Upon seeing the Feathered Serpent coiled deep within the black mist, and its face atop its mountain-like body, Azik was first taken aback, then his forehead twitched as if a wedge had been driven into his temple, splitting his head in two.
Amidst this intense pain, a series of disjointed images suddenly flashed through his mind:
It looked exactly like him, even down to the smallest details— Feathered Serpent face.
A silent land, countless pale corpses;
Floating in mid-air, clouds formed from the skulls of different races;
Black, segmented tentacles emerged from the ground, each tipped with an eye resembling that of a dead fish;
He was forcibly pulled out of his body as a transparent spirit.
After these flickering images, a pair of pale, dying eyes looked over, and a white feather stained with light yellow oil drifted down, slicing Azik's transparent spirit body in two.
One part of it suddenly flew up and entered the "cloud of skulls," while the rest merged with a golden ornament that appeared out of thin air, and returned to its flesh and blood body amidst the scorching pale flames.
This scene was like Thunder God's hammer, striking Azik's mind again and again, making it impossible for him to bear the pain any longer. He raised his hand to cover his head, his knees gradually weakened, and he collapsed to his knees on the steps.
He finally remembered everything and understood why he kept dying and being resurrected, always losing his memory and then regaining it again and again:
His soul is incomplete!
Similarly, Azik also understood why the Feathered Serpent deep within the black mist, which oppressed the entire space, had a face exactly like his:
That's him!
That's another " Azik Eggers "!
All of this stemmed from a clandestine attempt made by Death before his demise.
With the "stitching of souls," there is naturally the "splitting of spirits." At that moment, the mad and powerful Death seemed to foresee his own end and was unwilling to die like that. He quietly split his child, the soul of the " Death Consul " of the Balam Empire, taking one half and using an item as a substitute to stitch it together with Azik's spirit.
Whether it was due to the deliberate arrangement of the Death or the unintentional influence of the Spirituality Religion's Artificial Death Project, the half of Azik's soul that was taken away merged with the " Uniqueness " of the Artificial Death's target path, giving the latter a certain instinct and causing it to actively influence the High-Sequence powerhouses of the " Corpse Collector " path who failed to advance.
The other half, though now replaced and no longer incomplete, can only die and be resurrected again and again due to the incompleteness of his soul, just like the Sequence 4 " Undying ". Influenced by the "golden ornament" within him and the calls of his other half's soul, Azik gradually regains his past memories each time he begins a new life.
In the past, Azik had tried to figure out the reason, but by the time most of his memories returned naturally, he was already close to dying again, leaving no time for exploration. Furthermore, the Spirituality Religion ' plan to Artificial Death had only been proposed a few hundred years ago, and only recently had some initial results been achieved, so he had never been able to find the answer.
Hey, hey, hey!
Azik's hands had somehow left his head and were now bracing themselves on the steps below, and he was making inhuman noises.
Beads of sweat slid down his forehead, landing on the stone slab in front of him, staining it with a layer of pale yellow oil and giving rise to fine white downy hairs.
At this moment, he felt the call and longing of the other half of his soul. The two "selves" that had been separated for more than a thousand years were eager to merge into one and return to wholeness.
"No..." Azik murmured in anguish, unwilling to lift his head or extend his right hand.
He had seen it clearly just now: the "self" that had transformed into the Feathered Serpent had no rationality whatsoever, and was filled with an extremely intense coldness and madness. If he were to reunite with the other party, he would probably immediately revert to his original state as the " Death Consul," or even become a pseudo- Death who was only divine and had no humanity!
Then he will forget everything, forget everyone he once cherished.
"No..." Azik uttered another word, his neck involuntarily lifting up little by little, revealing patches of dark, cold scales.
Suddenly, a bulge appeared on his forehead as if it came into being, splitting open and revealing a bloody gash.
A golden light then emerged from nothingness and took shape within flesh and blood.
This is an ancient ornament crafted from gold, shaped like a slender bird with wings composed of pale flames surrounding it. Inside its bronze eyes, layers of light overlap, forming a mysterious and illusory doorway.
As soon as it appeared, Azik let out a painful growl and raised his head completely, two pale flames suddenly igniting in his weathered eyes.
Deep within the black mist, the Feathered Serpent, both illusory and real, straightened its body and poked its head out. Two identical faces, though different in size, stared at each other silently, a profound stillness settling in.
Amidst the Flame Jump, Azik, his face Distortion with rage as he struggled to his feet, supported by his hands on the ground, and slowly walked toward the Feathered Serpent known as the Artificial Death.
