Chapter 565 - 563:May I?

Chapter 565: Chapter 563:May I?

"Uhmm... this..." The young man snapped out of his shock as his attention turned toward me and the others.

I smiled. "So? What do you say? Mind having a little conversation with us?"

Raiden Agares, to his merit, recovered relatively quickly. His expression ironed out into a calm one as he let out a long breath, turning to the blond-haired, grim-faced youth beside him.

"See, Leon? What did I tell you?" he asked his friend, his voice wry.

The blond youth didn’t bother replying, his grim expression only hardening further.

"Hmm?" I couldn’t help raising a curious brow at the name of the blond youth.

"Leon?" I shot Leo—who was still in his human form, a form that annoyed me to no end—a curious glance.

"Don’t start... it is merely a coincidence, that’s all it is."

"Sure, LEO, if you say so."

"Ugh... I hate you, Dante."

I ignored the cat, returning my attention to the white-haired youth as he finally answered my question.

"I don’t mind, dear visitors, but shall we take this somewhere more... appropriate?"

"And where would that be?"

"Well..."

...

...

"Okay, I’ll admit it," I spoke out, taking in the ambiance of the room around us. "I didn’t think you’d be brash enough to bring us inside your own home."

Yes. The young man had brought us into the very mansion of the Duke, having some servants entertain us as we sat around a gilded table.

"Should I call this bravery or stupidity?" I couldn’t help asking out loud, as the act seemed very curious to me.

"Heh! Nothing of the sort, dear visitors. It’s not bravery or foolishness, just pragmatism."

"Pragmatism, you say?"

"Indeed."

"And why do you say so, if I may ask?"

"Because, dear visitors, I have a very peculiar... let’s say, ability, and this ability allows me to quite literally be unkillable."

"The Undying Young Master."

"So you’ve heard of that embarrassing title," he laughed, amused.

"The whole city couldn’t shut up about you; it was inevitable." I shrugged, picking up a cup of tea.

"Indeed, I have an ability that makes me undying. Not just super regenerative, but truly unkillable."

"Interesting..."

"Indeed. But what I find more interesting is the fact that this ability of mine, for all its complexity since I got it, is now blaring alarm bells within my very being whenever I look at you."

"At me?"

"Not just you... at all of you... maybe not the old man," he pointed toward Dad, who had just taken a sip of tea.

"Kuh..." The old man choked and spat out the tea he’d just taken. "Oi!! Little shit! What do you mean by that?"

"I meant no offense; it is just that you’re the only one my ability is silent about, because when it comes to the others, it only says one thing..."

"Death?"

"True and absolute. A final state I have no hope whatsoever of ever returning from." The young man’s answer left me unable to do anything but smile.

"So that’s your reason?"

"Indeed. For if you—someone capable of killing even me—hadn’t yet turned my world into a lifeless wasteland by now, then I have no reason to treat you as anything but honored guests."

I gotta say, I was already liking this guy.

"Hahahaha... that’s a very funny way of looking at things, Raiden."

"I find that simple things tend to make life a lot less complicated."

"Spoken like a true man." I laughed even harder.

I was really starting to like this guy.

"Hey, you..." Father called out, stopping my laughter.

"Me?" Raiden asked, confused.

"Yes, you said you had an ability that ties you to death?"

"Ahh... yes and no."

"Yes and no?"

"My ability doesn’t tie me to death; it liberates me from its hold instead. Which is why I’ve somewhat made death my primary source of strength. I’ve found that counteracting forces work well to strengthen each other, as weird as that might sound."

"Hmm... I see," Father nodded thoughtfully before his expression sharpened. "Is your ability the reason I sense so much death around you? For someone who claims to be liberated from it, your whole being feels a bit too saturated by its essence to me; it’s almost like you’re..."

"Death itself? I know, I’ve had that crisis multiple times myself." Raiden’s voice interrupted. "The first day I awakened my ability, I had thought it the best shortcut possible. I felt no pain, no fear of death, so naturally I used the most dangerous of abilities—one that literally killed me whenever I did use it. But my ability made me unable to remain in such a state, hence I always returned, stronger yes, but more corrupted by death’s influence."

We all listened quietly as the young man raised a hand to his face, his arm turning a frightening pitch-black as the wailing of dead souls drifted through the room like an omen. Wherever his arm passed, the atmosphere—

"Stop... you’re hurting her." For the first time since what felt like ages, the atmosphere... was talking to me again.

"Ahh... I apologize." Whether he knew what I was talking about or not, I didn’t know, but the young man apologized before continuing with his story.

"And so, with every breakthrough in my strength, the connection and corruption deepened, until I broke through what I call ’the three layers of death,’ currently at the third layer, where it feels like I could become Death itself should I so wish."

"Law Manifestation," I whispered.

"What?"

"The stage you’re on, it’s not called some flimsy three layers of death; you’re at what we call the Law Manifestation stage, where someone begins to manifest their own created laws. And you," I pointed at him, "seem to have manifested some new offshoot of death’s law: Undying Death. What a name."

"How did you..."

"Don’t worry, I’m a lot more than you know." I merely smiled.

With Chaotic Comprehension now always active, was there anything I couldn’t get the instant I laid eyes on it?

"Haa... well, that’s it," he sighed, turning toward Father. "That must be why you felt the large concentration of death essence on my body. It’s because at this stage, I am in fact an actual death being, and have a connection with death, whatever that is..." The young man shrugged before adding, "Although one thing does seem off lately."

"Hmm? What’s that?"

"My connection to death—it suddenly disappeared a few days ago, and now it feels like I’m an isolated entity."

"Your connection to death... disappeared?"

"Yea, feels weird to say, doesn’t it? But that’s what happened."

I shared a look with the others, Malachi and Paku shrugging their shoulders whilst Leo tried not to drift off into slumber from the long conversation, with only Father, Shulvan, Salazar, and myself still actively listening.

"Hey!! What about me?"

And of course, my beautiful wife, Shaia.

"Humph!"

I laughed.

"But that’s enough about me for now, dear guests," Raiden’s voice cut through our staring contest as he finally gave us the floor. "May I be so bold as to inquire what it is you have come to my world in search of, O visitors from the outside?"

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A/N: This guy seems quite powerful, well, he’s about to understand what true power is anyway, and as always...

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Thanks for reading...