Mahid Fran—had no resistance, their minds instantly submerged by this force!
Mahid Fran held his pose, riding an elephant, turning into a grey statue sitting cross-legged.
As a Benevolent Lord, Mahid Fran surely had plenty of equipment for protection. But they were utterly ineffective… not even lasting a moment, they all crumbled.
What on earth is… this power!
This incomprehensible might instilled a great fear in Ismael—
Like surfing on the sea of sand when the crest transforms suddenly into a sinister living entity, a giant human head emerges and smiles at you… then turns to smash the next approaching group.
On the other side, Aiwass gently exhaled.
The experiment succeeded.
At least the worst-case scenario—better than being completely ineffective, or instantaneously draining his mana, or unexpectedly opening a gateway to the Dream Realm upon summoning… forcibly summoning a Phantom Card beyond “version,” even without fully manifesting Little Amber, yet being able to use a portion of Divine Power, this already satisfied Aiwass.
Aiwass stared at the cards in his hand, lightly wiping the card face showing a little girl smiling serenely at him like a mother.
For a brief moment, Inanna was indeed summoned, and space shattered because of it. But she only existed fleetingly before vanishing. Yet even in that brief instant, her summoning effects took place.
The card entered cooldown, confirming the summoning was indeed successful.
The force that applied an “old photo filter,” or the “memorial filter,” was likely the “End of Civilization” state. After these people were petrified, the spatial rifts around Aiwass rapidly recovered. This meant it wouldn’t puncture the Wall of Balance, allowing the power of the Void to leak.
Appearing for just two or three seconds, the enormous rifts longer than Aiwass’s legs closed up like slowly shutting eyes, reversing step by step.
But at least, it truly worked!
At the very least, it certainly can serve as a Spell Card.
At worst, it just becomes the purest kind of firecracker—it’s like Aiwass’s hand speed infinitely fast, canceling the summoned creature the instant it lands.
The only pity is that Little Amber couldn’t even exist for half a second. Otherwise, like a little raven, she could forcibly assume travel form and linger in the Material Realm.
It was at this moment, Aiwass finally noticed the sole survivor.
“It’s you…?”
He was perplexed.
Instead, only the one who cursed the hardest at first, Ismael, lived until the end.
“—Are you there, Inanna?”
Aiwass attempted to establish a connection with Little Amber in his mind: “What’s going on?”
Logically, as long as he successfully summoned Little Amber once, even if he recalled her afterward, he could establish a connection with her before summoning a new Great Sin Beast.
“Because he alone bears no malice or murderous intent, I deemed him not an enemy.”
After a long while, a timid yet comforting childish voice echoed in Aiwass’s mind: “Also, Master… Father… Mother… Teacher… How should I address you?”
“Just call me teacher.”
Aiwass’s internal voice was pure and gentle, even somewhat pinched: “When we formed the contract, our destinies were already intertwined. You can see my psyche, my memories… so you should know, I am also a serpent.”
It was that instinctual voice used upon seeing cute children or little animals.
And at this moment, a frantic and embarrassed voice also came through—
“…S-Sir. Your Excellency… no, Your Majesty.”
Ismael became as humble as a dog, lost all prior arrogance of a Benevolent Lord, even directly kneeling, crawling over on his knees—after all, no one else was watching: “Thank you for your mercy… thank you for the grace of life—”
“It’s okay, brave Ismail. Your survival is earned by yourself.”
Recalling Amber’s words, Aiwass spoke in a calm and harmonious tone, “I didn’t intentionally protect anyone—in fact, these people chose to oppose me. You didn’t harbor any animosity toward me, did you?”
Upon hearing this, Ismail was momentarily stunned.
He realized something.
In truth, Ismail was much smarter than he appeared. That reckless and proud facade was merely a persona he created for himself. Only about seventy percent was genuine.
The contract inheritance of the Benevolent Lords depends solely on the death of the previous Benevolent Lord. This is a secret known only to them and is unknown to ordinary people.
Yet, in Ismail’s story, it explicitly mentioned “conflict and duel with his father.” Without such a tale, his story of wrestling with lions as a child would be too legendary for people to believe.
His “father,” however, defeated the lions in full view and reconciled with him.
If someone could defeat three lions in his old age, then defeating one as a child seemed less impressive. Moreover, when the “former leader” apologized in front of it and swore to make peace with him, he naturally gained the claim and the innocent identity of a Hero, which greatly diminished public dissatisfaction caused by usurping the throne.
