Chapter 589: Darkness

The uniqueness of the "Death God" Path is actually here! Is this the post‑resurrection hand that the former "Death God" left for himself?

Salinger? The "Death God" who once ruled the Southern Continent? And who is this suddenly appearing Amanisis? Why did she appear here out of the blue? She sounds of high status; from Mr. Azuk's tone, his first reaction was puzzlement and surprise, but he quickly recovered.

As thoughts drifted, Klein subconsciously voiced the doubt in his mind: "Can a soul be repaired?"

"Yes. The 'Death God' Path is inherently a study of the realm of death; soul issues are relatively simple for them. For ordinary people, a soul torn in half would have already collapsed into madness."

Rekton calmly answered Klein's question, his gaze shifting to the massive feathered serpent concealed by the Night Goddess; it seemed to sense an ominous change, frantically trying to swallow Azuk, yet it could not reach this side, as if it lived in another world.

Azuk calmly stared at the huge feathered serpent, both real and illusory, watching it open its massive jaws, revealing dark‑red flesh and teeth stained with pale yellow oil, spitting out a pitch‑black forked tongue and a murky green slime.

After a long, uneasy silence, Azuk suddenly raised his hand to rub his temple and said calmly:

"People always change. I've grown accustomed to this tranquil life, or rather, I've gained more humanity. I don't wish to abandon this humanity, even though it's not all pleasant."

He stared straight at the Night Goddess descending upon 0-17, his tone suddenly lightening: "I choose the second option; leaving half a soul in the outside world remains an uncertain factor."

"After erasing his memories and emotions, I will merge with him; then I am confident I won't be affected by the divinity and madness carried by the other half of the soul."

0-17 calmly nodded, then reached out and tightly grasped the bird‑shaped golden ornament that had emerged from the fissure in Azuk's forehead, gradually pulling it out of his forehead.

Intense pain twisted Azuk's expression again; from each piece of his flesh seeped a pale white spirit, intertwining into a semi‑transparent soul body.

This soul body was half pale white, half golden, bearing a rustic beauty that seemed terribly discordant.

As the bird‑shaped golden ornament was extracted, the golden portion of Azuk's soul body began to fracture, cracking and shattering piece by piece.

Huh—huh—huh—Azuk emitted a non‑human wheeze from his throat, like the roar of air rubbing, laced with unspeakable pain.

The state didn't last long; as 0-17 fully removed the golden ornament, Azuk's soul body split in two—one half turned into golden light and merged into the bird‑shaped ornament, the other half returned to his body, fusing with flesh.

As his own half of the soul returned, the two pale flames in Azuk's eyes gradually dimmed, and the scales and feathers that had sprouted on his skin quickly fell away and faded.

0-17 turned away with a detached expression, gazing at the massive feathered serpent, the deep darkness beneath her roiling like a tide, engulfing forward.

The huge feathered serpent, both real and illusory, seemed to sense danger; its massive body writhed uneasily, its broad heavy wings flapped continuously, its dark‑red maw gaped wide, emitting a roar.

The power of death erupted at that moment, and the entire tomb began to weather, eroding as if thousands of years had passed in just one or two seconds.

They quickly grew mottled, shedding fragments or being lifted as dust by the wind, while tiny pale fuzz sprouted in the cracks.

In the blink of an eye, that fuzz expanded into white feathers, their surfaces seeming soaked with pale yellow oil.

All this unfolded before their eyes, yet felt as if it were far away, in another world, completely unreachable by Rekton and the others.

The surrounding darkness surged like a tide, bearing intense fear and slumber, inch by inch engulfing the massive body of the feathered serpent, melting it into a part of the tide.

Bearing the Night Goddess's will, 0-17 suddenly stepped forward slowly, the surrounding darkness gently enveloped her, fawning like a wide hem, a scene that seemed eternal.

No wonder the Night Goddess's revered title includes phrases like "higher than the starry sky, longer than eternity"; I thought it was merely a devotee's flattery. In a sense, darkness truly is the universe's primary hue. Rekton gazed at the Night Goddess, whose aura had fully erupted ahead, and silently sighed.

After approaching the massive feathered serpent, 0-17 reached into the surrounding darkness and drew a bone longsword etched with strange patterns.

