We Conquer Together

The Abyss Prison.

Isaiah's breath caught in his throat the moment he realized what was flashing through his mind.

He clearly saw the fear and helplessness on his face in the mirror, an expression he had never seen in the past few decades.

Because he knew what that meant.

But why would he have such a crazy idea? Just a moment ago, it was as if he was possessed by something.

Isaiah suddenly stood up and struggled to straighten his body, which made his previously labored breathing easier.

"He really is obsessed," he sighed. "He should rest."

He turned around, preparing to go back to his room.

But Isaiah didn't know why, even though the room was so close, his legs felt like they were made of lead, and he couldn't lift them no matter what he did.

At the same time, he clearly felt his breathing become heavier again, as if his whole body was being pressed down by some enormous thing.

That colossal thing was just a thought.

The Abyss Prison.

Isaiah struggled to stop his thoughts from wandering further toward that word, a strategy that had worked effectively for decades. Without a powerful ability to eliminate distractions, he could not have reached this point. Yet, at this moment, his most prized self-control seemed to crumble suddenly. Those dangerous thoughts, which should have been easily controlled, flowed uncontrollably toward the abyss.

The Abyss Prison.

The word appeared in Isaiah's mind for the third time, and this time it was accompanied by a thought.

Only there can we save ourselves.

Only there.

The thought was like a firework suddenly exploding, blasting Isaiah's mind into a blank. When he came to his senses, he found himself standing in front of the mirror again, staring at his reflection.

"The Abyss Prison," Isaiah said softly.

Finally, he brought this idea from his mind into reality.

"Visas's... corpse."

Isaiah knew that the body of Visas was sealed in the Abyss Prison.

It's a corpse, not body parts.

But what it could actually do, no one knew. And Isaiah knew that not only he, but the people of the Contract Land didn't know, nor did the Warden; no one in the world knew.

What power does that mutilated body, suppressed by the Gods for a thousand years, possess?

People only knew what those scattered pieces of corpse could do.

Does the mangled remains atop the body parts also possess power that surpasses everything else?

This is a thought that every body part holder would have after experiencing the power of the body part, but in the past, it was just a thought. However, for Isaiah now...

"Get him," the voice in your mind echoed again. "Then you will be above all else."

"Bang"!

A crisp sound.

Isaiah's forehead struck the mirror, and the mirror shattered instantly. Blood flowed down the cracks, making his reflection look ferocious and terrifying.

"Who... are you?" Isaiah stared intently at the shattered mirror, uttering each word slowly and deliberately, "Why are you inside my body?!"

The voice in my head didn't answer, as if it had asked a foolish question.

Because that voice was clearly his own; he knew it all too well.

Isaiah couldn't believe it. How could it be him? How could he possibly have such a crazy idea? How could he possibly defy the will of the Gods? How could he...?

Do you fear the Gods, or the stars?

Isaiah's eyes widened again, making him appear even more ferocious and terrifying in the shattered mirror.

He clearly saw his reflection in the mirror open his mouth and reveal the secret he had kept buried deep in his heart.

"You know perfectly well that the starry sky is far greater than the gods... The so-called Star Relic Lord is nothing more than a thief who steals the power of the stars."

After saying this, Isaiah's expression changed drastically again. He roared "Enough!" and then slammed his fists into the mirror.

"Splash".

The already cracked mirror instantly shattered into countless fragments, which fell like snowflakes.

They gathered at Isaiah's feet, and whenever Isaiah looked down, he could see countless fragments of himself.

But he also knew that all of this belonged to him.

Because he only realized this thought after he obtained the eye.

That wasn't a thought; that was the truth.

Isaiah still remembers being speechless with awe at the vast and mysterious Star Sea when he first looked up at the starry sky with this eye.

He realized for the first time how vast the Star Sea was, and how immense the universe was.

It was far broader and more mysterious than the teachings of the Star Relic Lord had described to them. Even then, he realized that he could see further than the Star Relic Lord.

The so-called Star Relic Lord is not the ruler of the starry sky, but a "thief" who, like him, draws power from the starry sky.

Even He could not see the entirety of the Star Sea.

At that moment, Isaiah's heart was shaken.

Without a doubt, no matter where it is placed, such a conclusion is the greatest blasphemy to God and the Church. Once it is made public, even he will not escape the fate of being erased.

So from that moment on, Isaiah kept this secret to himself and vowed never to reveal it.

Now, decades have passed, and the long years have made Isaiah almost forget the truth, almost forget his own "disloyalty".

Only now has he come to remember everything.

"Tick-tock", "Tick-tock".

Blood fell onto the shards of the mirror.

As Isaiah looked at his own shattered form amidst the blood, he seemed to understand something.

"Yes, it was never the Gods who helped me glimpse the stars," he said softly. "The gods... were never omniscient or omnipotent. They could not comprehend the Star Sea, but I could... only I could."

He bent down, picked up a shard from the ground, and held it in front of his right eye.

The stagnant Star Sea in my right eye remains as dazzling and eternal as it has been for decades, captivating all who behold it.

"I almost forgot." Isaiah's lips curled up slightly. "So you've been by my side all along."

His pupils narrowed slightly, and the Star Sea seemed to ripple, as if responding to Isaiah.

"In that case, there's nothing to be afraid of." Isaiah held the fragment in his hand, applying pressure little by little. The fragment pierced his palm, and blood gushed out, but he seemed to feel no pain at all. "Let's just consider it as letting us... look up at the stars one more time."

"The Abyss Prison is just another part of the starry sky waiting to be conquered by us, isn't it?"

"Of course," the voice replied in a deep voice, "We will conquer it together."

