Chapter 159: Purification

Before long, Aurelius found himself walking down a long staircase.

The surroundings were dark, only illuminated by the torches placed periodically along the walls.

The skeleton walked a few steps in front of him, its steps slow but steady.

Obviously, Aurelius had agreed to the skeleton’s proposal.

Not only because he was greedy for the Player Panel’s rewards and the promised skills, but also because he knew he had no other choice.

Activating Ocean’s Wrath consumed massive amounts of Spirit, as did activating the Sea God’s Trident.

Although the former had been engraved onto his Mutated Demigod’s Physique and its consumption had decreased as a result, it was still not a skill he could activate continuously.

To exert power beyond his Rank, he had to pay a price, after all.

Combined with the lack of an exit from the hall, Aurelius ultimately had no choice but to agree to the deal.

Even so, he did not trust the other person.

He stood several feet behind, alert at all times in case a danger suddenly jumped out. ℴ

The Undead Knight did not seem to sense his apprehension.

While leading the way through the staircase, it even had the time and willingness to strike up a conversation.

"It’s been a while since I last met a person. And before that, it had been even longer since I did." The skeleton shook its head.

"The Valor Family believed that they found me here injured, right after the battle that left me in my current state."

"However, what they don’t know is that I was here long before they appeared. A century? I’ve been here for hundreds of years."

"Of course, it is likely they guessed something. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be asking me for the secret to immortality."

The Undead Knight continued leading Aurelius underground.

To his surprise, the other party appeared to be a chatterbox.

It spoke endlessly, as though it had not spoken to someone for centuries and wanted to vent its frustration.

In fact, that was indeed the case.

It made sense that, having someone to speak to after so long, the Undead Knight would try to have a conversation.

Unfortunately, Aurelius was far from being in the mood for it.

Only minutes later, he had to suppress his impulse to summon the Sea God’s Trident and thrust it into its head.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long.

Just when Aurelius’ patience was starting to run out, the stairs finally came to an end.

The two—a human and a skeleton—appeared in another hall.

It resembled the one they had been in before in structure, except it was far smaller and had no decorations.

The only thing that could be seen inside the hall was a wooden, square-shaped object.

It floated a few inches above the ground on its own, its entire surface bound tightly by hundreds of thick black chains.

Although most of its surface was concealed, Aurelius immediately recognized the item’s identity.

It was a coffin.

That alone made it eerie. The chains binding it and its constant trembling only made it seem even more bizarre.

Judging from all the clues, what was sealed inside was not a corpse as one would expect, but a powerful being that was attempting to escape.

"Back then, I was besieged by several enemies. With my strength, I managed to kill most of them and sealed the rest."

"Unfortunately, due to my own injuries, I had no time to take care of the latter. Over the years, I’ve been forced to exert my own power to suppress them. Otherwise, they would have long broken free."

"This is one of the major reasons I haven’t recovered."

"Now, with your help, I should be able to get rid of that scourge."

The skeleton’s voice was solemn, carrying a heavy sense of responsibility.

If one didn’t know any better, they would believe that it truly cared about the people, wanting to eliminate the great evil sealed inside the coffin.

Unfortunately, when Aurelius raised his head and looked at its terrifying appearance, he found it difficult to believe that idea.

Rather than believing that, Aurelius was more inclined to trust its earlier explanation.

Due to its enemies being sealed, the Undead Knight had been unable to recover since it needed to constantly consume its own energy to suppress them.

Of course, whether that was the truth or not, Aurelius could not know.

’Either way, with the oath to the Gods binding us, it is impossible for the Undead Knight to truly harm me.’

’Even if there is any conspiracy, it won’t be targeted at me.’

Realizing this, Aurelius felt somewhat relieved.

Although countless thoughts raced through his mind, in reality, only a few seconds had gone by.

Aurelius only looked thoughtful for a brief second before he snapped back to reality.

The Undead Knight nodded upon seeing him recover on his own.

"As we agreed before, I’m willing to hand over my inheritance as long as you help me purify the creature inside."

"You don’t need to worry. It’s already been many years since I sealed them. They have long been weakened to the extreme."

"With your strength, it shouldn’t be difficult to succeed."

As it spoke, the Undead Knight tossed a book toward Aurelius.

Recalling Edward’s fate, he didn’t dare to catch it directly.

Controlling it with his Spirit from afar, he let it float in front of him.

Looking at the name on its cover, Aurelius breathed a sigh of relief.

"Skill: Purification," it read.

As Aurelius opened its pages and looked through its contents, he confirmed that it was authentic and that there were no conspiracies.

With his high Intelligence, he was able to memorize a page with a brief glance.

Before long, he had reached the final sentence of the book.

At that moment, the expected prompt finally flashed.

"Ding!"

"Skill—Purification. Requirements: INT 40. Class: Mana-Based. The Player meets the requirements."

"Do you wish to learn Purification?"

Looking at the latest prompt, Aurelius did not hesitate.

He pressed "Yes."

The previous notifications instantly faded away. A new one replaced them.

"Congratulations, you’ve learned: Purification."