The sword was unremarkable, yet merely looking at it made Rekton, standing nearby, sense extreme danger, as if it symbolized the peril within darkness, the silent ruin and oblivion.

0-17 calmly waved the sword in her hand; with each movement, the surrounding darkness deepened a notch, rippling outward like water, yet on close inspection it seemed nothing had happened. The massive, exaggerated feathered serpent kept shifting its body, shedding patches of feathers stained with pale yellow oil; it twisted its elongated form into an extremely complex, mysterious three‑dimensional sigil, exuding an unimaginable aura of death that clashed with the surrounding deep darkness.

The clash didn't last long; the figure of 0-17, bearing the Night Goddess's will, flickered, and she moved to the feathered serpent's head, easily thrusting her bone sword into a face identical to Azuk's.

The human face on the serpent twisted into a painful, feral expression, emitting a fierce, soul‑rending shriek.

The sound didn't travel far before being swallowed by the surrounding tide‑like darkness, vanishing without a trace.

The deep surrounding darkness seeped into the serpent's body through the point where the bone sword pierced, gradually dismantling it from within.

Soon, the darkness beneath the tomb revealed nothing at all, only occasional glimmers of dim green or pale white light, indicating the Night Goddess had not yet fully resolved the uniqueness of the soul fusion akin to Azuk's.

It seems extracting Mr. Azuk's soul intact from this monster is harder than simply annihilating it. As thoughts drifted, Rekton turned to the nearby Azuk; his complexion still bore a pallor, a translucent quality, and beneath the surface skin faint shadows of dark‑green, blackish scales could be seen.

Rekton gently rubbed his fingers, and specks of starlight fell, outlining strange "gate" symbols around them.

A flash of pale blue starlight passed, and they rose directly from beneath the tomb to the top of the layered staircase.

Azuk, weary, glanced at the still‑closed-eyed Klein and said with a hint of a smile:

"You can open your eyes now."

Hearing the voice, Klein quickly opened his eyes, examined Azuk for a moment, and seeing no obvious signs of loss of control or madness, he relaxed.

Then he looked toward the tomb's base, where darkness reigned, nothing visible or audible, only occasional faint glimmers of dark green light drifting.

"Is she still down there?"

Klein opened his mouth but found himself unable to utter the name Amanisis; upon reflection, the memory of that name seemed to be fading, so he substituted "her" and continued speaking.

Azuk nodded and let out a light laugh:

"It seems she doesn't want you to know her name, nor let us discuss her."

"She refuses to let me know her name, so I can't speak it, and even now the memory of that name in my mind has become hazy. This surpasses the influence of angels; neither Mr. Azuk nor Al can achieve this, it's like a different kind of 'any spoken word will be known.' She is a special Angel King, or perhaps a true god! Klein's complexion changed; he turned his head toward Rekton, seeking confirmation, but in that instant he saw a young black‑haired woman in a black classical robe with a hood."

He recognized her appearance; she was the angel dispatched by the Night Church at the end of the Beckland Fog Incident, the angel who effortlessly resolved everything!

Knowing her identity, Klein was even more shocked. How could this be? Could she also be an Angel King? Impossible—under the Night Goddess's existence, this path can only reach Sequence Two at most. Yet her displayed power seemed to surpass ordinary angels, easily handling tasks that Mr. Azuk and others could not.

With vacant eyes and no expression, 0-17 returned Klein a glance; the corner of her mouth barely twitched, a subtle, almost imperceptible curve.

"Is she smiling at me?" Klein blinked uncertainly, then looked again; the other's face showed no trace of expression.

0-17 extended a hand toward Azuk, holding a pale translucent soul body; its glow was dim, its surface covered with a deep, calm darkness that carried a slumbering power.

Just by looking at this sphere‑shaped soul body, Azuk felt a tremor erupting from deep within, making him unable to resist the urge to devour it and become whole again.

He took a deep breath, restrained his instinctual impulse, reached out to take the soul body, lowered his gaze to examine it briefly, and let out a soft sigh.

The pale light flickered instantly, outlining layer upon layer of mysterious patterns around it, eventually forming the shape of an open double door, imprinting onto the other half of the soul body that had fallen into slumber, sealing it simply.

(End of Chapter)