Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 471 Curse and Contract?

"Oh, it’s her." At the sudden appearance of this armored woman, White Alex, who was initially tense and worried, began to sigh as he relaxed his body. This action of his naturally drew some suspicion from Professor Frances, who was still gripping the Wisteria tightly.

"Do you know that intruder?" The professor asked, not letting her guard down at all. Even when the actions showed by White Alex and the armored woman showed that they had connection with each other, Professor Frances still cannot just accept this woman like she was her ally. "You seem to be cozy with her."

"I am not being cozy with her. In fact, I do not like seeing her at all." White Alex replied as the said woman landed on the floor of the vault. "It’s only because Original Alex is in dire situation that I am allowing her to see me..."

"What? What do you mean by that? Alex is in dire situation? What the hell is ha-"

"Oh my, so you’re the kind of clone that cares for your original. Interesting..." The armored woman said, interrupting Professor Frances’ outburst. "I don’t know how Alex was able to create somehting like you, but I can see that he spared a lot of effort just to let you exist..."

"If you want to just have an idle talk with me, then you should have just done it with Black Alex. He’s inside your mothership, right?" White Alex said, with his gentle aura now gone. "If you only want a talk with me, then you are wasting my time. Just go away and don’t come back here!"

"Eh? But you-"

"I am only willing to meet you because original Alex needs your help." White Alex continued as he shook his head. "If it were not for him, then I will be trying my best to kick you out already."

He then pointed his finger on his left, as if he was seemingly pointing at a location

"Follow the direction that I am pointing, and you will meet up with original Alex." White Alex said as he emphasized his pointing motion. "You want to see him, right? Then just go where I am pointing and meet up with him already! I have no time to waste with your nonsense, so please leave!"

"Hmm.... You’re just as cold as the clone earlier. If you’re this cold to me, then how will the original treat me? That’s actually a scary thought..." The armored woman said, seemingly ignoring the pointed glares given to her. "Oh whatever, I will go meet up with him later. For now, let me just stay here!"

"What? No! I want you to leave! Can’t you get what I just said?"

"Yes, I get what you said. But I don’t need to leave early, right? In that case, let me stay here and watch what you are doing." The armored woman replied, with her head looking at the direction of Wisteria and the corpse.

She let out a bemused chuckled upon seeing these, and she continued to do so when she saw the opened coffin.

"Oh my, oh my, you two are doing some kind of freaky ritual here. I wonder what will you use it for..." The armored woman muttered as she placed back her weapon on its sheath. "Hehehe, this makes me want to watch you more..."

"You damned officer! Don’t tell me that you’re planning to watch us? Officer Emerald, can you stop making jokes now? The Dao will never be happy with that!"

"Eh? But I want to watch..." The armored woman, who was no other than Officer Emerald herself, replied in a glum tone. She then crossed her arms as she gave White Alex an aggrieved look, although the armor on her face hid it well. "Do you have any problems with me watching?"

"Yes! Just the fact that you are watching us is a problem already!" White Alex heatedly replied as Professor Frances began edging herself away from the quarreling duo.

"But I won’t sabotage your ritual. I will just watch..." Officer Emerald replied as she tilted her head.

"Hmph, who cares about your intentions. When I say no, then I mean it!"

"Hmph, you want me to leave? Then make me do it!" Upon seeing that White Alex was resolute on his intention on making her leave, Officer Emerald seemed to have enough of it.

Instead of listening to his ’advice’, Officer Emerald actually did the opposite, as she began sitting on the floor with an obstinate aura emanating from her body.

White Alex naturally picked up on what Officer Emerald was trying to do, and it made his face turn red from anger.

"You-"

"If it were the original Alex, then he can do some ways to make me leave. But you? Heh, I can sense that your power, combined with that woman’s is not enough to make me leave." Officer Emerald smugly said as she straightened her back . "Besides, you will waste your precious time and power on dealing with me. You two seem to be in a hurry, so maybe you should start your ritual already. That’s a far better choice than forcing me to leave..."

