Chapter 1564

"You?!"

Looking at the Dead Realm Sovereigns who were standing behind the Faceless One one by one—some with apologetic expressions, others with fierce eyes—the First Dead One could not help but feel his anger rise. He asked with eyes full of disappointment:

"Have you forgotten what you once said? When I opened the Road of No Return and distributed the authority, every one of you promised me that you would maintain the normal operation of the Dead Realm! This is a shameful betrayal!"

"We are currently maintaining the normal operation of the Dead Realm."

The Faceless One bowed slightly and then asked in a cold tone:

"Lord First Dead One, is it possible that the one who truly betrayed the Dead Realm is you?"

"I betrayed the Dead Realm? What crazy talk is this?"

"My lord, I am not speaking crazy talk, but facts."

After "correcting" the First Dead One's statement, the Faceless One slowly straightened his spine and said with a hint of disgust:

"We did indeed come from the living world, but we are already dead! We are the departed, the Sovereigns standing at the pinnacle of the entire Dead Realm! If it weren't for us, the entire living world would have been finished countless years ago!

And after paying so much for humanity and the living world, we want the respect and status we deserve; we want the right to return to the living world. Is that not right? What have we done wrong?"

"..."

"And you! Although you are the first dead of the Dead Realm, you have never considered yourself a part of it! Despite having sufficient ability, you have never fought for the chance for us to return to the living world!

In your eyes, we are not Sovereigns of the Dead Realm at all, but helpers to handle the souls of the dead for you! We are slaves who must remain in this boring world of only black, white, and gray, serving humanity and the living world forever!"

"I..."

Seeming a bit startled by the Faceless One's sudden outburst of anger, the First Dead One, who had been full of indignation, subconsciously took half a step back. He took a deep breath and said with a hint of guilt:

"I have never thought that way, nor have I ever viewed you as slaves. I just felt that since we are already dead, we should not return to the world of the living.

And after all these years, you have become too deeply and tightly intertwined with the Dead Realm; ordinary people simply could not withstand it. If we were to rashly return to the living world, it would inevitably bring about large-scale death, so we had no choice but to sacrifice..."

"Why must we be the ones to sacrifice?"

As the layers of corpse wrappings around him seeped color, squeezing out blood mixed with murky yellow pus, the fierce-eyed Death Workshop Master spoke:

"Living beings in the world will come here sooner or later, so why can't we go back? We came from the living world too, and we paid so much to maintain its stability. We are not the ones who should be making concessions!"

"But you are already dead..."

Seeming unaccustomed to dealing with this situation, the First Dead One looked at the Dead Realm Sovereigns looking at him with those eyes that seemed to be burning, and he could not help but take another step back. He argued somewhat powerlessly:

"The dead enter the Dead Realm, return to the source after fading away, and then new souls can be born in the living world. This is part of the world's rules.

Compared to other souls, you have already gained a lot. Besides not supporting your return to the living world, I have helped you gain endless life, and I have never restricted you in any way. You... why are you not content?"

"We are not discontent; we just want a return equal to what we have given... Forget it, you should go."

After shaking his head slightly, probably too lazy to continue explaining, the Faceless One raised his arm and made a gesture of invitation toward the direction away from the 【Frozen Coffin River】. He said expressionlessly:

"Although you are the strongest Dead Realm Sovereign, after you opened the Road of No Return and separated the rules of the Dead Realm, the strength of myself, the Engraver, and the Mountain Patrol Woman is not much worse than yours. In a three-on-one situation, even you would not be our match, not to mention the others waiting in reserve... In consideration of your past care for us, please leave here. I will not say this a second time."

"..."

Looking at the Dead Realm Sovereigns who—except for the Old Man with the Lantern, whose expression was still hesitant—had all firmly stood behind the Faceless One, the Mud Man incarnated by the First Dead One felt his eyes dim slightly. He sighed:

"I can leave... Also, although I don't know if what I did in the past was right, there is one thing I am certain of: you are definitely wrong!"

"..."

Are we wrong?

Watching the First Dead One turn and leave in dejection after leaving behind that one sentence, the Faceless One was silent for a moment, then called out:

"Lord First Dead One."

"Hmm?"

Hearing the call from behind, the First Dead One, whose body was shedding mud, turned his head in surprise. But the first thing that entered his vision was not the Faceless One's flat face, but a glimmer of phosphorescent, ghostly blue light.

"Sorry."

Accompanied by the Faceless One's apology, black and white bricks spread out from under his feet, replacing the pale earth along the frozen river with a strange square intertwined with black and white.

A giant tombstone covered in thick green moss rose from the ground behind the First Dead One. Following the light and shadow of the ghostly blue lamp, it seemed as if it had been cut along the edges with a carving knife, imprinting its entire shadow onto the face of the tombstone.

Read every word correctly!

Finally, the lamp in the Old Man with the Lantern's hand swayed slightly. The ghostly blue light that occupied the First Dead One's entire vision flowed out from his eye sockets, instantly spreading over his entire body, burning the stunned First Dead One into a human-shaped, bright blue torch.

"Send him away."

In the Faceless One's somewhat low tone, the Old Man with the Lantern sighed gloomily. He raised his other missing arm and, using the shaved-flat half-stump of his wrist bone, made a gesture in the air toward the First Dead One's feet.

"Crack!"

Following the suddenly sounding strange tearing noise, the black and white bricks, the ghostly blue light, and the giant moss-covered tombstone all vanished from the Dead Realm Sovereigns' sight. In their place was a primitive, broken cliff they were all too familiar with.

Sorry.

After looking at the First Dead One's eyes, which were full of resentment and confusion, the Old Man with the Lantern, who was temporarily in charge of the 【Cliff of the End】, sighed. He avoided his gaze, lowered his head, stepped forward, and raised his hand to push the motionless First Dead One off the edge of the cliff.

You did not choose to stand on the side of the Dead Realm, and the plan to ambush the Cleanup Bureau must absolutely not be leaked... Then we can only say we are sorry.

"Let's go."

Looking at the First Dead One, who had fallen off the 【Cliff of the End】 as stiffly as a stone, the Faceless One sighed. He turned his head and said to the stunned Dead Realm Sovereigns:

"I didn't want to do this either, but Lord First Dead One knew too much. If he... Wait!"

Looking at the pile of ice shards on the ground in the distance and the black glacier that had already been hollowed out, the Faceless One's eye sockets widened abruptly, nearly tearing his own face skin!

"Where is the Mountain Patrol Woman? Where is the Mountain Patrol Woman!!!"

(End of chapter)