Who hid my body?

Chapter 359 Isaiah's Dead End
"Swish swish swish".

The moment the "Warden" finished speaking, the entire arena erupted in uproar, and then several sealing swords were pressed against Isaiah's body.

The leading guardian stared intently at Isaiah: "Now do you have anything to say, Mr. Isaiah?"

With the warden's definitive statement, even Mina, who believed in Isaiah the most, couldn't help but look bewildered, seemingly unable to be sure if it really was her teacher who was behind it. Not far away, Loki looked like he'd escaped death, thankful he'd reacted quickly enough; otherwise, he'd be sitting at the same table as the warden now, and since the warden could come back from the dead, he'd have to go back to the feast.

Even Isaiah himself could not maintain his previous composure, and his face quickly darkened.

But for some reason, Isaiah wasn't surprised by the warden's answer; instead, he thought, "As expected of you, Hand and Eye."

But how did he manage to do it? Even the victim believed he was the murderer.

Despite the situation having reached this point, Isaiah did not lose his temper. Instead, he tried his best to suppress his surging emotions and asked in a low voice, "Are you really sure it's me, Warden? Are you sure you're seeing my face?"

"What else do you want to say?!" The leading guardian had reached his limit. He took another step forward, the sealing sword piercing through Isaiah's mage robes and pressing against his flesh. "Do you really think we won't attack you?"

Seeing that her teacher had been forced to this point, Mina didn't have time to think about anything else; this concerned Xingyi's dignity!
But before she could do anything, the guardian had already anticipated Mina's actions and shouted, "Take her down!"

The guardians present all drew their sealing swords, instantly subduing all the Star Remnant sorcerers who hadn't yet had a chance to act.

Tonight is the Night of Immaculate, arguably the most powerful period for the Star Remnant sorcerers. Therefore, the leading guardian was preparing for the worst from the start. After controlling all the Star Remnant sorcerers, he opened a magical veil, obscuring the starry sky and cutting off the source of their power.

But that still wasn't enough, because the most troublesome one wasn't the Star Remnant sorcerers, but their leader, Isaiah, who was known as the first man under the gods.

The lead guardian's gaze never left the seemingly ordinary old man. He knew that the Sealing Sword and the Magic Veil could restrain ninety-nine percent of the Star Remnant Sorcerers, but they couldn't restrain him. So, at his signal, two more guardians quickly left the group and headed towards the Heavenly Voice.

If Isaiah ever intended to overturn the table, they would immediately invoke the obedience of the gods and use the power of the gods to annihilate him.

This scene was also witnessed by the other representatives. Although the representatives of the various churches were people who had seen countless things, the sudden turn of events still made them nervous. So the guards of each church rushed forward to protect their leaders. Rocky, in particular, wished he could stand at the very back to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

The scene was chaotic for a moment, but after things calmed down, tensions rose again.

However, Isaiah, who was at the heart of all this, did nothing but lean forward slightly, letting the sword pierce his chest.

Blood stained the robes of stars.

"Is this enough?" Isaiah said calmly to the leading guardian, then looked at the warden on the other side and repeated his previous question, "Warden, are you really sure it's me?"

Such a calm attitude left even the leading guardian somewhat bewildered, after all, if his sword were to advance any further, it would be aimed at the heart.

Is this guy really fearless, or... is it really not him?

Such thoughts crossed the mind of the leading guardian, but despite these thoughts, he did not lower his sword; he simply waited for the warden's response.

He would immediately pierce Isaiah's heart with this sword at the warden's command.

Everything was like a powder keg waiting to be ignited, just waiting for the last spark to fall.

However, the spark did not fall for a long time, and the oppressive silence continued.

Everyone looked at the warden, whose eyes, as deep as an abyss, were as dim as a candle flame about to go out, and whose breathing sounded like that of an old man in his twilight years, who might pass away at any moment.

Is this... not fully alive yet?

The question arose in everyone's mind, but no one dared to ask it aloud.

After a long while, as the bloodstains on Isaiah's chest began to congeal, the warden slowly spoke.

"I...cannot be sure."

Everyone was shocked.

