"Don’t lose your mind on me again." Ash’Kral shared calmly, "Although there is a way, I still consider it an impossibility... because you need to fight the Hound inside the Rift of Binding Laws, and somehow make him put you inside the spiritual trial to devour his shadowlife seed and its knowledge... if by some miracle you succeeded in this, you won’t go through just the spiritual trial imposed by the Hound, but also the same spiritual trial belonging to Seraphis. Only when you pass them both will you be eligible for the knowledge transfer process."
"I might have hid the truth, but it changes nothing... the odds are still not in your favor, and I don’t want you to waste your time on this. If it weren’t for Old Bark annoying me with it, I would have spared you from such a hassle."
Levi remained silent for a few moments, deep in thought... he wanted to lash out at Ash’Kral for lying to him, but he saw no benefits in doing so.
Ash’Kral was... Ash’Kral. Hiding the truth and spewing lies was in his nature.
Thus, he turned to the Titan and asked calmly, "Elder, is this true?"
"I am afraid it is." The Titan replied, "Usually, it’s impossible to revive someone who has lost their soul or shadowlife seed... However, if it was devoured by another seed holder, it left a small chance for revival since both knowledge and soul were stored inside... Ash’Kral is the Array Grandmaster, who has pioneered the revival array, calling it: Return To Roots Array. If there is one person who can pull it off, it’s him... but."
"But, I need to get Seraphis’ Pride Fruit first." Levi finished it for him.
"Also, Seraphis’ corpse needs to be preserved." The Titan added, "If you truly want to go through with this, you have to find a way to maintain his corpse."
"Of course I will do it." Levi uttered coldly, "The Hound is the Bishop’s loyal dog... if I am going to get to the Bishop, he will be a hindrance... my fate is already intertwined with him whether you liked it or not."
"We already know that, but killing him is one thing, and being put in a spiritual trial is another." Ash’Kral scoffed, "It’s the last thing anyone would do... they would rather die than expose their most traumatic experience to their enemies. Worse, if they conquered it, they would strengthen their enemy, and no one wants that."
Levi understood that Ash’Kral was speaking a ton of sense... if Seraphis wasn’t focused on protecting them during the expedition, he would have died honorably rather than put the Hound in his spiritual trial.
That’s because, although the spiritual trial was based on the seed holder, in reality, the seed itself was the arbiter... it made sure to create the most heart-wrenching and soul-crushing spiritual trial based on the memories of its owner. Only if they succeeded would it deem them worthy of having his evolutionary knowledge transferred.
"I will see what I can do when the time comes." Levi said calmly, "For now, I have to convince the High Chancellor to bury an empty casket."
***
Some time later...
Levi and the High Chancellor were standing in front of Seraphis’ frozen corpse inside the medical pod... they hadn’t removed him yet, waiting for the last day to start the cleansing preparation.
"High Chancellor... I am thankful you took some time off from your busy schedule to entertain my request." Levi spoke respectfully.
"Of course." The High Chancellor gave a wrinkly smile, "Never hesitate to ask for my help... we are all here for you and your team."
"Much appreciated." Levi took a deep breath and requested, "I seek your assistance in convincing the government to bury an empty casket."
"Hmmm?" The High Chancellor’s brows crooked in confusion.
Not needing to ask... Levi went on and explained the situation to him. He didn’t mention Ash’Kral’s name, but he did tell him that he had found from a credible source that Seraphis might still have a chance of returning to life.
He didn’t tell him ’the how’ to avoid scaring him off... after all, the Hound was a Blazewarden, and the High Chancellor was the only one in their region at the same rank.
"This... what you’re asking is too difficult to pull." The High Chancellor frowned, "We have already announced the funeral to the public, and if we decide to bury an empty casket, it will show."
Levi nodded in understanding... he knew that many Daywalkers could easily notice that the casket was empty, which would create chaos in the Funeral. After all, telling the council might be easy, but they couldn’t hide it from the public.
"That’s why I want the funeral to go as planned." Levi shared, "After it finishes, we can dig up Seraphis in a few days and preserve his body in ice again... If I succeeded in reviving him, then we can come clean, and I doubt anyone will be upset with having Seraphis returning to duty... if I fail, well, nothing changes... we can bury him in the same spot again and no one has to know."
The High Chancellor kept his thoughts to himself... he glanced at Levi’s serious expression and then at Seraphis’ peaceful visage.
He could tell that Levi wasn’t having difficulty coping with Seraphis’ death... he was brought this subject to him because he was assured of his information.
Although the High Chancellor would rather have Seraphis buried instead of having Levi risk his life to save him, he knew that wasn’t an option.
Just because Levi came to him, it didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to go for it if he said no... this made him understand that the best option was to go along with him. At least, he would know what’s going on then.
Still... he had to double-check.
"How certain are you about this? As much as I would love to have Seraphis join us again, I know reviving someone isn’t common... it requires sacrifice regardless of the method chosen." He asked solemnly, "So tell me... how much are you sacrificing?"
"Trust me when I tell you... It’s not enough for what Instructor Seraphis has done for me." Levi replied, his tone unflinching.
"I see..." The High Chancellor smiled kindly as he patted Levi on the back, "Albeit short, Seraphis has surely installed the right qualities in you lads... I am proud."
"Is that a yes, sir?"
"Do what you have to do... we will handle the funeral and maintain his body. Just promise me you won’t take too much of an unnecessary risk. The last thing Seraphis or either of us would want is to have you lose your life on this quest." The High Chancellor sighed, "Seraphis will bite my head off if he knew I approved of this."
"Mine too." Levi chuckled.
***
After Levi received the approval, he finally went to meet up with his friends on the rooftop... of course, he didn’t tell them about any of this, and he knew the High Chancellor would also keep it to himself... At most, he would share it with his trusted circle since this was an unofficial work.
While Levi was enjoying his time with his friends’ company and eating good food, Dominic was standing in front of the World Tree’s dimensional mirror. He was holding the broken Sun Amulet in his hand, glancing at it once in a while.
This time, he was wearing an actual formal black suit and had his hair combed to look professional... one glance, and anyone would doubt if this was truly the same Dominic. Though his current appearence was more fitting for his role.
He was waiting alone... waiting to be called.
’I hope this works...’ He let out a soft exhalation as he fixed his tie, seemingly a bit nervous.
Then, the dimensional mirror rippled faintly, and he heard a single deep authoritative voice shake his spirit.
’Enter.’