Chapter 1505
Leon watched as the evil soul faded away, uncertainty gnawing at him—was it truly destroyed? At that moment, the Lord of Nightmares drifted over, trailing behind Anderson.
"Is the Blood Lich's soul really gone? I remember his soul was split into two pieces, wasn't it?"
After Anderson slapped the Lord of Nightmares, the latter hurried to explain to Leon.
"Merlin..."
Smack...
"Damn it, Nightmare, call him Lord Merlin..."
"Lord Merlin, Dekrise is absolutely dead. Uther's soul was split in two—one good, one evil. To put it simply, they became two separate people, with no influence on each other. Dekrise's soul is right here.
His soul was devoured by the Reaper's Blade, and now it's been completely digested—its power absorbed by the blade. Dekrise is definitely dead, and very thoroughly so.
As for the other half, I think it's called Prometheus, but it doesn't matter. That part of the soul is Uther's purest goodness—such a soft-hearted guy is probably dead by now, and even if he isn't, he won't cause any trouble..."
The Lord of Nightmares whispered an explanation nearby, and Leon finally felt a sense of relief—his only fear was that the Blood Lich wasn't truly gone.
Liches are an endless headache. If you don't kill one completely, it'll haunt you for lifetimes—revenge, resurrection, repeat. You never really finish them off; if you can't kill them, they'll drive you insane.
But hearing that other name, Leon was genuinely surprised—Prometheus...
Prometheus—the current leader of the Sanctum of Light. Thinking back on his life, Leon suddenly understood; no wonder Prometheus's moral standards were so high it almost made Leon feel ashamed...
And that odd feeling Leon had about Prometheus's soul last time—it all makes sense now. There's not a shred of evil in him. If every virtue could be crammed into one person, Prometheus would be it—no exaggeration.
Only someone that pure could reach such heights when grasping the power of sanctity...
Leon had been wary of Prometheus before—last time, that soul felt strange, and a saintly guy like that? Leon never really believed someone could be so selfless, so free of dark thoughts. No normal, intelligent creature could pull that off.
Now it all adds up. Leon won't need to worry about Prometheus anymore...
All the chaos the Blood Lich stirred up lately—maybe it had something to do with Prometheus showing up too.
With the Blood Lich dealt with, only the Lord of Nightmares remains. Don't be fooled by how he tags along behind Anderson like a sidekick—he's still a God-Demon Soul at the end of the day.
If you go by level, the Lord of Nightmares' God-Demon Soul is easily at level fifty. In a fight, things might be different, but no matter what, he's stronger than Leon. Now that he's trapped inside the Death Tome, there's no way he's getting out.
The Lord of Nightmares knew exactly what was going on. As soon as things were settled, he obediently asked Leon to open up this void space.
Leon opened a rift, and the Lord of Nightmares dutifully returned to the page where he'd been kept before.
Leon left the Death Tome's internal space, taking Anderson and the others with him.
Stepping out from inside the Death Tome, Leon saw it automatically flip to the Lord of Nightmares' page. The illustration there used to show the Lord himself, but now it began to change—the figure shrank, and phantasmal, twisted backgrounds started to appear behind him.
Once those backgrounds stabilized, a message from the Death Tome entered Leon's mind—a new chapter had appeared within it.
Chapter of Phantasm...
The Lord of Nightmares had turned himself into a new chapter within the Death Tome, living on that page from now on. Escape was no longer an option.
Anderson glanced at it and couldn't help but curse.
"Damn, that idiot actually did something smart for once..."
Anderson wasn't wrong—by willingly merging himself into the Death Tome as a new chapter, the Lord of Nightmares had chosen the best possible outcome.
For a God-Demon who relies on soul power, the God-Demon Soul is everything. It's tough to destroy, but not impossible.
And after his downfall, the Lord of Nightmares lived a fate worse than death—trapped in his own realm, imprisoned in someone else's mindscape, tormented for an entire era. Even a God-Demon would go mad from that.
Finally escaped, only to face more hardship. If Anderson hadn't been recognized, he would've kept playing dead—no way would he plead for the Lord of Nightmares. That would've left Leon to finish him off.
Having your God-Demon Soul shattered—worse than death. Your consciousness wiped out. That's the worst possible end.
Now, by merging all his soul power into the Death Tome and becoming the Chapter of Phantasm, at least he won't have to live in constant fear and endless torment—a fate worse than death.
As the Chapter of Phantasm, that page is his own world. He can do whatever he wants, worry about nothing. Plus, by merging with the Death Tome and making it stronger, as long as the book isn't destroyed, he'll be safe.
The glory of the God-Demons—that was two eras ago. Even the strongest God-Demon, after two ages of torment, has to face reality.
Besides, the old boss turned into a Relic Spirit. Following in his footsteps and becoming part of a mythic artifact isn't so shameful...
Once someone stronger sets the example, even the most humiliating choices lose their sting. That's the power of having a role model...
With the Lord of Nightmares dealt with, the Blood Lich vanquished, and the Relic Spirit of the Death Tome subdued, everything was as close to perfect as it could be.
Floating in the sky above the Natural Semi-Plane, Leon took a moment to feel everything around him. After closing his eyes and reflecting, he realized he'd reached the peak of Sky Rank Seven.
This time, his insights into the laws of earth, fire, water, and wind all reached the peak of Sky Rank Seven at once. It felt as if some invisible balance was harmonizing these four elemental laws.
It was much better than before. That feeling of completeness had been missing ever since he advanced to Sky Rank—now, for the first time in ages, he felt truly whole.
Feeling it again, Leon began to adjust his understanding of the laws. In less than twenty seconds, everything seemed to change completely.
The power of the laws felt like an extension of his own arm—so much easier to control. It even seemed that mastering earth, fire, water, and wind would greatly boost his understanding of light, darkness, and space.
He glanced at the busy alchemists and the special races in the Natural Semi-Plane: cave goblins, red-skinned siphon fiends, fire-rock dwarves...
They were all working on parts for the Sanctuary Tower. With more and more tasks piling up, things seemed to be veering away from history. Leon couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis.
The construction of the Sanctuary Tower had to speed up. Build the parts separately first—when it came time for the real assembly, things would go much faster. Many pieces needed research and testing before their designs could be finalized; jumping straight into construction wouldn't work.
Leon took a walk around the Sanctuary Tower's construction site, gave some directions to the alchemists, and then let them handle the rest.