The small boat advanced slowly on the River Styx. Despite moving so slowly that it seemed stationary, but in reality, it was jumping between dimensions, shortening the distance to our destination.
The water of the River Styx, that was full of the silent dead, flowed peacefully through countless dimensions, collecting the souls of Chaos. If someone wouldn't have to be worried about being robbed of their souls and memories by the River Styx, they could use it as a convenient tool to traverse between dimensions.
However, it was a pity that only Death God Ayer's small boat was able to travel on the River Styx. Previously, a Demon Duke from the 63rd level of Chaos Abyss had created a Soul Boat out of dead souls, but the boat and the Duke himself ended up erased by Ayer himself. This not only showed that Ayer restricted the right to travel on the River Styx, even more so, it proved that the Death God which rarely appeared wasn't some good guy.
Even I cherished this hard-to-come-by experience.
The priceless River Styx (The main reason was because extracting it was too difficult) was just in front of me. That was an important ingredient to countless top-grade Alchemy Potions and right now, I was trying to scoop some of it up. After all, if I didn't take some of it back, how could I be qualified as a thrifty Lich that managed his family?
Very quickly, after scooping it up, I realized that my soul didn't have any containers to fill it with. Borrow from the Watcher of the River Styx, Ayer? What's the difference from a burglar taking too much money and borrowing a sack from the police to haul it away?
"You want to take the River Styx's water? Here."
Looked like this 'police' really dind't regard the thing he was watching over as anything important. He casually threw an old and broken bottle to me, but my system evaluated the bottle as a precious treasure.
[Bose's Drinking Bottle. Ancient Unique Object. Able to fill 7 different kinds of liquids within. This bottle had been blessed by Bose, so the water stored within will retain its original quality as long as it is kept within.]
Bose was an Ancient Sea God but he had already fallen into the long river of time. After going through countless eons, it was to be expected that Ayer's fortunes would be massive. Even a casual object that he gave out turned out to be an Ancient Unique Object. However, the thing that surprised me was that there were already two types of liquids stored within.
[The First Generation Human Mountainous Tribe Royalty's Concentrated Blood, Diamond-class Order Bloodline. If this were to be submitted to the System while forging your new body, it will provide you an additional option in choosing your body — This dull red blood has witnessed the rise and fall of countless tribes. As the first generation sons of Order along with the Ancient Angels and Ancient Demons, this blood might not have much power left in it but it contains limitless potential.]
[The Devil Lord's Concentrated Blood, Diamond-class Chaos Bloodline. If this were to be submitted to the System while forging your new body, it will provide you with an additional option in choosing your body — The depravation of the entire First-Generation Humans created the evil race of Devils that are able to stand toe-to-toe with the Demons. There is limitless power that is hidden in this blood. However, please take note that this power cannot be obtained without a price. The fall to depravity that comes along with the Devil's Bloodline cannot be avoided.]
"These are?"
Ayer had once been the King of the Ancient Humans, so it was normal for him to have the Bloodline of the Ancient Humans. However, the Devil Lord's Concentrated Blood was the core of a Lord-level Devil, it couldn't be obtained even by killing them. The only way of obtain it was to get them to submit it willingly at the risk of them losing great power and to make a Devil Lord lower their head like that, it looked like the rumours of Ayer colluding with the Devils might just as well turn out to be true.
"You are probably going to recreate your body. Although I have no idea what kind of method you will use to recreate your body, you should still need high quality ingredients and you can probably use these."
Should I be thankful that I managed to hug on the correct leg? If I had these in the past, I wouldn't be so gleeful over having Silver Bloodline. It was Diamond Bloodline, an existence that was able to suppress the Golden Tribe, the Dragon Tribe's Bloodline. In front of these, even Little Red's Golden Bloodline that had evolved into half a Diamond Bloodline's Ancient Dragon Bloodline could only be considered as trash.
Thus, I happily accepted the bottle. Ayer shook his head and mentioned another matter.
