The strange changes within the mausoleum left Klein, who had his eyes closed and Spirituality suppressed, bewildered as to what was happening. He was unsure whether this was a sign of good or evil, so even though he had recited the activation incantation and was clutching the " Fate Siphon " talisman, he dared not use it rashly, fearing it might cause negative effects and yield the opposite result.
One second, two seconds, three seconds— Klein felt that time was passing so slowly, as if an entire century had passed.
Finally, he heard Mr. Azik's slightly hoarse yet uncertain voice:
"It's you..."
Immediately afterwards, a flat but clearly female voice rang out:
You have three choices:
"First, continue forward, seek wholeness, and let Salinger be reborn from within you;"
"Secondly, I will help you extract that half of your soul, let you take it with you, and you can find a way to stitch it back together yourself. This will allow you to return to your original form, so you don't die and be resurrected again and again. But this doesn't mean you are who you are now. All the lives you've experienced in the past will truly degenerate into dreams."
"Thirdly, if you abandon everything and leave directly, you will be stuck at your current level forever, unable to advance further. You will continue to die time and time again, only to wake up again and again from the brink of losing all your memories, repeating the experience of searching for the past."
Klein was stunned. He never expected that there would be another "person" deep in the mausoleum, and that this person seemed to have absolute control, able to offer different choices, leaving the former " Death Consul " Azik Eggers to make the decision.
"Is this the Artificial Death hidden deep within the black fog?"
"No, He didn't seem to have much Wisdom to begin with; for so long just now, He didn't seem to want to communicate..."
"Extract that half of the soul and try to stitch it back together... What does that mean? Was Mr. Azik's spirit never complete to begin with?"
"Where did it come from? How could the 'lady' who spoke do something that Mr. Azik couldn't?"
"Furthermore, who is Salinger, and why was he reborn from Mr. Azik's body? Is he the 'Grim Death ' who unleashed the Pale Disaster, Mr. Azik's father or grandfather? Did he foresee his own demise and thus leave the catalyst for resurrection within Mr. Azik's body?"
"The first option is definitely out of the question. The second and third options each have their problems. One is no longer who you are now, becoming a stranger to yourself; the other is to forever bear the curse of immortality, never to be freed... If you have confidence in yourself and truly regard those past lives as anchors, then you can consider the second option: reconcile with yourself and compromise... However, this involves the other half of your soul, the half that never experienced those lives. What changes will occur afterward is impossible to predict, and the anchor may not be able to solve the problem..."
Klein's mind raced with a mix of doubt, curiosity, unease, and confusion, but he could only stand far away, unable even to be a bystander.
That's Azik's life, the future he'll face, and no one else can make that decision for him.
Klein had already said what he needed to say, and he stood there helplessly and worriedly, waiting for Mr. Azik to speak.
Azik stared at the beautiful hooded woman ahead, remaining silent for a long time, the pale flame in his eyes flickering uncertainly.
The ethereal yet real, Feathered Serpent seemed to sense something ominous. Its tail suddenly lashed out, sweeping wildly in all directions. Its head then sank down, its massive jaws opening to reveal dark red flesh and sharp teeth stained with pale yellow oil. It spat out its black forked tongue and gloomy green mucus, ready to devour Azik Eggers.
However, all its attempts failed to have any effect; it seemed to live in another world!
In the unsettling silence, Azik raised his right hand, rubbed his temple, and smiled calmly:
"Perhaps I've already gotten used to my current life, so I choose number three."
As soon as he finished speaking, the hooded woman opposite him clenched her fist and tightly gripped the bird-shaped gold ornament. Then, she slowly pulled her arm back, tearing the ancient object out of the crack in Azik's forehead.
Azik's expression Distortion once more, as if he were enduring unimaginable pain.
Within every drop of his blood and every muscle, a trace of spirit seeps out, weaving together to form a transparent soul.
This soul appears complete and without any defects, yet it is filled with a discordant and contradictory feeling, because half of it is golden yellow, from its eyebrows and eyes to its torso and limbs, carrying an ancient and rustic beauty.
As the bird-shaped gold ornament was pulled out, Azik's translucent spirit began to split from the middle, inch by inch, as if his skin were being peeled off alive with a knife.
He made another inhuman gurgling sound in his throat, which made Klein, who was far away, feel dizzy and throbbing, as if steel needles were churning wildly in his brain.
In just a few seconds, Azik's spirit body was completely split in two. One half turned into a golden stream of light and entered the eye of the bird-shaped ornament, while the other half returned to his body and merged with his flesh and blood.
The two pale flames in Azik's eyes went out, the white feathers and black scales that had grown on his body disappeared, and the Distortion in his expression eased, making him less ferocious.