Since that person could not be Ismail’s father—or at least not his living father.
That was a puppet resurrected using Taboo Magic and his father’s corpse.
Although his father was a Benevolent Lord, he was revered by the people—not out of affection, but out of respect and awe.
Because he excelled at conquest and was always victorious. He continuously waged an endless war against other city-states, completely engulfing their wealth and population. This resulted in a relatively affluent lifestyle for his people, who also enjoyed the abundance of cheap slaves.
And Ismail ascended to power by killing his aged father.
Ismail greatly disliked his father’s obsession with external wars—unlike his battle-crazed father and his own delinquent image, as the Benevolent Lord of Ark City, he read books from a young age. Ark City had many libraries dating back a millennium, and Ismail was indeed a person of extensive knowledge.
He was deeply aware that those who tread the desert would ultimately step into quicksand.
Although they kept winning, defeat was inevitable. And as his father’s age increased, their wars had become increasingly strenuous.
A person who never loses finds defeat most unacceptable.
Therefore, he had to find an excuse for his father, to prevent the collapse of Ark City. Thus, he conceived this grand act—staging the filial drama with his “father” playing his father, having him “personally” hand over power to himself.
After taking over, Ark City only engaged in raids around neighboring areas, ceasing to incite large-scale city-state wars. These raids became fewer over time, as he began collecting protection fees along trade routes, obtaining funding through gentler means.
This allowed people to catch their breath continuously, yet also caused dissatisfaction among those older than him who had served his father.
Unlike Benevolent Lords of small cities, Ark City was akin to a large nation. It had many strong figures, which diluted the Benevolent Lord’s power—they could switch allegiances anytime. Just like the Benevolent Lord of Holy Spring City, who banished themselves to the fourth Ring… had he resided in the third Ring, he would have clashed with the strong figures here long ago.
This time he brought along those seniors who had once served his father from Holy Spring City—Ismail intended to use the hands of the Abyssal Celestial Marshal and other Benevolent Lords to bury these people here.
That’s why he acted as an arrogant and domineering person, deliberately letting them touch Aiwass’s Barrier, yet never truly attacking or causing damage.
Rationalizing his abnormal behavior while attempting to profit from it. This mirrored the logic behind Ismail’s power seizure.
No matter how old the trick is, if it works, it’s fine.
For this reason, he had no hostility toward Aiwass from the start.
Though he feigned provocation, Ismail had long awaited Aiwass to make a move against him.
If Aiwass took the normal route, Ismail would directly send these people as slaves to Aiwass.
…It was precisely this calculation that allowed Ismail to narrowly evade Little Amber’s Petrification.
Even Aiwass initially misjudged his character—though Aiwass did vaguely sense some discord, he didn’t think in that direction; after all, it was reasonable for a Benevolent Lord to be domineering and arrogant.
He hadn’t expected that it was someone feigning drunken madness while being acutely aware. And his goal was actually to end the war, allowing people to live safer and more comfortably.
Although outside of Parthia, it would be common for any slightly normal good person to have such thoughts. But in the magical place of Parthia, especially stemming from a Benevolent Lord, this moral level was astonishingly high.
After hearing Ismail’s story, Aiwass was surprised, “You are the most normal Benevolent Lord I’ve met… truly deserving of the ‘Hero’ title.”
“I think… perhaps it’s because I read more books than them, right? Or maybe it’s because my father treated me as less than human, playing tricks on me when I was young, which made me clearer-minded. After all, I wasn’t the child my father valued most, not educated as a Benevolent Lord… but existed as a ‘slave’ to protect my elder brother.”
Ismail smiled wryly, with a face devoid of any pride, resembling a philosopher: “But… I thought, I thought the prophecy in ‘Parthia’ was merely a legend… or a deceit. It turns out a Savior truly exists…”
When he initially heard the Benevolent Lord Mahid Fran suspecting Aiwass to be the Savior, he firmly denied it—this part wasn’t acting, nor was it due to any persona.
Ismail truly experienced doubt, even felt anger and confusion, hence his excitement.
On the one hand, Ismail hoped Aiwass could genuinely change the state of Parthia.
But on the other hand… Ismail wished Aiwass had never appeared.
If there existed a Savior in this world capable of redeeming everything, what would those who vaguely realized the impending ruin, sacrificing their souls and lives for it, be considered?
A joke? Or merely a backdrop?
Yet now the miracle was within reach.
He could not help but believe.