"Right, didn't you talk about Hades and Hell back then? Also, the Ghost Guards? Did you know that there is Hell in our world as well?"
Of course I knew that but it was a totally different thing. The Hell I was referring to was a jail in the Underworld, used to lock up and torture the souls of the sinner. However, the Hell of Eich was the dwelling of the Devils.
"I have talked to little Tias about it. If we are really able to create Hades, then he is willing to give up Hell and even allow all of the Devils to try out to become Prison Wardens."
Little Tias? Camier Tias? The head of the current 9 Devil Lords? Making the other party give up Hell to serve in Hades? I could finally confirm that the rumours were false. Looks like it wasn't that Ayer was colluding with Devils but the Devils were serving as the subordinates of Ayer!
This leisure chat and suggestions had exposed one of the greatest secret of this world as well as the many risks involved. This was an assistance out of goodwill, the boasting of the partner's own power as well as an attempt at trying to sound me out.
However, if the powerful Devils were to be able to join in this plan, the success rate would be increased significantly. Of course, the prerequisite was that their involvement mustn't be revealed. After all, their terrible reputation would make many things become complicated.
However, my greatest goal was the realization of my plan. Since this matter was helpful to the realization of my plan, there was no reason for me to reject it. But, even close brothers would count their debts, there were some words that must be clarified.
"Alright. However, the leader of Hades and the Supreme Judge will still have to be under the control of Wumianzhe. Also, what do the Devils intend to achieve from this? Just tell me directly, otherwise it really makes one worried about what they might do."
Naturally Devils were well known to be cunning. Why would they do unprofitable work?
"Freedom."
I wouldn't have been surprised no matter what Ayer said. But, that word was incomprehensible to me. Freedom? Could it be that the powerful race of Devils was slaving under someone? This way, wouldn't they also be controlled by someone even if they joined Hades eventually?
"It's not the freedom on the surface, but true release. You also know that once one becomes a high-tier Devil, even if he were to be killed in other dimensions, they'll just be forcefully send back to Hell with their power taking a blow. However, if they were to die in the Lower Realm, that would be true death."
Vaguely, I guessed what Ayer was going to say.
"You mean the reincarnation?"
"Yes, in order not to join the Sacred War, my people had sided with the Chaos Goddess. In the end, in every Sacred War, Devils still ended up serving as cannon fodder. Those old fellows are already sick and tired of the war and swindling they do as Devils. They hope to be released but yet, they don't want their souls to be destroyed. The current reincarnation may be open to any other race and tribe but Demons and Devils don't have to think about it. After all, they are the main army of the Sacred War."
"How many of them? This can't possibly be a decision supported by the entire tribe. How many of the 9 Devil Lords have agreed to it?"
"Including little Tias, 4 Ancient Devil Lords that had been converted from Ancient Humans have expressed their approval of the plan. Of course, it's not that the others don't agree but we didn't tell them at all and we don't intend to tell them either."
"Looks like it's a secret agreement? However, I like it. Your reputation is really too soiled. If we get exposed, there will be endless trouble in the future so this kind of secret agreement is the most suitable. "
Afterwards, it was time to discuss the terms of the contract.
The Devil's Contract was well-known in the world. As long as you were able to get by all of the linguistic traps, it would be the most effective promise in the world and the Contract that was personally signed by the Devil Lord couldn't be changed even by the Chaos Abyss.
Even if the Devils expressed sufficient sincerity and the terms were beneficial, but since they were looking for me for a partnership, I would be a little silly not to take advantage of the food that was sent to my doorstep. Thus, after more than 3 hours of difficult negotiation and Ayer's praises of 'you are even more devilish than the devils' , 'you are even greedier than the demons', I finally managed to get a Contract with terms I was satisfied with.
"Lord Ayer, are you tired as well?" Looking at the desire for reincarnation that the Devil Lords expressed in the Contract, I started to form a new opinion of Ayer who was bound to the seat of the Death God.
