The climbers from Logos were scattered.
Initially a team of eight, within moments, only Al and the wise man remained.
Despair gradually rose in his heart, and Al could only trudge through the blizzard relying on his biological instincts.
The blizzard showed no signs of abating; it raged like a hungry and frenzied beast, rampaging through heaven and earth, devouring everything visible.
The wise man's face became pale from the cold, the only color was a hint of flush on his cheeks due to accumulated blood.
His body was not like those of the hunters, nor was it like the younger and stronger Al.
Hail fell from the sky, and the two had no strength to dodge or move quickly; the wise man's bones ached from the impact, he grunted, his body falling forward.
Al quickly reached out and grabbed the wise man.
However, misfortune often struck unexpectedly, beyond anticipation.
As Al reached out to grab the wise man, a massive piece of hail followed by the fierce wind struck Al's head precisely,
the core of the hail was a sharp rock, blood burst from a gash on Al's forehead, his skin split open, exposing bone, he became dizzy and fell down together with the wise man.
Crash.
Crash.
Along with the collapsing snow, the bodies of Al and the wise man tumbled down the slope, the Main Priest felt his senses suddenly diminish, with only the crashing sound in his ears, the rest became hard to hear.
Death seemed to have been watching them for a long time, then with a clever trick, pushed them off the cliff with a piece of hail.
Senses gradually faded, the world in Al's eyes slowly darkened, and he fell into unconsciousness.
I don't know how long it had been.
"Wake up."
"Wake up… Main Priest."
Under the cloak of darkness, Al heard a faint voice.
The owner of the voice was very weak.
Through the haze, a cold sensation came from his heart, and Al suddenly woke up.
He opened his eyes, seeing a cold stone wall.
He was inside a cave somewhere.
"You're awake… Main Priest."
Beside Al, the wise man slowly let out the breath he was holding.
The cave was enveloped in darkness, outside the cave, the blizzard raged, tearing apart the already scant light.
Al struggled to prop himself up, feeling a sharp pain in his right leg, and asked,
"…Where are we?"
"Some cave…"
The wise man's voice was weak, and Al smelled a stench of blood.
The odor had become dry and hard.
"After we fell, we quickly rolled to a flat area and stopped; I dragged you and crawled in here."
Listening to the frail voice of the wise man, the stench of blood growing stronger, Al suddenly turned around.
In the darkness, he saw the wise man leaning against the stone wall, one hand on a large wound on his stomach, the other arm twisted in a strange posture, dryly hanging to the ground.
"You, you…"
The wise man gave a weak smile and said calmly,
"It hurts so much."
Al placed his hands on the ground, struggling to rise.
"Ah!"
A tearing sensation came from his right leg, and Al let out a painful cry.
The wise man was severely injured, and he was not much better.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
Al asked in a trembling voice, recovering from the pain.
"A day and a night… it should be a day and a night, I… I've lost concept of time."
The wise man spoke breathlessly, his tone not hurried but rather calm.
From his tone, Al suddenly felt something more terrifying than pain.
The will to survive was fading.
The wise man's face was pale, he held his head up, barely supporting his body.
He was already emaciated, his eyelids slowly closing.
"Hold on, hold on!"
Al desperately yelled.
The wise man ceased moving, looking weakly out of the darkness toward Al.
His gaze was exceedingly calm.
"Main Priest, death is tracking our footsteps."
The wise man murmured.
"I know, I know, hold on…"
Al displayed a child-like panic,
"Don't you want to verify your answer?"
The wise man stiffly nodded, the action taking tremendous effort.
"Hold on… once the blizzard settles, we can get out."
......
The next day, the blizzard did not subside, instead, it intensified.
Al listened to the thunderous wind, watching the blizzard that battered its way in.
His spirit slowly crumbled, despite his denial, despite his attempts to steady himself, he couldn't reverse the torrent of despair.
Death…
Death, which all from Logos found incomprehensible and frightening,
Slowly, step by step, drew closer.
His body was completely frozen, even having the illusion that his blood was no longer flowing.
