Chapter 4553: Are You An Idiot?
Chapter 4553: Are You An Idiot?
Because Azerion’s Soul had merged with the sealed space, he had also lost the ability to leave Woster. His soul was no longer something that could simply return to his body entirely and move on. His physical body couldn’t leave that underground area either.
The problem was that his body had also become his greatest vulnerability. Even though his soul had merged with the sealed space, it was still connected to his physical body as well, leaving him somewhat split between the two.
His soul existed both inside the sealed space and within his body at the same time. This strange state was also the reason Azerion couldn’t truly die. As long as that connection remained, neither side could completely disappear.
Due to the difference in cultivation, Azerion could obviously defeat Rean without much difficulty. The other Law Gods of the Rosvelt Sect were another matter entirely, though. Unless they directly touched the pillar, Azerion couldn’t extract their souls with the Soul Extraction Threads. Simply being within his reach wasn’t enough to let him use that ability against them.
That also raised another question. Why hadn’t any of those Soul Extraction Threads appeared when Azerion acted against Rean? The answer was that they simply didn’t work inside Dlaval City. Azerion could only control the threads outside the city and far away, near the borders of Woster, something even Roan hadn’t known. If Roan had simply continued to fly, those threads would have disappeared sooner or later.
’Why would you tell me about that restriction of yours?’ Rean couldn’t help but ask Azerion.
’Are you an idiot?’ Roan would definitely have agreed with that statement, especially after hearing Azerion’s answer. ’If I could use it here, do you think I wouldn’t have used it on you when you tried to escape? Besides, it’s pretty obvious that you’re somehow immune to it. Hmph! Perhaps I should have stayed quiet, seeing as you can’t even figure out something this obvious.’
’Well, that’s true,’ Rean had to admit. He felt a little embarrassed after realizing how evident the answer had been.
’Wait!’ It was at that moment that Rean suddenly noticed something else. ’You know how to set everyone free! You just don’t want to let it happen! You know that removing that navy-blue rock from the sealed space would make the Woster Isolation collapse!’
’So you are an idiot, but not as much as I thought,’ Azerion answered. ’Well, that’s right. My soul merged with the sealed space, so I’m obviously aware that the ancient arrays and inscriptions operating through that thing would cease to exist if it were removed.’
Roan narrowed his eyes on the other side as he thought about Azerion’s explanation. ’The sect likely found out about it after the event. That’s why they want to deal with Azerion. They have it in their minds that Azerion can somehow do something, but Azerion locked himself inside that barrier.’
Rean repeated Roan’s words to Azerion, who immediately confirmed the conclusion. ’Precisely. However, the sealed space and my soul are merged. I can’t separate them anymore. To remove the blue-golden rock means that you are causing the sealed space to collapse. If it collapses, then so will my soul. Were you in my place, would you simply let them do it?’
’And thus, you put up this barrier to prevent anyone from touching your body,’ Rean concluded. ’As for the reason you’re pretending to be dead, you need them to let their guards down, which also means...’
Everyone understood at that point.
Azerion had a plan.
Azerion confirmed it. He would have looked at Rean if he hadn’t been forced to remain completely still. ’I do indeed. And this plan requires an outsider.’
Rean narrowed his eyes. ’Then why ask us to leave before? You were very adamant about it. You even contacted Thery and gave him the coordinates of the teleport array that could bring us out.’
’That was the case until that point,’ Azerion explained. ’However, it changed when you appeared down here.’
Rean didn’t need to think much to understand why. ’We also have the power of the Echo... and when I appeared here, you noticed it.’
’Yes,’ Azerion confirmed. ’Since you already have it, then perhaps there is a middle ground for us. That’s when I changed my mind and helped you hide behind my throne. As long as you are inside my barrier, no one can do anything to you. Trying to destroy the pillar is also meaningless. Even if all the Law Gods of Woster attacked at the same time, they wouldn’t cause as much as a scratch on the pillars. They can’t even be moved.’
The fact that the pillars were incredibly resistant wasn’t a surprise to Rean. Throughout everything he had seen in Dlaval City so far, they seemed to be the only ancient structures that had withstood the passage of time relatively well. The runes and inscriptions covering them were beyond Rean’s understanding, but he could still read them without any difficulty.
’Before I ask you what your plan is, there is another thing I need to understand,’ Rean continued. ’That so-called calamity that affected all Thousand-Script Race members. That was also a side effect of what happened to you, wasn’t it?’
’I thought that much was obvious,’ Azerion said without denying it. ’It was quite strange. At the moment when my soul merged with the pillar, I felt a strong pull from the blue-golden rock. My bloodline runes reacted crazily, and they still do. If you could look at my body right now, you’d see that they’re still being affected. Somehow, the sealed space has been using my runes continuously ever since.’
Back on Roan’s side, Thery’s group took a deep breath after hearing that. A calamity had affected every Thousand-Script Race member, including those with hybrid bloodlines. It didn’t matter how they looked at it. That day was the reason the Thousand-Script Race’s ascension had become locked to this part of the Celestial Plane. They knew about that calamity, and now they know who caused it.
In the end, it was all because of Azerion and Tany.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that Azerion was also a victim of what had happened. He had certainly played a role in the calamity, but he hadn’t intentionally caused it. Tany had manipulated him, the Womb had consumed her, and Azerion had been left trapped in the aftermath, connected to the sealed space.
—
Suddenly, Roan’s group received a call through their RCs. It was Lukay, who had entered the commercial building to look for the teleport array.
’I think I found it,’ Lukay explained. ’The array isn’t inside a vault... No, it kind of is. It’s just that it’s also part of the open area of the building. There are many stalls in here, and I almost failed to notice it. It’s directly under a stall that’s selling weapons. From what I can see, it looks to be in very good condition.’
Lukay then sent them images of the array, or at least the portions he could see without moving the stall above it. Thery and Flugel immediately took a look, and they could tell right away that the array was indeed in excellent condition. There was even a dusty slot where the Tablet Key could be inserted.
Above all, there were no guards or anything else nearby, exactly as Azerion had said there wouldn’t be. Whoever had maintained this place had clearly done enough to keep the array usable, but nobody seemed particularly interested in protecting it. Or you could say that its maintenance was just a side effect of the upkeep of the building as a whole.
Roan looked toward the Array Masters. ’Would it work if we tried to use it?’
Thery and the others nodded. ’Most likely. We just don’t know where it would send us, of course. We’re still not certain that the tablet would send us back to that fortress.’
’Very well,’ Roan nodded. ’For now, we’ll keep it in mind in case we need to flee in a hurry or have no other options.’