"Warden..." the Guardian asked hesitantly, "Were you... laughing just now?"

The Warden had just had half his body reattached, raised his head and stared at the Guardian with his abyss-like eyes. "I'm laughing?"

"Yes, you seemed to be laughing just now."

The Warden was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "I don't remember. My mind is a mess right now."

"The messenger from the underworld said this is normal," the Guardian said. "There will be a period of chaos before you retrieve all the Soul Shard."

"I see," the Warden said with a hint of sarcasm. "I almost forgot I was a dead man, so utterly useless."

"Please don't say that," the Guardian said. "Every decision you made tonight was correct, and no one could have done it better than you."

"Perhaps."

Looking at the exhausted Warden, the Guardian couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.

Just a few hours earlier, when he was threatening Isaiah, the Warden's mental state wasn't this bad, but after everything was over, he became even weaker and more exhausted.

Could it be that the Warden was putting on a brave face all along, in order not to show weakness in front of Isaiah?

That should be the case.

Only...

"Warden," the Guardian asked, "Why don't you just use the Heaven's Obedience on Isaiah? Do you really still believe that Ulu is alive and that Isaiah must deal with him? Won't letting Isaiah be free force him to do something?"

What does it mean to send Isaiah to deal with Ulu?

The Warden looked up at the Guardian in front of him with a blank expression. After a long while, he realized that he had indeed made such a decision.

Even though it was only a few hours ago, why did it feel like a distant dream, requiring him to carefully recall the details?

"This is the safest method," the Warden said slowly. "I need to ensure that nothing goes wrong. As for whether he will actually do anything... as long as he can't break the Heaven's Obedience, it's meaningless. And the Obedience of Heavenly Voice cannot be broken. As long as the pre-set conditions are met, there will be no problem."

"Alright, I understand," the Guardian said, patting his chest. "I will arrange for the Heaven's Obedience."

The Warden nodded slightly.

He felt that something was wrong.

The decision itself was correct, and the reactions from all parties were also correct.

But he still felt that something was wrong, as if he had missed something important, but he couldn't remember it no matter how hard he tried.

Is it that the Soul Shard haven't fully returned yet?

The Warden could only think of this reason, because he still couldn't recall the specific details of the attack that night. It was as if the memory had been ripped out of his head; apart from that one clear eye, everything else was blank.

If I could remember, I wouldn't need to go through all this trouble.

"I will do as you instructed, withdrawing all surveillance of Isaiah and allowing him to fully utilize his abilities," the Guardian said again. "Please rest well."

Having said that, the Guardian prepared to leave.

But at that moment, another thought popped into the Warden's mind, causing him to subconsciously call out to the Guardian.

"Bring Diana here," the Warden said.

The Abyss Prison.

Diana was in her room, deep in thought with a furrowed brow.

So much happened tonight that she still hasn't figured many things out.

On the surface, tonight's events weren't particularly complicated. It was simply that Isaiah attacked the Warden first, then ambushed Luo Qi, but was exposed before he could act. Furthermore, his lack of understanding of the Warden's nature as a creation of the underworld allowed him to be pushed to the limit after the Warden's "resurrection."

While this process cannot be described as having conclusive evidence, the various details point to the correct conclusion.

But is that really the case?

Why did Isaiah kill the Warden, and why did he want to attack Luo Qi?

With his intelligence, he couldn't possibly not have guessed that I was watching from the sidelines.

So, wouldn't he know that if he made a move against Luo Qi, he would immediately punish him?

That doesn't make sense.

Unless he has also locked onto his position and is confident that he can eliminate Luo Qi at the same time... but that possibility is too low. Putting aside the fact that Diana is currently under surveillance, Isaiah doesn't even fully understand Diana's original rules, the "contract." Under such circumstances, would he dare to act rashly?

So what exactly is he trying to do? Is he really willing to do anything for the body parts?

But if it wasn't Isaiah who did it, then it could only be his Hand Eye.

But were his Hand Eye really that exceptional, capable of killing the Warden single-handedly without anyone noticing, and still not being found to this day?

However, since the Hand Eye are now governed by binocular rules, it's not entirely impossible for two eyes to work together to achieve these things.

But if that's really the case, then such a cunning and ruthless Hand Eye would be far too terrifying.

But then again, if the Hand Eye truly possessed such powerful abilities, why would they need to scheme so much? They even went so far as to hand over a piece of the body to Isaiah (as Isaiah said), which Diana found incomprehensible.

Of course, what Diana found even more incomprehensible tonight was the Warden's final decision.

Isaiah was to hand over Three Corpse Pieces within three days.

Or, to put it another way, let Isaiah kill the Hand Eye he has been talking about within three days.

On the surface, this request seems perfectly reasonable. Whether Isaiah's words are true or false, it doesn't matter to the Warden; he only needs to get what he wants in the end. It's a flawless decision.

But Diana still felt something was off. She felt this wasn't like the Warden's style, because it was clearly pushing Isaiah to the brink.

If Isaiah truly possessed those Three Corpse Pieces, then the only question was whether or not to hand them over.

Isaiah doesn't have it, the Warden forces him to go to the Hand Eye, but can he really find the Hand Eye?

So much time has passed, and no one has actually seen Hand Eye yet, or even whether Hand Eye is actually that Ulu.

If Isaiah cannot find his Hand Eye, how can he gather the Three Corpse Pieces?

He only has two copies now, and even if he hands them all over, he will still be one short. And will he really give up his right eye?

If you don't want to give up your right eye...

Suddenly, a terrifying thought flooded Diana's mind.

Middle finger, thumb, and Ring Finger.

There are also three portions.