Chapter 191

  Calls From Beyond (I)

  My eyes immediately veered up to the young man, and I saw it--shadows stirring behind him and coiling around him, colored anywhere from pitch black to bloody red.

  There were thousands of them, each one of their movements seeming to cause the cave to quake. Just as I was about to order retreat, I heard Long Tao's voice break out.

  "You should all go." Thankfully, his voice was calm--and he seemed even calmer, somehow. "It's not safe here."

  "Hm. Be careful, Senior Brother!"

  "We'll take Master to safety!"

  "Don't be too hardy and run if you fail!"

  Hey, why am I being dragged by the kids?

  ... will there be an end to my shame?

  As expected, Lilia's and Zhu's expressions... changed. They first looked at Long Tao with a certain level of bemusement before their gazes shifted over to me literally being dragged out of the cave by the kids, where the bemusement changed into being flabbergasted.

  Yeah.

  I don't blame you.

  I'm flabbergasted in many ways, too.

  Honestly, I can actually fight--not well, sure, but I'm not weak anymore. I'm of average strength for my realm.

  I think.

  I never actually fought with any of the kids (not Long Tao either), so I'm not entirely sure if my belief is correct... but it's a belief. It just requires blind faith and nothing else, and I've got that shit in spades.

  Alas, it didn't matter.

  To these kids, I was still a porcelain vase that could crack at the faintest gust of wind, let alone a fight.

  Haah.

  This would all have been so much easier if I were a masochist...

  **

  Long Tao's eyes stayed peeled to the entrancing colors above. The body was no longer visible behind the cloud of blood and darkness.

  It was only him, now--well, him and that thing above.

  He was vaguely familiar with what it was, and the reason why he asked others to leave wasn't because he couldn't protect them--rather, he had a few questions to ask, and he didn't want them hearing the answers.

  The entire process took about ten minutes before the body became visible yet again--except, the young man now had a mane of blood and a pair of obsidian eyes shimmering with faint twilight around the edges of the irises.

  The body descended rather gracefully, 'coming to' as it looked around, eyes landing on Long Tao.

  "--a child? Did you do this?"

  "Hmm... E'tin? I'd hoped for someone higher up." Long Tao's words shifted the indifferent expression to one of deeper curiosity.

  "You recognized me? No--how do you even know my name? I hadn't appeared in these layers in... a long time."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "I suppose it's fruitless to ask you to go back and, I don't know, call Amit over instead?"

  "... it's a harsh joke, youngster. I've killed for far less."

  "I imagine you did," Long Tao said. "I'm sorry to tell you, but this will be the end of your descent."

  "Oh?"

  "I'd appreciate a few answers, though."

  "Ha ha ha. Interesting. It's been a long time since I saw a child as bold as you. Perhaps, if I skewer your brain, I will learn what gave you such confidence? No, rather--what made you so foolish."

  "... if you piss me off, I'll use the Sacramental Seal instead of the Banishment one."

  "--!!!!" The posture changed rapidly as the 'young man' drew back, a coating of red appearing in front of him. "Who are you?"

  "Irrelevant," Long Tao said. "As I mentioned, your descent ends here. But... if you answer me a few questions, I will give you a hint."

  "What hint?"

  "Hint on how to defeat Lyra."

  "..." The 'man' turned to silence for a long while, as though waging a war within, before finally speaking up. "Two questions. Nothing that breaks an Ordinance."

  "I wouldn't dare," Long Tao shrugged. "What happened after the Astral Decay?"

  "... hah," the young man sneered. "You must have gotten some rather ancient inheritance."

  "That's not an answer."

  "What happened? Nothing happened, of course. Immortal Grotto buried the lede, and anyone who tried discussing it in any capacity got annihilated. The entire area was sealed off, and even Father didn't dare cross it."

  "... that's it?" Long Tao frowned, not having expected it.

  "That's it," the man shrugged. "If you want to know anything more, you'd probably have to kidnap some of those ancient geezers."

  "... alright. Second question," Long Tao said. "What happened to the Divine Empire?"

  "It was destroyed," the man said as Long Tao felt his heart stir for a moment. "Officially, several other Empires declared the war on it in conjunction, citing that the Empress sinned against the Heavens."

  "And unofficially?"

  "Father may have mentioned that the person who ultimately defeated the Empress was not from any of the other Empires; rather, it was Emperor Silence."

  "..." Long Tao felt anger explode--so much so that the Qi around him turned into a storm of invisible blades for a fading moment.

  He took a deep breath to calm down, yet even that was barely enough.

  Everything was in vain.

  All his preparations, all his precautionary measures, everything he did leading up to his 'rebellion'... none of it mattered. But it made sense. If those who came with him betrayed him, it made sense that Silence did, too.

  "You said defeated."

  "Yes. She was displayed publicly in humiliating fashion for five centuries as penance. As for where she ended up after that... not even Father knows. Satisfied?"

  "Lyra," Long Tao spoke up. "Has a faulty sword."

  "... what?!"

  "Remember when she went to conquer Abyssal Depths?"

  "... yes?"

  "She had an... encounter inside, an encounter that shattered her sword--literally and metaphorically. I imagine you were avoiding challenging her in sword all this while, but that's your ticket to achieving what you always wanted."

  "And how do you know what I always wanted?"

  "Because all of you bastards want the same thing," Long Tao sneered. "Don't mistake this bit for my kindness; I loathe you almost as much as I loathe the entire Genesis. If you know what is good for you, you will be gone by the time I get up there."

  "You sound like you will go to war with everyone, little one. Whatever accursed burden was put on you by that legacy, I advise you to let it go. You may have been led to believe that it's even possible to fight them--but it's not. Not even my Father can do much on his own, and he's one of the strongest existences alive."

  "..." Long Tao remained silent.

  The 'Father' he kept mentioning was one of the oldest Emperors alive--Demon Emperor. As for whether he was one of the strongest...

  Had Long Tao been asked that about ten days before his death, he would have acquiesced to the fact that the Demon Emperor was in the top ten strongest figures across all heavens--however, that wasn't the case. It probably never was.

  But... there was no need to say that. Not yet, anyway.

  "If nothing else, you lot at least always honor the trade," Long Tao said, using his big toe to draw something on the ground.

  "Huh. You really know the Seal. That makes me even more curious as to what legacy you inherited."

  "Be careful of the Eldest," he tossed out a final warning, as he found it was always good to plant some seeds for the future, even if that future was so distant even he couldn't predict it just yet. "There is light that lurks in her darkness."

  "What do you--"

  A flash of light annihilated the facade, stirring the sheen-like skin and stretching it backwards into smoky shapes until it vanished, leaving behind the ordinary body of a young man that toppled forward and fell--flatly so straight on the nose, cracking it. Even Long Tao winced at the sound, though it still wasn't enough to wake the boy.

  He sighed, looking down at his tiny fist.

  Though he spoke with confidence... he'd already failed once, while he thought himself invincible. But those bastards... they called forth things beyond measure.

  In this lifetime, he had to be peerless--he had to be perfect. Only such a form, expressed in the visage of a Divine, would stand even the remotest chance against... that.

  That awful, terrible thing. The shadow hiding within the shadows. The eternal call.