Death… And Me

Chapter 3543: Faster Still

Elsie really couldn’t react in time. By the time she noticed the trap, her portrait had already disappeared. Not only did her portrait disappear, but so did the twins’ group. They stole the portrait from her! ”Fuck!”

However, it wasn’t like the twins’ group vanished completely. Right there where they had been an instant ago, a portal was open. It wasn’t the same as the entrance left behind when the twins entered the Dimensional Realm. That type of entrance was only visible through Spatial Senses, and that’s why only those at the Void Tempering Realm and above could feel them. Instead, it was really a portal through which one could see what was inside. The portal led back into the twins’ Pocket Dimensional Realm.

Elsie wondered if that was another trap. If she entered it, she would be at the mercy of the twins’ group once again, like she always was. The difference was that she didn’t have the portrait anymore. She had no leverage... other than her Sixth Stage of Sickly Intent.

Elsie hesitated for a moment. She could also attack their Dimensional Realm. However, Rean managed to escape various Divinity Realm experts before, so she was pretty sure he could do the same thing again, and that raised the question: Why did they leave the portal open? Since they had a way to disappear and leave her behind, was there even a need to do such a thing? Once her accessory lost its power, she would be caught by her enemies anyway. Of course, she could use that chance to denounce the twins’ group.

After feeling conflicted for a few seconds, the portal back to the Celestial Soul Dimensional Realm began to close. If she didn’t enter it, she would definitely be left behind. In the end...

*Zush!*

Elsie passed through the portal, returning to the Celestial Soul Dimensional Realm.

”See? I told you she would come back,” Rean said, feeling proud.

”Hmph!” Roan snorted. ”Better than nothing, I suppose.”

Elsie was taken aback. It seemed like they had done some kind of bet, and everything had been planned. ”Fuck you! You stole my portrait! Then, you left the portal open for me to return! What’s the meaning of this? Give my portrait back!”

”Oh, right!” Rean nodded. He waved his hand, and the portrait truly appeared right by Elsie’s side. ”There you go. Do whatever you want.”

”Errr...” Elsie’s mind went blank. She asked them to give the portrait back, but who would really do such a thing? Yet, that’s exactly what Rean did. He gave the portrait, such an impressive item that Divinity Realm experts all over the Universe coveted, back to her. She quickly touched it, and the portrait returned to her Pocket Dimensional Realm. As long as it was there, she could verify it closely. Finally, she confirmed that it was truly her portrait, not some fake item.

Roan stepped forward. ”Alright, let’s resume our Intent Training. Since the Celestial Supreme Palace takes a hundred years to appear after the portraits’ materialization, we still have another five years to work on it.”

Rean followed suit, reaching out for Elsie. ”Giving up my sword truly isn’t easy... Well, let’s see what we can do.”

Elsie was completely lost. ”Wait, wait, wait! Just what was all that about? You managed to steal my portrait, then you gave it back to me? Why? What was the meaning of this play? Something doesn’t feel right.”

”You aren’t very bright, are you?” Roan commented in disdain. ”The meaning behind this action was actually pretty simple. You insisted on leaving our Pocket Dimensional Realm before bringing out the portrait. Why? That was because you were afraid we would steal it if you brought the portrait out while in here. As the owners of our Pocket Dimensional Realm, we are obviously gods in this place.”

Rean continued. ”However, from the very start, we had no intention of truly stealing it from you. But, would you believe it just because we said that? Obviously not. So, what better way to prove that we don’t want to steal it from you than stealing and giving it back straight away?”

”You did all of that... just so I would trust you?” Elsie couldn’t help but ask. ”If anything, that made me even more wary of you, you know?”

”We are aware. But we are talking about the Celestial Supreme Palace here. There will be Divinity Realm experts there. If you can’t trust us, even if just a little, this partnership won’t work. Oh, by the way,” Roan stopped, waving his hand. Once again, the portal to the outside world opened. ”There is the exit. You can leave if you feel like it.”

Before Elsie could say anything, Rean threw her a little device, something that seemed capable of being attached to the accessory he gave her earlier. ”Just put this on the accessory I gave you. You can simply direct your Divine Energy into it, and the accessory will recharge. Do it at least once every week, and you should be fine.”

”This...” Elsie took it, slotting that small device into the accessory. Now, the portal was open, she had a way to avoid being detected, and she believed the twins had no power to stop her. She could truly escape and had no need to ever come back. And... that’s what she did. She shot outside the portal, and then disappeared again.

Seeing Elsie disappear, Rifindio approached to ask. ”Is that really okay to do that just to gain her trust? What if she doesn’t come back?”

Roan didn’t seem to care. ”That just means we weren’t fated to enter this Celestial Supreme Palace to start with. I would rather not even go than have someone by our side who has no intention of working together.”

”Besides,” Rean nodded, ”We did learn enough about the Sixth Stage of Weapon Intent. This thing about the Celestial Supreme Palace was just a bonus in the end. Our initial objective was learning about the Intents.”

”Don’t you need the Celestial Points of the quest?” Kentucky pointed out.

”We can find other ways later. We have time,” Rean concluded. ”Sister Orb, keep the portal open. We will leave in a week if Elsie doesn’t retur-”

*Zush!*

Before he could finish his words, Elsie appeared again, entering the Dimensional Realm through the Portal. ”Fine! I will trust you a little... for now.”

”Well...” Rean didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”That was definitely fast.”