Together, We Will Breach the Final Gate

"I... don't want to die..."

Underground, the string of shrill cries made He Wei Ni Ya's entire body break out in goosebumps. She instinctively thought some kind of underground monster had crawled up again and immediately wanted to do something to protect herself.

But He Wei Ni Ya was far too weak right now, and her staff had been destroyed in the earlier explosion, leaving her unable to do anything at all.

Moreover, her movement inadvertently caused a faint sound.

The sobbing from deep underground immediately stopped.

Damn it, she had been discovered.

He Wei Ni Ya inwardly cursed, but there was nothing she could do. She could only stare fixedly at the dark, bottomless opening, as though some monster might crawl out of it at any moment.

But after waiting for a long time, she did not see such a monster. Instead, she heard a low voice asking a question.

"Is someone there?"

He Wei Ni Ya narrowed her eyes slightly.

What kind of monster was this? It could actually speak with people?

Should she answer? If she did, would it immediately rush out and attack her?

After all, in the darkness, sound was the best way to pinpoint someone's location. Many beasts in nature hunted by relying on sound waves, so He Wei Ni Ya had no choice but to stay on guard.

As for why it spoke human language... this was the Abyss Prison. No monster encountered here was worth being surprised by.

She absolutely could not take the bait.

That was what He Wei Ni Ya thought, but the other party's next words disrupted her thoughts once again.

"My name is Diana. I am the current Contractor of the Abyss Prison," the voice in the darkness said. "I don't know who you are, but I can tell you that Visas' Ring Finger is in my hands."

Diana? Ring Finger?

He Wei Ni Ya was shocked. Before leaving the underground area, she had intended to find this Miss Ring Finger.

Yet now, she had appeared before her?

He Wei Ni Ya's first reaction was that this was a trap. The monster underground was most likely capable of reading minds. It knew what she was looking for, so it had disguised itself as her target.

But then again, He Wei Ni Ya only knew that there was a Corpse Piece holder in the Abyss Prison. She did not know which Corpse Piece the other party possessed, nor did she know her name.

Could this monster not only read minds, but also think and deceive?

He Wei Ni Ya became even more vigilant.

Then the voice rang out again, but it was not the low question from before. It was the shrill, mournful wail she had heard earlier.

"Pain... it hurts so much..."

"Mom... don't cut off my finger... I don't want that..."

"Please..."

The desolate passageway once again echoed with the piteous crying of a little girl, making He Wei Ni Ya's scalp tingle.

What was going on? Why was she crying again?

The crying continued for about a minute before it changed back into the low, weak female voice from before.

"I know you're there... please answer me," she said. "I don't have much time left."

He Wei Ni Ya frowned even more deeply.

This monster's condition seemed extremely unstable. Had she been seriously injured?

The voice continued.

"I sense a familiar presence... Visas' power. That means you're Hand Eye?"

He Wei Ni Ya knew that Hand Eye was Bai Wei's codename, but she still did not speak. She merely listened quietly.

The other party soon denied her own guess. "No, that's not right... your aura isn't like Hand Eye's, but that really is Visas' aura... Strange, truly strange. Who exactly are you?"

Hearing this, He Wei Ni Ya's suspicion that the other party was a monster immediately lessened considerably, because a monster should not know so much.

Yes, her Corpse Piece was special. It carried power rather than rules.

Power-type Corpse Pieces were inherently inferior to rule-type Corpse Pieces, more like incomplete products. Otherwise, even Bai Wei would have been able to descend upon her.

A monster should not be able to know so much.

Moreover, prompted by her words, He Wei Ni Ya consciously tried to sense the aura around her.

She really did sense it, but... it was strange. It was unlike the ones before, incredibly blurry, as if separated by a barrier.

And this aura was exactly the same as the one she had sensed on those monsters earlier.

It seemed those monsters truly were controlled by Visas' Corpse Pieces. Though she did not know the exact method, He Wei Ni Ya could now basically confirm that the person speaking to her was Miss Ring Finger.

