Death… And Me

Chapter 4556: Ready?!

*Rawr...*

’Rean,’ Luxa suddenly called his attention with a Godly Sense Message. ’It is still unwilling.’

Rean narrowed his eyes. ’You mean the feeling you have had since we entered this place?’

’Yes,’ Luxa confirmed. The uneasy sensation hadn’t disappeared for even a moment, despite everything that had happened underground. Whatever she was sensing was still there, hidden somewhere.

Rean pondered for a moment and gently stroked her fur. ’It’s okay. We will deal with whatever comes our way. For now, we will give Azerion’s plan a try.’

—

Meanwhile...

After Thery’s group activated the teleport array and took the airplane to fly away, they met Roan at a previously agreed location. "How was it? Did the bait work?"

Roan nodded. "Yes. The High-Elders thought someone teleported away from the Woster Guarding Grounds, and they’re sending their people to investigate the northern side. Many of them are coming themselves."

"Good!" Thery nodded, satisfied with the result. "What do we do in the meantime?"

Roan took a look around. The airplane’s Godly Pressure Disguise had been deactivated, so Flugel and the others wouldn’t know about it. He could leave the airplane with them for the time being without worrying about exposing its presence. "Stay with the airplane. I’m going to the north side."

Flugel narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to try to bait them even more?"

"No," Roan shook his head. "I’m going to surrender."

The others were caught off guard by those words, but Roan didn’t bother explaining yet. His expression remained calm as he left.

—

Back at the Rosvelt Sect, on the surface, Kentucky, Kachia, and Celis were still waiting near the entrance to the underground space. They saw all the High-Elders flying out, including Falasliu, and immediately told Rean about it through their connection. That’s how Rean knew for certain that the High-Elders had truly left. There was no longer any need to worry about someone secretly remaining behind without his knowledge.

Kachia felt a little nervous when one of the High-Elders passed close to them, but the cultivator seemed to have his mind somewhere else. He wasn’t using his energy detection at all, so he naturally failed to notice Kentucky’s group hiding nearby.

"Sigh... that was close. How long do we have to stay here?" Kachia couldn’t help but ask again.

Kentucky spread his wings while Celis turned into his humanoid form and jumped onto Kentucky’s back. "Not even another second. We are leaving."

"What?!" Kachia was taken aback. "Why?! Weren’t we supposed to wait until Rean came out so we could leave together?"

Kentucky shook his head. "There has been a change of plans. Don’t worry. Just stay close to me so my Light Bending can cover you. We’ll take this chance, while most of the High-Elders are leaving because of the bait, to leave ourselves."

"But if we do that, they’ll know there were still intruders in the sect. That might cause the High-Elders to come back and enter the Woster Guarding Grounds again," Kachia explained, clearly concerned about the consequences.

"That’s why we’ll go through the entrance," Kentucky replied with a smile. "Didn’t you hear? Roan caught the sect’s attention on the north and west sides of Dlaval, just outside the city. There will be plenty of disciples and elders moving out because of that. This is our chance to mix with them while keeping a good distance and staying invisible with my Light Bending Skill."

"Oh..." Kachia finally understood. "Well, I definitely won’t complain about an opportunity to leave this den of Law God monsters, that’s for sure."

Finally, the two birds took flight, with Celis on Kentucky’s back, heading straight for the exit on the west side. It was just as Kentucky had predicted. Several groups of disciples and elders were already rushing out of the sect, all of them responding to the situation unfolding outside.

Sure enough, the sect believed the intruders had already left. Even worse, they believed the outsiders had already obtained whatever they had come here to acquire. That assumption gave Kentucky’s group exactly the opportunity they needed.

As for why they were leaving Rean behind... and also Coyui, Kachia didn’t ask anymore. The twins’ group clearly seemed to have some idea of their own.

—

Back underground, Azerion closed his eyes and opened his soul for Rean to interact with. At the same time, he used his control over the sealed space to allow Rean to send his Godly Sense and energy inside.

Rean placed one hand on Azerion’s body and the other on the pillar. Because Azerion was controlling the pillar, it didn’t attempt to extract Rean’s soul. The Navy-Blue Threads didn’t even appear. Well, it would be meaningless with the Orb System in place anyway.

Soon, Rean found his mind inside the sealed space, where the Womb could be seen. He could even feel the Goslau Great Void Echo very close, much closer than Roan’s previous experiences.

A second later, Azerion also appeared. Or, to be more precise, his face appeared on the surface of the Womb.

"No, that’s not correct..." Rean murmured to himself as he examined the scene more carefully. "There is an ancient array enveloping the Womb, and Azerion’s soul is inside that array. No wonder he said his soul was partially merged with the sealed space. The array itself merged with a portion of his soul."

It was just like Azerion said. It was likely because he was a member of the Thousand-Script Race that it happened at all.

Rean approached the Womb and carefully examined the runes running around it. When Roan had taken a look before, he hadn’t seen any runes. That was because Azerion hadn’t even known Roan had appeared there until the last try. Now, however, Azerion was deliberately exposing them so Rean could identify exactly where his soul had merged with the array.

’So, how about it?’ Azerion’s Godly Sense reached Rean’s mind.

Rean nodded slightly as he continued examining the structure. ’Yes, I can see it. This array is extremely complex. It is definitely the core of everything, although there should be many secondary arrays that depend on it.’

’Good. I’m exposing my soul now. I will charge the runes with my Godly Energy so you can see them clearly the entire time, even after you start cutting it off,’ Azerion said. ’I have to do it first because I won’t be able to maintain it once the pain takes over. Listen carefully: ignore how much I scream or beg. Just go for it. It will be a lengthy process, but it can’t be helped.’

’I know,’ Rean replied... although he had other plans.

Light Element began accumulating around his projection, coming from his own body outside and entering the pillar. Rean then touched the array, focusing especially on the section where part of Azerion’s soul had merged with it. Outside, his other hand sent Light Element into Azerion’s body, quickly enveloping Azerion’s other part of his soul and protecting it from the coming damage.

Following that, Rean’s hair changed into a mixture of black and white as Roan’s Dark Element began flowing toward him. This had always been Rean’s method for cutting souls: Light Element for protection and Dark Element for the actual cutting. With both sides working together, he could minimize the damage caused to the soul while severing what needed to be removed.

’Sister Orb,’ Rean called.

[Don’t worry. It is all available for you to use.]

Sister Orb immediately made sure that Rean received as much Echo as she could safely send to him. The energy flowed toward him, mixing with Roan’s Dark Element, ready to be used for the most important part of the process.

Rean faintly smiled.

A Crystal Void Sword suddenly materialized in his hand, much to Azerion’s surprise. ’Wh-Where the hell did that weapon come from? No physical object should be able to enter this space!’

’Hehe!’ Rean smiled even more in response. ’This, my friend, is an Intent Weapon. As long as I’m present, I can summon it out. Forget about a long and painful process. The best way to finish this with the least amount of damage is to cut it out in one go!’

Azerion’s expression changed immediately.

’Wait! What?! No! That’s different from what I told yo-’

*Zash!*

Too bad, Rean wasn’t listening anymore...