The warden raised his head and looked directly at Isaiah: "The man who attacked me was very powerful. He not only tore my body apart, but also my soul. Now you know that I am already a dead man, and my soul is everything to me. And my memories exist in my soul, so some of my memories have also been torn apart."

Can you do this?

Everyone couldn't help but look at the messenger of the underworld standing next to the warden. The messenger of the underworld nodded: "Such situations do occur, and often what is destroyed is the memory before death."

It's unbelievable that such a thing actually exists.

This left everyone present completely bewildered.

“But these memories will return,” said the messenger from the underworld. “The soul is not like the body; the lost parts will eventually return little by little.”

"How long will this take?" the leading guardian asked. "Another week or two?"

“No need for that. After the overall return of the souls, the remaining small portion will return very soon,” the messenger of the underworld said with a smile. “It will only take a day or two.”

One or two days... but two days later is the day when Tiansheng Obedience will be activated.

This was a rather awkward moment, but at that moment, the warden spoke again, looking directly at Isaiah: "I haven't forgotten everything. I still remember the guy who attacked me. He had a very special eye... it was the same eye as yours, and in the end, he tore me apart with that eye."

In an instant, everyone looked into Isaiah's eyes.

Isaiah cast a spell on his right eye, making it look no different from an ordinary eye.

But whether it was the warden's words or his eye that was truly special, everyone felt that Isaiah's eyes were incredibly deep, like a night sky with no end in sight.

“Warden,” Isaiah said, still maintaining his composure, “you think it’s me based on just one eye? If I’m not mistaken, the eye you’re referring to is the left eye of Vesas that Rhine lost. It’s on Uru, not on me, which confirms my earlier suspicion… Uru is right here.”

Isaiah played a trick here.

The body parts of Vesas have strict corresponding positions; the left eye can only be placed in the left eye socket, and it would be useless if placed in the right eye.

Therefore, if the warden believed that his left eye was the cause of his death, Isaiah could conveniently prove his innocence, since his left eye was his own. Isaiah could then save his right eye and clear his name, since no one except a few people from Paradise City knew of his right eye's existence.

“But how come I remember it being the right eye?” the warden said slowly.

The atmosphere took another sharp turn for the worse.

But Isaiah still had a plan. He slowly said, "Right eye? There's no right eye in the intelligence Rhine submitted. Where did this right eye you're thinking of come from? Could it be that you're mistaken?"

This was also the reaction of most people present.

The right eye? Where did the right eye come from?
At least a very small number of people had a guess, and they all looked at Isaiah's right eye.

“Warden, you should think this through.” Isaiah didn’t give everyone much time to examine his right eye. He continued, “The man who tried to assassinate you tonight is powerful and is hiding in the shadows. Now, it’s very likely that only I am his match. Once you execute me, no one will be able to stop him.”

"Is that so?" the warden said slowly. "Then why can't I activate the Obedience of Heaven's Voice twice?"

Isaiah narrowed his eyes again.

“Don’t look at me like that, Mr. Isaiah,” the warden said. “I made the stakes clear to you when you first arrived, but you refused to listen.”

"How can I give you something I don't have?" Isaiah's voice turned cold.

“I don’t want to waste my energy on this matter anymore,” the warden said. “I was reluctant to activate the Heavenly Voice’s Obedience twice before because the cost and effort were too great. But the strength that person showed tonight made me realize that now is not the time to worry about costs and effort. Such a person cannot live. No matter how great the price, the gods will forgive me. Even if they cannot forgive me, I must do this. I am willing to bear this infamy.”

Isaiah was almost laughing in exasperation: "What does reputation mean to you?" "It means nothing," the warden said slowly, looking Isaiah into his eyes. "That's why I can carry out my duties without any burden... So, Mr. Isaiah, do you want to prove your innocence with your death?"

Now Isaiah finally realized that the assassination attempt on the warden by Hand and Eye tonight was not just a way to shift the blame onto him.

So this may not have been Hand-Eye's original intention, but it ultimately made the warden realize Hand-Eye's power and changed the previous choice between him and Hand-Eye to sending them both away.

Indeed, this is the true warden of the Abyss Prison; he is the true embodiment of the will of the gods.

