Chapter 543: The Dead Daemon

Returning back from the cave, Aether noticed Alexis sleeping in her bed. She must be tired; after all, her soul had been under a force powerful enough to harm even the Abyss... the power he thought belonged to one of the most mysterious beings, in his opinion.

The Daemon Lord of the Abyss...

There was only one bed around, so he had nowhere to sleep, sadly. Once more, he was going to have to sleep on the floor; if he hadn’t gotten slightly used to it, he would be annoyed right now.

Lying on the floor, Aether rested a hand under his head, staring at the ceiling.

"Kill yourself..." He murmured under his breath.

That was what the Daemon Lord had said to him the last time they met; he called it advice, but was it really? In his opinion, it didn’t seem like a good thing. He had already died a lot of times, and nothing happened, so it couldn’t be something related to his powers. He considered this since it had looked into his core, so maybe he noticed something with Gravewalker. But no.

He meant in the literal way; his advice to him was to die, fully, without Gravewalker, or his other new ability triggering.

’But why? How would that help with anything... was he mocking me? Or maybe there’s something more to it? But what, am I missing?’

It was weird... really weird.

This whole situation made his head hurt, and he hasn’t even addressed some of the other confusing stuff, like why he was the only one whose soul wasn’t affected; it was in no way the strongest. He was competing with a God, after all, one that was heavily documented on souls.

It wasn’t the first time something like this happened, back when they first met, before giving him the not-very-helpful piece of advice, after hearing his name, and for some reason being surprised... which again, was another confusing part of the story, since that name should have never triggered anything; after all, he was born far later than the Daemon Lord, but anyway, after hearing it, it had looked inside his core, and it saw something.

’And definitely not anything good. If I find out what that guy saw inside me, then I will get it out as fast as possible.’

He had no idea if the Daemon was evil or good, or whatever; there’s little to no information about the Daemon Lords in the real world, but from what he saw with Aeriel that day, he didn’t get good vibes from him at all.

He seemed... smart, really smart. Which, in his opinion, was scary; if he was really as intellectual as he thought he was, and with that power, he wondered how the Gods had beaten the Daemons... if they even beat them. After all... if his theory from before was proven true, then he was alive. And had somehow survived to this day.

’Damn it, man, I decide to do one thing, and then I get caught up in another. How am I supposed to go and search for the Queen when I have so many questions... There was only one person who could help him right now, though; it was more if he wanted to help him.

Getting up to his feet, Aether walked out of the house into the cold night’s embrace; he exhaled, the cold wrapping around his body like a blanket. He didn’t bother with his mantle; after all, he wasn’t going to be here for long. Going behind the house, he summoned Voidpiercer, entering its world.

...

...

He was growing very familiar with this summit; he didn’t know how many times he had seen it already, but it was definitely a lot. It was beautiful, and at the same time, its story was pretty nice, philosophical or whatever, but how did Voidpiercer not get bored of it? I mean, he knew what this mountain represented and so on, but other scenery would be nice once in a while.

Sitting at the edge of the mountain, Voidpiercer sighed as it sensed him. "How annoying. You know how many times I’ve got to remind you that you aren’t using this ability in the right way at all?"

Aether chuckled, walking close to the blade. "I mean, it doesn’t really have a role now, since I got a new blade... Also, are you mad about that? That I am wielding a new blade."

The Blade scoffed. "Mad? I’m ecstatic. Plus, I knew that day would come. I’m only a replica; I don’t hold close to the power of the original blade. If I were face to face with it, it would laugh in my face, maybe even be slightly disappointed; as amazing as my master was, he could never replicate even a third of the power of that beauty. So of course I was going to get replaced one day."

Aether tilted his head. "What makes you so sure that I will get the original? I’m not even sure if it exists in the real world right now."

...

"I just know it. Just like I probably know the answer to the question you came here to ask, so come on, don’t hold up. I don’t have time to listen to you all day, so what is it?"

...

"The Daemon Lord, tell me everything you can tell me about him, everything your master allows you," Aether said, determined to learn more about this being he so desperately wanted to figure out.

Voidpiercer chuckled, turning its head towards him.

...

"Quite the topic you picked... Daemon Lord of the Abyss... he’s dead, you know? That’s all."

...

"What? But..." Was his theory about the whole leading his family to the Wonderland fake? But it made so much sense... how annoyed he was at the moment, since now he had no idea why they came to the Wonderland or how they even found it.

"How annoying."

...

"Though I have a question of my own... I’ve watched over what you have been doing...

What does the Daemon Lord of the Abyss have to do with anything?"

Aether frowned slightly as he raised one of his cheeks. "Then you must not have been paying attention at all; didn’t you see what happened in the cave? The Soul Energy it had left behind?"

...

"I have seen it... but in no way does it belong to him."