Chapter 258 Flooded (End)
Soul Binding. Although it was actually a simple procedure of binding one's soul with something—usually a High Grade Artefact or Relic—in Asia's perspective, Basil was devouring her.
Technically, Basil wasn't even binding his soul with Asia; he was merely reattaching a soul that had been split in two in the past. Of course, the result was the same as if he was binding his soul to her, since "Vagus" was already bound to him.
Asia, who had wanted to keep everything to herself, was extremely dissatisfied this happened to her. She had planned to self-destruct after Basil left the space to keep all the things he would eventually figure out in the future.
Alas, Basil had perfectly seen through her intention, so her plan to self-destruct was nothing but a mere plan. She, of course, didn't just let him do what he was doing as she tried her best to break the procession.
Unfortunately for her however, Basil was much more experienced than she thought. All of her effort to break the procession did nothing to it; he could proceed with it without any difficulty at all.
"Aaahh! You sneaky child! Let your ancestor go now! I don't want you to question me everyday!" Asia felt like crying—no, she was already crying as Basil didn't bat an eyelash at her. "Basil, my descendant, please let this pathetic ancestor of yours go!"
"I agree that you are pathetic, but no, I won't let you go."
"Can you, at least, not insult me?!"
Basil clicked his tongue in slight annoyance as he looked at his ancestor, who had lost her gracefulness. She really looked like "Vagus" now, and he dreaded how the two would be after their soul became one once again.
"Look at my eyes, Basil! Do you have the heart to let this frail woman—"
"Yes."
"Insolent child!"
Basil nodded his head casually as if he agreed with Asia, and it further irked here. Unfortunately for her—luckily for Basil—she couldn't throw her protest at him, since right before she did, she had been completely absorbed by Basil.
Asia's soul had now been perfectly combined with "Vagus," who was already close to finishing her Evolution. Basil hoped that her soul's completion would accelerate the process even faster, because he was curious of what the new Asia would become.
Having been separated from each other for thousands of years had apparently made them different. Not just from the way they behaved, but also how they looked.
The Asia he had been with for a decade, "Vagus" was a young woman who was just as tall as Iliana, 178 centimeters tall, meanwhile the Asia he had just met was a mature woman with a height of 188 centimeters.
Both of them looked otherworldly attractive, and were playful, however in terms of aura, "Vagus" could never match Asia. Being a true soul, Asia's presence carried the weight of her original power.
Basil wasn't saying that "Vagus" wasn't a true soul, but considering that she had perfectly become a Sword Soul due to the long years she had spent being sealed in Zepar's sword, her soul no longer carried the weight of her original power.
Rather than feeling like the soul of a powerful person that was sealed in a sword, "Vagus" felt more like a soul that was born from a sword. Her soul had adjusted to the vessel it had occupied, as it was the nature of the soul.
Just like how Basil's powerful soul when it occupied his younger self's body. If not for the fact that his soul had quickly adjusted to the body it occupied, Basil would have exploded the moment he returned to the past.
That being said, he wondered what the combination of a true soul and a Sword Soul that belonged to the same person would result in.
"As expected, Vagus, or I should say, Asia's Evolution is accelerated. Unlike before however, I don't know where her Evolution will lead her to anymore."
Basil could feel it: while Asia's presence became more overwhelming than before in his Mindscape, her connection with him was not as strong as it used to. He couldn't predict her any longer, as he had become weaker than his Sword Soul.
Basil was the type of someone who was ashamed of having a power he couldn't handle, but Asia's Evolution was something he was anticipating.
He had Caliburn with him now, so he didn't need to be worried of destroying his sword whenever he used [Synchronization]. It should be enough to handle the burden of Asia's soul.
The problem was him; whether he could handle the burden was depending on his Mastery level. He needed to be, at least, a Seventh Circle Mage or a Peak Violet Core Knight to execute [Synchronization] to its full potential.
He didn't care even though Asia was already stronger than him, because he was even more motivated to get stronger faster, so he could pull out her full potential.
"Now, how do I get out of this place?"
Although Basil was a tranquility lover, staying in such a tranquil place while knowing that something must have been going out there was the least thing he wanted to do. He looked around quickly, while looking for the "exit."
"Oh? Since it feels like a Mindscape, can I just..."
Basil resorted to the way he used to eject himself from his Mindscape. He "commanded" the realm to take him out, and he was slightly surprised when he found it worked.