"Other than Hand Eye... who else could it be..."

Diana was still muttering to herself, but her condition clearly no longer supported deeper thought. After an extremely painful wail, she said, "Who you are doesn't matter anymore. Since you can appear here, you should know the current situation. The Abyss Prison has been destroyed. I failed... No one can stop Isaiah anymore, no one... Cough, cough, cough..."

Diana's words startled He Wei Ni Ya.

The Abyss Prison had actually already been destroyed by Isaiah? Had the outside situation already reached this point?

By Isaiah alone?

Diana continued, "Obedience of Heavenly Voice still hasn't been activated... Something must have happened on the Warden's side too. That means the Abyss Prison has only one final barrier left... the Final Gate... Einhejar."

The Final Gate, Einhejar.

Was this the final gatekeeper?

He Wei Ni Ya silently remembered the name.

"Cough, cough. Ordinarily, no one could defeat Einhejar. But Isaiah is different... he has that possibility. He already has Three Corpse Pieces, no, four... Soon, he'll obtain mine. The strongest beneath the Gods, with four Corpse Pieces in hand—there are too many unknowns surrounding him," Diana said. "If Einhejar loses and the Final Gate falls... then it will truly be over. Do you understand what I mean?"

He Wei Ni Ya still did not speak.

"Heh... I'm being foolish too. Since you've already appeared in this place, why you came here needs no explanation," Diana said with a mocking laugh. "But you can't take it from him. No one can stop him anymore, unless you're Hand Eye. But even if you are Hand Eye, I don't know how you could stop Isaiah... Ah, Mom... don't..."

Diana's voice became muddled again, reverting to that shrill little girl.

This time, it lasted even longer—long enough for He Wei Ni Ya to wonder whether Diana would ever return.

At last, the crying vanished, and Diana's voice had become weak beyond measure.

"I'm going to die," she said softly. "My finger is on the surface. Isaiah will find it soon, and when he does, my life will truly end... But I can't die just like this. My work isn't finished yet..."

As she spoke, He Wei Ni Ya heard a rustling sound, as though some large reptile was slowly crawling toward her.

He Wei Ni Ya immediately became alert.

"Don't be nervous. I can no longer hurt you," Diana said. "I'm here to help you leave. I know where you are."

Since Diana had already confirmed her location, He Wei Ni Ya no longer remained silent. She asked, "Why are you helping me?"

"Oh, you're a woman?" Surprise seeped into Diana's weak voice. "Why would it be a woman... Ah, I understand. You're the one Luo Qi mentioned... So that's how it is, so that's how it is... You're not Hand Eye, nor are you Tongue. We all judged wrong... But it doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter."

He Wei Ni Ya heard a long sigh.

"I'm here to tell you one final thing—the final chance to stop Isaiah," Diana continued. "At the deepest point underground, before the Final Gate, there is a deep well. There is water in it, called the Fountain of Redemption."

"The Fountain of Redemption?" He Wei Ni Ya asked. "What is it for?"

"To summon the Gods."

He Wei Ni Ya's pupils contracted sharply.

"The Gods have long since ceased to concern Themselves with worldly affairs. Even the Contract Land They personally created is no exception," Diana said. "To make Them aware of everything, only Einhejar's death, the unsealing of Visas' remnant body, and... prayers at the Fountain of Redemption will do. The latter will bring you ultimate redemption."

Ultimate redemption?

The name made He Wei Ni Ya guess something.

"Anyone who reaches the Final Gate has already committed a monstrous crime. Once the Gods learn of it, they will receive the harshest punishment and suffer true divine retribution," Diana said quietly. "But if they are willing to turn back and pray and repent to the Fountain of Redemption, they will receive ultimate redemption. Every sin will be cleansed, every past transgression forgiven. They will also receive boundless Divine Grace, and the Gods will promise them everything they desire."

Just as she had guessed, He Wei Ni Ya had been right.

