Book 3: Chapter 26: Fooled and Revelation
"Darkness," a chilling tone emerged from Death though it appeared that was just the being's natural way of talking. "Why do you bar my entry into his body?"
"Because he asked me to. I'm going to ignore you now, okay? Loney-boy is the one you have business with, not me. I'm just the bouncer and until you figure things out with the owner, this club is off limits, ol' buddy ol' pal," Darkness chuckled.
The cloudy grey humanoid figure peered down at Lone who stared back with calculated indifference. "Allow me into your body. I do not wish to fight Darkness, I just wish to satiate my curiosity. If you are worried about awakening, that will not happen."
"Now why would you want in my body? Gilbert told me about your deal to save his life. You wanted to be brought to me so you could talk about how I've escaped 'certain death' in your own words. You never said you wanted to poke around in my sensitive areas," Lone stated, to which Gilbert sputtered nervously.
Meanwhile, Soph spoke to Lone mentally. 'Are you sure you want to do this? You convinced me and Sophie but... I think we can kill it if we work together. Maybe. Probably? I don't want another one inside you...'
'Every ally against Zel will count, willing or otherwise. And I love the confidence. I personally don't think we could kill a Primal yet but you kinda make me want to try,' Lone replied to which Soph smiled brightly, but she otherwise nodded and agreed with his plans.
Death took a moment to answer but ultimately said, "I lost control of my urges. I did indeed want to simply discuss with you but seeing you in person is far different to watching the fluctuations from afar... Do you know how death works?"
Lone raised an eyebrow. He reached into his dimensional storage and pulled out a wolf-skin armchair before placing himself in it. Darkness quickly assumed a position behind the chair to loom over him while Soph occupied his lap.
"As much as any other person. Maybe a bit more. When your life ends, you die. This is not always irreversible," Lone answered a bit cryptically, not too keen to give up some of his theorised plans that involved dying.
"That is true. I personally like to look at it as stress building while a journey is embarked upon. Eventually, the stress makes any further progress on the journey no longer possible. That is when those who have ended their journeys come to see me and I watch their next step as a passive observer. You are, however, wrong in that death is not always irreversible. Even should you come back from the dead, you did die. The death was not avoided. It happened and was undone but it happened nonetheless,"the Primal stated its opinion.
"And this relates to you trying to enter my body how...?" Lone asked, not really wanting to debate the philosophy of death right now.
The coldness in Death's tone eased as curious interest took over. "You should have died. You should have died thrice over. You did not die and undid it. You did not die and move on to the next stage of life."
'Wait, there's a 'next stage'? Like an afterlife? Wonder what that's like,' Lone thought in the middle of Death's words.
"You did not masterfully avoid death as so many before you have. No. You should be dead, yet you are not. Do you not know how being a Primal's avatar works? I shall tell you. It erases the individual from existence as the Primal truly becomes the person they have chosen as their avatar. You, Lone Immortus, should have ceased to exist, a true death, the very moment Void made you its Primal. Again, not much later when Sky did the same to combat Void's efforts to destroy everything. And again, a third time, when Djinn Harsios forced you to become an avatar for Darkness," Death explained.
Darkness shook its head sadly. "Never mess with demigods, especially djinns. Having power over beings stronger than you is unfair..."
Lone pursed his lips contemplatively. "That's news to me. All avatars have turned out that way?"
"No, not all avatars. There are avatars for more than just us Primals, but when it does come to us, yes, there has never been a case of a chosen Primal avatar retaining their existential essence. The weight of a Primal is much too heavy to allow such. I wish to know how you accomplished this three times. May I... May I enter your body if you cannot vocalise the reason for this occurring?" Death requested, its politeness no doubt a result of Darkness's presence.
'Sky doesn't talk to me, Darkness enjoys talking about me and the meetings, not about itself and its kin. Void isn't even worth mentioning. Death seems pretty open about these secrets, and they are secrets judging by Gilbert's surprise,' Lone concluded. "Okay. You saved Gilbert's life. Letting you inspect me is the least I can do to repay that, I suppose."
