"Sneer..."
With a faint sound, the turbid purple flames burning on Fang Li's body began to slowly extinguish.
Left alone, Fang Li lay on the ground, his skin burnt in patches of black, looking extremely miserable.
At this moment, Fang Li had only one sensation.
————' Pain.'
It was excruciatingly painful.
His body was in pain.
His soul was in pain.
Waves of intense agony assailed Fang Li's mind and nerves, making him feel as if he had been thrown onto a mountain of blades in hell, the pain surpassing imagination.
His vision had already started to blur.
His head was becoming muddled.
This feeling brought Fang Li back.
Recalling his death when he entered the Main God's Dimension.
Although there was no blood dyeing his vision red, the pain that enveloped his entire body was much greater than being hit by a car.
"...Am I about to die?"
With this thought, Fang Li's pair of ice-blue Mystic Eyes quietly faded away, leaving only a pair of incredibly dark-colored eyes.
Inside, an extreme calmness prevailed.
In the next moment, several auras entered Fang Li's perception.
Without needing to see with his eyes, Fang Li knew whose auras these were.
Besides Trinity, who else could it be?
"You really gave us quite a bit of trouble..."
Supporting his tottering body, Sydonay arrived in front of Fang Li, holding the steel spear.
"I must say, we really underestimated you, human."
Bel Peol, her body adorned with broken chains, also came to Fang Li's side, with blood stains still on her lips.
Hecate, with one hand gripping Trigon and the other covering her chest, looked at the charred Fang Li lying there. She could clearly see the emotion in his eyes.
There was no panic, no fear, only an incomprehensible calmness.
Seeing this inexplicable calmness, Hecate couldn't help but speak.
"Why?"
Hecate, as if pursuing something, spoke with a voice filled with longing and incomprehension.
"Why can you face death so calmly?"
The sudden question made Sydonay and Bel Peol equally stunned.
As for Fang Li, he turned his gaze towards Hecate, speaking as if having a casual conversation, "You should understand, right?"
Indeed, Hecate understood.
Because Hecate was the only one who had seen the essence of Fang Li's soul.
For someone who had witnessed the ocean formed by death, it was impossible not to understand why Fang Li could face death with such calmness.
Simply because Fang Li had seen and possessed too much of this existence, to the extent that he was completely incapable of producing any emotions.
Regardless of the type of creature, the acceptance of 'habit' was taken for granted.
"It's just like eating, no one would be surprised about the need to eat."
For Fang Li, understanding death was just as natural as eating.
In that case, why panic? Why fear?
Hecate, having seen that vast ocean representing death should understand this.
However, she didn't understand.
"Someone like you, even if you're alive, can that be considered truly living?"
Hecate softly spoke as if confessing.
"Compared to the death you possess, your personal survival seems insignificant."
How insignificant is that?
It was so insignificant that being swallowed up at any time wouldn't be strange.
Hecate even failed to comprehend why, with that death-filled ocean, Fang Li could survive until now.
No, that's not right.
It should be said that because of possessing that ocean, Fang Li could live until now.
If that ocean were too small, Fang Li, who couldn't adapt, would probably have been tortured by the pain and despair of death to the point of wanting to die.
Precisely because that ocean was so vast, filled with death to the point of allowing one to become accustomed, and numb, Fang Li could continuously ignore the pain and despair of death and survive until now.
But, could that be considered living?
"That's just being a walking corpse..."
Hearing Hecate's murmurs, Fang Li finally smiled.
"Perhaps you are right." Fang Li lightly uttered.
"Although it is indeed a flaw, aside from that, I have no deficiencies in the aspect of being a 'Person.'"
"So, I can be considered alive."
"As for you, I don't know if you can be considered alive."
Hecate fell silent immediately.
Yes.
At least Fang Li could still be considered alive.
At least, aside from death, Fang Li was rich in other emotions.
He couldn't feel sadness for 'Death,' but he could feel joy for others' 'Life.'
He couldn't cry for someone's pain and despair, but he could respond to someone's emotions and intentions.
In this way, Fang Li could be considered alive.
"But you are different."
Fang Li spoke indifferently as if talking about someone else's matters.
"You don't laugh, nor do you cry."
"There are no emotions in you, nor is there an inner self."
"All that's left is your emptiness, lacking the substantial sense of being alive. Moreover, you don't have things you want to do on your own. Everything is just acting according to the established reality, even the role of being the 'Great Priestess' of the 'Bal Masqué' was arranged by that Leader, and it was not of your own desire."
"So, someone like you doesn't even know whether you can be considered alive."
Fang Li's words made Hecate silent once again, her eyes revealing an uncontrollable fluctuation.
"Clang!"
At this moment, a heavy steel spear, accompanied by the sound of metal, swung towards Fang Li, its sharp tip aimed at his throat.
"Eh..." Sydonay looked down at Fang Li from above, suppressing his anger, and said, "Could you please refrain from saying things that make my Hecate unhappy?"
"Hecate is important to us. Please don't let her waver." Bel Peol, similar to Fang Li, spoke as if talking about someone else, nonchalantly saying, "You are merely a human but you are indeed dangerous in various ways. It seems we must reevaluate how to deal with you in the future."
Saying this, Bel Peol turned around and addressed Sydonay.
"General, please take him back. We'll personally take care of him next, ensuring he can't escape again."
With this sentence, Fang Li's fate for the next moments was decided.
In this fleeting moment, a mechanically cold notification sound echoed in Fang Li's mind.
"Serial Number 11273 triggers A-Rank Side Quest: Surviving in Desperation."
"Quest Details: Escape from Trinity's hands before being recaptured, leave the headquarters of the 'Bal Masqué,' and escape to safety."
"Quest Reward: 30,000 Exchange Points."
...