Chapter 15: Death Imprints

Death, Salinger, who wandered in confusion within the River of Eternal Darkness, turned His gaze toward Klein, who was wrapped in a grayish-white “cocoon.”

In His eyes, where pale flames were on the verge of extinguishing, the golden bird-shaped ornament pinned to Klein’s chest was instantly reflected.

The next second, a deep roar came from His rotting mouth. It echoed over the river, causing the whole of Calderón to shake visibly.

The tributary, which sometimes surged and sometimes fell, sometimes darkened and sometimes turned pale, rose with it, rushing madly toward the end of the stone staircase—toward Klein.

During this process, even more of the illusory tide fused with the grayish-white fog, taking on a similar color.

Wave after wave of grayish-white floodwater battered Klein’s body, but it could not destroy the “cocoon” around him.

Death, Salinger’s decaying body, walked step by step to the edge of the tributary. Yet no matter what He did, He could not break free. He could only stand there and roar in madness.

Klein’s gaze passed over Him and looked toward the countless blurry figures wandering on both banks of the tributary.

Some of them had already been swept into the center of the tributary by the rising tide. Unable to resist, they sank toward the bottom of the river, melting away like frost.

The rest showed not the slightest fear. They remained numb and confused, walking back and forth endlessly.

With one glance, Klein saw many familiar figures.

They all belonged to the same person: Azik Eggers, with bronze skin and gentle features.

This Death Consul seemed to have split into many selves, wandering in bewilderment between the pale stone pillars on both sides of the River of Eternal Darkness.

This… Just as Klein’s heart stirred, his right leg suddenly went cold.

He instinctively lowered his head and saw a pale hand.

The hand had pierced through the grayish-white “cocoon” and was gripping his calf.

Its owner floated in the surging flood like a drowned ghost, trying to drag Klein down into the depths of the water as well.

Its attack could actually ignore the aura of Sefirah Castle!

Sensing Klein’s gaze, the owner of the pale hand raised its head, revealing its face.

Black hair, brown eyes, ordinary features, and a slight scholarly air.

Klein Moretti!

This “drowned ghost” was Klein Moretti!

The next second, Klein’s left leg, right shoulder, and left arm were also seized by different pale hands.

His entire body turned ice-cold. His spirit body seemed frozen. He could not use any Beyonder powers, and even struggling became difficult.

The three pale hands belonged to different blurry figures, yet those blurry figures all had the same face.

Klein Moretti’s face!

Dragged by these four “drowned ghosts,” Klein’s body gradually left the grayish-white “cocoon” and sank into the flood.

His body grew colder and colder. His thoughts gradually fell still. His field of vision darkened bit by bit, until only the swaying, lightless waves remained.

Above the gray fog, within the ancient palace, Klein’s consciousness returned to his true body.

Without hesitation, he stretched out his hand, mobilized Sefirah Castle’s power, and through the connection between himself and his historical projection, stole an item from the latter.

A speck of golden light flashed. Klein grasped the golden bird-shaped ornament.

At the same time, he stopped maintaining the image from the historical void.

The figure “drowned” in the floodwaters of eternal darkness vanished with it.

“The fact that they can ignore Sefirah Castle’s aura means those four figures really are me… But how could I be trapped in the tributary of the River of Eternal Darkness, wandering without end? Four figures… four figures…” Klein’s expression turned grave. He lightly tapped the edge of the mottled long table. Amid the hollow tapping sounds, inspiration came to him.

The fact corresponding to “four,” “souls,” and “death” was this: he had already died four times and revived four times.

Of course, after becoming an Attendant of Mysteries, the four opportunities for resurrection had reset.

“Every death leaves an imprint within the River of Eternal Darkness, regardless of whether the resurrection succeeds? I died four times, so four figures of me wander on the banks of the River of Eternal Darkness?” Klein roughly grasped the key point and sighed inwardly. “As expected of a sefirah. As expected of the symbol of death, eternal slumber, the endpoint, the end, deep darkness, and similar things… Is this the unusual danger the Goddess said I would face? Hmm. When that historical projection was ‘drowned’ just now, I suffered some mental damage. If my mental state were unstable, something might already have gone wrong.”

Based on this deduction, Klein gained a new understanding of the many Azik figures and the wandering Death, Salinger:

They were all corresponding death imprints.

“Mr. Azik died many times during his Undying stage and later in the process of searching for his memories. He simply revived each time. Judging from the present situation, although an Undying cannot die, there are still great hidden dangers. Once the number of deaths accumulates, perhaps one day the main body will be drawn into the River of Eternal Darkness and become one of the figures who wander forever… Salinger only has one figure… That means after accommodating a Uniqueness, one’s death imprints also become unique.” As thoughts raced through Klein’s mind, he began to worry somewhat about Mr. Azik’s future condition.

There were two ways to resolve this hidden danger. One was to restore Azik’s soul, preventing him from repeating the past. The other was to help the Evernight Goddess become a Great Old One and gain control over the River of Eternal Darkness.

“Heh, perhaps this will turn out to be another two-in-one choice. Once the Goddess becomes a Great Old One, She will no longer need to use the half of Mr. Azik’s soul.” Klein restrained his thoughts and returned his attention to the purpose of this trip.

