As Li Yue felt her vitality draining away, she felt a strange urge to laugh. This piece of God's remains was quite interesting; it was actually trying to absorb the vitality of "Death" itself. This was a first for her.
With a peculiar smile, she watched as her life force ebbed lower and lower. Then, like a game of tug-of-war, the flow suddenly reversed. All the absorbed vitality surged back into her body, and she even began to drain the life force from the God's remains. The entity quickly tried to release its skeletal grip, but Li Yue grabbed its hand firmly.
“Don't even think about running...” Li Yue muttered, clutching the hand bone as she greedily siphoned its vitality. This sudden reversal of roles felt eerie to the two onlookers, yet they both let out a heartfelt sigh of relief.
Li Yue gripped the hand bone with increasing force. With a sharp crack, the carpal bones were actually torn away. When she let go, the hand bone flew back to its original position.
The coffin shattered violently as a massive skeleton stood up. Some muscle was still draped over its frame, but the majority of its body remained a skeletal husk.
“What on earth is this?” Li Yue frowned, asking the question involuntarily. Although the flesh clinging to this inanimate object belonged to a deity, the skeleton itself was not part of the God's remains; it was just the bones of a normal human who had died long ago.
Wearing a crown, the figure swung a giant sword, its movements driven by the remaining muscle.
“This is a king who died eight hundred years ago. He was the ruler of the Ancient Kingdom of Grack,” Sharon said suddenly, pointing at the wall. “That’s what it says here.”
“You’ve actually studied such obscure languages?” Mende was surprised. He had already prepared his sealing rituals and magic books. This was his purpose for coming—to seal the God's remains. This was also why Li Yue had asked for his help.
Death Abyss could also seal God's remains in its own way, but considering the issue of trust, Li Yue had decided to let them perform the seal before deciding how to store it.
Sharon nodded.
“This kingdom once flourished, but it vanished overnight, as if it were all a great dream, leaving nothing behind.” Sharon deciphered the text on the wall by the light of a flame at her fingertips.
“I didn't expect there to be any trace of that era left here,” Sharon murmured. “This means that the dynasty did exist, but it disappeared for some unknown reason.”
“Is this the last emperor?”
“Based on the title, this should be the last emperor recorded to have died of natural causes—the text says he died of old age. The final emperor, however, vanished along with his kingdom.” Sharon was shaken. Li Yue dodged an attack, momentarily refraining from destroying the skeleton, which possessed significant archaeological value.
“Miss Li Yue, please let him rest,” Sharon said, seeing Li Yue's hesitation. “He was a wise and sagacious king. He shouldn't be forced to fight after death.”
Li Yue nodded. A longsword made of blood crystal coalesced in her hand, clashing against the skeleton's greatsword. The impact actually sent a jolt of pressure through Li Yue's wrist.
“He was a Great Mage in life, one who specialized in close-quarters combat,” Sharon warned.
Li Yue nodded and struck again. The moment their blades met, she twisted her wrist, thrusting her sword at a strange angle toward the flesh clinging to the skeleton.
“Got you!” she whispered. But in the next instant, she found herself standing on the surface of that black sea once again.
Is this... a dream? Or something else...
On the surface of the black sea, a version of herself—identical in every way—suddenly lunged forward and ran a sword through her heart. While it wouldn't kill her, it made her experience the sensation of death once more.
She snapped awake to find the giant sword closing in on her. She swung her longsword horizontally to block the strike. Having lost the mood for testing her opponent, she plucked the blood crystal from her chest, and a blood sword appeared in her hand.
Where the blood crystal had been, only a crimson pattern remained.
She looked at the two people nearby; their eyes were hollow as they stared blankly into space, seemingly trapped in deep dreams.
Is the ability to trap others in dreams? However, it seems it can't decide what kind of dream they have. It seems it really is just an incomplete piece of flesh after all.
She swung the blood sword, instantly shattering the king's greatsword and slicing through the body that was still being puppeted after death.
If it can use dreams to control others, even to the point of controlling a skeleton after death... does that mean this dream isn't being dreamt by the owner of the body? Or is it that these skeletons' dreams are different from hers? Are they all trapped in one massive dream? The ability to construct such a dream shouldn't be possible for this piece of flesh alone.
That must be it. Her vision blurred, and she found herself back on those black tides. She looked at the "self" standing not far away and grinned.
“I'll do it myself.” Li Yue stopped the other version of her and thrust a blade through her own heart. In that instant, she woke up again. Her sword was suspended in mid-air. The enemy tried to dodge, but she followed up rapidly with a fierce strike, slicing the lump of flesh in two along with the skeleton.
The flesh wriggled slightly on the ground, slowly trying to merge back together. Death Abyss immediately swarmed over it, and a massive amount of vitality began to flow into Li Yue's body. Her frame trembled slightly. This staggering amount of life force was no less than what she had gathered from several islands of ordinary humans. It truly lived up to its reputation as the flesh of a god.
Currently, this was the only way to subdue it. Once it could no longer maintain its magic, Mende and Sharon would regain consciousness.
The flesh quickly shriveled up. Mende and Sharon soon woke up, but the skeletons in the temple still seemed to be moving. Li Yue remained silent for a moment before gesturing for Mende to begin the sealing.
“Creating dreams... that's terrifying!” Sharon gasped.
“This piece of flesh can only make us fall into dreams—specifically, the dreams we often have,” Li Yue said flatly. Her fingers were trembling slightly, though she appeared to have regained her usual composure.
“The way to wake up is to experience death within the dream.” Li Yue smiled. “I often die in my own dreams, so I suppose that’s a bit of luck.”
She forced a smile, but her body was still shaking and her teeth were chattering slightly, as if she were suppressing something.
“The seal is complete.” Mende held a box. Li Yue nodded to him, and the group quickly left the temple and returned to the ship. Sharon didn't say much, only ordering the ship to set sail before stating she needed to rest.
The crew seemed to realize that the three of them had gone through a lot in that strange temple and didn't ask many questions. In truth, Sharon and Mende were mentally exhausted and damaged from being forced into those dreams.
Li Yue was different.
She sat on the edge of her bed, her body unable to stop trembling. Blood-red threads reached out from the Death Abyss, slowly wrapping around her body, starting from her ankles and moving upward.
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