Chapter 298

Hiss—hiss—hiss~~~

Luosen, Laifu? Not yet. De Rui Tan? Not yet. Hardened krypton gold, anti-magic dagger. Also a whetstone (generic).

Luosen, a large rune punishment rack (possibly unnecessary). A young woman (generic).

The woman wore no clothing; her forehead, neck, wrists, waist, thighs, and ankles were all encased in a layer of binding chains forged from magic runes, shaped like the Chinese character for 'big', tightly fastened to the frame.

Although she was beautiful and graceful, Luosen didn't even glance at her, wholly focused on sharpening his krypton-gold dagger.

"This dagger is not only sharp and finely crafted, its anti-magic capability is nearly perfect—it can ignore magical shielding and precisely make you feel the utmost pain."

"But I dislike torture, so I hope you will voluntarily tell me your origin."

A woman on the rack (generic).

"Even if you torture me, it's just a life after all."

"But remember, however you torture me today, someday someone will bind you to the same rack and torment you in the same way!"

Her expression was calm, her tone tranquil, as if she had seen through life and death, a saint fully enlightened.

Such a person (generic).

Normally, when capturing such a person, the only way to deal with them is to quietly kill them.

But Luosen was very interested in the magic the woman used, and he was also deeply curious about her origin.

Even if he ultimately had to kill her, he would only do so after exhausting all other options.

He (Luosen).

"So your goal is to kill me. And De Rui Tan's mercenary mission merely happened to coincide with your purpose."

"Even without the mission, you'd still try to kill me, right?"

The woman closed her eyes and remained silent, appearing resigned to whatever fate awaited her.

Luosen wasn't disappointed either, and continued: "You come from the Abyss, right?"

The woman still didn't speak, but her body tensed ever so slightly—an imperceptible shift that Luosen missed, though Laifu's observation certainly caught it.

He (Luosen).

He (Luosen), the Three Great Abysses, boundless power, eternal life, glorious honor.

You.

There was no reaction, but Luosen didn't need her to actively respond; the instinctive stress response from her body was enough.

Laifu's observations showed that, after the names of the three Abysses appeared in sequence, its reaction to the word "Glory and Honor" was somewhat distinctive.

He.

Boundless power.

Eternal life.

Glorious honor.

The result remained the same, so Luosen concluded: "I see, you come from Glory and Honor."

The woman finally couldn't hold back: "Wrong, I come from Boundless Power!"

Luosen.

Luosen's voice was flatter than plain water; he continued sharpening his blade as he said: "Glory and Honor is a beautiful name that has faded; nowadays, more people prefer to call it the Land of Nightmares."

All this information was gathered by Luosen mobilizing national resources, following clues provided by Adele, bit by bit.

The Starry Sky Observatory and the Three Great Abysses.

Why is it deduced? Because the three Abysses are nearly invisible in light, magic, and even magical fields, so ordinary sky-scrying mirrors cannot see them at all.

An abyss (generic).

By borrowing the tiny disturbances their gravity creates in the motion of other planes, observer mages can infer the approximate orbits of the three Abysses.

However, that's about all we know now; saying more would give us away.

Yet this information successfully pried open the woman's lips.

She opened her eyes and fixed Luosen with a strange dark-gold gaze: "Where did you learn all this?"

Luosen smiled: "I won't tell you."

Although the information about the Abyss has been exhausted, that doesn't mean he can't continue to pump the woman for her secrets.

"I have carefully examined your body; you indeed have no soul, but your magic is organized in a very peculiar way, even one that defies basic magical laws."

"There exists a mysterious force that binds the magic within your body."

Luosen, a being in the abyss (generic), Elemental Projection Technique.

Without needing an answer from her, Luosen already confirmed this from her stress response.

He, a projection (generic).

Projector (generic).

"But every life is an extremely complex multifaceted entity."

A great demon, a saint, a great ruler, a coward (generic descriptors).

"I can roughly guess that, aside from your resolve to kill me and some necessary magical power and worldly knowledge, your understanding of the Abyss is probably not greater than mine."

An unconscious stress reaction told Luosen he had guessed correctly again.

The same reaction also informed Luosen that the woman's mental defenses had cracked slightly.

He.

Tell me your name, assassin (generic).

Lili.

Luosen lifted his hand, splashed some clean water to wash off the grinding powder from his dagger, and said: "Well, Miss Lily, I have to tell you some unfortunate news."

I discovered that the mysterious power in your body used to restrain magical power also serves as a countdown; as time passes, the power will gradually dissipate.