"No, no. The world is a beautiful place and the evolution of different races are interesting. There are still things that I would like to do. This seat as a Death God may be slightly unbearable, but it's carefree so I don't have much of an opinion of it. But, I was their King after all and I must spare a thought for the wishes of my people. Since you've been a King as well, you should be able to understand."
Nodding my head, I didn't question him further, although he aroused my curiosity of history. Ayer in front of me may seem young on the outside, but he was an immemorial monster that existed in the same era as the two Goddesses. Perhaps, I could be able to find out many true secrets from him.
"You should have met the Goddess of Order Astrya and the Goddess of Chaos Cynthia. What kind of people are they? Why would they cause this eternal war?"
Ayer turned around to look at me. The calm look in his eyes somehow made all my goosebumps rise but I was fine with it. Anyway, the man in front of me could easily kill anyone, even Gods. Since there was not much to lose, it would really be a great pity to lose this opportunity to listen to some ancient secrets.
In the end, Ayer sighed a long breath and started speaking.
"Mother Goddess, she was a good woman. She treated all living beings as her sons and daughters. However, excessive maternal love could impede the progress of the children. She hoped that all of the races could live in the way she planned out, but that was impossible. Big Sister Cynthia was the extreme opposite. She was lively and liked to look at duels and battles. She admired the relentless spirit of warriors and hoped that her children could evolve independently. Can you believe that the Ancient Demons weren't actually evil, they just liked all kinds of competitive sports…"
On this small river, time wasn't a problem. Countless ancient secrets were exposed through the mouth of this old God. Despite it being an epic legend, but through the mouth of this seemingly young old man, it sounded like the fight of the two unfilial and useless sons from the neighbors on the streets. Despite it being the bloody slaughter in the forceful replacing of Gods, he told it in a way as though it was a prime-time drama full of romance and vengeance. However, I was still absorbed in it.
"Un, this might turn out to be useful. I didn't expect Demons to have such a weakness." Yes, history was also a way to gather intelligence and intelligence was often the stepping stone to victory. I would probably only ever have this single opportunity so how could I not grasp onto it tightly?
-------------------------
As the boat approached the shore, I heaved a sigh of relief before anxiety came hitting again.
After seeing me, Elisa seemed to have heaved a sigh of relief as well.
This was a dark river in the Underground World but under the prompt of the Death God, it became a part of the River Styx. After coming to shore, the flowing River Styx disappeared along with Ayer himself.
"I'm back."
"Hmph, looks like you still remembered to return. Then, I won't sell your old dwellings to pay for my wages for now."
"Hey hey hey, don't burn the bridge after crossing it. It's bad enough that you cut the formalities and stopped calling me as master. To think that you would sell your master's house after he'as gone, how is this acceptable?"
"Do couples still need formalities? Or perhaps, you enjoyed this kind of master-servant humiliation play?"
"What?"
"You're too much! Now you're acting dumb, didn't you just accept my confession?" Elisa in the midst of faking tears…
Remembering that darned confession, I was at a loss of what to do.
"That's counted as well? Back then…"
"Hmph, that wasn't enough? No matter what, I'm a girl. As a man, it's enough that you weren't the one confessing, now you're even complaining about my confession being insufficient?" Elisa roared. However, as someone familiar with her, how could I be unable to see the worry beneath her incredible aura. She was worried that I would 'regret'.
"That…" After hesitating for a moment, I felt like I really owed her too much. Thinking about the figure who refused to back down even when the Light of Order was descending down and looking at her current look, I lost all my will to continue pursuing the matter.
"Alright, alright. Is Sulfur Mountain City still fine?"
"Sulfur Mountain City is fine, but the old City Lord Adam isn't fine." Although she said it calmly, it seemed that she was still quite delighted in seeing that I didn't object vehemently and didn't take back my words.
While feeling sentimental that there would be a day on which I got a girlfriend, I was a little curious over hearing that Adam wasn't fine.
