The Second Path

Lynch knew his soul was an offering to the Ancient Flicker, already stamped with its brand, waiting to be claimed in a month's time.

And what the evil god described by Madam Bessie wanted also included souls.

Thus, from the very beginning, he had intended to sell the same goods twice. Naturally, such an ingenious trick had to be put to good use.

Since both of you want a soul, I can only ask you to fight it out first to decide who gets it.

In any case, it was about finding a path to survival amidst death. If he succeeded, he could break the deadlock and save Officer Natalie; if he failed, it was nothing more than death. His life had been pulled back from the brink with her help anyway, so he had nothing left to fear.

For this reason, before entering the Thorn Flower, Lynch had deliberately consulted the Travel Companion in his mind. The answer he received was that it was feasible, so Lynch had made up his mind on the spot.

When he came down, it just so happened that Jeremy was confessing the truth—or perhaps Jeremy had deliberately waited for him to come down before spilling everything. As he listened, the gentle Travel Companion had already offered a reminder:

The mysterious filth had established a strong connection with his soul.

Perfect. Lynch was completely at ease now, and the moment the vortex's oppressive force manifested, he charged straight over.

There were no actual spiders or toads like in the illusion; in reality, it was merely two eerie auras colliding head-on.

It was silent and soundless, yet in the very next instant, bizarre phenomena erupted.

Lynch seemed to see a ruined city on frozen earth, spiders crawling over webs, ferocious behemoths, wars of tearing flesh and blood, dense spiderwebs, and writhing silk cocoons.

Everything came in fragments—shards of light and shadow, fragments of sound. All overlapping, they surged into Lynch's brain in an instant, wracking his head with pain so intense it felt as though his skull would burst.

Yet that was merely what his mind could comprehend. Beyond that, even more twisted, taboo, and incomprehensible fragments crashed into his consciousness. Clutching the moon pendant on his chest tightly, he felt on the verge of madness.

In a daze, he caught another glimpse of those two inexplicably terrifying entities. The clash ended as quickly as it began: more than half of the human torso and arachnid body disintegrated into dust, dragging the remaining half-abdomen and a few legs as it rapidly retreated. Meanwhile, the six-legged, human-faced toad behemoth, having just been startled from its slumber only to be struck head-on, saw its body shatter into drifting debris.

Roar.

A silent howl erupted from the depths of Lynch's soul, laced with fury before slowly dissipating over time. The gaze that had been fixated on Lynch and Natalie vanished abruptly, that indescribable will receding back into the vortex like an ebbing tide.

“Aargh—”

The shock was too overwhelming. Clutching his head, Lynch nearly collapsed to his knees. His brain felt as though it were boiling, agonizingly painful and hopelessly chaotic. He couldn't even make sense of the current situation and could only desperately ask in his mind: ‘Were those two evil gods just now? Did we succeed?’

【That was merely your brain translating reality into images you could comprehend for self-preservation, but you indeed succeeded. The web of concealment has been broken; both the mystery relic and the event have escaped the web, severing your connection with the entity.】

‘Phew.’

Lynch let out a long breath of relief. Even though his headache was severe enough that he wanted to chop his own head off, he couldn't resist a faint smile. Yet before the corners of his mouth could curl upward, the gentle female voice resonated in his consciousness once more.

【Lynch, after it. Reach your hand into the vortex, quickly.】

This was the very first time the female voice had made a request on her own initiative. What was more, her tone—usually as gentle and calm as an onlooker's—carried a distinct sense of anxiety and urgency that Lynch could clearly feel.

But Lynch still hesitated.

While he didn't know what godforsaken place lay inside, he knew something had just retracted into it.

Reach inside and grope around? Don't be ridiculous.

Yet upon a second thought, he realized three things:

First, throughout all these years of loneliness, the one who had stayed by his side was very likely her.

Second, she had never harmed him.

Third, she was his sole reliance in this world.

There was no reason not to trust her once more. When had she ever failed to help him?

Therefore, it took Lynch only a single second to make his decision.