In about half a year, your power will completely dissipate; once your magic loses its restraint, it will instantly drain away, and then your life will end.

So, your nature is merely a killing tool created by some existence of the Abyss.

I know.

Lili spoke: "As a tool, assassinating you is the meaning of my existence."

Luosen gave a hehe laugh: "Hatred without reason, like a house without a foundation, is hard to last."

You and I are complete strangers; your assassination is meaningless.

Lili gave a cold laugh: "Not everything in the world needs meaning; as long as I know what I must do, that's enough."

"You're right." Luosen nodded, acknowledging this.

This mysterious power is the shackle controlling you; if someone could help you break this shackle, wouldn't you want to continue living?

A hint of grimness appeared on Lili's perpetually cold face.

Projecting my true form is an irresistible great existence.

Her will is the meaning of my existence; my personal thoughts are not important at all.

Luosen immediately said: "But I have a way to let you break free of the shackles, so your life can continue to exist."

Lili furrowed her brows: "I don't believe my true form possesses an irresistible"

Luosen interrupted her: "This thought of yours is another layer of shackle deeply imprinted in your soul by your true form; its purpose is to prevent betrayal, not an actual existence."

Because logically speaking, if your true form were truly irresistible, she should personally come to assassinate me, and I would absolutely have no power to resist.

But the fact is not so; therefore your true form may be a strong one, but still far from being irresistible.

I think she probably doesn't even have the ability to leave the Abyss.

Lili's face showed an expression of collapsing belief, and the fluctuating magic around her also indicated her emotions were in a state of turmoil.

Luosen also didn't urge, just patiently waited. About ten minutes later, Lili calmed down a bit: "What is your purpose in saving me?"

I want to deeply study this projection technique, and you are obviously an excellent specimen.

In this process, I will do my best to preserve your life and try to give you a complete soul, so you can completely break free from the control of the projection true form and become a truly independent individual.

Study projection technique? Do you also want to create loyal yet pitiful puppets?

While speaking, this female assassin bore a hint of sarcasm on her face.

Luosen, however, shook his head: "No, I have no interest in creating puppets of the true form."

As the emperor of the Empire, I have countless loyal warriors; I have absolutely no need to use this inefficient and unreliable magic to obtain assistants.

Without waiting for Lili to ask, he continued: "I am very interested in all unknown magics, and I also have better ways to use elemental projection technique."

But as for what exactly, I'm sorry I cannot tell.

In his view, since elemental projection technique can project complex life, it certainly can project simple magical constructs.

Then this is a brand-new, highly effective creation magic.

So, he is very interested in elemental projection technique and also values it greatly.

Lili naturally didn't know Luosen's thoughts; she remained silent for a long time: "You say you'll let me continue living—aren't you afraid I'll keep carrying out the true form's assassination order?"

Luosen shook his head: "Obviously, your true form greatly underestimated my power, causing the power it gave you to be greatly insufficient; even if you insist on assassinating me, it would far from threaten my life."

Just like a rabbit, no matter how hard it tries, cannot threaten the life of a male lion.

Lili gave a disdainful cold snort: "You're really confident!"

If you truly can reforge my soul, then you are not a mortal but a true god.

Luosen couldn't be bothered to talk more, got up and walked to Lili's side, pressing the polished-to-shine hardened kryptonite dagger against the chest of this elemental projection body.

I am not a very patient person, nor do I like listening to nonsense.

Either you nod to agree to the deal, or you shake your head to refuse.

Lili lowered her gaze to look at the sharp blade, knowing that if she shook her head, the other party would end her life.

She certainly didn't want to die, nor did she want to continue carrying out this assassination order lacking logical support; thus, after a few minutes of silence, she nodded in agreement: "I choose the deal."

A very wise choice.

Luosen's dagger lightly flicked a few times on Lili's body, breaking most of the binding seal runes on her body, leaving only a circle of runes around her neck.

Whoosh~~

He threw over a set of exquisite clothing: "Put it on, and then you will be my experimental assistant."

Lili complied, dressing while saying: "In my mind there still exists a very strong belief, namely to assassinate you, while reason tells me that assassination is unlikely to succeed."

But if you show enough loopholes in front of me, then my reason may not be able to resist the drive of this belief.

I understand, but believe me, I will soon eliminate this belief.

I think you can't do it.

We'll see.

Using the life tree branch, as long as he wishes, he can alter the microscopic structure of anyone's body. And for an elemental life, any firm belief will necessarily correspond to a stable elemental structure.

