Death… And Me

Chapter 3793: Ask Someone Else

Erxando and the others looked in Xian’s direction, and they could see he seemed to be struggling a little.

”As expected,” Erxando nodded as the group stopped. ”Lower-level Umbras are affected more easily and can’t get as close to the Dark Purple Area. I can still go for another thirty minutes. That was my limit last time I tried to check if I could get close. What now?”

The twins’ group had to think about it carefully. Bringing Xian further into that place obviously wouldn’t help. ”Perhaps we should change to Erxando, let him cover us with his Shadow Energy,” Rean commented.

”But what about Xian?” Kentucky pointed out the obvious. ”Are we going to leave him here?”

Rean quickly shook his head. ”Of course not! We are bringing him with us. All Erxando said is that you lose your consciousness, not that you die if you get close. We can simply pull Xian with us until our business is done. After that, we can leave that area, and he should wake up again. Right, Erxando?”

It made sense. After all, Erxando mentioned that you lose your consciousness. He never said you died in there. How did he know that? Obviously, that was because some Umbras must have lost their consciousness and somehow their bodies went out of that area again. Once out, they simply woke up.

Erxando scratched the back of his head. Indeed, if you think a little bit about the explanation he gave them, one would reach that conclusion sooner or later. Worst of all, that was exactly the case, so Erxando noticed he had let slip a good trading card. He knew that some Umbras had prepared ways to be pulled out of the Dark Purple Area once they lost their consciousness.

It wasn’t all that hard, like preparing traps with their own bodies that would activate after some time and drag them out. Even Erxando knew how to do it, and he planned to give it a try once he got close to his Time Limit day. ”Yes, that is correct... or so I would like to say.”

Nonetheless, Erxando didn’t give a full confirmation. ”I’ve talked with some old Level Three Umbras who prepared their way out, and there are a few methods to make it possible. All of them, without exception, lost their consciousness, but recovered as soon as they got far enough.”

”That’s not the problem here, though,” he continued. ”The problem is that since everyone lost their consciousness, no one ever managed to get too far into the Dark Purple Area. So, what will happen if we are dragged far too deep? Would our minds, souls, or energy be affected somehow? Would it truly be just a loss of consciousness? No one can answer those questions. At least I can’t.”

’What about us, Sister Orb?’ Roan connected to the Dimensional Realm. ’Any signs of our souls being assaulted now that we are here?’

[Nothing on my side,] Sister Orb had been watching for a while. [The system hasn’t shown the least bit of reaction to this place. Perhaps that Dark Purple Area only affects the souls of Umbras, but I can’t guarantee it.]

”I don’t mind,” Xian made his thoughts clear. ”Even if I lose consciousness, my form won’t change. So, I will keep myself wrapped around seniors Rean, Roan, and Kentucky.”

”Out of the question,” Rean didn’t want that. ”There might be a time we need to go in different directions. You said it yourself. If your parts get too far from each other, your soul could get damaged, or you might even die. Just detach from us, and we can pull you around. As for the dangers of going deeper than other Umbras, I will keep an eye on you and stop if something changes.”

Erxando couldn’t help but ask. ”So... what about me? I don’t think I’m of much use in there.”

”Hmph!” Roan wouldn’t let him go that easily. ”We still need you for when we come out, since someone has to scare away other Umbras. Just brace yourself and follow us. Once you get knocked out, we will drag you along, too.”

Erxando bitterly smiled, already expecting that. Well, at least he tried... ”Okay...”

”So, should I detach now?” Xian asked. ”We are still in an area where Level Three Umbras can detect you, seniors.”

Rean nodded. ”Yes, come out now. Let Erxando do the covering for the last stretch. We don’t trust him very much, but it shouldn’t be a big issue now that we are this close.”

Xian did as he was asked, returning to his shadow child form. Erxando, albeit unwilling, could only take Xian’s place and cover the twins with some of his remaining Shadow Energy. Of course, there was the thought that Erxando might purposely leave a gap for other Umbras to notice Rean, Roan, and Kentucky’s existence, but there wasn’t much the twins could do about it. If push comes to shove, they could simply use Kentucky and charge deeper into the Dark Purple Area. The Umbras wouldn’t be able to follow them there.

In the end, Xian was put on Kentucky’s back, changing his form so he would be attached to Kentucky alone. It was better than being dragged around. With his much bigger body, Kentucky would have the easiest time carrying Xian. With that finished, the group dove deeper into the Dark Purple Area.

---

Meanwhile, back on Renkan’s group’s side, Gidui explained what happened when he was pursuing the twins’ group. ”And then I just couldn’t keep up anymore. Renkan, are you sure that guy is Erxando? The only way he could have outrun me was if he used his Celestial Laws. Would he use them just to leave me behind?”

Renkan narrowed his eyes. ”It’s not like Erxando and I are that close to start with. His appearance and Emotional Energy say he is Erxando, though. I wouldn’t have forgotten it. But you are right, I find it hard to believe Erxando would use his Celestial Laws just to get away from you.”

”So, what now?” Vravrin asked on the side. ”We don’t know from which direction they would try to enter the Dark Purple Area. If anything, they might be there already.”

Renkan pondered a bit, now even more unwilling to give up. ”Don’t you see? Now it is pretty much guaranteed that Erxando was hiding something. There aren’t many Level Three Umbras around this area for obvious reasons. Still, someone must have noticed a Level One Umbra. The best we can do is to try to find where they went and prepare.”

”An ambush for when he comes out? It won’t work since we can all feel each other’s presence from very far away,” Ranwrui observed. ”Besides, no one here is truly willing to start a fight without a proper reason since he might use his Celestial Laws.”

Renkan knew that. ”Sigh... I guess I can only ask for that old hag’s help...”