The bizarre changes within the tomb made it hard for Klein, who had his eyes tightly shut and his spirituality restrained, to know exactly what was happening, or whether it was for better or worse. Thus, even though he had already recited the activation incantation and held the "Luck Thief" charm in his hand, he dared not rashly use it, for fear of causing adverse effects or getting the opposite result.
One second, two seconds, three seconds. Klein felt that time was passing so slowly, as if an entire century had gone by.
Finally, he heard Mr. Azik's slightly hoarse yet uncertain voice:
"It's you..."
Immediately after, a flat but distinctly female voice spoke up:
"You have three choices. The first is to continue forward, seek completeness, and let Salinger be reborn from within you. The second is for me to help you extract that half of your soul, for you to leave with it and find a way to stitch it back together yourself. This will allow you to return to your original form, no longer dying over and over and resurrecting over and over again. But this will not be the same you, and your past lives will truly degenerate into dreams. The third is to give up everything and simply leave. You will forever remain at your current level, unable to advance any further. You will still become a corpse over and over, and wake up over and over having lost all your memories, repeating the search for past experiences."
Klein was stunned speechless. He had never expected that there would be an extra "person" deep within the tomb, and it seemed to hold absolute authority, giving different choices that forced the former "Death Consul" Azik Eggers to decide among them.
"Is this the artificial God of Death hidden deep within the black fog?"
"No, it didn't seem to have any intelligence before. All that time, it never tried to communicate..."
"Extract that half of the soul, find a way to stitch it back together… What does this mean? Was Mr. Azik's spirit originally incomplete?"
"Extract from where? The 'lady' speaking can actually do something Mr. Azik cannot?"
"Also, who is Salinger, and why would he be reborn from within Mr. Azik? Is he… It the 'God of Death' who started the Pale Disaster? Mr. Azik's father or grandfather? Did It foresee its own fall and leave a seed of resurrection within Mr. Azik?"
"The first choice is definitely out of the question. The second and third both have their problems. One would make him no longer his current self, turning into a stranger 'me'. The other would make him suffer the undying curse forever, never able to escape again… If he has confidence in himself and truly treats those past lives as anchors, the second choice could be considered—to reconcile with himself, to compromise… But it involves the other half of the split-off soul, the half that never experienced those lives. What will happen to it afterwards is utterly unpredictable. The anchors might not be enough to solve the problem…"
Thoughts flashed rapidly through Klein's mind. He was puzzled, curious, troubled, and confused, but he could only stand far away, not even able to watch.
This was Azik's life, the future he had to face. No one could make this decision for him.
And Klein had already said what he needed to say earlier. He stood helplessly and worriedly in place, waiting for Mr. Azik to speak.
Azik stared at the beautiful lady in the hood before him, saying nothing for a long time. The pale flames in his eyes flickered unsteadily.
The mountain-like feathered serpent, which was both illusory and real, seemed to sense some adverse change. Its tail suddenly lashed out, sweeping madly around, while its head dipped down, opening a massive maw to reveal dark red flesh and sharp fangs stained with pale yellow grime, spitting out a pitch-black forked tongue and dark green mucus, seeking to actively devour Azik Eggers.
However, none of "its" attempts had any effect. "It" seemed to live in another world!
In the unsettling silence, Azik raised his right hand and rubbed his forehead, smiling calmly:
"Perhaps because I've grown used to my current life, I choose the third."
The moment he finished speaking, the hooded lady opposite him clenched her hand, firmly grasping the bird-shaped golden ornament. Then, she slowly pulled her arm back, wrenching the ancient object from the fissure on Azik's forehead.
Azik's expression twisted once more, as if he was enduring unimaginable pain.
From every drop of his blood, every piece of his muscle, a small amount of spirit seeped out, interweaving into a translucent soul.
This soul appeared complete without any flaws, yet it was filled with a contradictory sense of disharmony. Because one half of it was golden, from its eyebrows and eyes to its torso and limbs, possessing an ancient aesthetic.
As the bird-shaped golden ornament was pulled out, Azik's translucent spirit began to split from the middle, splitting inch by inch, as if someone was skinning him alive with a small knife.
Once again, an inhuman guttural sound escaped his throat, making Klein, who was far away, feel dizzy and a sharp stabbing pain in his head, as if steel needles were violently churning through his brains.
In just a few seconds, Azik's spiritual body completely split in two. One half turned into a golden stream of light and flew into the eyes of the bird-shaped ornament, while the other half returned to his physical body, fusing with his flesh and blood.
The two pale flames in Azik's eyes extinguished. The white feathers and pitch-black scales on the surface of his body receded. The twisted expression on his face eased and was no longer so ferocious.
His face became a little pale and transparent, his forehead twitching violently. He was clearly enduring pain from the depths of his spiritual being.
"Thank you for your help." He bowed to the beautiful hooded lady, turned around, and walked unsteadily up the steps, arriving beside Klein.
"You can open your eyes now." Azik said with a tired smile.
Klein quickly opened his eyes and examined Mr. Azik. Finding no signs of madness or losing control, he was finally at ease. Curiously, he cast his gaze toward the depths of the tomb.
There, the black fog was thick, once again obscuring everything at the bottom.
"Who was that?" he couldn't help but ask.
Azik chuckled and reached out to grab Klein's shoulder:
"Even if