One name can kill tens of thousands of people, and two names only double that number.

As long as this hidden danger can be eliminated, even if it's the third or fourth name, the warden will continue without hesitation.

Isaiah, the prime suspect, will be the first victim.

Isaiah stared intently at the warden, and at that moment, he truly felt the urge to overturn the table.

But he also knew that overturning the table was impossible, at least not now, because he had no idea how the Heavenly Voice obeyed. He was likely to be obliterated by the will of the gods the moment he tried to make a move.

Since acquiring this eye, Isaiah had never felt pushed to the limit.

But now, he has discovered that there are indeed things in this world that this eye cannot do.

In that instant, a strong sense of powerlessness and anger surged into Isaiah's heart. An indescribable pressure spread from his body, and everyone felt that he was like a volcano about to erupt, with heat and panic permeating everyone's hearts.

"Of course, there is still a chance to change things." Just then, the warden spoke again, "It all depends on whether you can do it yourself."

Isaiah's expression was cold; he had no desire to maintain any mutual benefit with the warden: "Speak plainly."

“Those three pieces of body parts,” the warden said. “Just hand over those three pieces of body parts to me.”

"They are not on me."

“Then find them and hand them over to me,” the warden said. “I only need to see the body parts.”

Isaiah was momentarily stunned, then finally realized what was happening.

"I'll give you two days... no, three days." The warden's mountain-like frame leaned forward slowly, speaking each word deliberately, "During these three days, I won't impose any restrictions on you. As long as you bring the body parts to me, I don't care how you did it, or who had these parts before. If I see the body parts, I'll cancel Tian Sheng's obedience; if I don't see them..."

"The obedience of Heaven will begin with you."

……

An hour later, Mina returned to her lodgings and looked at Isaiah, who had been silent for a long time, with a worried expression on her face.

The warden's meaning was clear: he wanted Isaiah to fight Hand and Eye. Because if Hand and Eye were really here, the only one who could stand against him would be Isaiah.

If Isaiah can find and kill him, then all will be well.

If not, then he will use the Heavenly Voice's obedience to initiate indiscriminate roll call, which will be a win-win situation for him as well.

The only victims, besides those with the same name who were also affected, were their own teachers.

That's why the warden didn't continue to investigate where Isaiah went that night, what he did, or whether Isaiah actually assassinated him.

The process is meaningless; he only cares about the final result.

"Alright, you may leave now." Isaiah, who seemed to have aged more than ten years overnight, spoke slowly. "Let me have some peace and quiet."

"teacher……"

"Go back."

"……Yes."

Mina had no choice but to leave.

Isaiah, on the other hand, sat in front of the mirror and looked at himself in the mirror.

Just a few hours ago, he was full of vigor, believing he had seen through everything and could turn the situation around at any time.

But now, he is like a toy being manipulated, and any struggle he makes is a joke.

No matter how things develop, he's already a loser.

"Why is this happening..." Isaiah looked at himself in the mirror, a long-forgotten sense of bewilderment rising in his heart. "What... am I missing?"

Why was he being pressured like this by the warden?

Why was he so easily manipulated by the hands and eyes?

What exactly is missing between me and them?
"Lack of strength."

A voice answered him from within; it was Isaiah's own voice, for he himself knew the answer.

Yes, it lacks strength.

But why? He was clearly already the number one person under the gods.

"not enough."

Yes, the answer is still not enough.

Having reached this point, ordinary strength is no longer enough.

The warden was able to coerce him because the warden had the gods behind him.

The reason why the Hand and Eye were able to control him was because the Hand and Eye had more body parts than he did, while he only had two, one of which was given to him by the Hand and Eye.

Isaiah's hands clenched tighter and tighter.

Yes, he had no gods behind him, and his body parts were fewer than his hands and eyes; he had all the strength but could not do anything.

They could neither contend with the warden nor find any connections.

He was trapped in a dead end, with no possibility of breaking out.

"Unless you find a power that surpasses theirs," the voice told itself.

How can this be?

Where in this world is there any power that surpasses them?
"The Abyss Prison," the voice answered again.

Isaiah's pupils gradually dilated.

(End of this chapter)