ad-fusion Chapter 471: The cold truth
Chapter 471: The cold truth
"Sister Ume, please explain what you said again," Nymeria demanded, appearing on the roof seemingly out of nowhere.
She had arrived just as Ume embraced me in tears, and had been silently observing from the background, waiting for Ume and I to reconcile.
Ume composed herself, wiped her tears with her sleeve, and began explaining everything she had witnessed in her dream.
---
"So a Pisacha is going to appear in this world, and you saw me dying at its hands," I concluded with a quiet sigh.
According to her, the sky would split open, cities would be reduced to ruins, and the land would be blanketed with the corpses of awakeners. She had even seen a brown-haired man and a black-haired woman on the brink of death. From her description, those two had to be Aryan and Saya.
"Taranis, now that I have told you the reason," Ume murmured, "can we please leave?"
"Ume, this is all the more reason I cannot leave," I answered in a firm tone. "Just put yourself in my place. Would you have abandoned your friends and family under such circumstances?"
She clenched her fists and lowered her eyes. She knew what kind of person I was, and could not bring herself to argue further.
"Don’t worry," I said, patting her head. "No matter what happens, I will not die."
Just as I spoke those words, a series of notification screens materialised before me.
Ding...
"Your Summoned has absorbed Yin Energy.
You have received ten percent of the absorbed energy.
Yin Energy +10,000"
"Yin Energy +10,000"
.
.
.
"Yin Energy +10,000"
Ding...
"You have absorbed enough Yin-Yang energy for a breakthrough."
"Beginning breakthrough to the next realm..."
My hair stirred without any wind, and my skin began to radiate a pale white glow. With a sudden release of energy, I felt both my Soulforce and my stats surge.
Ding...
"Congratulations! The Host has successfully broken through! The Host’s realm has increased.
Level Two Awakened Sage → Level Three Awakened Sage
All stats +50"
Both Nymeria and Ume were visibly startled by my sudden breakthrough, though neither asked any questions about it. Their minds were elsewhere, still burdened by the weight of the prophecy.
"Ume, do you know the exact day the prophecy will come to pass?" I asked, ignoring the notifications.
"Not exactly, but I can try to determine it by replaying that vision in my mind," Ume answered, now fully composed.
"That’s alright. You do not need to," I said, gently cupping her cheeks.
I could not bring myself to ask her to relive the sight of me dying. She had already been deeply shaken by it, and I had no wish to put her through that again.
"I will do it," she answered, taking my hand.
"You really do not need to—"
"I will be fine. Truly. If it means we can find something in those visions that might alter the prophecy, I can witness them countless times."
"Thank you, Ume," I said softly, before pressing a kiss to her cheek. Turning to Nymeria, who had remained frozen since Ume’s revelation, I said, "Nymeria, stay with Ume. I will sweep the surroundings in the meantime."
"W-wait, Taranis," Nymeria called out, her lips trembling slightly. "You must stay here as well."
I looked at her for a moment, then relented with a quiet sigh. She was too frightened to let me wander off alone, and I had no desire to cause them any more worry than they already carried, so I chose to stay.
Ume sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began replaying the visions she had witnessed. Nymeria stood at the edge of the roof, keeping watch for any unforeseen attack.
In the meantime, I turned my attention to the rewards I had received from the quest.
"Vivi, claim the quest rewards."
"Initialising Host’s request..."
Ding...
"The Skill Yin-Yang Soul Conjuration has levelled up.
Yin-Yang Soul Conjuration (Level 2):
Current Capacity: 1/2
Soul Type: Troll {Check for details}"
"Huh, there was no option to check details before."
I tapped the details button and another screen appeared.
"Summoned Name: Devouros Prime
Race: Troll
Current Rank: Soldier {Tap to rank up}"
That brought up another interesting option. I summoned Prime back. It had been standing a few hundred feet away on the road after killing all the trolls in the vicinity.