"...Tsk. I will get back at you for this, Officer Emerald. Just you wait." White Alex said in a defeated tone as his shoulders slumped. All the air inside of his body seemed to have been sucked away as he said these words, showing how deflated he is right now. "You want to stay? Fine. But don’t you ever dare disrupt what we are about to do!"

"Hehehe, now that’s what I like about you, Alex clone. You still can’t say no to me..."

"What the? Hey White Alex! You’re letting this f**king woman stay here! Are you insane?"

"I’m sorry Professor Frances, but this is the best that I can do." White Alex hastily said as he tried to avoid Professor Frances’ murderous stare. "We can’t make her leave, and attempting to do that will just waste time and power...."

"Dafak? So you’re okay with this woman watching us? Are you serious?"

"Ehem, my name is not woman. You should call me Officer Emerald. That’s a high-ranking name, so feel free to say it..."

"Shut it, Officer Mineral. I ain’t talking to you!"

"Excuse me? Did you just say mineral?

"No, Officer Rocks. I did not say mineral. There, are you happy now?"

"Hey Alex clone! Can you discipline this unruly woman? She’s being too much!"

"I’m too much? Hmph, you’re the one who’s been a bother here!"

"Oh really?

"Yes, you are."

"Hehehe, then show me how I am a bother. Maybe making that explanation will make you look more pleasing to my eye!"

"You!"

"Why do I always witness quarreling women? Is this the fate that Original Alex is supposed to have?" White Alex muttered to himself as he backed away from the bickering women.

There was only a wry smile on his face as the quarrel between the officer and the professor continued, making his calm temperament become more turbulent.

"Sigh... the Dao really is unfathomable. You never know what problems you might face anytime..." White Alex said as he shook his head. "Well, at least I still get to learn some lessons on it. Although I am not sure on what lesson I can get from quarreling women...."

*******************

INSIDE THE COSMIC GUARD MOTHERSHIP.

Black Alex, who was still spending the rest of his time wrapped in chains inside his prison room, let out a grunt as his connection with Alex and the other clones made him witness their current situation.

His face was obviously unhappy as he saw their struggles, especially when he saw Alex’s dire match against the Supreme Puppet Ray.

"Tsk. My paralysis and power loss is already gone, so I can use my power again. But even if I already regained my power, this is still not enough to help original Alex." Black Alex thought to himself as his eyes turned black. "For me to be of assistance to him, I should be better than what I am already..."

After saying these words, Black Alex let out a sigh as he visualized his original Abyss Spell inside his mind.

"CALAMITY OF THE SEVEN SINS, show yourself inside my mind!"

"Shu la la~"

A 7-branched tree, with 5 glowing branches appeared inside Black Alex’s mind, showing all of its details and intricacies towards Black Alex.

Black Alex only let out a small nod as he looked at the 5 lit branches, although some signs of discontentment can be seen on his face.

This discontentment increased when he observed the 2 unlit branches, making him look like a parent disappointed with their child’s failed grade.

"Out of all the 7 possible spell slots, my Original Abyss Spell already had 5 filled. It was originally 4, but after Cheva possessed me, I was able to comprehend the 5th branch. This just shows how powerful his presence was..." Black Alex thought as he bit his lip. "But even if I have 5 branches lit already, it is still not enough to increase my power."

"Of course with the way that I structured my Abyss Magic, my current power allows me to fight Sixth Stage Beings even if I am just at the Fifth Stage. After all, the branches of my Original Abyss Spell were made up of different Sins. Their quality makes my power comparable to Sixth Stage Beings. But just like what I said earlier, it is still not enough to make me useful against Supreme Puppet Ray." Black Alex said as he witnessed the three Divine Beings’ simultaneous attacks on Ray.

"I still have that [Item] that can help me comprehend the 6th branch instantly.... If I really use that [Item], then it will only leave me with only 1 branch unlit."