His face turned slightly pale and translucent, and his forehead twitched intermittently, clearly enduring pain originating from the depths of his Spirit Body.
"Thank you for your help." He bowed to the beautiful hooded lady, turned around, and walked unsteadily up the steps to Klein's side.
"You can open your eyes now," Azik said with a weary smile.
Klein quickly opened his eyes, glanced at Mr. Azik, and, finding no signs of madness or loss of control, was completely relieved. He then curiously turned his gaze to the depths of the mausoleum.
A thick black fog enveloped the area, obscuring everything below.
"Who was that just now?" he couldn't help but ask.
Azik smiled and reached out to grab his shoulder:
Even if I tell you, you won't hear me, unless He wants you to know.
As he spoke, Klein subconsciously grabbed the shoulders of his two Marionette.
The surrounding color blocks were all rich and vividly superimposed together. The two people and the pair of lovers quickly passed through the Spirit World corresponding to the " Raging Sea " and returned to the hotel room where Klein was staying in Gurain City.
As soon as Azik let go, he pinched his forehead and smiled gently:
"I need a period of sleep, the duration of which is unknown, to recover. If you have any questions, you can consult the Seven Lights of the Spirit World; you should already know the corresponding ritual."
"Mr. Azik, are you alright?" Klein asked with concern.
At the same time, he began to criticize himself in his heart:
How could someone who has lost half their soul forever be okay?
Azik smiled and said:
"There's nothing major wrong with it. It's just that I'll remain in the same state as before, foresee my own death, arrange everything, sever all ties with my original life, forget everything, be resurrected and awakened, and search for the past."
"Compared to before, at least I still have you, someone who knows a lot about me. If I forget again, seeing your letter should remind me of many things."
He paused, nodded almost imperceptibly, and chuckled softly:
"A deep sleep isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least I can dream. In my dreams, I've never left. I'm still here with her, basking in the Sun, still instructing that stubborn child on how to use a broadsword, still building a swing for that spoiled little one..."
Before he could finish speaking, Azik tossed out the bronze whistle and smiled gently:
Remember to write a letter.
"But I won't reply to you until I wake up."
Just as Klein reached out to catch the ancient and exquisite bronze whistle, Azik had already vanished from the room, disappearing without a trace.
After staring blankly for a while, Klein suddenly sighed softly.
To travel from Gurain City to other places by land, one must follow a winding road uphill, passing through blocks of streets to reach the highest point of the city, before crossing the mountains and entering the plains.
At this very moment, Soest and his " Red Gloves " squad stood on the highest point of the plaza, gazing at the abnormally Raging Sea.
Daly Simone, who had been pressing her forehead, suddenly lowered her hand and said rather strangely:
"Everything is normal again, there are no problems at all."
"It's normal now?" Leonard asked, slightly surprised.
In his view, it would be difficult for Daly to return to normal before the anomaly in the Raging Sea ended.
"Perhaps it's intermittent?" Soest offered his guess hesitantly.
Just as Daly was about to respond, everyone was suddenly struck by Spirit Intuition and looked towards the Raging Sea once again.
In that pure, deep blackness, one brilliant star after another lit up.
Inside Saint Samuel Cathedral in Backlund.
Archbishop Anthony Stevenson received an urgent telegram from the sea.
The telegram's contents were quite simple, yet astonishing:
" Gehrman Sparrow reappears, boarding the ' Black Tulip ' with others, and turns Ludwell into Marionette. The one he follows is referred to by Ludwell as the ' Death Consul '."
Gehrman Sparrow... " The Death Consul "... Saint Anthony silently repeated these two names.
He leaned back slowly, closed his eyes, and the information on the Sealed Artifact "0-17" once again surfaced in his mind—the complete information:
Number: 17.
Name: The Angel of Concealment
"Danger Level: '0', Extremely Dangerous, Highest Priority, Highest Confidentiality Level, Do Not Inquire, Do Not Disseminate, Do Not Describe, Do Not Spy."
"Security Level: Pope, Group A researchers, and the Archbishop in charge of the Diocese of Backlund (Note: When the Archbishop is transferred out of the Diocese of Backlund, the relevant memories must be erased using the Sealed Artifact '1-29')"
"Sealing method: The seal is completed through the combination of '1-29' and '1-80'."
Description: This is not an item.
"Warning: He cannot be exploited!"
Appendix 1: This Sealed Artifact first appeared during the Pale Age of the Quaternary Period. Specific year, date, and location are missing.
Appendix 2: Records show that He was awakened five times.
Appendix 3: Its inability to be used is subject to certain conditions; it has been confirmed that it can serve as a vessel for the descent of a goddess.