It dissolved into a haze and rematerialised before me, wreathed in abyssal black energy.
Nymeria’s head snapped around the instant she sensed the dark energy radiating from Prime, though she held herself back once she realised it was under my control. Her expression made it clear she had a great many questions for me, but she chose to hold them for now.
I turned my attention back to Prime, which hovered at eye level with me, its shadow-like body traced with faint white lines.
"It devoured Yin energy from all those corpses, yet it is still the same size as before. Does it need my permission to grow stronger?" I murmured, rubbing my chin.
My theory was that it had previously grown from its child form back to its adult form because that had been its original state before I stripped its Yin energy to break through to the Awakened Sage Realm. Returning to that level had required no permission from me. But advancing it beyond that was clearly my decision to make.
I tapped the rank up button on the system screen, which brought up another prompt.
"Ranking up your Summoned will consume all Yin Energy they have absorbed.
You will not be able to absorb the Yin Energy of your Summons once they are ranked up.
Would you like to rank up Devouros Prime?
[Yes] [No]"
"So I will not be able to drain its Yin energy after it ranks up. A small price for what I am getting in return," I said, tapping Yes.
Prime was already as formidable as an A-Ranked Awakener, and I was still receiving ten percent of whatever Yin energy it devoured from the dead. There was no reason to keep it from growing stronger.
The moment I confirmed, a darkness deeper than the night itself began coiling around Prime’s body before swallowing it whole. Waves of ominous energy pulsed outward in unsettling ripples as the mass surrounding Prime swelled and expanded.
Nymeria’s gaze shifted back to me, her expression caught somewhere between suspicion and disbelief.
I offered her an awkward grin before turning back to Prime.
Gradually, the churning energy subsided and its body became visible once more. Disappointingly, it was no larger than before. The only discernible difference was that its silhouette was slightly more defined, the black energy that perpetually bled from its frame now far more contained and deliberate.
Ding...
"Your Summoned, Devouros Prime has ranked up.
Soldier → Veteran."
"Summoned Name: Devouros Prime
Race: Troll
Current Rank: Veteran
Skills:
1. Shadow Summon (Consumes 10,000 Yin Energy): Prime can summon a subordinate unit of five shadow trolls to support it in battle.
2. Gigantification (Consumes 30,000 Yin Energy): Prime can double its size. All physical stats increase proportionally with the skill."
"Now we are talking," I said, genuinely pleased. "One question though. Do activating these skills draw from my Yin Energy?"
"Devouros Prime can activate these skills using its own Yin Energy reserves. If those reserves are insufficient, the cost will be drawn from the Host’s energy instead.
Note: If Devouros Prime is destroyed, it can be resurrected, though doing so requires 100,000 Yin Energy."
"I see," I murmured, reading carefully. "Since we are already here, show me how much my Yin-Yang Energy pool has grown."
"Initialising Host’s request...
Attribute: Yin-Yang
Yin Energy: 230,000 / 400,000
Yang Energy: 230,000 / 400,000"
My limit had been 130,000 at the First Level Awakened Sage. It had now tripled upon reaching Level Three, which meant minor breakthroughs were not simply doubling the cap with each ascension.
While I was reading through the figures, Ume’s brow began to furrow and her breathing grew unsteady. I immediately stepped off the railing and crossed to her side. Nymeria did the same from the other.
"Sister Ume..." Nymeria whimpered, clutching Ume’s hand tightly, worry carved into every line of her face.
It was only then that I noticed something troubling about myself. I had not been particularly affected by the news of my own death in Ume’s prophecy. It had stirred nothing within me. I had been calmly reviewing my stats and system rewards without sparing the prophecy more than a passing thought. The only part of it that had unsettled me at all was the idea of Nymeria and Ume being left alone without me.
That realisation sent a chill through me. My eyes widened and my lips parted in shock.
’The Corruption of Death has consumed me so thoroughly that I no longer care whether I live or not,’ I muttured inwardly, confronting the cold truth.