Death… And Me

Chapter 4549: Lukay’s Turn

Azerion thought for a moment before answering. ’The pillar behind you. That’s where I’m taking it from. We are connected.’

Rean was surprised to hear that. He had expected Azerion to be much more reluctant to reveal information about the Echo, especially considering how aggressively he had reacted to some of Rean’s earlier questions. ’I thought you would refuse to answer this question, truly.’

Azerion didn’t seem concerned in the slightest. ’If it were that easy to do what I’m doing, the Rosvelt Sect would have found another Thousand-Script Race member a long time ago to do the same. They would have done so especially to take control away from me.’

Those words immediately reminded Rean of Roan and how Azerion’s Threads had attacked Roan. ’Let me guess, you are the Ghost of Woster.’

’And here we have a genius! Please, everyone, applause!’ Azerion didn’t hold back while mocking Rean. ’How did you find out? The fact that I’m using the same kind of power as you? Or perhaps the very, very obvious same color and energy in my Soul Extraction Threads and my body bloodline runes?’

Roan couldn’t help but nod slightly. ’I like that guy.’

’Of course, you do...’ Rean was helpless.

’My turn.’ Azerion clearly knew how to play the same game. ’How did you disrupt my control over my Soul Extraction Threads?’

’So you call them Soul Extraction Threads... Yeah, that fits very well,’ Rean said. ’In any case, one of my companions is very good at controlling all kinds of energy, even energies that aren’t of any use for his cultivation.’

Azerion remained silent, allowing Rean to continue.

’I had him focus on the pillar on the surface. After communicating with Roan, the guy you attacked with your Soul Extraction Threads, that friend of mine knew what to look for. After that, he just had to be close enough to disrupt the energy flow in the direction where Roan was found.’

’You can do even that?!’ Azerion was finally surprised for real.

Rean could almost feel the change in Azerion’s attitude. Until now, the ancient Thousand-Script Race expert had remained relatively confident that he understood the situation better than these outsiders. Yet this was clearly something he hadn’t expected.

’My turn to ask another question.’ Rean didn’t answer Azerion’s reaction and instead decided to ask something else. ’Have you ever been inside where that Navy-Blue-Golden Rock is found?’

Azerion almost turned his head to look at Rean, but he managed to hold himself back at the last moment. ’So I wasn’t wrong. I truly felt like someone had entered that space. Since you know what is there, I guess I was right. Yes, it is also right behind you. That space exists within this pillar. Thanks to my connection, I can use some of its powers.’

’So that’s how it is...’ Rean nodded. The pieces were slowly starting to fall into place. The pillar, the Echo, Azerion, and the strange space containing the Navy-Blue-Golden Rock.

’Let’s continue,’ Azerion said. ’What were the other two objectives you talked about?’

Rean faintly smiled. ’Alright, I’ll tell you the other two objectives as a form of showing some respect. The second objective for coming to Woster was to investigate the Ancient Arrays. My companions wished to find out how to build them and such.’

He paused for a moment before continuing. ’As for the third, I believe it is obvious now. It was to find the Echo of Woster. Or, to be more specific, the Echo of the Goslau Great Void. I mentioned that Great Void to you during my explanation of the outside world earlier. These were ultimately our three objectives with this journey.’

Azerion wouldn’t simply believe it, of course. ’Is that so? Anyway, there is no one in this place who knows how to use the Ancient Arrays. That much I can guarantee you... Not that you will believe me, but who knows?’

Rean remained silent for a moment. Azerion’s statement wasn’t particularly surprising.

Then, Azerion decided. ’Since you also told me everything about the outside world, I’ll tell you a bit about this place as well.’

’Great!’ Rean was happy to hear that. This was exactly what he had wanted from the conversation in the first place. ’So, what the hell is happening here?’

—

Meanwhile, in the south side of the city, the invisible airplane arrived at the coordinates Azerion had given Thery. From above, Roan and the others couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. This part of the city didn’t have as many cultivators as the main commercial areas, but it was still more or less crowded.

The streets below were filled with cultivators moving from one place to another, with various buildings lining both sides of the roads. Nothing about the area suggested that something as important as a teleport array capable of connecting to the outside world was hidden nearby.

’Is there a vault with an array here?’ Flugel couldn’t help but ask, looking down at the various streets around the coordinates.

Thery looked down as well, carefully examining the surroundings. ’At least there doesn’t seem to be anything suspicious either. I can’t see anyone who seems to be protecting this supposed array.’

Roan confirmed the same thing. He knew better than anyone else on board how to detect someone deliberately pretending to be part of the surroundings. If there were guards hiding nearby or cultivators acting suspiciously, he would have noticed them.

There were, however, a few wanted posters bearing his group’s faces. Seeing them scattered around the city was hardly surprising anymore.

’Azerion only said that the array was here. He never said it was inside a vault like the one we arrived in, right?’ Sison suddenly asked.

That immediately changed the perspective of everyone on board.

Roan checked the coordinates again, making sure there hadn’t been some mistake in their interpretation.

’The exact location of that array would be...’ His eyes slowly rested on a building below.

It was a commercial building with many stalls inside. From what they could see, it was the sort of place where cultivators could find almost anything they needed, ranging from alchemy materials and pills to equipment, food, and various rarities.

Roan narrowed his eyes. ’I’ll go down to take a look. I have a different appearance and aura at the moment, after all.’

Thery didn’t like the idea. ’It is you who is showing us everything that is happening with Rean inside the Rosvelt Sect. If you leave, we won’t know what is happening there.’

’If the idea is to just investigate, then I should be more than enough,’ Lukay volunteered.

Everyone looked at the Voltari Spirit. ’But you are also being searched for.’

That wasn’t news to Lukay. ’Obviously. However, the pictures around are basically me in my pure Voltari Form. I can control my Godly Energy to change the color of my Spiritual Body. Spirits don’t really have faces or anything like that. As long as I don’t look like a Purple Ball of Lightning, it should be fine.’

Roan pondered for a moment before accepting the idea. ’That’s good enough. Go there and try to find anything that resembles the teleport array we used to come to Woster.’

’Leave it to me.’ Lukay immediately changed his lightning body, and it gained a yellowed color. The cracks of lightning that normally ran across his Spiritual Body also stopped running, making him look considerably different from the wanted posters. ’It’s annoying, but this should do. I’m out.’

Finally, Lukay opened the airplane’s hatch and exited. He had his own RC, and since Roan’s group was very close to him, there was no need for the network beacon.

The Voltari Spirit descended toward the commercial building while the invisible airplane remained high above, hidden from the eyes of the cultivators below.

If they secured a way out, everything else could be dealt with more easily.