He had entered the depths of Calderón not to resolve Death Salinger’s death imprint and cut off His last hope of resurrection, but to obtain some water from the River of Eternal Darkness.

“Clearly, the illusory tidewater that overflows from the river won’t work. That is only diffused aura, not the river water itself. Also, the river water fused with the grayish-white fog won’t do either. It isn’t pure enough, and probably won’t achieve the intended effect. From the looks of it, I can only take water while the tributary has returned to its deep-dark state. Heh, the main stream is simply inaccessible. That grayish-white fog is certainly another sturdy barrier.” Based on his analysis, Klein quickly drafted a plan.

He would first avoid approaching the River of Eternal Darkness and avoid drawing Death Salinger’s attention. He would wait until the tributary receded and turned deep-dark, then go over directly, letting his four death imprints drag the historical projection toward the riverbed.

During this process, the historical projection would seize the opportunity to use the golden bird-shaped ornament and take some river water. Then Klein’s consciousness would return to Sefirah Castle, and through Theft and the close connection between the two, he would take back the golden bird-shaped ornament.

After refining the steps, Klein returned outside Calderón, that spirit world city, and once again summoned his own image from the historical void.

He repeated the earlier process. Before long, he had returned to the stone stele topped with the gigantic bronze bird statue, walking step by step down the grayish-white stone staircase.

The aura of Sefirah Castle around him gradually thickened, turning into a thin “cocoon.”

It did not take long for Klein to once again reach the end of the stairs. He saw the River of Eternal Darkness flowing through the void, the pale giant pillars on both sides, and the countless blurry figures wandering at the tributary’s edge.

This time, he did not hurry forward and leave the stairs. He waited patiently in place, waiting until the tributary’s water receded, shed its grayish-white color, and turned deep-dark.

Now! Klein’s figure flashed. He stole the distance and appeared in a corner that Death Salinger could not see.

As expected, the moment his body entered the water of the River of Eternal Darkness, one pale hand after another immediately pierced through the aura of Sefirah Castle and seized his legs and arms.

His four death imprints appeared around him, intent on dragging him to the bottom of the river!

The deep-dark river water submerged Klein’s head, making his body cold and his thoughts silent.

Before he completely lost sensation, transparent, twisted worms crawled from the area around Klein’s neck. They swiftly reached the golden bird-shaped ornament, clustered around it, and lifted it up, preparing to draw water from the River of Eternal Darkness.

At that moment, within the swaying illusory river water before Klein’s eyes, an enormous shadow appeared.

It was a giant bird completely submerged by the tributary of the River of Eternal Darkness, suspended in the water.

Its body was covered in feathers woven from pale flames and mysterious patterns, but much of them had already been dissolved by the River of Eternal Darkness, exposing patches of pitch-black, decaying skin that oozed pale-yellow pus.

The giant bird’s eyes looked as though they had been cast from bronze, with layers of illusory doors hidden within them.

The Phoenix Ancestor, Gregrace!

The ancient Death who created the Underworld!

Bronze light erupted from Gregrace’s eyes, instantly enveloping the golden bird-shaped ornament and Klein’s historical projection, intending to drag them over together.

After weighing his current situation, Klein made his decision in an instant and gave up the attempt to draw river water.

His consciousness immediately returned to Sefirah Castle, and he stole the golden bird-shaped ornament back.

His historical projection scattered with it.

There are dangers underwater as well… The ancient god Gregrace, the Phoenix Ancestor, has completely sunk into the River of Eternal Darkness… If the Goddess truly accommodates the Death pathway’s Uniqueness, and Salinger cannot take the chance to revive within Her, He will probably sink into the water like Gregrace. And Gregrace’s death imprint will thus dissolve further… Klein sighed silently and made corresponding adjustments to his plan.

Immediately afterward, as before, he summoned an image from the historical void and returned to the end of that staircase.

He waited for a while. When Death Salinger turned His body and walked slowly, heavily toward the riverbank, Klein abruptly stole the distance and appeared before Him.

The next second, Salinger let out a low roar, causing the tributary’s surface to rise rapidly.

At the same time, Klein was seized by his own death imprints and forcibly dragged toward the riverbed, sensing the Phoenix Ancestor, Gregrace.

As before, bronze light erupted from Gregrace’s eyes.

But this time, the light did not envelop Klein and the golden bird-shaped ornament.

It enveloped Death Salinger.

Grafting!

Seizing this brief opportunity, the Worms of Spirit that crawled out from Klein’s historical projection lifted the golden bird-shaped ornament.

The ornament’s bronze eyes likewise released light, drawing in a small amount of river water.

In the next instant, Klein’s consciousness returned to Sefirah Castle. He raised his hand and retrieved the ornament.

Whew. Finally done… Looking at the golden bird-shaped ornament in his palm, he slowly let out a breath.

For the owner of Sefirah Castle, this task was indeed not especially difficult. As long as he did not recklessly enter with his main body, he could rely on repeated failures to accumulate experience and understand the situation.

And if not for the fact that two Deaths existed simultaneously in the tributary of the River of Eternal Darkness—one wandering, one sunken—Klein would not have failed twice.