The rationality he used to pride himself on, retreated step by step, shrinking back as death drew near.
Even rationality was about to be crushed by the cold wind before him.
Is there anything that cannot be destroyed?
Al could not stop the cold wind from outside the cave, just as he could not stop the collapse of reason.
"The answer...we need the answer..."
Al murmured weakly.
Huge hail pelted the cave, the snapping sounds entering the cave, mocking their presumptuousness with death.
The answer…
Al suddenly trembled.
A profound question arising from the depths of his heart emerged.
"We…"
"Do we really need the answer?"
It was a question directed at the civilization of Logos.
Do we really need an answer about death?
Both beasts and rational beings of Logos have to die; death is inherently the norm of life.
Why then do we, the people of Logos, need an answer?
Al questioned himself and the entire civilization inwardly.
Death...
The entire strength of the people of Logos, all the wisdom of the Kingdom combined, could not even begin to unlock this grand question, let alone climb its steps.
We… are merely beasts after all.
Beasts are born only to die.
Al fell silent, facing the endless wind and frost, he bowed his head, ready to accept the inevitable death.
Just as the people of Logos could not solve the enigma of death, Al could not respond to the question facing his entire civilization.
He chose silence, no longer seeking answers, accepting the arrival of death.
The only sound was the wind.
The blizzard seemed like hyenas, tearing everything it touched to shreds.
Despair lurked in every corner of the cave.
"Death is approaching…"
A weak and feeble voice came from deeper within.
That voice startled the silent Al.
The Main Priest slowly turned his head and saw the Sage.
He was on his last breath.
"Come, Main Priest, come. I saw something, I saw something…"
The Sage leaned against the wall with difficulty.
Al dragged his body, heartbroken and cold, to the side of the Sage.
"What did you see?"
Al asked quietly.
The Main Priest knew the Sage might be having an illusion.
The Sage stretched out his hand as if to touch something, yet touched nothing.
His expression froze, completely stiffened.
"There is a hand I cannot touch… Death is approaching, I can't touch it."
The Sage uttered blankly.
Al felt lifeless, knowing it wouldn't be long before the Sage fell into despair.
He knew the Sage was seeing the visions of impending death.
However…
"I cannot touch it!"
The Sage tensed up, shouting as if he had discovered a new world,
"I see the illusion! I see a false phantom, that is death!"
Al froze, a force from deep within his soul completely overwhelming him.
"It's right there, Main Priest, death is right there, it's hesitating, I see it, it's an illusion!"
The Sage shouted excitedly, a joy of possessing the whole world.
Al's breath suddenly became choppy as he stared wide-eyed at the Sage…
He did not know if the Sage mistook his near-death vision for the death itself.
But he could feel, an unmatched force trembling his whole being from below.
The Sage claimed to have seen the truth of death!
"Death is hesitating."
Slowly, the Sage calmed down, his earlier excitement seeming like a last flicker of life; now he appeared much weaker than before, as if he might stop breathing any moment.
"Death has been spying on us for a long time, but it's still hesitating… because I have seen the truth."
The Sage spoke in an unusually peaceful manner, almost as if talking to himself,
"Main Priest, I know what you are doubting... We struggle so hard to seek answers… because only our generation calls a mountain 'mountain,' a river 'river'… Only we seek answers about death. Among the tens of thousands of lives in this world, only we are no longer merely beasts."
"Seeking that answer is not just for ourselves."
"And now… I have confirmed my answer, I have found my answer."
Al gazed at the Sage.
That tranquility contained immense power.
The Sage looked elsewhere, as if there truly was a being called "Death" slowly approaching.
"Leave my last words for future generations."
The Sage requested, with his greatest effort, uttered his final words:
"Do not fear, do not panic…"
"Death is but an illusion."
As the words fell.
Death no longer hesitated, at the most appropriate moment, it delivered the fatal blow.
The pupils froze in the sockets, and the Sage's body slid backward, the flesh losing all signs of life.
The Sage died.
Before his death, he had attained the truth he sought.