Arcanum: Chaos Path

Chapter 398 The Meeting of the Two Aziks
"Alright, enough of the small talk. Now let's go meet Azik, your other half of soul!" Roland said with a smile, dispelling the gloomy atmosphere in the room. Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Little K and asked, "Did you bring Azik's bronze whistle?"

The bronze whistle that Azik once gave to K is the key to opening the space where the artificial Grim Reaper resides, which is the Grim Reaper's Mausoleum.

"I brought it, it's right here." Little Ke quickly took out the copper whistle he had always cherished from his pocket.

Rolin nodded, then looked at Azik, who then held out his hand, revealing the presence of a ring.

That was a ring left behind by Death, which once belonged to the General of Hell, and was also the key to unlock Death's mausoleum.

Seeing that the tools were complete, Rolin didn't say anything more. He simply took the ring from Azik's hand, used his current "Death God" power to locate the group, and led them to the vicinity of the Death God's Tomb, which was a certain place in the Raging Sea.

The raging sea was far from calm at this moment. Although this area of ​​the sea was rarely calm, it was exceptionally turbulent at this moment.

As a true Grim Reaper, Roland only needed to sense it slightly before easily finding the location of a certain "door." This door was clearly restricted; in addition to requiring a key, it also required certain beings or bloodlines to open it.

But for Rolin at this moment, such restrictions were practically nonexistent. However, he did not choose to break down the door by force. Instead, he took Azik's bronze whistle from Little K's hand and snapped his fingers.

"Snapped--"

The colors around them seemed to change at that moment, and then a huge vortex appeared in front of them.

"Go in. Inside is where Death fell, and also where your other half of your soul resides, Azik," Roland said with a smile.

Azik led the way inside, with the Goddess of Night close behind.

As Luo Lin watched them enter the vortex, he seemed to remember something, glanced at the three little ones beside him, and said, "Don't worry, this passage is very stable and won't make you feel uncomfortable."

Compared to the half-baked passage opened by Azik in the original story, the door opened by Rowling, the "Grim Reaper," is naturally much more secure.

"Got it, old man, I still trust your skills." Jack nodded, then pulled Little K and jumped into the whirlpool.

Little Amon jumped in right after them.

After everyone else had gone in, Rowling, disguised as Lucifer, entered the vortex and, after a short while, arrived at a dark and cold mausoleum.

Clearly, this is a mausoleum with a distinctly Grim Reaper feel, with coffins of the dead lying everywhere. The deceased do not look like ordinary people, and each of them has rotting white feathers on their backs.

At this moment, others were standing beside these coffins. Some were studying the dead inside, such as little Amon, while others were looking towards the end of the steps, such as Azik.

Upon arriving at the tomb belonging to the Grim Reaper, Azik felt an attraction, an attraction originating from the depths of his soul. His soul instinctively yearned for merging, pulling him to meet his other half. However, thanks to his preparations, Azik was able to barely restrain this instinct for encounter, only slightly lost in thought about the future Lucifer had once described to him.

If Lucifer hadn't existed, what would have happened if he, who knew nothing and had never met his past self, had rashly entered this mausoleum?

Azik thought that he would probably be pulled toward the depths of the mausoleum. Perhaps he could restrain himself at first, but as he got closer to his other self, he would be absolutely unable to resist the attraction from the depths of his soul. Even if he didn't want to, he could only walk toward his predetermined fate.

Of course, according to Lucifer's description, he was probably also somewhat lucky, so he ultimately avoided an irreversible fate and "chose" a slightly better outcome—abandoning his other half of his soul, preserving his personality, but continuing to be trapped in the cycle of reincarnation.

Is this a good ending?
It's hard to say for Azik, but at least for now he's not going to run away, and he now has more resources to choose a better ending.

Thinking of this, Azik looked at Lucifer and said sincerely, "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to choose my destiny, Lucifer."

Hearing this, Luo Lin glanced at him, smiled, and said, "Then prove to me that the opportunity I gave you wasn't wasted."

Then, as if he had thought of something, Luo Lin looked at the three little ones beside him and snapped his fingers.

A semi-transparent bubble enveloped the three little ones at this moment. This was obviously a form of protection. After all, it was hard to say about Jack and Little Amon, but Little K was still a genuine Sequence 6 and couldn't stand the mythical creature form of the artificial Grim Reaper. Rolin also had to be wary of any pollution in this mausoleum, so he manually added a layer of protection for them.

"Let's go, don't keep them waiting!" Rowling then said with a smile.

The group then walked up the steps into the depths of the mausoleum. After passing through the thick black fog, they soon saw a huge feathered serpent.

It was undoubtedly a colossal creature, so large that it seemed capable of occupying an island. It looked somewhat like a snake, yet it also had feathers. However, the scales on its tail were indistinguishable between black and green, giving it a sinister appearance. Its feathers were not pure white, but rather seemed to be stained with pale yellow oil.

What's most eye-catching is the face at the top of the feathered serpent's body, a face that is remarkably similar to Azik's, only colder and less intelligent.

"This is... Mr. Azik's other half of his soul?" Little K stared at the enormous creature before him. Protected by the power of bubbles, he naturally didn't have any problems from looking directly at the mythical creature, but his expression was somewhat indescribable.

This is mainly because the feathered serpent has a truly indescribable quality, appearing both beautiful and terrifying.

Azik himself swayed slightly at that moment, a severe headache causing him to instinctively reach out and cover his head. As he finally met his other half, some lost memories began to resurface.

Azik finally remembered how Death had forcibly pulled his soul out of his body and cut it in two. He remembered how Salinger had merged one half of his soul with Death's uniqueness, leaving it in this mausoleum, while the other half merged with a strange golden ornament, returning to his body.

At this moment, sensing his approach, Azik's other half of his soul clearly reacted as well. Driven by instinct, the giant feathered serpent looked at Azik, also yearning to become one with him, even though it had lost its reason and was left with only instinct.

(End of this chapter)