Death Salinger, who was pacing around the River of Eternal Darkness, looked at Klein, who was enveloped in the grayish-white cocoon.
“His” eyes that had pale-white flames that were about to be extinguished instantly reflected the golden bird-shaped accessory on Klein’s chest.
In the next second, a deep roar came from “His” rotting mouth, reverberating above the river, causing the entirety of Calderón City to visibly shake.
The distributary that occasionally rose up or plunged down, sometimes dark and sometimes pale-white, reached the end of the stone staircase with the rising of tides, surging towards Klein.
During this process, the illusory tide fused with the grayish-white fog, creating a similar color.
The grayish-white torrent slammed into Klein’s body repeatedly, but it failed to destroy the cocoon around him.
Death Salinger’s rotting body took steps to the edge of the distributary, but “He” couldn’t escape no matter what. All “He” could do was stand there and roar wildly.
Klein’s gaze swept past “Him” as he looked at the blurry figures loitering around the banks.
One of them had already been swept to the center of the distributary by the surging tide. They couldn’t help but sink to the bottom of the river, melting like ice.
The remaining ones didn’t show any fear as they maintained their blank and lost state, moving back and forth endlessly.
At a glance, Klein saw many familiar figures.
They were the same person—Azik Eggers with “His” bronze skin and soft facial features.
This Death Consul seemed to have dissociated into multiple selves. “They” constantly paced between the pale-white stone pillars on both sides of the River of Eternal Darkness.
This… As Klein’s heart stirred, his right leg suddenly turned cold.
He subconsciously lowered his head and saw a pale-white hand.
The palm penetrated the grayish-white cocoon and grabbed his calf.
And the owner of the palm floated in the surging torrent was like a water ghost as it attempted to pull Klein into the depths of the water.
Its attack could actually ignore the aura of Sefirah Castle!
Sensing Klein’s gaze, the pale-white palm’s owner raised his head to reveal his face.
He had black hair and brown eyes. His facial features were ordinary and he had a scholarly air.
Klein Moretti!
The “water ghost” was Klein Moretti!
In the next second, Klein’s left leg, right shoulder, and left arm were grabbed by different pale-white hands.
This made him feel cold all over as his Spirit Body seemed to freeze. He couldn’t even use all his Beyonder powers. It was impossible to resist.
The three pale-white hands belonged to different blurry figures, while the different blurry figures all had the same face—Klein Moretti’s face!
Under the pull of the four “water ghosts,” Klein’s body gradually separated from the grayish-white cocoon and sank into the torrent.
His body became colder and colder, and his thoughts gradually fell into silence. His vision gradually darkened, and eventually, there were only dark ebbing waves.
Above the gray fog, in the ancient palace, Klein’s consciousness returned to his original body.
Then, without any hesitation, he extended his palm and used the power of Sefirah Castle to steal an item from the latter through his connection with the historical projection.
A golden beam of light flashed as Klein held the golden bird-shaped accessory.
At the same time, he stopped maintaining the Historical Void projection.
The “drowning” figure disappeared from the Eternal Night flood.
It can ignore the aura of Sefirah Castle, which means that those four figures truly are “me”… But why would I be trapped in the stream of the River of Eternal Darkness, pacing about endlessly? Four figures, four figures… Klein’s expression was solemn as he gently tapped the edge of the long mottled table. He gained some inspiration amidst the tapping.
The words “four,” “souls,” and “death” corresponded to the reality that he had died four times and had revived four times.
Of course, after becoming an Attendant of Mysteries, the four resurrection opportunities had been reset again.
Every time I die, regardless of whether I successfully revive or not, I will leave an imprint in the River of Eternal Darkness? I died four times, so there are four figures wandering the banks of the River of Eternal Darkness? Klein roughly grasped the crux of it before he sighed inwardly. The River of Eternal Darkness is indeed a sefirah. As expected of the symbol of death, repose, destination, endpoint, and darkness… This is what the Goddess meant when “She” pointed out that I’ll encounter a different kind of danger? Hmm, when the historical projection was “drowned,” I suffered some mental damage. If my mental state was unstable, I might’ve suffered some terrible consequences by now.
Based on this deduction, Klein had a brand new understanding of the many Azik figures and the wandering Death Salinger.
“They” were the corresponding imprints of death.
Mr. Azik has indeed died many times in the process of searching for his memories, but he comes back to life every time. According to the present situation, although an Undying doesn’t die, it leaves behind a lot of hidden dangers. Once the number of deaths reaches a certain level, their true bodies might be attracted to the River of Eternal Darkness one day, ending up as one of the figures that wander around there for an eternity… Only Salinger’s figure is there… This means that, after accommodating the Uniqueness, “His” death imprint also becomes unique. As Klein’s thoughts raced through his mind, he became worried about Mr. Azik’s state of survival.
And there were two solutions to resolving this problem: One was to make Azik’s soul whole and make “Him” stop repeating “His” resurrection process. And second, to help the Evernight Goddess become a Great Old One and gain control of the River of Eternal Darkness.
Heh heh, perhaps this is another binary choice. When the Goddess becomes a Great Old One, there’s no need for “Her” to make use of half of Mr. Azik’s soul again. Klein reined in his thoughts and focused his attention on his goal.