"In other words, as long as you reach the Fountain of Redemption and pray to the Gods, the Gods will personally erase Isaiah," Diana said. "And you will gain everything—power, strength, wealth, anything you desire. None of it will be a problem."

He Wei Ni Ya asked, "Then why don't you go?"

"Because the Contract Land is not on the list for ultimate redemption. When someone can reach the Fountain of Redemption, there can only be one possibility: the Contract Land no longer exists," Diana's voice grew lower and lower. "And besides, I can no longer do anything at all... So, do you agree?"

Before He Wei Ni Ya could speak, a sudden tremor ran through the ground. She looked up to see a tall, skeletal figure abruptly lift a collapsed pillar, opening an exit wide enough for He Wei Ni Ya to get through.

It was just that the opening led into the abyss.

"How you choose is your own matter," Diana's voice came from the skeleton. "Whether you pray to the Fountain of Redemption or topple that well and reject redemption, it has nothing to do with me anymore. I am merely fulfilling the final contract of the Contract Land... Leave this place."

After a brief hesitation, He Wei Ni Ya still struggled to her feet and walked out through the opening Diana had made.

Then, just as she wanted to say something more to Diana, she heard another sigh of relief.

"My mission is finally over."

"Mom, you never should have given me that finger."

With that, the pillar came crashing down, smashing Diana's final servant into several pieces.

When He Wei Ni Ya looked back, she could no longer sense any sign of life.

Whoosh, whoosh.

A fierce wind blew aside the piled black rubble, revealing a buried black skeleton and the Ring Finger attached to its right hand.

"I finally found you, Miss Ring Finger," Isaiah, who had summoned the gale, said softly. "You gave me quite a bit of trouble."

The skeleton no longer held any life, and its completely carbonized form made it impossible to discern what it had looked like in life. Yet Isaiah still nodded slightly, offering his respect to this Miss Ring Finger whom he had "never met."

Naturally, the skeleton did not respond.

But Isaiah still bent down and personally used his hand, rather than some convenient spell, to peel the finger from the skeleton.

However, the instant he touched the finger, Isaiah sensed a faint pulse of energy and could not help revealing a trace of surprise.

This finger had still been in use just minutes ago.

In other words, Diana had still been alive until minutes ago? Not only alive—she had even used the power of the contract.

Even after being reduced to that state, she had still been thinking of doing something?

Isaiah gave a soft laugh.

What a troublesome person. If only she had not been an enemy.

Come, then. Let me see what else you prepared for me.

Isaiah attached the finger, then slowly walked to a stretch of desolation and raised his hand.

Left middle finger, right thumb, Ring Finger, right eye.

Termination, Disturbance, Contract, Eternity.

The four great rules all belonged to him alone.

Yet Isaiah showed no joy. Instead, he revealed an unfathomable... sense of relief.

"So that's how it is?" he murmured softly. "So that's how it is."

No one knew what Isaiah meant by "how it is," and he had no one to explain it to.

Amid the endless desolation, he bent his somewhat lonely body and pressed his hand against the ground.

Then he exerted a little force.

Rumble...

The earth collapsed, and the Abyss Prison that had been buried beneath it once again appeared before his eyes.

He had finally arrived here.

After Isaiah's most extreme "Darkness" earlier, nearly all the sealed objects and ferocious beasts underground had died, but some still remained.

Isaiah saw them.

They slept in the deeper reaches underground.

They were dead gods, even more terrifying ancient creatures. Second only to Einhejar, they were existences even Diana could not bind.

But Isaiah had come. He slit his wrist and let his blood drip into the abyss, drop by drop, onto those indescribably pulsing hearts.

The slumbering hearts began beating again, once after another, as though the earth itself trembled with every beat.

Pairs of scarlet eyes opened, like another night sky.

"Then let's see just how far I can go."

Isaiah said with a faint laugh.

"Beasts, enter my contract and acknowledge me as your master."

"Together... we will breach the Final Gate."