When the plot-skips players into the game world

Under the escort of the Grand Guardian, Lily quickly found Aiwass, pushing the wheelchair.

After exchanging pleasantries, he readily accepted the Grand Guardian's invitation.

"I happen to have something to say to you as well," said Aiwass.

The Grand Guardian glanced at the Flame Butterfly that sat quietly on Aiwass's shoulder and nodded slightly.

He took a careful look at Aiwass.

Though he seemed slightly unwell in spirit... he was clearly in good physical health, with a healthy complexion. This meant that at least Mr. Alistair had not mistreated him in terms of food provision.

In that case, maybe his own speculation was correct...

Unlike Lily, Aiwass immediately recognized the Grand Guardian of Avalon, "Saint George".

——Not because he would later enter the canon or become some kind of BOSS.

But because he appeared right in the introductory CG of this game.

If one were to wait a little longer on the loading screen before entering the game, a cutscene would automatically start playing. It might be because you were idling, or because you were updating or verifying files.

The content of the cutscene was intelligent, consistent with the player's last login character's current main storyline progress—it would recount all the major events experienced so far with a brief summary, up to the current main storyline. Then, if the update was not yet completed, it would rewind and go through it all over again.

Starting from version 2.0, the first part of the CG featured him.

As the finale of Avalon's calamitous "Autumn of Cruelty" event, its hallmark CG was the Grand Guardian riding his Gryphon, confronting the swarm of Armed Gargoyles under a sky of dark clouds.

The Armed Gargoyles of Star Antimony were quite fearsome air force units and represented the pinnacle of Star Antimony's technology.

Unlike the elite Sky Cavalry, the emphasis for Armed Gargoyles was mass production.

Gargoyles, in essence, were also a type of Familiar, with cursed-driven statues as their embodiment, similar to Demon Dogs, but more technologically advanced... at least they could fly.

The spell resistance of gargoyles was strong, capable of deflecting some low-level spells and effectively combating entry-level Decree Spells; with Alchemists' enhancements, these mass-produced versions of gargoyles had their forearms modified into machine guns, carrying two ammunition belts on their backs. Their bodies were covered with a layer of blood armor to resist dispelling of the curse, further protected by an outer iron shell.

A few Armed Gargoyles could be easily dealt with by Sky Cavalry. But the problem was their sheer number—once they formed clusters, the Gryphon knights simply could not launch an effective charge, and the Inspectors lacked nimble air-to-air measures.

Priests could have easily dispersed them en masse, but their dispelling Light was blocked and absorbed by the bespoke flesh armor—because that flesh was alive. The materials came from sinners and captives, processed by Necromancers to retain a minimal amount of the brain and organs, allowing the flesh to temporarily sustain life.

Only powerful Legal Mages could effectively immobilize them, smashing them out of the sky... but amidst the relentless assault of the gargoyles, it was extremely difficult to protect these vulnerable rearguards.

But at the time, Avalon actually had means to resist.

If the Sky Cavalry could summon thunder and lightning, the lightning could kill the flesh inside the iron shells, making the Priests' dispelling effective.

Similarly, the giants that could resurrect from any defeat, absorbing the earth's strength, could also be dealt with. The secret of the giants' resurrection lay in the runes atop their heads; by simply adding a stroke to those runes, the golems would immediately collapse and die.

However, these secrets were decrypted much later. At that time, Star Antimony's assault was a surprise... the nearly invincible gargoyles and indestructible giants brought tremendous fear, leading to a direct collapse of the military.

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The Queen was dead by then, and the Round Table Hall was in chaos. Soldiers had no idea whom they were fighting for.

Their morale was already low, and faced with strong enemies charging directly at them, they almost instantly scattered.

After the disintegration of the army, the Grand Guardian, as the highest commanding officer remaining, ordered the soldiers to surrender.

But he did not surrender himself—he told the other members of the Sky Cavalry to strive to survive, to take good care of their Gryphon partners.

Afterward, he led his own Gryphon, launching the final charge.

That was the last charge in the war.

In the CG, after the Grand Guardian charged forward, the camera panned out, and one could see several towering giants striding into the clouds on the ground. The neatly marching Star Antimony army, and the Avalon troops retreating chaotically like a tide of ants. As the giants walked, the single eye on their heads discharged thick beams of laser, creating vast furrows in the ground, setting the forests ablaze.