As long as one finds and eliminates that elemental structure corresponding to the belief, the belief will also dissipate.

Of course, for mortals, this task is extremely difficult, almost an impossible mission.

Because the brain's structure is extremely complex, trying to find a cluster of connections representing a specific meaning among a vast sea of neurons like an endless starry galaxy is like looking for a needle in a haystack, enough to exhaust a mortal's life.

But such tedious repetitive tasks are Laifu's forte; so as long as Luosen wants and is willing to invest computing power and time, he can truly find the elemental entity corresponding to the belief.

Of course, doing this comes at a high cost and requires the other party's active cooperation; that's why he will patiently persuade surrender.

Soon, Lili finished putting on the clothing.

The skirt is made of blue-green silk material, simple yet exquisite; once worn, the female assassin turned into a youthful, lovely academy female student.

It's clear she is very satisfied with this new outfit: "My true form likely wants me to know as little as possible about things I shouldn't know, but projection is hard to perfect control, so it always leaks this or that information that shouldn't be projected."

Luosen nodded to show understanding: "Just as I expected. Then, what information did she leak?"

There are three.

First, the three great abyssal planes share the same ancestor, which is the result of a civilization continuously expanding, and eternal life is the origin.

Ironically, what was once eternal life is now called the Death Abyss, and it is also the most terrifying abyss.

Second, the former glory and splendor is now the Nightmare Abyss, which has a supremely terrifying ruler named 'Antoine Ji', also called the Ancestor of Nightmares.

Third, the reason the abyss is sealed is that the greatest generation of ancestors, at their greatest moment, devised a strategy to prevent the crisis from spreading.

The first two points are fine; the third is a bit strange, but Luosen understood it at once.

Therefore, the beings in the abyss will do anything to regain freedom.

Lily nodded: 'Logically speaking, that should be the case.'

Luosen clicked his tongue and sighed: 'Interesting.'

After the two walked out of the interrogation room, Zhuo Ya, who had been waiting for news, came forward and asked anxiously: 'What did you find out?'

Luosen nodded: 'I found out some strange information, but not much. I'll tell you in detail later.'

He also said: 'By the way, De Rui Tan is badly injured this time, so he probably won't have the leisure to attend to the mortal realm's Elven Empire; we can take the opportunity to increase our offensive force against the Dragon Islands.'

Zhuo Ya laughed: 'I was just about to do that too.'

She then saw Lily coming out as well, and immediately puzzled: 'What's this situation now?'

This time Luosen didn't hide it either, using a simple telepathic explanation, and finally said: 'For some unknown reason, I've caught the attention of some guy.'

If what Adela said is true, then he can roughly understand the reason for the assassination: to suppress the advancement of a new civilization.

Of course, it's also possible that Adela's information is wrong, in which case he would completely not understand why he was assassinated.

After all, he is the emperor of a nation, his conduct is rather unconventional, and certainly many people would want to assassinate him.

All he can do is try every means to increase his own strength.

He retorted: 'What news have the other legendary mercenaries pried out?'

Zhuo Ya nodded: 'Most of it isn't important. But there is a piece of news that isn't closely related to us, yet is astonishing.'

She handed Luosen a transcript: 'It's about Nawat.'

Nawat has split into three countries; the Glory Republic, established by the original Sasmar faction, has begun covertly seeking to reunify Nawat.

They resort to any means, committing many acts that cross the line, pushing the Sky Republic and the Sant Empire together, forming an extremely intense confrontation.

Under these circumstances, the Glory Republic actually abandoned the traditions of Nawat entirely, beginning openly to cooperate with Void Life.

Luosen let out a light sigh: 'I never expected the Glory Republic would finally abandon glory itself.'

I'm afraid that before long we will receive a distress signal from the Sky Republic.

The Glory Republic is much like a militaristic empire from another world, extremely aggressive, and will stop at nothing to achieve its goals.

Based on his understanding of the Sky Republic and the Sant Empire, even if they set aside their prejudices and cooperate closely, the former is unlikely to be a match for the latter.

Zhuo Ya whispered: 'If they ask for aid, will you help?'

Of course I will help.

Luosen nodded without hesitation, and also said: 'Of course.'

The battle between mortals and gods and demons is essentially the opposition between mortals and the abyss.

If Nawat were to completely fall into a hunting ground for gods and demons, the next would surely be their plane.

Since we must inevitably fight the abyss, the battlefield had best be set outside our doorstep.

However, this does not affect our wedding.

(End of chapter)