The Conquerors Path

Chapter 1009 - 1007-A Deal With Death.

[Note to be added: the one in front of you is a genuine sadist.]

’Yeah, I know!’

I internally replied as I felt death start to clutch around me, seemingly wanting to rip away the life from me. Though even for her, it’s no easy feat to rip away the life from the caprice of life itself, plus, even more so, this is just more of a scare tactic.

”Urgh... I never said Life is better than Death. When did I say that? Even if that were my opinion, my love and gratitude still stay towards Life, something you can’t rip or take away from me, no matter how hard you try.”

As I said, I felt my body getting heavier as I was pulled up from the ground, my body feeling like it was moving through heavy water, while I could hear the screams of the dead people calling me, trying to cling onto the life they wanted from me.

”For a young budding divinity, you do have a lot of confidence in yourself, which you should. The conqueror that walks the lands.”

Nyxara finally set aside her book, sitting properly in her throne as she now only looked at me. The eyes that govern death in the realm I roam now those eyes roaming over me, looking right through me. I felt chills all around my body, like some kind of slimy snake was coiling itself around me, keeping me tight, trying to choke me to death.

’An interesting feeling.’

[Ding! Awakening to a new fetish!]

’Fuck off!’

Keeping my mind sane enough, I looked at her straight, and she looked at me, the gothic personification of death itself, looking at me with those eyes. Which, up close, looked like dead fish eyes that seemed to hold no life, no compassion, just a cold gaze that held nothing of value.

’Uff... hardcore.’

Musing on it while holding back the pain hitting all over me, I smiled as I replied.

”Gotta have this kind of confidence if I want to live as a conqueror in a world that seems to move against me.”

”Tough talk from a kid who enjoyed a lot of luck until now. The Goddess of Luck herself was screaming that you were taking away too much luck back in the past.”

’That’s new info to me. Note to self, gotta find out if sleeping with the Goddess of Luck can get me luckier than before.’

[Nope. I mean, it can give you some extra type of luck in life, but that great luck you had before isn’t something even the Goddess of Luck can give you.]

’Curiosity settled. Still gonna try to hit that luck though.’

[Naturally.]

Suddenly, the pressure and everything vanished as I felt myself free on the ground, feeling quite light as I looked at the woman in front of me. Though she pretended to be angry, it was just more of her trying to get a scare out of me. No way did she care even a little bit about what I said. The only thing keeping me going now is the rivalry that exists between Life and Death.

”Your proposal doesn’t sound bad; in fact, it’s quite intriguing in itself. But it’s still not enough.”

Looking at those dead eyes staring at me with a certain sense of desire, I chuckled a bit and threw out the last piece of my offer to smooth the deal. After all, I try to do things only after being fully prepared and having paid such a heavy price to get information about this woman, I gave her the thing she kept wanting.

”I will give you the first manuscript of the next book I write.”

”Good. Then you have a deal. I shall call you when—”

”Wait!”

I shouted before she could finish what she was saying, making her pause. If things went like this, the only thing I’d get out of it would be her controlling the mood and doing things her way, calling me only at times to get that internal seduction I promised. But the issue is, for a woman like her, a small stretch of time is equal to at least a thousand years.

Meaning the next time she called me, a thousand years might have passed, and to her, that would just be the blink of an eye. No way in hell I’m waiting that long. And since she is Death itself, I can’t go around pushing her or doing things however I want, so I need to settle into my own rhythm too.

”For what I promised to make you feel the love you have, a small interest in it’s not something that can happen with you calling me or doing things your way. You need to give me some leeway.”

My words made her a bit interested, and those dead eyes looked at me as she gave me a nod to continue.

”Give me the right to take you away for certain trips and outings to teach you some things that naturally foster feelings between people. You won’t be able to steal me away from life without showing me different sides of yourself, too.”

My words made her disgusted. She didn’t show me any expression, but the way her eyes flinched made me understand it all. After all, the one in front of me is a total shut-in. This woman only likes sitting in her gloomy domain, doesn’t like leaving it, and values her personal space a lot, and I mean a lot. I was talking about wanting to take her outside and travel, which was basically a no-no for her.

”Denied.”

The reply came smoothly, which I accepted and then added my true condition.

”Then allow me to freely enter and leave this domain as much as I want. If you want to feel emotions and even steal me away, I need to be able to move around this place, and perhaps take you and make you experience new things here itself in your domain, nowhere else.”

This time, my words were within reason, and they hit her curiosity points too. Once again, remember I said she wants to steal me from Life. She does, but once again, to this twisted woman, time is very different. She will take ten thousand years, slowly bringing me to her side; to her, that much time is just small and rewarding, which is why she isn’t making any big moves or sudden actions. Death has all the time in the world, but I don’t. I have to get her as fast as I can, so I have to play the desperate fool in this case.

”Agreed.”

Death immediately said as she waved her hand, and in that instant, I felt a sort of connection form, as if I could enter and leave this place as much as I wanted to. Then, before I could blink, I was outside, standing before that very same tree, a wry smile on my face at the sudden changes and twists. All the Gods I had met until now didn’t want to let me go, but this one just threw me out like I was a rodent problem she was dealing with.

’Sigh... it will take time to break through all that cold exterior anyway.’

I can’t jump into winning Death over right now. She likes things her own way, so I need to be subtle about how I deal with her.

’Now to focus on the main issue.’

I smirked as I touched the legacy, which now had a faint connection to the powers of death, my divine authority rewriting it through to a certain level for my use. Soon, Tria would be making her way here, and if I wanted to settle things my way, I needed to make sure that when she left, she left with me in her heart. The plan I had in mind was bubbling forth.

’This is going to be fun.’

With that, I slowly disappeared from there, my tasks done.

...

Third Person POV

Tria walked through the edges of the forest, her mind sharp as she moved around secretly. Her mind kept drifting to the legacy she needed to touch, and with the thought of it, the past memories of her life flooded through. The happiness, the sudden bouts of good fortune that came, and then when it all came tumbling down: the wars she fought, the death, the blood, the destruction, and the betrayals she could never forget.

A terrifying killing intent, one that even an Imperial would flinch at, leaked out from her, which she quickly suppressed. The bad parts of the past hadn’t happened yet, which meant she still had time to change it all, to create a better future for the world. Things being different in the past, she had come to make that possible.

’They were right. The timeline got twisted, but I will happily accept these circumstances over what existed in the past.’

Mumbling to herself, she quickly reached the place she wanted. Her eyes landed on the tree that seemed to give off the same yet different feel, like it existed and didn’t exist at the same time. Tria stood in front of the tree, her back straight and her eyes turning calm. With one final deep breath, she placed her hand on the tree and, along with it, her body died.