Death… And Me

Chapter 4548: Where Can I Get It?

Suddenly, a blob of liquid metal came floating down from above, slowly descending until it met Falasliu in front of the Throne’s Barrier. Obviously, it was the Starforge Metal Spirit and also the Sect Master of the Rosvelt Sect.

Falasliu saw him and nodded. ”Zandal.”

Zandal looked around, taking in the High-Elders who were allowed inside this place. They were spread throughout the enormous underground chamber, searching every possible corner for Rean. From their expressions, it was obvious that the search had been going on for far longer than they would have liked.

”Nothing yet?”

”Unfortunately, nothing so far,” Falasliu confirmed. ”I’m even starting to wonder if that guy really came inside this place at all.”

Zandal knew what Falasliu meant. He briefly looked toward the entrance before turning his attention back to the underground chamber. ”Could it be that they wanted to draw our attention to this place while they tried something somewhere else?”

”That’s what I was thinking,” Falasliu confirmed. ”Still, I had other elders watch the other important locations of our Sect just in case. If those outsiders really are trying to divert our attention, we can’t afford to leave everything else unguarded.”

Zandal nodded before turning around and looking at the throne and the dead skeleton sitting upon it. ”What about there?”

Falasliu sighed in response. That was the one place they had been unable to investigate properly. ”No one has ever been able to approach the throne since the calamity back then. The barrier is still firm and strong.” Falasliu then pressed his hand against it, feeling the powerful resistance beneath his palm. ”At the very least, we definitely can’t get inside.”

”Yeah, I know.” Zandal paid attention to the barrier for a few moments. There was little he could do about it either. Even as the Sect Master of Rosvelt, there were places in his own Sect that he couldn’t touch.

Peeking from behind the throne, Rean could see both the Sect Master and Falasliu. Each and every one of the experts outside the barrier was a Peak Stage Law God, so Rean felt quite helpless. If even one of them somehow discovered him, there was almost no chance he could escape. He wouldn’t go out of the barrier anymore either.

The worst part was that he couldn’t talk to the skeleton, aka Azerion, who hadn’t moved at all since he had pretended to be dead... or maybe sleeping? Rean still wasn’t sure which one it was supposed to be. From the outside, Azerion looked exactly like a dead skeleton... or almost it. He still had some skin and meat while sitting on that throne. Rean couldn’t even tell whether he was actually conscious unless he spoke to him.

Without another option, Rean and Luxa could only continue waiting. Neither of them dared to make another move while so many powerful cultivators were nearby. Even the slightest mistake could expose them.

Eventually, the Sect Master left, although Falasliu remained behind. Some of the High-Elders were also called out to help with the search, as they were now starting to think that Rean truly hadn’t entered this place.

Falasliu still thought it was possible for Rean to be here, though.

After all, a password was used to open the door leading into this place. Whoever had entered had obviously known the password, meaning they had either obtained it somehow or were familiar with the security measures of the Rosvelt Sect.

What Falasliu didn’t know was that Rean had simply looked at the fingerprints left around the keypad and guessed the password. He had no idea that such a simple method of investigation was even possible. Surprisingly, it never even crossed his mind that the password itself might have been ridiculously easy either...

Rean waited until Falasliu seemed distracted before deciding to try something. He slowly moved his hand out from behind the throne, keeping his Light Bending Skill active the entire time so no one could see him. He had refrained from doing this until now because he didn’t want to risk being discovered. Even with the barrier protecting him, Falasliu was simply too close for comfort.

Finally, barely touching the side of the skeleton’s body, Rean sent a Godly Sense Message through the contact. ’Can you hear me here?’

No answer...

In the end, Rean sighed. ’As I thought, I scared the skeleton to death. Now it is nothing but dead weight... well, almost no weight in this thing anymore anyway.’

’Who the hell is scared of you?’ Azerion snapped. Yes, he had simply ignored Rean the first time.

’I told you to stay still behind the throne, remember?’ An angry answer immediately returned through the touch. ’This is probably going to take a few days, maybe even weeks or months, so just stay there. We need to wait until there is no one here anymore.’

Rean smiled before asking. ’Why are you doing this? Aren’t you one of them?’