He had entered the depths of Calderón City, not to resolve the death imprint of Death Salinger, and destroy any chances of “Him” reviving; instead, he was here to retrieve the river water from the River of Eternal Darkness.
Clearly, the illusory tide’s water that flows out of the river doesn’t work. It’s only an aura that flows out, not the river water itself. Also, water that has fused with the grayish-white fog won’t do either. It’s not pure enough, so it wouldn’t be able to accomplish the desired effect. From the looks of it, only when the distributary turns back into its deep and dark state can I get the water. Heh, there’s definitely no way to get it from the main river. That grayish-white fog is definitely a solid barrier. Klein quickly formulated a plan based on his analysis.
That was to avoid going close to the River of Eternal Darkness, and not attract the attention of Death Salinger. He would wait for the distributary’s water to recede and turn dark before he headed over before allowing his four death imprints to drag his historical projection to the bottom of the river.
During this process, the historical projection would seize the opportunity and use the golden, bird-shaped accessory to scoop the river water. Then, he would return his consciousness back to Sefirah Castle. Using the powers of “Theft,” as well as the close connection between the two items, he could take away the golden, bird-shaped accessory.
After considering the finer details to the procedure, Klein returned to Calderón City and summoned his Historical Void projection.
He repeated the previous process and soon returned to the stone tablet next to the giant bronze bird statue. He walked down the grayish-white stone steps, step by step.
The aura of Sefirah Castle around him gradually thickened, turning into a thin “cocoon.”
It didn’t take long before Klein arrived at the end of the staircase. He saw the River of Eternal Darkness flowing in the void, the pale-white columns on both banks, and the countless blurry figures that lingered at the banks of the distributary.
This time, he wasn’t in a hurry to go forward. He left the staircase and waited patiently at the same spot for the distributary’s water to recede. The grayish-white colors faded and the water darkened.
Right now! Klein’s figure flashed as he “stole” the distance and appeared in Death Salinger’s blind spot.
Without any surprise, as his body sank into the River of Eternal Darkness, the pale-white hands immediately penetrated the aura of Sefirah Castle and grabbed his limbs.
His four death imprints appeared around him, eager to drag him to the bottom of the river!
Klein’s head submerged under the dark river water, making his body turn cold as his thoughts turned still.
Before he completely lost his senses, transparent and distorted maggots crawled out from Klein’s neck. They quickly crawled to the side of the golden, bird-shaped accessory, clustered around it, and lifted it up, preparing to scoop the water of the River of Eternal Darkness.
At that moment, a massive shadow appeared in the swirling illusory river in front of Klein.
It was a giant bird floating in the water, one that was completely submerged by the River of Eternal Darkness’s distributary.
The giant bird’s surface was covered with white flames, and the feathers formed from mysterious patterns, but most of them had been melted away by the River of Eternal Darkness. The exposed parts were pitch-black and rotten with pale-yellow pus on the surface.
The giant bird’s eyes seemed to be made of bronze, and layers of illusory doors were hidden within.
Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace!
The ancient Death who had opened up the Underworld!
In front of Gregrace’s eyes, a bronze beam burst out, enveloping the golden, bird-shaped accessory and Klein’s historical projection in a bid to drag them over together.
After weighing his current situation, Klein instantly made a decision and gave up the attempt of scooping the river water.
His consciousness immediately returned to Sefirah Castle, and he stole the golden, bird-shaped accessory.
His historical projection dissipated.
There’s danger in the water too… The ancient god, Phoenix Ancestor Gregrace, has completely sunk into the River of Eternal Darkness… If the Goddess can truly accommodate the Uniqueness of the Death pathway, and if Salinger can’t use that opportunity to revive in “His” body, “He” should also sink into the water like Gregrace. And the death imprint of Gregrace will melt further… Klein silently sighed as he modified the plan.
Following that, he summoned the Historical Void projection and returned to the end of the stairs.
After waiting for a while, when Death Salinger turned around and slowly walked towards the bank, Klein suddenly “stole” the distance and appeared in front of “Him.”
In the next second, Salinger let out a low growl, rapidly increasing the flow of the distributary.
At the same time, Klein was grabbed by his death imprints, and forcefully dragged to the bottom of the river. He sensed the Phoenix Ancestor, Gregrace.
Like before, Gregrace’s bronze eyes lit up.
However, what enveloped this light wasn’t Klein and the golden, bird-shaped accessory, but Death Salinger.
Grafting!
Seizing this brief opportunity, the Worms of Spirit crawled out from Klein’s historical projection and lifted the golden, bird-shaped accessory.
The bronze eye of the accessory also released a beam of light, scooping up a tiny portion of the river water.
In the next moment, Klein’s consciousness returned to Sefirah Castle. He raised his hand and retrieved the accessory.
Phew, I’m finally done… Looking at the golden, bird-shaped accessory in his hand, he slowly exhaled.
As the owner of Sefirah Castle, this mission wasn’t too difficult. As long as he didn’t rashly enter with his main body, he could rely on repeated failures to accumulate experience and figure out the situation.
And if it wasn’t for the fact that there were two Deaths in the distributary of the River of Eternal Darkness, one wandering and the other sinking, Klein wouldn’t have failed twice.
