Chapter 669: 669
Although he was unwilling, Arthur had to relent and accept Radolf"s proposal . After all, he had no idea where the pit leads and if his current strength is enough to protect him inside, even with the mythical beings and the succubus by his side .
"We"re leaving now . "
Arthur and the rest jumped back on the Spirit Boat, which darted toward the North with insane speed . Arthur was still worried about Shen Shen but there is a strong chance his unwanted interference may lead to more problems for the girls so he decided to wait for Zaarae to come back and inquire from her about the situation .
"Explain it again for me . "
The parasite called the twin mythical beings, wanting a detailed explanation about what was said earlier .
For a better demonstration, Radolf stretched both hands, so did Midolf, and in a dozens of seconds, the atmosphere around the s.h.i.+p drastically changed . The sky split in two, one turned white snow, the clouds and all the environment became one color, on the opposite side, it was a gloomy mix of grey and black, like that of death .
"Master, we, as beings close to Life and Death, have a stronger connection to the natural laws and the boundary between the two isn"t accessible by real, material beings, per se . It"s a place meant for souls to briefly pa.s.sed through when the body dies . Basically, it"s another plane of existence completely separate from our own . One way to reach it is when the balance between the two existing forces is weakened by a specific degree . In other words, when the quant.i.ty of Life and Death energies are no longer systematically co-existing . Now, there is such an occurrence in the Northern Lands, which is the perfect opportunity for Master to try and reach the Garden of Words . Furthermore, as you"re, essentially, a Soul Parasite, your chances of entering that boundary are dramatically increased . "
*****
In the area between Ramel Kingdom and the Northern Lands, there was a very small mountain, its peak just over 500 meters . It was inhabited by a few wild beasts and, surprisingly, a declining clan composed of barely a hundred people . They were living at the foot of this mountain and were rarely visited by people as most tend to ignore them and casually pa.s.s through, which is partially why they managed to exist despite being weak .
Arthur was able to sense that the strongest was an elderly at the 2nd grade of the Immortal Realm . It was obvious that they immigrated from the Cloud Sea Universe and despite not having a strong heritage, they seemed pretty happy . The children were playing together in a quiet area of the forest surrounding the mountain, and some were cultivating or sparring against each other .
The parasite looked at Radolf and asked,
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, it"s inside the mountain . "
"Alright, I"ll go in with you . " Arthur turned to Edward and Fariya and said,
"You two stay here until I come back . " He briefly paused as he saw the mortal curiously look at the settlement below them .
"And don"t cause any trouble . "
While Edward didn"t reply, the succubus bowed her head and wished her master a good and safe trip .
…
Arthur teleported inside the mountain along with the two mythical beings, who transformed to their realm forms but with smaller sizes . Midolf looked majestic with his snow-white feathers and golden break, however, Radolf was the total opposite, he was a twin-headed bone lizard with black flames burning in his tail and decayed skin here and there .
The trio found themselves inside a pretty-normal cave with nothing eye-catching . There was an obvious lack of illumination but, besides that, Arthur found no particularities .
"Master, you need to first transform into your soul-form . "
Arthur nodded his head and became a blinding blob of light floating in mid-air . The lizard and the roc raised their heads and looked at the parasite, who was bouncing around as he moved around the cave .
"Please do not resist, master . "
Both said the same words simultaneously and, by the next second, the lizard opened its mouth and spat a ma.s.s of grey liquid which splattered on the soul, while the roc spun around like a tornado and then burst with a light more radiant than the sun itself .
The sticky liquid and the light each took one side of the soul, making it look like a round ball with a strange appearance . Arthur started feeling dizzy then his vision turned black as he lost consciousness shortly after .
An indeterminate amount of time later, Arthur woke up and found himself in his human appearance . Although there was no mirror, he was sure he looked exactly when he back on Earth, before his first reincarnation .
The man was b.u.t.t-naked and felt a bit chilly but he paid that no heed and started marching forward in this unfamiliar place . All that surrounded him was a mix of grey and black fog, the ground was pure white and rough to walk on, seemingly unsteady, like a steep slope .
Step by step, meter by meter, Arthur continued his walk, feeling neither hungry nor tired . Inexplicably, his mind was clear as if he knew where the destination laid, and the more he walked, the clearer the fog became .
His connection with the Quad-Spirit and the mythical beings were temporarily severed, meaning that he was all alone in this separate plane of existence .
Fortunately, after what seemed to be a very long time, Arthur arrived in front of a door, unimaginably big and dyed with dried blood . It was constantly shaking and made him feel mildly uncomfortable to say the least .
The moment he saw this, Arthur knew what it was .
As per Radolf"s words, when a soul dies, it can go to one of two places, Heaven or h.e.l.l, and in some special cases, to the Void if it"s subjected to an intervention . This door was one of the first gates leading to literal h.e.l.l, the place where the evil souls are tortured for eternity . Of course, there are several levels to even a place like h.e.l.l, and the higher the level, the more evil the soul hence the need to contain it in a harsher environment .
Arthur looked at the door for some time before turning around and leaving . He kept walking forward until he was met with a second door, this was s.h.i.+ny gold and decorated with lengthy silver wings on both its edges .
It is called Heaven"s door and it opens by itself when a reaches certain qualifications . Arthur"s goal was the Garden so he didn"t dwindle there for too long, but it"s not like the concept of time existed here .
*****
As Arthur was venturing into that foreign world, Fariya unknowingly caused a disaster just by teaching Edward a small, common thing that most of the people in this Universe know .
As A Star Force pract.i.tioner, she knew how one needs to locate their unique star and start absorbing it in order to get stronger . Under Edward"s persistent questions, she ended up telling him how to do it, unaware of the consequences .
Edward Ortberg was the holder of the Heaven Mandate soul so when he quietly sat down and did as instructed, it caused the whole world to drastically change . The clear blue sky was painted with a white glow that cascaded on the forest and transforming into millions upon millions of tiny white particles floating around .
This alarmed the small clan living here and forced them to hide in the patriarch"s house . The old man, whose long hair had long since turned white, was staring at the blinding white radiance with awe and fear, inwardly hoping that no disaster befalls on his people as they had gone through enough already .
"H-hey! You . . Stop . " The succubus held the sitting man by his shoulders and fiercely shook him but he didn"t react at all, seemingly entranced .
Fariya was even pushed back by the white particles, which enveloped every part of the mortal, shredding his clothes and covering him whole, like some sort of a G.o.d .
Fortunately, after ten minutes, everything calmed down and Edward woke up and shouted like a mad man .
"Aw aw! My bones hurt!"
He jumped around like a lunatic and rubbed his s.h.i.+ny skin, clearly not liking the sensation he was experiencing . The succubus watched him from the side, pressing her finger on her temples and shaking her head .
"Wear some clothes, will you!"
The man calmed down after he heard her and looked at his exposed parts . He showed no embarra.s.sment and, instead, breathed a sigh of relief as the pain slightly subdued .
"So this is what pain feels like!"
He burst out in unpleasant laughter as he looked at the frowning succubus .
"It"s exhilarating! Fascinating!"
In the end, he was left one on the deck as she retreated back to her room after throwing a robe at his direction . Edward could feel that he became much stronger but he only touched the tip of the iceberg and even a cultivator at the Spirit Realm can crush him easily, nevertheless, the feeling of power made the serial-killer overly-delighted .