He glanced back at Officer Natalie. With the eerie will having receded, her strength had returned, and she was tearing free from the cobwebs to get to her feet. Knowing he didn't need to worry about her for the moment, he dashed over to the vortex under her astonished gaze and reached his hand inside with his eyes squeezed shut.

Please don't let me touch anything weird. Lynch didn't even dare to imagine it.

Yet there was nothing inside. Lynch grabbed at empty air. He felt around his surroundings; the first two attempts grasped nothing, but on the third, he felt as though he had caught something.

He was only unsure because his hand physically felt nothing, yet an instinctive feeling welled in his heart: I caught something. Without thinking, he subconsciously gripped that "thing" and pulled his hand back.

Opening his eyes, he looked down at his palm, but it was completely empty.

Was my feeling wrong? Did I actually grab nothing?

But in the next instant, he realized something was amiss. A sudden searing heat radiated from his chest, as if something had caught fire.

Touching his chest, he found it wasn't an illusion—what was burning hot was the moon pendant hanging around his neck.

Surprised, Lynch took off the pendant and held it in his hand, discovering it was emitting a faint red glow, turning the originally black pendant into the distinctive crimson of the red moon.

What is this?

As his gaze focused on the glowing pendant, Lynch felt a wave of dizziness, as if his vision were being sucked into it. He hurriedly shook his head to regain his senses, only to suddenly realize something was wrong.

In the blink of an eye, he was no longer inside the dim cavern. Instead, he found himself in a pitch-black void, surrounded by endless emptiness, suspended in midair.

What's going on?

Lynch knew this was definitely related to the pendant, so he wasn't nervous at all. He merely pressed on in his mind: ‘Is everything okay outside? Will there be any changes to the situation out there?’

【Time here is warped and will not affect the passage of time outside. What you grabbed just now was one of the former authorities of the red moon: Concealment. After the fall, its Divine Authority was usurped by the Abyss Weaver. It was by usurping the Divine Authority of Concealment that it gained the characteristic of hiding secrets.】

Huh? What? That thing was an authority? Aren't authorities purely conceptual? How can one be grabbed by hand?

But thinking back carefully on how it had felt just now, he was thoroughly convinced.

【The authority you seized activated the Red Moon Memories, awakening its lost authority.】

‘Wait, this thing is actually a holy memory of the red moon? One that can facilitate my soul alienation? Meaning I was wearing a holy mystery of the red moon every day while running around searching for a holy mystery? Why didn't you ever remind me?’

【It was not originally a holy memory. Only after absorbing an authority that originally belonged to the red moon can it be used as a holy memory. Furthermore, a deity's authority is only dropped after the deity's avatar or will is shattered. Under normal circumstances, you would have had no such opportunity, so there was no need for me to remind you.】

Lynch's mouth twitched. That made complete sense, leaving him at a loss for words.

【Now, Lynch, originally you had only one choice, but a second option has presented itself.】

‘It seems even you've become proactive because of this, Travel Companion.’

【Yes, and that too is because of this second choice.】

‘What is the second choice?’

【You could proceed according to the original plan, using the holy memory of the red moon to undergo soul alienation via conventional methods. In that case, I will accompany you to the end of this path of awakening, witnessing every scenery along the way with you. Now that you have a second choice, I can use this item to open a new path of soul alienation for you. If you choose this path, I will still continue to accompany you. Compared to the conventional method, this path entails hundreds or thousands of times more hardships, but during our journey, we will get to witness distinct and extraordinary scenery together.】

‘Isn't this too sudden? I have to choose right now?’

【Yes. This opportunity comes only once; you must decide immediately.】

‘Let me ask first—is it just my imagination? When you introduced the second choice, you seemed to deliberately omit a phrase. You intentionally left out "to the end of this path of awakening." Why?’

【You will know the reason in the future, but... it was not your imagination.】

‘Yet I'll have to face hundreds and thousands of times more hardships?’

【Yes. Long and arduous.】

‘And for me? Will there be any benefits?’

【That cannot be determined. All I can say is, perhaps.】

‘Heh, is that even a question? As a transmigrator, I love distinct scenery.’