Death… And Me

Chapter 4552: That’s How

Rean listened closely as Azerion continued his story.

When Azerion and Tany put their plan into action, Azerion opened his soul and allowed Tany to get a hold of it. They had prepared a seat beside the pillar specifically for that reason. It was the same Throne where Azerion was now seated near Rean.

Up to that point, everything had gone according to plan. Tany could have done whatever she wanted to Azerion’s Soul, but she simply readied herself and waited. This wasn’t even the first time they had gone through the process. Azerion and Tany had trained extensively beforehand, giving her several opportunities to harm or kill him during their earlier attempts. She had never done so, which was one of the reasons Azerion had trusted her so completely.

Then, Azerion touched the inscriptions and runes on the pillar, and the pull of the Goodbye World Pillar immediately attached itself to his soul. It was the first time Azerion saw the Navy-Blue Threads, which he would eventually name the Soul Extraction Threads. Yes, he wasn’t the one who had created them. He merely took possession of them later.

Tany immediately did her part. When the threads pulled Azerion’s Soul, she pulled back, forcing the two sides into a stalemate. Unfortunately, that also caused Azerion tremendous pain. Having his soul pulled in two different directions was anything but pleasant, and he couldn’t help but scream as the opposing forces continued to drag at him.

Tany shouted at Azerion, telling him to get a hold of himself or she would pull his soul back out and end the project. That reminded Azerion that he believed Tany would indeed do it if he failed to maintain control. He endured the pain, gritted his teeth, and focused entirely on the threads, forcing himself to continue with their plan.

Finally, the plan showed results. Azerion’s mind was pulled into the sealed space that Roan had previously seen. Of course, Roan’s Soul had been easily protected by the system, but Azerion had no such protection at the time.

Inside that strange space, he saw the Womb, which, up to that point, he had only known from ancient records as "a new source of energy." None of those records explained what kind of energy source it was or where it had come from.

Just like Roan, what appeared in that space was a projection of Azerion’s body. Despite the pain he was still suffering, Azerion floated toward the Womb, hoping to discover something useful. He had gone through all this trouble for a reason, after all, and he wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.

But then, the unimaginable happened.

Out of nowhere, another projection appeared behind him. No, it wasn’t simply another projection of himself. It was something more, something capable of interacting with the sealed space itself.

Roan narrowed his eyes when he heard that through his connection with Rean. His own projection inside the sealed space had never been capable of interacting with anything. At most, he could sense the flow of energy around him, which Celis later used to help him. Therefore, if this new projection could actually interact with the sealed space, it meant that whoever controlled it had known about that place from the very beginning.

And Roan was right.

The projection was none other than Tany’s, and she had definitely known about the sealed space from the start.

Before Azerion could even react properly, Tany’s projection captured him and began pulling him toward the Womb. Azerion immediately screamed through his Godly Sense back into his own body, demanding an explanation. Tany, however, ignored him.

That was when the truth finally dawned on Azerion. Tany was using his soul as a bridge, allowing her to interact with the sealed space while protecting herself from its dangers. Thinking back, Azerion remembered that Tany had been the one who came up with the plan to interact with the pillar in the first place. She had originally intended to be the one who did it.

Azerion had taken over because he didn’t want her to be in danger.

Now, he realized that decision had been exactly what she wanted.

It had all been part of her plan and manipulation. Even Tany’s intervention when they first met might not have been a coincidence. Looking back, Azerion couldn’t help but suspect that she had deliberately approached him because she needed a member of the Thousand-Script Race. His bloodline was one of the keys to reaching what she wanted.

Azerion could feel his bloodline runes being used to generate that bridge, with his soul serving as the ultimate payment.

Tany pressed Azerion’s projection against the Navy-Blue and Golden Womb, her expression cold as ice. Azerion’s bloodline runes reacted to something protecting the Womb almost immediately. From that reaction, he reached the conclusion that the Thousand-Script Race was needed for far more than he had ever expected.

Unfortunately, it was already too late for him to do anything.

With Azerion’s soul and bloodline runes fueling the process, Tany’s hand forced its way through the barrier protecting the Womb and touched it directly.

’It was at that moment that I felt the Power of the World for the first time,’ Azerion mentioned.

The Power of the World, which Rean knew to be the Goslau Great Void Echo, rushed toward Tany’s projection. Azerion watched as her cold expression became distorted, almost ecstatic, as if she were experiencing the greatest moment of her life. At the same time, Azerion could feel his own soul fading away.

Of course, Azerion was sitting there now, telling Rean the story. He had obviously survived that calamity somehow.

And he did.

What Tany hadn’t expected was that the Thousand-Script Race’s connection to the sealed space was something special. When she used Azerion’s bloodline runes and soul to open a gap in the Womb’s protection, she had unknowingly created a connection between Azerion and the sealed space itself.

Within seconds, Azerion’s soul pain disappeared. Not only that, but he could clearly feel the connection that had formed. His soul stopped fading. Instead, it began merging with the sealed space, all because he was a member of the Thousand-Script Race.

Tany was too focused on extracting the Goslau Great Void Echo to notice the changes happening to Azerion. Before she realized what was happening, Azerion could already feel everything inside that sealed space. More importantly, he discovered that he could control the Soul Extraction Threads used by the Womb.

Everything within that place existed to serve the Womb and control the Goslau Great Void Echo. Now, Azerion could control part of it.

Without thinking twice, Azerion used the bridge Tany had created through his bloodline runes and soul to reach for Tany’s soul instead.

Tany’s eyes changed, but it was already too late. For all intents and purposes, she was directly touching the pillar, even if she wasn’t physically doing so. She was touching Azerion, and Azerion could now be considered part of the pillar itself.

Tany’s soul was pulled out, and she screamed in pain before disappearing into the Womb. The moment her soul was extracted from her body, it became a Dead Soul. It became a source of Pure Yin Energy, and the Womb wouldn’t let it escape. Tany had become food for the Womb instead, in the biggest twist Azerion had experienced in his life.

’And that’s how I became like this,’ Azerion completed.

Rean was quite impressed by the story. He had expected Azerion to have some connection to the Womb, but the truth was far more complicated than he had imagined.

’That was crazy...’ Rean couldn’t help but admit. Still, he had more questions. ’However, you haven’t told me yet what this situation is about. Why can’t the Rosvelt Sect know you are not dead, sleeping, or whatever you’re pretending to be?’

’Hmph!’ Azerion clearly hadn’t forgotten about that part of the conversation. ’I was getting there.’