’Do you think one of them would be doing what I’m doing right now?’ Azerion asked in response. ’For all intents and purposes, I’m nothing but a dead body protected by the power of the world.’

Rean narrowed his eyes. ’Power of the world?’

The skeleton would have snorted if he could. ’Stop pretending you don’t know! You have exactly the same power inside you!’

[It’s the Echo!] Sister Orb answered. [I can feel a tiny remnant inside his body through your Godly Sense, Rean.]

Rean was surprised to hear that. Until now, they had been searching for the Goslau Great Void Echo without knowing exactly where it could be found. Yet here it was, right in front of him, being used by someone who had been hiding inside the Rosvelt Sect.

Simply put, Azerion was using the Goslau Great Void Echo they had been looking for all this time. It was just that he called it the Power of the World.

Rean didn’t need to think much to understand why. For Azerion, the Woster Prison was pretty much his entire world. He had been trapped here for so long that there was little reason for him to think of the Echo in terms of the larger world outside. From his perspective, the Echo was the power that sustained and isolated the world he knew. ’I see... My friends and I call it the Echo.’

’The Echo?’ It was the first time Azerion had heard that name. He seemed to consider it for a moment before responding. ’Well, I guess it makes sense that others would have different names for it.’

Rean continued. ’Alright, how about we exchange information?’

’How about I kill you so you stay quiet?’ Azerion asked back. ’Be happy I haven’t done anything to you yet.’

’Not gonna happen.’ Rean decided to take a risk. He knew that continuing to stay silent would not necessarily make things safer for him, especially if Azerion eventually decided that he had become too troublesome. ’We will either talk, or I will just make an appearance in front of the Rosvelt Sect.’

Azerion almost moved after hearing that. ’They can’t come inside this barrier, so do you really think you would survive me if you appeared?’

’Not at all,’ Rean admitted. He wasn’t arrogant enough to pretend otherwise. ’However, it seems like it is very important to you to keep pretending to be sleeping, dead, or whatever. Is my death worth revealing your charade?’

Azerion went silent for a moment. Rean could almost imagine the skeleton staring at him despite having no flesh on his face.

After a brief pause, Azerion finally agreed. ’Fine. Since I left you alive on purpose, I will start. What do you want here?’

Rean didn’t lie and went straight to the point. ’There are three objectives for our group’s expedition into Woster. Right, do you call this place Woster? There doesn’t seem to be anyone who recognizes this world by that name.’

’Obviously. I did tell you through the communication earlier to get the hell out of Woster, didn’t I?’ Azerion explained. ’This place we are in at the moment, for example, is called Woster Guarding Grounds. It is all connected.’

’Woster Guarding Grounds?’

’Answer my question first,’ Azerion insisted.

’Right, right!’ Rean went back to the matter at hand. ’The first objective was to find out why the Thousand-Script Race’s Ascension is locked to this part of the Celestial Plane.’

’I was born in this place, so you will have to be more detailed,’ Azerion asked again. ’I know almost nothing about what exists beyond Woster, so you can’t expect me to understand what you mean simply from the names you use.’

Rean didn’t mind. It was all a conversation through Godly Sense, so although it looked like it would take a long time, it was actually happening almost instantaneously. There was no need for them to exchange words one at a time like a normal conversation.

Rean then explained everything to Azerion. He told him about the outside world, the regions, the Great Voids, and the Great Void where the Thousand-Script Race had originated. He also explained how the various regions were connected to one another and how the Thousand-Script Race’s ascension was like that.

Finally, he arrived at the Natak Region’s request for help with the investigation of Woster. ’So you see? Our first objective was to help the Thousand-Script Race members of the Natak Region find out why their Ascension was locked in this place,’ Rean finished.

’What are the other two objectives?’ Azerion asked again.

’Now, now,’ Rean smiled. ’I guess it’s your time to answer one of my questions, right? It is only fair.’

Azerion relented. ’Hmph! Fine. Ask away.’

Rean didn’t waste any time. There was something he had wanted to ask ever since Sister Orb confirmed the presence of the Echo inside Azerion. ’The Power of the World, which we call the Echo... where can I get it?’