Chapter 161: This Is A Long Long Journey

Author’s Note: Please note that the talks between Scharlott and Anthony are in single quote because they have one mutual mind.

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I sat on the throne of the palace.

It was cold under me, and too large for one man. The hall around me was quiet except for the faint noise of people moving in the rooms below. The red windows threw long stripes of light across the floor. I had stopped noticing them a long time ago.

’Hmm, you have made the palace better than it was in my time. You have made soldiers and put the people in rooms. Put punishments for the people committing acts that you think are cruel and unjust. Even opened a whore house, now that is truly unique...’

Scharlott’s voice came from somewhere behind my eyes. It was rough and lazy, like a man talking from a couch.

’Shut up, idiot.’

’Though I have to say you aren’t any better than me.’

I snorted. ’And how is that so?’

’I mean, you are now giving people food and saving them from assaults, but for what? You say to people that they need to kill a Beast almost every day, otherwise they will be executed.’

I did not answer right away. I looked at the floor in front of the throne. The stone there was clean. It had been cleaned many times.

’So what can I do? If I go and hunt things myself, the palace will be in chaos. And if people won’t hunt beasts, everyone would die of starvation. It would still be chaos...

And I want absolute order.’

Scharlott chuckled. ’If you had your complete humanity, you wouldn’t have done this, am I wrong?’

I felt nothing at the question. That was the strange part. A man with his full feelings would have flinched, or argued, or gotten angry. I only considered it.

’I do not have a choice. If I want to get these people out of this realm, back to their homes, then they have to bear the little pain. Live in order, avoid chaos. In the meantime, I will have to prepare for Sanctification.’

Because Scharlott had consumed a Shard, when our souls merged, my Core jumped from Silver to Gold.

That was the only good thing the merge had given me. I could feel the new weight of it in my chest, heavier and denser than the Silver one had been, and the spiritual power in it moved like deep water.

My affinity was now Chained Vampire.

The chains still came when I stamped my foot, spectral and patient. But now they came with something red inside them, and I did not need to ask where it came from.

My Sanctification ritual required me to gather 1,225 liters of blood, and the people that gave it had to live under my command.

’I was a Devil Fiend before consuming the Shard,’ Scharlott whispered. ’Though as a Fiend, I had some level of intelligence, it wasn’t as intelligent as a human being. Because if I was, it wouldn’t have ever consumed a Shard.’

’And why is that so?’ I asked.

’A Shard is also a kind of backup plan for Saints who are about to reach the end of their lifespan that is usually 500 years. If someone consumes a Shard, they are basically living under a ticking clock. When the time comes, the Saint would awaken and take over the body.’

I nodded inwardly. A ticking clock. I thought of the huge clock in the great hall below and decided I did not like the comparison.

’And how do you know all this? More importantly, why did you choose me to merge your soul?’

Scharlott chuckled. ’Looks like you are getting interested...

’When you consume a Shard, memories of the Saint enter your brain as well.’

’You haven’t answered my second question...’

Scharlott laughed. It was a long laugh, and it rattled around my skull until I wanted it to stop. ’I knew you would want to get these miserable people out of here. And in order to do that, you need to become a Saint. And if you become a Saint, the Shard would collapse and then I can escape your body and live without the fear of a Saint awakening inside me.’

I leaned back against the cold stone of the throne. For a moment I said nothing at all.

’And what gives you the idea that I would let you go?’

Scharlott quietened.

It was the first time since the merge that his voice had gone out like that. The silence in my head was strange. I almost enjoyed it.

I used it to think about the route.

Through a specific route you could get inside this mountain, and inside the mountain was a portal that could take you back to Earth. However, the thing guarding the portal was a Nightmare Horror. Defeating it was almost impossible for a Superior Awakened. A Saint could do it quite easily.

I knew this because the Shard had given me the memories, and I could see the route clearly. It was a narrow path, and I could see exactly where it narrowed.

’Why don’t I get the information from the Shard like you?’ I asked, more seriously this time. I was repeating the question he had not asked aloud.

’Because I am the main vessel.’

Of course. The Shard had been built to feed its main vessel, and I was only the second one. A second chair at a table meant for one.

I nodded before sighing.

’I guess it is going to be a long, long journey.’

The red light had crawled across the floor while we talked, and now it touched the bottom step of the throne. Below me, someone laughed in a distant room, and the sound was thin and brief. Then it stopped.

I did not move. There was a great deal of work still to do. And it was far from getting complete.