Death… And Me

Chapter 3786: More Than Enough

So far, it seemed like the twins wouldn’t be able to use Xian to navigate through the central area of the Umbral Field. However, it wasn’t all bad news. After this victory, it was apparent that the twins at least had the chance to fight back if they were found by any other Level Three Umbra.

However, there was another problem if they got into more battles like this last one.

’What now? Should we give up following the connection with the ancient runes?’ Inside Rion’s mind, Rean asked Roan. ’After all, such battles consume a lot of Light Element for you, me, and Kentucky.’

Roan pondered a bit. The problem was that they still didn’t have a way out. ’If we turn back now, then all this expenditure of Light Element will have been for nothing. It’s not like we can live here forever. We need to press forward.’

Rion returned his attention to Erxando. ”Is there a way to hide Xian from Level Three Umbras while he keeps our souls and intentions concealed?”

Erxando knew that this was the most crucial point. After all, judging by the conversation so far, it was evident that the twins’ group didn’t expect to be found here. ”That is impossible. In fact, it is impossible to hide from any Level Three Umbra, even if you are an Umbra at the same level. I told you, our sensitivity towards Emotional Energy is just too sharp. We can detect each other hundreds of kilometers away without any issues. The higher the level of the Umbra, the easier it is for us to feel each other. Unless...”

Erxando made a pause.

”Stop the bullshit and just speak,” Rion ordered.

”Unless you don’t try to hide the Umbra,” Erxando spoke. ”As you probably noticed, we can instantly tell which level is the Umbra that appears in our senses. The only way for Living Beings like you to stay concealed is to make sure no other Level Three Umbra will come looking for trouble. I only found you two out because I attacked both of Xian’s presences. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

How could Rean, Roan, and Kentucky not understand Erxando’s idea? Simply put, instead of using Xian’s Shadow/Emotional Energy to cover themselves, they would use Erxando’s Energy. Erxando wouldn’t be able to hide himself, but he is a Level Three Umbra, so other Level Three Umbras wouldn’t come after him for no reason.

”Have you even seen Level One Umbras joining forces to take down a Level Two?” Rion and the others nodded and waited for Erxando to continue. ”That makes things easier then. You see, Level Three Umbras rarely, very, very rarely come after each other. That’s because Level Two Umbras are easy prey at our level, regardless of how close they are to Level Three. Level Two Umbras joining forces to attack Level Three Umbras would be just suicide, nothing else. They would never be able to make up for the lack of Celestial Laws in case they manage to push a Level Three Umbra far enough.”

He continued. ”That said, we can simply focus on the stronger Level Two Umbras and acquire the Emotional Energy necessary for our improvement.”

”It’s the loss of comprehension...” Kentucky suddenly commented, and Rion nodded.

Erxando bitterly smiled as he confirmed. ”Correct. Level Three Umbras challenging other Level Three Umbras also means we will have to deal with them once they start using their Celestial Laws. At that moment, only your own Celestial Laws would be able to fight it back.”

”What happens when you use Celestial Laws? You lose your normal Laws comprehension, and if you lose too much, you won’t be able to use Celestial Laws anymore either. Not to mention the risk of losing who you are when you try to absorb the memory fragments of other Umbras. It is simply not worth the risk.”

”Level One and Two Umbras might be afraid of having their souls and minds damaged during absorption if their opponent fights back during absorption, but that isn’t anywhere near as terrible as losing their laws’ comprehension. Now, that is something Level Three Umbras would primarily never risk.”

”So, you see? As long as the one helping you stay concealed is a Level Three Umbra, the other Umbras that appear in range will absolutely stay away from each other. They only get close if they have something to talk about, realize a trade, and so on, but never to fight with each other. I’ve been alive for thousands of years, and I’ve only seen Level Three Umbras fighting six times. Four of those six battles ended before any of the sides started to use Celestial Laws, too.”

Erxando then touched the tip of one of Kentucky’s Feather Blades, pushing it away slowly. ”So, how about you stop with the idea of having me killed? After all, you definitely need me if you want to keep going, regardless of what you intend to do.”

Kentucky and Rion looked at each other, talking through their connection and also Sister Orb inside the Dimensional Realm.

’Seems like we can only do that,’ Rean commented.

Kentucky had his doubts, though. ’But what if he has some way to contact other Level Three Umbras? It wouldn’t be good if we were suddenly surrounded by many of them.’

[I agree with Kentucky,] Sister Orb spoke her piece. [You already went all out just now. You used quite a bit of the reserves of Light Energy, too. You even had to bring Kentucky out just to make sure this guy couldn’t escape. Seems risky.]

Roan understood all that. ’And yet, we truly don’t have a better choice. Let me check something.’

Then, as Rion, Roan asked, ”If Xian is with us while you are following us, would the Level Three Umbras come after you because of him?”

Erxando knew why Roan asked that. Xian couldn’t hide his own Shadow Energy presence, but his Shadow Energy could hide the twins’ souls and intentions from other Umbras, even Level Three ones. Rean and Roan simply didn’t trust Erxando regarding that for obvious reasons. Chances were Erxando would leave the twins exposed on purpose to attract other Level Three Umbras and then get a chance to escape.

Knowing that, Erxando pondered a bit. ”Well, what I can say is that they would definitely notice Xian’s existence. It’s just that they would also think he is with me since we are near each other. I won’t lie here, that doesn’t mean they won’t come nearby to check. In fact, some might get curious and approach just to see what I’m up to.”

Roan mentally smiled. ”That’s more than enough.”