An expression of guilt overcame the dragonkin's face but Death didn't hesitate. As soon as it had received permission from Lone it dove into his chest, disappearing into his body.
Darkness sighed. "I wonder if the others will be so easily fooled? Well, I'll go shove that idiot into your soul and give them a guided tour. Expect a light pinching. Fingers crossed you get a powerful skill, hmm?"
Lone nodded before the figure retreated back into his body. Gilbert creased his brow in confusion. "What? You colluded with Darkness to make yourself an avatar of Death as well?"
"Got a powerful new enemy I need to worry about. Need equally as powerful allies and skills to fight the fucker, oh this feels weird. Never been conscious for an awakening or becoming an avatar before," Lone replied, a frown on his face as he felt pins and needles across his entire body. "Was shocked it tried to jump into me immediately. That could have been bad since Darkness didn't have time to lay its web by then. Took a whole convo to get things prepped."
"Will you be okay?" Gilbert asked, worry on his scarred face as he approached and held Lone's cheeks, slowly moving his head as if that would help him determine his state.
"I'm pretty sure, yeah. I've talked about it with Darkness a lot. Basic Regeneration prevents anything physical from happening and I think I have an incredibly strong soul. Darkness says it's seen nothing like it before since it can entrap three Primals, including the most powerful, Void," Lone explained.
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Gilbert pursed his lips before letting go of Lone's face. He looked at Soph and asked, "And you're okay with this? I worship and respect the Primals but they are entities with unknown motives and unbridled power. I do not want to know what Death may be capable of when it learns it's been bamboozled."
Soph smiled awkwardly. "Um, I am against it. So is Lone. But we need the power an avatar Primal skill will give Lone. Zel's too strong to turn our nose up at any new source of strength, even if, um, I really don't like Primals... Treating Lone's body like they own it..."
"Zel? Who's Zel? Word of you fighting and injuring Prince Keining reached my desk last week so if this 'Zel' person has you so worried, they must be as strong or stronger than a higher XX-ranker, right?" Gilbert reasoned.
Lone clenched his hands in wonder, fully unable to feel his body at all, though he could sense his soul was working to bind and imprison a wildly struggling Death right now.
"Arch Devil Zel, the Seventh King of all Demonkin. A being powerful enough to rival Divines. I know his true name and I beat him at his own game. He has information on my unique skills and will likely use that to enlist a powerful devil to kill me since I made sure neither he nor I can interact with one another. He also can't fuck with anyone I consider a companion," Lone summarised.
Gilbert closed his eye and sighed while he squeezed his forehead. "I hate my racial skill. I absolutely despise it. I have letters to write."
"What? Letters?" Lone was confused.
"Well, I destroyed the communication orb my father left me since I wanted to cut off contact with my family when I left. Letters are the only way I can contact the Shimmerscales Clan now," Gilbert replied. "Well, unless my great-uncle shows up but I have no idea how often he visits the Crimson Foxkin Clan."
Soph tilted her head. "Why are you contacting them if you hate them?"
"I don't hate them, I hate their mindsets. And if we're going to kill an Arch Devil, we need at least a Divine to help us, don't we? My great-grandfather just so happens to be one such existence. I may have to return to the clan and it may cost quite a lot to buy his favour since family connections can only go so far, but I won't sit idly when you tell me your life is being endangered by a powerful demonic entity," Gilbert stated, conviction and power in his voice.
Lone was in shock. A wave of gratitude overcame him. "Thanks. That would help... That would help a lot. Gimme five more mins to finish dealing with Death and I'll revoke your cyclops status, yeah?"
"Cheeky little bastard. You'd better fix it, I only lost the damned eye trying to protect you," Gilbert laughed.
