Chapter 298 Secrets, What A Loving Thing! (1)
Chapter 298 Secrets, What A Loving Thing! (1)
"What is this place?" Ashton asked the moment he opened his eyes.
He was surrounded by nothingness—an endless white room with nothing to be seen, but his reflection. The place was giving off eerie vibes as if it was a specially made cage, something to hold him there. Honestly, it was getting to Ashton's nerves, especially after his fight with Beelzebub.
"Beelzebub! I have to kill him!"
Ashton panicked as the last moments he captured before losing consciousness flooded his mind. From what he remembered, Beelzebub was alive and much to his dismay, in better condition than he was.
Astaroth had warned him that if he failed, no one on the damned planet would be able to stop the Demonic Xyran. Not the trio, not his friends, no one. Astaroth's warning was the reason Ashton was losing his crap. Since he wasn't on the battlefield, he could only assume he failed to kill the Xyran.
"There has to be another way, Astaroth, you here?" Ashton asked, but got no reply, "Come on man, it's not the time to act like this! We have to stop him."
"Someone already did." A voice echoed from behind.
Ashton immediately turned around, only to see another reflection of him. But this one was clad in the armour resembling the one he was when he 'Demonified'. Only this armour was much bigger than the one he remembered, while he also had a sword similar to the one Beelzebub had. But it was different at the same time.
However, even the sword was a bit different. The weirdest part of it all... Ashton could feel the sword talking to him. The voice he heard earlier wasn't of Astaroth's like he had thought, but the sword's. The sword was talking to him, at least that's what he thought at the moment.
"I see, you're the one bonded to my master." The Mournblade scoffed, "Tch, what a disgraceful master he was... being bonded to the likes of you. he couldn't have bonded with a lower species."
"... What the hell?"
Ashton was dumbfounded. Any sane person would react the same if a talking sword appeared in front of them. Out of all the weird things, meeting with a talking sword was certainly something he could not have foreseen.
"Don't be surprised mortal. For I, the Mournblade, is here to thank you for returning me to my truthful owner."
"Truthful owner? You mean Astaroth?"
"Indeed."
"If he was your owner then what were you doing-" Ashton asked a question but was cut off in the middle.
"Your questions aren't important right now," The blade replied, "The only thing of importance is what are you going to do next?"
Ashton was a bit confused by the blade's question. The blade was asking him questions as if there was something he should have been aware of, but he wasn't.
"What do you mean?"
Ashton could visibly see the sword sigh as soon as he asked that. Something weird was going on and he had no idea what.
"I am asking, whether you want to live or not?"
The blade expected the mortal to panic, but when Ashton didn't, Mournblade was a bit curious about him. Did he know more than he was letting on, or was he truly oblivious to everything?
"And why exactly am I going to die?" Ashton asked.
"Impure Demonification has consequences." The blade replied, "I assumed Lord Astaroth informed you about the high risks of transforming into one. Especially since you are clearly not qualified to do so."
"He did not..."
"That imbecile, I mean... I see. My sincere apologies then." Mournblade coughed before carrying on with the explanation, "To put it simply... you have exhausted around 99% of your lifeforce or as you call it, HP, while Demonification. The 1% that remains is currently being siphoned off. Thus you will die shortly. However, I can help you out."
"I guess, you're not generous enough to help me without a selfish reason?"
"Of course not. Saving you or killing someone is nothing more than a transaction for me. But I can't let you die. To be precise, I can't let my master die. I already lost him once, and I would like for him to not die again."
"Hm... that is true. If I go bye-bye, so does Astaroth." Ashton scratched his chin, "So you just want to save Astaroth, your master as you said."
The Mournblade scoffed, "Obviously. I wouldn't bat an eye if you were the only one dying."
"Ouch... You're even worse than him at talking." Ashton smiled, "But I guess I'm not too enthusiastic about dying either."
"A fine choice. Now you shall-"
"Now that I answered your questions, could you answer some of mine?"
The blade was clearly agitated by Ashton interrupting him, but since Ashton was technically his owner now, the sword couldn't deny answering him. After all, what kind of servant would he be if he didn't even obey his master?
"Please go ahead..."
"Why did you appear just now? I mean, Astaroth was your master before so you could have appeared a lot earlier-"
"Your physical body was neither strong enough nor could you live through the process of Demonification. Demonification is necessary to call forth a Mournblade." The blade replied, "I hope that answer is enough to satiate your... curious self."
"I do have another question. Last one for now, where are we right now? Is it my conscience or something?"
"Do you watch too many movies?" Mournblade scoffed.
"Movies... what are those?"
"...I'll just answer your previous question. This place is my innate ability. You can call it a Null Domain. An endless private place where you can keep anything and anyone inside. I, and by extension, you are the god of this domain. You can do anything you want once you are inside."
The blade continued, "You control even control the flow of time here. Feel free to change the flow of time, or stop it completely as I have to save the 1% of your life to have this conversation. But I highly recommend not using it without my supervision. Time is not something you should mess around with even if it's only subjected to this domain."
"Just one more question-"
Mournblade immediately cut him off, "Now, since our conversation is over, it's time to send you back. Do not tell anyone that you possess a Mournblade. Also, keep in mind you won't be able to wake up for a while till your body recuperates. Farewell."