"Tsk, even with 6 branches, my power is still not enough. I can only make a difference once I make my Abyss Magic reach the Sixth Stage. But how am I going to do it when I still have 1 branch to comprehend, considering that I will use that [Item]..."

Black Alex’s face visibly warped at this point, as if the thoughts that he was having were enough to make him extremely frustrated.

"Ah! Why did I make it so that I can only reach Sixth Stage in Abyss Magic by comprehending all the 7 branches? Now this just puts me in a bad spot!" Black Alex growled as he clenched his fists. "Once I have 6 branches lit, I will have no more instant way to comprehend the 7th branch. That means that I will only have to rely on my comprehension to light up the 7th branch. But if I do that, it will take me a few months to do it. Tsk, that time might seem fast, but right now, that time frame is of no use to me!"

The malevolent aura that he had been suppressing earlier began to leak out along with his anger, making Black Alex look fearsome and despicable. Even the guards who were watching him through the camera began to feel sick with his change, which elicited an alarm inside the ship.

Upon noticing what he had done, Black Alex visibly shuddered as he tried to pull back his leaked aura.

But before he could start doing this, he suddenly heard a voice in his mind that made him pause in his tracks.

"You seem to be in a bad situation there, mortal. Do you need any assistance with your problem? I have a way to increase your power, and I am offering it to you now~"

This voice was something that Black Alex did not expect to hear, and he was actually downright terrified upon hearing it.

After all, the voice that Black Alex just heard was the voice of Cheva, the Half-Step Transcendent Being that possessed him earlier!

He was supposed to be back on the Abyss Realm since the ritual was already done, and ye here was, actually talking to Black Alex!

"Hoho, don’t worry about this. I just left a portion of my spirituality inside your body. I made it small enough so that it will not be banished back to the Abyss Realm..." Cheva gleefully said inside Black Alex’s mind. "So don’t worry about your well-being. The spirituality I left in you was so small that it won’t be affecting your body. It only allows me to communicate with you from the Abyss Realm."

Upon hearing this statement, Black Alex did not waste his time as he observed every inch of his body, looking for anything abnormal in it.

Sure enough, after just one scan, Black Alex was able to detect an extremely small worm-like creature latched on his liver. This worm emitted the same aura as Cheva, although it was extremely weak that it had no effect on Black Alex at all. This same weakness was also the reason that Black Alex did not detect it earlier, as only a serious and dedicated search can reveal this worm.

"...You, what do you want now Cheva? Our ritual is already done, so I am not happy seeing this worm here. In fact, I think I will be destroying this now." Black Alex said as he gathered his Abyss Energy inside his torso.

"Hong~"

He was planning to use this energy to destroy the worm inside him, as he knew that letting Cheva stay will be of no help to him. In fact, he had the hunch that Cheva is up to something no good right now, so destroying any link with him will be for the best!

"Oi, oi, oi mortal! How dare you reject my kindness! I just said earlier that I can help you with your power dilemma!" Cheva hastily replied as he felt Black Alex’s intention to destroy the worm. "Didn’t you say that you need something that can help you comprehend the 7th branch? Hehehe, you are in luck today, as I just have the thing that you need!"

"Oh really?" Black Alex replied in interest, although it was obvious that he does not believe every word that Cheva said. "Do you think that I will just trust your words? You are an Abyss Monster, a being that uses temptations and contracts to take advantage of people. Do you think that I will just be like your victims before? Heh, I am the Abyss Envoy, someone that you should follow and respect!"

"Mortal, you may not believe me, but I am sincere with my offer to you. You are the Abyss Envoy after all." Cheva replied calmly, as if he was not fazed by Black Alex’s rejection. "With your status as the esteemed envoy, there’s no way that I can let you die here! So don’t be wary about my offer. I assure you that my offer will be of great help to you. Just accept it, and everything will be fine..."