Not to Exist, But to Burn

"No problem. Of course I can swear an oath."

Ahab answered with a beaming smile.

Yesterday, Ahab had followed the notes Wizard Merlin had given him and become a Void Cultist.

As for the methods recorded in the notes for becoming a Void Cultist, there were more than a dozen of them.

The more complicated ones required all sorts of bizarre rituals, and some even demanded an "initiation offering" first.

The simplest method, for those favored by the "Void," only required an oath, and that was it.

Ahab had started testing from the simplest one.

Then he had felt as if something had established a connection with him.

When needed, he only had to close his left eye and open it again, making a "wink," and he could activate Spirit Vision to perceive the sins on other people.

"Hehe, hahaha... You swear first. Repeat after me."

Ahab's hands kept moving, so Vivian could only take another deep breath and hold back her laughter for the moment.

"A devout believer so-and-so solemnly promises the Void, such and such."

"If I violate this, I willingly accept divine punishment!"

After saying those two sentences in one breath, Vivian panted hard twice, easing the unbearable itch boring into her feet.

"Devout believer Ahab Gul solemnly promises the Void."

Ahab Gul copied her and said, "If today, Vivian transfers the Authority to me as agreed, I will release Vivian safely and let her leave, and I will not harm her in any direct or indirect way."

"If I violate this, I willingly accept divine punishment!"

After saying that, Ahab took a step back and waited quietly.

Vivian sniffled in disgust, and a thought suddenly popped into her mind.

She could actually stall for a while and not give Ahab the Authority.

Even if she only rested for five minutes, she would be able to endure the itch for a very long time again.

Maybe if she held on a little longer, Senior Clifis would arrive—

"Pfft hahaha, Ahab Gul, what are you doing!"

Vivian's tender waist was suddenly pinched.

"Ten breaths. If, after ten breaths, you still haven't transferred the Authority to me..."

"Then for the next hourglass, no matter what gibberish you say, I won't listen, okay?"

Ahab said, looking perfectly harmless.

"Damn it."

Vivian had no choice. Her long lashes slowly lowered as she linked with the Path Great Dao in her heart.

At the same time, that feeling of forming a connection with certain things appeared on Ahab again.

Along with it came a surge of information.

This information was neither Ancient God Language nor from a word-based language system, nor was it even any kind of language.

Yet it allowed the recipient to understand its meaning instantly.

"Hmm, Primary Believer Vivian has decided to stop believing in the Void and transfer her Authority to me, and it's asking whether I accept?"

Ahab raised his brows.

What he was curious about was not whether he accepted the Authority, but—

After believing in the Void, you could just quit whenever you wanted?

Before, that Clifis had also said that the Void would not abandon any fellow traveler.

The atmosphere of this Void path seemed rather nice?

"I accept."

Ahab silently recited the words.

For a moment, a mighty force descended upon Ahab Gul.

Ahab felt his vision blur, as if he had directly seen his own sea of consciousness.

But unlike meditation, there was nothing in this chaotic ocean. Instead, there were four blank spaces waiting to be filled.

Which meant—

Four uses per day of See Through!

Ahab let out a long breath.

It was in hand.

There was only that one simple thought in his mind.

Celebrate in wild delight? Or put on some self-directed, melodramatic one-man show?

A mature person would not react like that.

Besides, Void, Ancient God Language, Future Diary...

There was still a huge pile of trouble waiting up ahead.

Ahab blinked his left eye and his vision returned.

He was in no hurry to use today's "See Through."

Because the faith power he currently held was a big fat zero.

Only by judging those burdened with sin could he accumulate faith power.

For every person someone killed, one point of sin accumulated on them.

Correspondingly, if they were judged, a Void Cultist could also obtain 1 point of faith power.

And each use of "See Through" consumed 1 point of faith power.

However, Ahab was not worried about faith power.

If someone wanted to achieve anything as a wizard, who did not have a little blood debt on their hands?

For example, that Newcomer Mutual Aid Society that loaned money at usurious rates, and that female president...

"Hey, Ahab Gul."

"You already obtained the Authority. It's time you let me go!"

Vivian's limbs were still bound tight by the tough Withered Vine. Her whole body hung suspended in midair, spread-eagled.

"Keeping one's word is all well and good..."

"But for me, cutting the weeds and pulling out the roots still makes for a much wider sky."

Ahab blinked at Vivian.

Here's a look. Figure it out yourself.

"What? Ahab Gul!"

"Don't forget, you swore an oath to the Void Great Dao."

Vivian twisted her hips and wrenched her waist, struggling as if her life depended on it.

Ahab said nothing. Instead, he reached out experimentally and gently placed his index finger and thumb on Vivian's tender little cheek, so soft it seemed water could be squeezed from it.

Then—

He pinched hard!

On Vivian's fair, rosy cheek, a twisted mark visibly appeared. It was ugly.

And yet, nothing happened.

Ahab showed no joy at all. Instead, he raised his head warily.

He had hurt Vivian, but there had been no divine punishment.

It seemed this Void definitely had a problem.

It had its eye on him!

"Looks like at the end of the diary, the reason I was controlled was most likely related to Void!"

"I need to decide as soon as possible which three questions to ask Wizard Merlin."

Ahab reached out toward Vivian once again.

But this time, it was not for her cheek. It was for her snow-white swan neck!

"Wait, wait! Ahab Gul, you can't do this!"

Cold sweat dripped from Vivian's forehead, drop after drop, and her whole body trembled.

"Repent!"

"You have to understand, if you keep killing people recklessly like this, one day you'll die too, and you'll die without even knowing why!"

"Aren't you afraid of death? Think about it. It's like being under general anesthesia. There's nothing left, and you don't know anything anymore."

Vivian appealed to his emotions, hoping against hope that she could redeem Ahab through talking.

"I'm not afraid of death."

Ahab couldn't hold it in and laughed.

Not a word Vivian said was wrong. Before he transmigrated, it had been precisely because he was too cruel that someone, in a common man's fury, had spilled blood within five paces.

That feeling of suffering a fatal wound, of clearly sensing his life trickling away bit by bit and his body turning cold little by little—Ahab was all too familiar with it.

Even that feeling of there being nothing, of knowing nothing.

But did he regret it?

"I'm not afraid of death."

Ahab repeated it again.

"The meaning of my life is not to exist."

"It is to burn.

Yes, burn.

Even if all that remains is ash!"

Vivian's eyes filled with despair, and she spat a vicious curse:

"I'll be waiting for you over there."

"Waiting to see, to see what kind of end a person like you meets!"

With a crack, Ahab snapped Vivian's neck.