His body—his consciousness was slowly sucked out of the realm as he could gradually feel the connection between his body once again.
When his consciousness had fully returned to his body, Basil was assaulted with the familiar suppressing atmosphere of an Alternate Dimension. He had returned to Solomon's vault, and he could feel two people standing in front of him in worry.
"I am sorry, I spaced out a little bit."
"A little bit? You have spaced out for half an hour!"
"I am back now, so it is fine."
Iliana looked at Basil's nonchalant face weirdly, before sighing helplessly. It had been her second time seeing him spacing out for the day, and she still couldn't tell what exactly was happening during that moment.
"Are you ok—"
"Have you collected all of the treasures?"
"Is that what you should concern about?" Iliana was dumbfounded.
Uncaring to Iliana's reaction, Basil turned to Deacon. "Have you collected all of the treasures?"
"We have only collected half of them. We were too worried about you to mind about such things."
"Worrying over me is nothing but an unnecessary action, but I appreciate it."
Basil smiled and rubbed Deacon's head to show his appreciation. He immediately turned to Iliana the moment he felt her intense gaze, and also rubbed her head to show that he was grateful for what she had done.
"Do I look like a child to you?"
"Did you prefer a spank?"
"This guy..."
Iliana was speechless for a couple of seconds before eventually bursting in laughter. She was amused by the fact that she could hear something like that coming out of Basil's mouth, so she couldn't hold herself back from grasping his bottom.
"You have grown."
"... I would prefer you doing it privately."
"Hmph! You shall be grateful that I show my love openly."
"Being a pervert and a lover are two different things."
Iliana merely smirked and grasped Basil's bottom once again at his words. Basil shook his head at her childish behaviour then looked around the vault that was already half empty.
Extending his left hand forward, he infused his Mana to the ring that had ever housed Asia's soul in it. Since the ring was no longer occupied, he was intending to keep the remaining treasures there.
He still had much empty space left in his Spatial Bracelet and Spatial Ring, but he intentionally didn't use them because of what the Ring of Solomon's 9 Seals could do—the long range absorption.
Different from any other Spatial Rings or Spatial Bracelets, the Ring of Solomon's 9 Seals didn't need to be near the object that he wanted to store to store it. As long as his eyes could see the object, it could be stored.
Flash!
A bright light briefly enveloped the entire Alternate Dimension, and when it died down, all of the treasures that were previously there had gone. It was now nothing but a room with tiles flooring covering an area of 1 square kilometer.
The altar was still there, but all of the precious things had all gone. Basil had stored them in his new Spatial Ring in just a few seconds.
It was all thanks to the High Grade Rune Solomon had Carved on the Ring—[Instant Stow]. It was the highest quality of Spatial Rune, and was also most complicated one at that.
Although Basil could also make it with the slight help of the Guide, he simply didn't have the catalyst that would allow him to do that. He couldn't just Carve the Rune with a Third Grade Beast's blood after all.
"Now that everything is done, let's get out of here."
"Wait, how did you—ah!"
Uncaring to Iliana's question, Basil enveloped Deacon with his left arm, and pulled Iliana to his body with his right hand.
He immediately activated his [Eyes of Mana Perception] to look for the Rune of the Alternate Dimension that would get them out, and he found it in just a few seconds. He also found there was not much time left until the Temporary Dimension self-destructed.
That means, if he were to stay idle any longer, they would be crushed to find dust by the pressure of the Infinite Space when the Temporary Dimension self-destructed.
Quickly channeling his Mana to the Rune, he activated it.
"Hold on tight."
"Wooooaaaah!"
A small vortex appeared in the air and all of them were immediately sucked into it. The Temporary Dimension also self-destructed after they disappeared from the place, erasing any evidence that someone had ever visited there.
They returned to the outside world just a second after entering the vortex, and other than Basil, all of them felt like their soul was spinning inside their body.
"I can... Never get used to... Dimensional Travel!"
Iliana tried her best to prevent herself from vomiting as she felt it was unsightly to do it in front of her boyfriend, but the moment she looked at Basil's face, she instantly lost her nausea.
"The world is being flooded by predicaments," Basil said solemnly.
She didn't even bother to decipher Basil's poetic way to describe the situation, as she could also feel the sickening aura overwhelming Randalvine from inside Arthan Library.