"Un? Could it be that some problem occurred when he was blocking the Light of Order? Did something happen with the Titan Heart? I don't think that there should be a problem with my transplant surgery. Adam's thick flesh shouldn't be that weak."
"No. It's just that after Wumianzhe Ascended to Godhood, he and Margaret announced that they were dating and are preparing for the marriage. In the end, a rumour started to arise that 'Lord Adam had been abandoned by Lord Wumianzhe and Lady Margaret attacked in the time of his weakness'. There are even playwrights who use it as a topic and they added it into the newly published Legend of Wumianzhe. Now, it's a bestseller in Sulfur Mountain City, especially those previous grudges and love-hate relationship, it's really heart-wrenching and exciting. I didn't expect that we would have such an intertwined relationship back then. Right, are you and Adam really blood-related brothers? Did you really have a fiancée with leukemia?"
"Intertwined relationship your head! Don't you remember your time back then when you were still Lisa? Despite being present, you still listened to these falsehoods they made up. Damn it, to think that the rumours that I was together with Adam still had a continuation!! Right, wasn't it you who spread the rumours? You still dare to say it!"
But Elisa replied confidently.
"Of course, as your true girlfriend, I have the right to keep watch to ensure that you retain a healthy private lifestyle."
"Alright, then as your true boyfriend, can I ask what happened to you? Why are you only an avatar right now? Also, since when did you have the ability to project an avatar?!"
Yes, I had long realized that the Elisa in front of me was Elisa but not Elisa. She was only a projection of her avatar and only the true Gods of the Upper Realm and the Demons and Devils of the Lower Realm could have this kind of ability!
"Hehe, looks like I can't fool you. Right now, I'm no longer the Half-Demon Elisa. Please call me Marchioness Elisa. Congratulations, to get yourself a Marquis-level Great Demon girlfriend, this is really a record breaker."
Marchioness? Even if Elisa Demonified completely, it shouldn't be possible for her to rise through the ranks so quickly? To surpass Kakajil in an instant, how was this possible? What happened in these two months?!
Just when I was shocked about it, Elisa's avatar started to blur. Looked like her time in maintaining the avatar was running out.
"Alright, look like today's projection time's up. About the matter that has happened, I've written them in a letter and left it on the work desk in your old dwelling. You can also ask Annie."
Suddenly, the dissipating Elisa walked forward, shifted her hair to the side, lowered her head and lightly kisses my red lips. The the moment where our lips touched, I only felt a slightly cold sensation before she backed away.
She smiled with a bright-red face, as though as she was the happiest person in the world.
"Un, my target has been achieved. Also, you aren't allowed to philander. Be careful of my sudden checks."
Afterwards, the avatar projection disappeared in midair. The only thing remaining was me and my shocked face together with a silver ring in my hand.
"ELISA!!!!!"
An ominous omen lingered in my head. The shout of my soul reverberates by the riverside. It couldn't be that I turned single right after I just got myself a girlfriend.
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang by my side.
"I'm not dead yet so stop shouting. So loud, my ears are turning numb."
Elisa's voice came from the ring.
In this moment, on a certain battlefield in the Lower Realm, a silver-haired Demon Marchioness lied on her throne. While calmly directing the battle in front of her, she spoke to a familiar skull she held in her hand.
In front of her, an endless army of Demons were engaged in a slaughter. It was a Demon Count who was in the midst of a coup d'etat. As a Demon Marchioness who was favored by the Abyss and soared to the top suddenly, there were still many battles she had to face.
"I have said that I shall not let go of those which I've set my eyes upon. Regardless of whether it's the power to determine my fate or you, remember, before I return, you definitely aren't allowed to take off the ring or philander. Otherwise… you still remember what happened that day? I can tell you honestly that your skull right now is just a decoration on my coronet!"
Alright, in the face of such a cute threat, I was at a loss again. Finally, it turned into a helpless sigh.
"Sigh, System, time to finish the quest. I want to revive."