After Death had been successfully imprisoned within Lone's soul as planned, he used Full Body Diagnostics on Gilbert and then restored his eye. He also reversed his ageing, resetting the death timer that had slowly been ticking down, so to speak.
The grumpy old dragonkin had refused the healing of the scar that has come alongside his blinding, claiming it built character. Lone couldn't disagree. If Basic Regeneration wasn't so vehemently against it, Lone would have constructed a couple of lovely scars on his own body to show just how battle-hardened he was.
There was always creation magic, but he understood his own body even less than Sofia's odd eyes so that was a huge risk for something so pointless. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.
He and Soph had returned to the five-story pagoda being lent to Rodorick's caravan of merchants after saying goodbye to Gilbert. They'd arranged to meet up tomorrow with Grimsley and Shana too. Right now, Lone was reviewing his notification log.
Congratulations! The host has awakened to the Primal, Death. Warning: Awakening four times increases the rate at which the host ages by eight times.
Congratulations! The host has been chosen by the Primal, Death, to be its avatar! Warning: The host may lose their sense of self and be possessed by the Primal, Death, during the assimilation process of becoming Death's avatar.
The host has developed the Primal skill [Lifespan Revelation].
Primal Skill: Lifespan Revelation
A skill granted to the Avatar of Death.
Lifespans are fleeting yet firm, eternal yet finite. The smallest ripple sends waves across the entire ocean that is one's lifespan.
Passively grants the host the ability to see the lifespan of others. The bigger the connection the host has to the target, the vaguer the lifespan shown is. Limit: Restricted to beings at or below the rank of the host.
Cost:N/A Mastery:Beginner Level 1
Congratulations! The host's world skill [Full Body Diagnostics] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4.
Repairing Gilbert's eye and restoring his youth hadn't come even close to entering an MP overdraft bracket for Creation Magic, which was certainly nice. Lone was a bit scared the man would have secret magical eyes like Sofia's but that was thankfully an unfounded worry.
"How fuckin' useless," Lone sighed in defeat as he looked at his new Primal skill again. "I allowed another Primal into my soul for this garbage?"
'How dare you,' the cold voice of Death reeled. 'You will be grateful. I detest this prison you have forced me into but it was my own greed that led me to being fooled by you and that snake of a sibling I have. I will respect you but in return, I expect respect for this skill.'
'Why?' Lone responded in his thoughts. 'It's useless.'
'Your mind is hard to read thanks to these vaults and... odd cubes. Speak out loud if you wish to communicate,' Death demanded.
Darkness chuckled. 'Come now, It's rude of us to expect Loney-boy to speak to himself like some fool. It isn't that hard to navigate his mental defences. He doesn't even actively block our words. He asked you 'Why? It's useless.' by the way.'
'Hmph. Why, he asks. You assured me he would bring out the full potential of the skill. I made it passive for that very reason. Lifespans are not definitive. The skill description told all already. They can be changed by the slightest of actions. Lifespan Revelation has the potential to interact with lifespans beyond just seeing them. I have given you a tool with so much potential it will far surpass the destructive capabilities of even Void's Avatar skill. It need only be nurtured,' Death explained in a displeased tone.
'That'll hardly help me with fighting an Arch Devil and whatever forces he musters to kill me. Ha-ah... Well, it would have been stupid of me to expect a game-changer since I imprisoned you. Thanks at least for not giving me a completely useless skill, I suppose,' Lone sighed.
Darkness replied, 'I made it very clear to my new cellmate that your soul is a lovely home to cultivate our power within and it would be most unwise to upset the jailer given Mental Destruction's ever-growing power what with your quick rank-up speed.'
Lone frowned and didn't respond. It always felt like Darkness was up to something even if the purple being always told the truth. At least, it did as of late.
With a final sigh and a shake of the head, Lone left to find Soph and Breena. He wanted to test his new Primal skill and train. He had little else better to do with the rest of his day after this disappointing fiasco.
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