As he approached, the entire mausoleum began to tremble, and the surroundings became transparent, revealing a world filled with countless skeletons and Specter.
Bloodstained arms, bluish-black vines with baby-faced features, and slippery tentacles topped with dead fish eyes or rows of sharp teeth pierced the boundary between reality and illusion, reaching into the mausoleum, yet clinging tightly to the ground, afraid to move.
East Balam, Gurain City.
Daly Simone, who was on her way to her next destination, suddenly stopped and raised her hand to support the side of her head.
"What's wrong, Red Gloves?" the squad leader Soest, asked, puzzled.
Daly frowned slightly and replied with a somewhat dreamlike tone:
"I heard strange noises, felt a call from an unknown source... I even wanted to kneel down..."
"Did you hear that?" Soest asked the other team members cautiously.
Leonard Mitchell had just shaken his head when he heard the slightly aged voice in his mind say:
"Look towards the direction of the Raging Sea."
Leonard instinctively turned his body and looked towards the harbor, towards the Raging Sea in the distance. There, he saw only pure, deep blackness, without gales, giant waves, dark clouds, lightning, torrential rain, or sunlight.
Although Klein's eyes were closed, his Spirit Intuition intuition allowed him to perceive the movements around him. He heard what sounded like Mr. Azik's painful whispers and roars, and felt the almost tangible silence and the aura of death.
What happened? Although the " Artificial Death " deep within the mausoleum didn't attack Mr. Azik, it still had a negative impact on him? Klein's mind raced with thoughts, and he felt anxious and panicked.
His Spirituality intuition told him that what was about to happen was definitely not what he wanted to see!
However, he couldn't think of anything he could do, and he didn't even dare to open his eyes to see Mr. Azik's current condition and plight.
This is not a problem that can be solved by courage alone; it is a difference in social standing, an insurmountable gap.
In that instant, Klein felt a strong sense of helplessness again, but he did not give up, desperately trying to recall what he could use about himself:
" Creeping Hunger? No, that's not even in the same league. It won't do any good..."
" Death Knell? Even worse..."
" The Groselle's Travels? I didn't bring it... I didn't bring the ' Black Emperor ' card either, or the ' Tyrant ' card either..."
" The Fate Siphon Charm... Yes, the Fate Siphon Charm!"
Klein was overjoyed; he already had an idea:
That is to temporarily switch his Fate with Mr. Azik's using the " Fate Siphon " charm, so that he can take on the effects of the " Artificial Death " in his place!
At least I still have a chance to be resurrected, and Mr. Azik's previous deaths were not considered murders, so who knows if he can wake up again under these circumstances! Klein didn't consider whether the " Fate Siphon " spell could actually work on Azik and the Artificial Death Reaper; he just thought that no matter what, he had to try. He suddenly raised his right hand and reached into his pocket.
Then, he hesitated.
He raised his arm slightly, then lowered it back to its original position.
He froze for a moment, as if he had turned into a stone sculpture.
Klein's lips moved a few times, his expression subtly Distortion, before he suddenly swung his right arm and pulled his hand out of his pocket.
In that palm, a black crystal card-like talisman was tightly clutched.
Meanwhile, Azik drew ever closer to the illusory Feathered Serpent, which resembled a mountain peak, his pace quickening as if he were returning to his throne.
However, his eyes, beneath the pale flames, were filled with pain, and his expression Distortion to the extreme.
"No..." Azik whispered again. From the gaps in his black scales on his exposed body, white feathers stained with pale yellow oil began to grow.
The intense shouts and longing made him completely lose control, and he was about to leap into the air towards the giant Feathered Serpent with his face on it.
The pale flames from the bird-shaped ornament on his forehead suddenly spread and flowed to other parts of his body.
Klein's Spirituality intuition gave him a frantic warning, and he quickly uttered an Ancient Hermes word:
" Fate!"
Just as he was about to use the talisman, the surroundings suddenly fell silent, and there was no sound at all.
A slender, fair-skinned female hand appeared out of thin air and pressed against the bird-shaped gold ornament on Azik's forehead.
A figure then appeared between Azik and the illusory Feathered Serpent, like a mountain peak, interrupting their approach.
With the help of external forces, Azik finally resisted the desire to merge into one and the irresistible call, and the pale flames in his eyes "reflected" the figure floating in mid-air.
She was a beautiful woman, dressed in a classic robe and wearing a black hood. Her face was expressionless, and her eyes were dark but lacked Spirituality.