The body swayed for a few steps, as if the foreign soul was adapting to the new body. His eyes finally fell on Poe Derian's wrinkled, ancient face.
"Poe Derrien." Joseph, or Soul Lord Kourt, who occupies Joseph's body at the moment, spoke slowly in an almost descriptive tone. Xu said, "Should I call you pathetic or ridiculous? You paint yourself as a victim and make up a lie full of loopholes in an attempt to win the sympathy of these ignorant juniors. Do you think this can change the fact that you are the despicable traitor?"
Poe Derian's expression did not change. He just stared at Kourt, his cloudy eyes filled with resentment.
"What do you know?" he hissed, "If you weren't a greedy idiot trying to monopolize the secret of 'Undying Flower', why would we be here!"
"Exclusive?" Kourt let out a contemptuous sneer, which came from his still-healing throat, which was particularly harsh. "Derian, put away your high-sounding face! That really makes me sick! 'Undying Flower' is the ancient Death Cult, and it belongs to us Decay Lineage. What does it have to do with you magicians?"
His eyes turned to the people who had different expressions due to the successive changes, and his voice became gentler, but more convincing and penetrating.
"A hundred years ago, I was entrusted by an old friend to come to Lorenteen to find the legendary 'Undying Flower' cult that mastered the art of making the soul never fade. The three Kingdom of Arthur Archmage, headed by Aiswell, accompanied me in the name of 'assisting the investigation'. However, just when we were about to find clues, they revealed their real fangs."
Kourt's gaze returned to Poe Drian again, with a trace of mockery in his dead gray eyes.
"The three of them teamed up to besiege me, trying to forcibly seize the memories in my mind. Unfortunately, there is a gap between stage seven, and they underestimated the power of one 'Soul Lord'. After paying a heavy price, they realized that they could not subdue me in a short time. So, this guy," Kourt pointed his finger at Poe Derrien, "He actually secretly communicated with me, wanting to join forces with me to kill the other two and silence them."
"Faced with such a proposal, of course I readily accepted it. But I never thought that Derien, a shameless beast, could even betray his colleagues in his own country, so he would not be able to sincerely cooperate with me. As expected, when we joined forces to severely damage Serun and repel Aiswell, the old guy Derien suddenly launched an attack on me... If not, how would Aiswell have the time to launch Forbidden Magic! How could we end up here, trapped in this damn ghost place!"
"Poe Drian! It's all your fault! We, all losers, have been trapped in this underwater cage built of ambition and betrayal for a whole hundred years!"
After Kourt finished speaking, the square fell into a suffocating silence. The cracks in the sea water Sky Dome above the head are even bigger, and the icy water pours down like a waterfall, making a deafening roar, reminding everyone all the time that they have little time left.
"For a hundred years, his unwilling Remnant Soul and I have been restraining and consuming each other in this dead ruins. He wants to completely annihilate me and take away my last secret; while I am waiting for an opportunity to break this deadlock. No one can do anything to the other, until today."
"A poor performance, Kourt." Faced with Kourt's counterattack, Poe Derrian's expression did not change much. "Splashing dirty water on a dying person is your trick to delay time? Or has a hundred years of imprisonment made you lose even your last dignity?"
Kourt sneered, "I know whether you are lying or not. The Mage Tower that has always protected you has been destroyed, your greatest reliance has disappeared, and your fragile soul has been exposed in front of me. As long as I can devour you, I can return to the top."
"You can just let your horse come over." Poe Drian flicked his dry arm, and the vast magic power condensed like the Tide.
Faced with this situation, Kourt did not rush forward stupidly. He turned his attention to other people. Although no one here was worthy of him taking a second look before, the situation now is extremely different.
"If you want to survive, you have only one choice now."
He stretched out his hand and pointed at the old and decaying magician.
"Follow me and kill the last Archmage of Lorenteen. His soul has been extremely weak in the past hundred years, and the collapse of Mage Tower has given him a near-fatal blow. Don't look at his pretentiousness now. In fact, he can't even release the complete magic. He can't even move half a step! Now is undoubtedly the best time to hunt him!"
Kourt spread his arms in an inviting gesture.
"In return, I will guide you to find the only Teleportation Array that can leave this place, and use my power as a 'lord' to ensure that all of you can leave safely before the Sky Dome above your head completely collapses."
"How? This deal is fair enough for both of us."
This suggestion was like dropping a boulder on a calm lake.
Cooperate with a notorious Soul Lord to hunt down a Archmage who seems to be highly respected but actually has a treacherous mind?
Edgar's brows were furrowed. He could not believe either side. Poe Derian's lies and Kourt's "truth" seemed to him full of doubts and calculations. But the current situation did not allow him to hesitate too much. There were more and more cracks in the sea water canopy above his head. The huge water pressure made the entire space begin to moan under pressure. The time left for them was indeed running out.
"I agree!" Spade K was the first to jump out. He stood behind Kourt without hesitation, with a flattering smile on his face. "Boss, I will do whatever you say! This old liar actually dares to lie to me. Let's see if I don't kill him!"
Not only Spade K, but other players including Heart A, Yang Yi, etc. were all excited. What they care about is not survival, but the option of working together to kill Archmage. Once this is successful, even if they only make one percent contribution, it will still be an astronomical level of experience. As for who is right and who is wrong, who tells the truth and who lies, what does that have to do with the players?
Only Fu Qingyan vaguely felt something was wrong, and subconsciously turned his attention to Li Wen.
Her Highness Princess Victoria watched this dramatic reversal with great interest. She did not express her position immediately, but used her clear golden eyes to glance back and forth between Kourt and Poe Derian, as if assessing the value of the two items.
During this brief silence, Poe Derian suddenly burst into laughter.
"Haha... hahahaha!" His rickety body was trembling violently, and his turbid eyes were full of extreme madness and disdain, "Hunting me? Just because you, a lingering soul, and this group of ants are still young?"
He raised his head and pointed his skinny arms toward the sky.
"Kourt, you are still as naive as you were a hundred years ago. Do you think that destroying my Mage Tower will weaken me?"
"You are wrong!" Poe Derian's voice suddenly rose, becoming sharp and full of power, "What you destroyed was not my cage, but you untied my last shackles!"
"This city is my creation, and every brick and stone in it is engraved with my will! Here, I am God!"
Following his fanatical announcement, the entire underwater ruins suddenly came to life.