Chapter 823: An Eternal Dilemma
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Upon hearing that, Benjamin was stunned.
A bad premonition surged into his heart, and once again, he subconsciously struggled, trying to move his limbs or to cast magic. The result, however, was the same: He was unable to do anything. Even the water elemental sensing technique seemed to be completely lost at this point. He could not even smell the water elements.
Other than his mental faculties, everything else belonging to him had been frozen, as though... Someone had stripped time away from him, turning him into a small character fixed upon an oil painting.
"What on earth is going on here?" He hurriedly asked the System.
"I have no clue either... Haven’t I told you not to make such a big hoo hah out of all this?" The System said impatiently, "Even the intangible form is not available. I’ve tried it the moment you got stuck. There’s no use at all."
...Could this be?
Benjamin’s heart grew almost cold, as he stood frozen in place.
The alarm left by the higher dimensional beings in his subconscious mind had finally stopped ringing. Like an alarm clock that had rung for more than an hour, it had finally given up and would rather not make a sound anymore.
"Hand the elemental organism over to me. It does not belong to this world, therefore it must be destroyed." The soul of bones continued to speak in a demanding tone.
Benjamin came back to his senses, and forced himself to recover from the unbelievable blow. He listened to the bone dragon’s words. There was a sudden glimmer of hope, and he asked back in his heart, "If I hand it over, would you be willing to let me go?"
However, the soul of bones replied, "The world of the dead that you have angered is what holds you prisoner, not me. I am unable to do anything about this."
"Then why should I hand it over to you?"
"Because it does not belong to this world. This is the law. It does not belong to the world of the living, nor does it belong to the world of the dead. It should return to its original place."
...Brain dead fellow.
Benjamin could not help but swear at it secretly.
Laws, laws... That was all it talked about. Who motherfucking knew what kind of laws existed in the worlds? He had not planned to dramatize everything. If it was not for this fellow pressuring them so hard from behind, all of this would not have happened.
He tried to return to his space of consciousness, but the most frightening thing was that he could not even get back in there. The power of this strange law had blocked him out of everything, as though it really wanted to keep him in this accursed place forever.
This possibility horrified Benjamin.
"Hey, think of a way to get out, I can’t stay in this damn place forever!" He hurriedly spoke to the System, "Motherfucker... The academy is still waiting for me, I must go back."
However, after a long silence, the System answered, "I have no idea."
Benjamin’s hope was plunged completely into the abyss, but he still did not give up. An enormous stress burdened his shoulders, and he understood what his purpose in life was. He definitely could not be kept here, in the netherworld, as a floating statue.
There would... There must be a way.
He tried to communicate with the water elemental sprite through the spiritual connection. Fortunately, a vague response echoed back through the spiritual connection. The water elemental sprite, being the projection from a higher dimension, was unable to be completely restrained by this power of law.
Nevertheless, having suffered serious injuries, the response it sent back still seemed tired and confused.
In its ordinary state, after the sprite had been injured, it would be able to rest in the space of consciousness and repair its own body by using the water elements. However, at the moment, the space of consciousness seemed to be sealed up by that energy. Judging from the response of the sprite, it had not been able to heal itself, and was beginning to feel somewhat anxious.
However, Benjamin still felt that his only hope rested upon it.
Was there some way to help the sprite access treatment?
"Even if I’m willing to hand the elemental organism to you, what must I do?" Suddenly, he spoke to the soul of bones. "I’m locked in place here. I can’t even use magic. So what would you have me do to get it out for you?"
"Where have you hidden it?" The soul of bones asked.
"In the space of consciousness. Some people call it the Zone of Prayer. You can think of it as a world made purely out of my spiritual energy," Benjamin explained.
Hearing this, the soul of bones suddenly fell silent, and immediately after that, Benjamin could feel spiritual energy that was filled with an aura of death circling him. Gradually, it wrapped up his entire body.
...Was he being possessed?
Benjamin was alarmed, and goosebumps almost rose all over his body.
However, something more horrible was yet to come. After the spiritual energy had completely covered him up, there was a sudden and cold shiver from the depths of his soul. It was as though he was being ’read’. At that moment, he felt like he was transparent; all his secrets, thoughts... Were being exposed before other beings, open to be read by anyone.
This was a horrible feeling!
"What the fuck... I’m being molested!" Suddenly, an alarmed yell from the System rang out. In the next second, the soul of bones let out a muffled snort. The spiritual energy that had been wrapped around Benjamin began to retreat, layer by layer.
Benjamin gave a sigh of relief.
However... What was that about?
"A body with two souls? Another soul is hidden in your body?" The voice of the soul of bones suddenly became extremely disgusted, "You are a monster. Your soul does not even belong to this body. It should not even exist in this world at all!"
Benjamin was rather surprised. He had not imagined that it could discover this fact.
However, things having progressed as they were now, even if there were others who knew about the existence of the System and that he was a dimension traveler, so what? He did not even think of this as a problem.
"Yes, I come, as a god, from another world to save the commoners of this world in water and fire. So what? Are you afraid now?" Abandoning himself to the bad situation he was already in, he began to speak viciously, "If you’re afraid, then think of a way to get me out. Otherwise, you, a little underworld soul, will suffer!"
The soul of bones was just as solemn, "You are crazy. When you get a bit crazier, I will be able to directly extract the elemental organism out of your spiritual world. No one can stop me."
"Then you may slowly wait."
Although those were the words he spoke, Benjamin still felt extremely anxious. He dared not imagine what alarming changes would happen to the academy if he were to disappear right then. It had not been easy for the three nations to establish such a delicate balance. Furthermore, there were the mage organizations which were jealous of the academy, as well the people in the academy who would be without a leader...
The worst would be if the Church knew about this. They would surely make a comeback.
He must not disappear like this.
In determination, Benjamin began to try all sorts of solutions. He chanted spells in his mind, drew runes in his heart, tried the Law of Runes and Meditation, and attempted to use psychic powers... He did all that he could think of. He even tried to use the water elemental sprite as a bargaining chip to undergo several negotiations with the soul of bones. However, after more than ten hours, he was still stuck here.
The twist came about fourteen hours later...
"Wait a minute. What’s that?"
Alerted by the System, Benjamin suddenly realized that a few flying figures had appeared in the southern sky.