After the Grand Guardian initiated his counterattack, the colossus released a huge red ray towards a point in the sky that was barely visible. The rays converged, resulting in an enormous burst of light.

This persisted for several seconds before a howling tornado erupted. The storm rapidly expanded, sweeping up the gargoyles within it and causing the formations on the ground to briefly collapse. Even the dark clouds in the sky were briefly punctured by a hole.

But that was all.

The Grand Guardian could not turn the tide, and he could only choose an honorable death.

Aiwass didn't even really know the other powerful beings with "Grand" in their titles, like the Grand Adjudicator—he didn't even know what they looked like, whether they were male or female. However, he was very familiar with the Grand Guardian.

After all, just by steeping a cup of tea when logging into the game, one could see the other's desperate charge in the midst of solemn and magnificent BGM. Then a slow-paced Mandarin voice-over, reminiscent of Teacher Zhao Zhongxiang, would say, "In 1899, the Cruel Autumn Event declared the downfall of the Kingdom of Avalon…"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Or when logging into the game for updates or file verification, one would usually see the tornado lifting gargoyles—this clip lasted for about ten seconds. As for the footage after 2.0, it was hardly ever seen since the Aiwass family had quite a good network connection… If one logged in every day, it was hardly watched for more than during major version updates.

As a result, the Grand Guardian had a very high profile among players. There was even a joke that went, "Good thing my internet is fast enough, the Grand Guardian hasn't died"; or "My internet is bad today, I keep disconnecting, the Grand Guardian has already charged back and forth eight times." Some people even made remix videos of the Grand Guardian or did other voice-overs for him.

Therefore, although Aiwass had never actually played through this mainline segment—after all, he jumped straight to the 3.0 start after completing the Defiant Flame Butterfly—he also had a favorable impression of the Grand Guardian.

—It was a sense of familiarity one feels when encountering an acquaintance in a foreign land.

At the same time, this also reminded Aiwass of the impending crisis in the future... after all, so much time had passed. Aiwass had almost forgotten about the threat of Star Antimony... Given that he had been living as Aiwass for another eighteen years.

Although his memories from his past life had only recently revived, and he could remember quite clearly, he couldn't help but feel a bit of complacency, thinking "That is a long way off, at least more than a year."

Seeing the Grand Guardian again, Aiwass suddenly realized— that future was actually not so far away.

He truly felt the sense of crisis from the future. It made his back tense and his expression grew slightly more serious.

Aiwass knew this was a good man.

Loyal to the queen, loyal to the country, upright, brave, devout, humble… He could almost be described as the epitome of a knight, and in modern Avalon, he was the knight who most resembled a "Knight."

And for that reason, he died. Because he could not accept his own betrayal.

I must find a way to save him. Good people should be able to live longer.

Aiwass thought to himself.

—Although he didn't know why, the Grand Guardian could clearly feel... that Aiwass had a favorable impression of him.

This made him happy too.

Prior to this, the Grand Guardian had not actually met Aiwass. This was, one might say, their first encounter... Although as members of the Founding Families, they should belong to the same social circle. But the Moriarty Family rarely held banquets—only one person could inherit the Moriarty surname, and when the new head of the family took over, the other brothers and sisters would lose their surnames and inheritance rights.

Because of this, the way the others interacted with the Moriarty Family was different from other families.

Until it was clear who the next Moriarty would be, it could be said to be ineffective communication. So generally speaking, they would choose to observe... Unless the previous Moriarty had made a nomination, most people would be polite and keep their distance.

This was also to avoid accusations of "influencing or manipulating the inheritance of other families."

Another part of the reason was that many other Founding Families didn't actually recognize the Moriarty Family. After all, the Moriartys were all adopted descendants, having long lost the bloodline of the original Mordred... Not to mention that Mordred's son had long betrayed Avalon. If not for the Moriarty name, this legacy would have been struck off the list.

Barton was certainly not among them, but the trend was as such. He could only maintain silence.

The professor's adopted sons and daughters were most famously rumored to include the flirtatious Aiwass. Before meeting him, he too thought Aiwass was a playboy.

However, just by taking one look, the Grand Guardian's intuition told him: Aiwass was a good kid.

Good, let him talk with David.

It would save David from always talking about his "Mr. Alistair"—Aiwass was the role model he should be learning from.

So thought the Grand Guardian.