Chapter 919: 517 The Gatekeeper Isn

A gloomy, ashen sky; a black, profound earth; the roaring Yellow River of the Dead; a path of white bones stretching endlessly; a line of the dead stretching beyond sight; flocks of crimson-eyed crows circling above the deceased…

Is this what the afterlife looks like?

After gazing across the suddenly opened Gate of the Dead at the landscape of the Death Realm, the souls of the three cleaners—two men and one woman—fell into silent unison.

Though they had long known that as cleaners, they were unlikely to live until natural death, and would most likely arrive here prematurely after some perilous mission, they had prepared themselves mentally.

But now that it had truly happened, all three still struggled to accept it, unable to believe their lives had ended so abruptly.

“I… I can’t accept this!”

Reverting from his 【Flower Fairy】 state to his normal human size, Rubin let out a low whimper, tears suddenly streaming down his forty-something face as he cried in bitter regret:

“Everything was going so well—why did we suddenly die? We were right beside the Director! Why did we get blown to pieces by artillery?”

“Stop thinking about it. It’s over.”

Feeling the growing pull dragging him into the Death Realm, Franky, who hovered beside Rubin, sighed bitterly.

“I don’t know what happened, but we must’ve been ambushed—even the Director didn’t escape; half his body was blown away. He might join us here soon.”

“Sigh… Let’s go first. Don’t think anymore. Those are the affairs of the living. We’re dead now. No matter how much we wish, we can’t go back. It’s time to move on.”

“I… I…”

“I still want to try!”

As Rubin and Franky stepped toward the Gate of the Dead to accept their fate, the lone female cleaner suddenly lifted her head, grabbed their sleeves, and declared stubbornly:

“My 【Path Ahead】 is a soul-level anomaly—I brought it down with me. I can still use it!”

“Rubin! Franky! Help me! If the three of us can use the effect of 【Path Ahead】 to carve a path back, maybe we still have a chance!”

This…

After hearing the female cleaner Mona’s plea, Rubin and Franky exchanged glances, then hesitated:

“But this is the Death Realm. Even if the Director died, he could only briefly resist the Realm’s rules—eventually, he’d still have to walk the Path of No Return. We’re just three Level-Two cleaners…”

“Help me!”

Interrupting Rubin, Mona drew a deep breath, clenched her teeth, and said:

“The Director hasn’t arrived here yet—that means he’s still alive!”

“Even if we can’t return, if we can open even a tiny gap and send my 【Path Ahead】 back, maybe we can help the Director escape!”

“Please! Help me! No matter the outcome, I still want to try! Without the Director, I would’ve come here twenty years ago—I can’t die without trying!”

“Alright then…”

After exchanging glances, Rubin and Franky nodded. Leveraging their Level-Two cleaner soul strength, they resisted the deep summons of the Death Realm and took their positions behind the female cleaner Mona.

“Thank you!”

Glancing gratefully at the two, Mona’s entire soul suddenly blazed with intense white flame. She gritted her teeth, turned, and stepped forward into the boundless gray mist behind her.

“Tap!”

The sound of her sole striking the bony ground echoed—and in that instant, the endless gray mist beyond the Gate of the Dead actually parted, revealing a narrow path.

Though tiny compared to the endless gray expanse, the mist—the embodiment of irrevocable death—had indeed made a minuscule concession.

This… could it really work?!

Noticing this, the other two cleaners, who had been hesitant, suddenly perked up. Their dim souls ignited in unison, flickering like white flames under the force of their will.

Compared to the boundless gray mist, the three blazing souls were like fireflies lost in the ocean—weak, yet stubbornly carving a winding path back to where they came from, step by step.

It’s possible! It really might work!

Feeling the faint breeze from ahead—the unmistakable breath of the living world—the three cleaners’ spirits surged.

Sixty points of Lyon value mark the threshold between god and mortal, the dividing line between breaking free from the Death Realm’s rules. All three of us are veteran Level-Two cleaners, averaging nearly thirty Lyon points each—our raw power is already sufficient.

Though we fall short of the qualitative leap needed to cross into true divinity and transcend death, with Mona’s 【Path Ahead】, we might still carve a path from death back to life!

And as Mona said—even if we ultimately must return—just sending 【Path Ahead】 back to help the Director survive, or even letting us glimpse that world one last time—would make this struggle worth it!

“Faster! Push harder!”

Feeling the breath of the living world rushing toward them, Mona clenched her teeth, strained forward with all her might, and shouted hoarsely:

“Just one more step! One more step!”

“Ah… I can’t just stand by now.”

“?!!”

As the three cleaners stared in shock, a dozen octopus tentacles suddenly erupted from behind them, writhing like coiled serpents, wrapping tightly around their limbs, waists, and arms.

Countless fleshy suckers, each the size of a baby’s mouth, clung to their souls and began frantically draining their power. In just a few breaths, they sucked dry all the energy the three had expended by burning their souls.

As the weakened cleaners were dragged backward by the tentacles, their feet leaving the ground, the narrow path they had carved so painfully closed rapidly under the encroaching gray mist, vanishing completely.

“…”

One step! Just one step away!

“Don’t blame me—I’m just doing my duty.”

Facing the cleaners’ furious stares, the long-tailed giant horse—whose neck should have borne a mane but was instead covered in octopus tentacles—blinked helplessly, then opened its lips and chattered incessantly:

“I normally don’t interfere. But your Cleaning Bureau pulled off something brutal—some idiot actually ate the original Gatekeeper, the Dog God.”

“To maintain order in the Death Realm and prevent unauthorized entry or exit, we Death Messengers now take turns guarding the Gate. And today, it’s my shift.”

“Oh, by the way—I’ll just ask one more thing: none of you three are from the Virgin Division, are you?”