Chapter 96: Information Exchange After Awakening
Abyss opened his eyes to find a pair of golden and emerald eyes staring at him from close range, his breath warm on their faces.
“Ah!” Leona was the first to react, startled by his sudden awakening. She scrambled backward.
Flora, a bit slower, stared at Abyss’s face, taking a moment to confirm he was truly awake before moving her head away.
“You’re awake?” she said, sighing in relief, her hand on her chest. “Leona and I saw your eyes glowing. We didn’t know what was happening. My Divine Arts failed to reach you. Are you alright?”
“Do you still remember who we are?” Leona asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
Abyss stretched comfortably, yawned, and finally turned his gaze towards them. He wanted to sit up, but his body, after days of lying down, felt pleasantly languid. He abandoned the idea and asked with a smile, “You thought something was wrong? I’m perfectly fine. My soul is fully restored.”
“Then why were your eyes glowing?” Leona asked, her curiosity piqued. “Do you know how creepy it was to see your eyes glowing in the middle of the night?”
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Abyss apologized. “Here’s what happened, and I think Flora will find this particularly interesting. My soul was summoned to the Divine Realm. We had a friendly chat, and they decided to send me back to you.”
“Ah… The Divine Realm,” Flora said, understanding dawning on her. “So the gods have been watching us?”
“That’s right,” Abyss nodded. “But don’t worry, they don’t mind your lack of reverence.”
“Did they try to force you to do something?” Leona asked. Although she wasn’t the most perceptive, her intuition was sharp. She realized the gods wouldn’t summon Abyss just for a casual chat. They must have had a reason, and it probably wasn’t a request—they were gods, after all, and gods didn’t usually care about mortal feelings.
“Not exactly force me to do something, but they wanted to bind me with a chain, so they could monitor my actions. If I ever did anything that threatened the balance of life and death, they could just yank my soul back to the Divine Realm, preventing me from causing any more trouble,” Abyss said casually, seemingly unconcerned about the gods’ intentions.
After all, he had outmaneuvered them and successfully avoided being shackled.
“Did you obey them?” Leona asked, worried. “Or did you fight them and beat them up?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t dare fight gods. I wouldn’t stand a chance,” Abyss shrugged. “I just made their attempt to bind me fail. They wanted to shackle my soul, but my soul isn’t complete. They couldn’t lock onto the entire thing, so they failed. Oh, and the way I did it was by hiding the piece I tore off within your soul. I suspected the gods wouldn’t ignore us, so I took precautions. They fell for it.”
Leona was initially pleased that Abyss had outsmarted the gods, but his mention of hiding his soul fragment within hers made her blush.
“You… You put your soul inside mine? Why?! Even if you’re inside me, I won’t be conquered!”
Abyss thought for a moment, not understanding her reaction. “Soul matters are complex. Explaining it would take a long time. Just know that it’s neither beneficial nor harmful to you.”
“Then… Will I dream about you often?” Leona pressed, her face still flushed. She had initially moved away from him, but now she was back, staring intently at his face.
“Well… I don’t know. I’ve never tried this before,” Abyss said, scratching his head. “Besides, you don’t need to sleep.”
“Leona, we’re undead,” Flora reminded her, turning to face her.
“I know… It’s just…” Leona mumbled, blushing even harder, suddenly annoyed for reasons she couldn’t explain.
“Speaking of sleep, Abyss, we encountered a new Outer God while you were asleep,” Flora said, trying to calm Leona down, then addressed Abyss.
Abyss’s eyes lit up, and he sat up, looking at Flora with interest.
“Tell me everything! What’s this Outer God doing?”
“Well, I’ll start from the beginning…”
…
By the time Leona had calmed down and proudly retrieved a small potion bottle from her belt pouch, Abyss had heard everything that happened while he was asleep. He was pleased with Helen’s progress in Golden Griffin City, delighted to encounter Princess Givia, whom he had indirectly helped before, and even more excited to learn about a new Outer God and the elimination of a suspected servant.
“You’re amazing, Leona! You did so well!” Abyss praised sincerely. “I knew I could count on you!”
“Hmph, of course. Who do you think I am?” Leona beamed, her previous annoyance forgotten. She placed the potion bottle containing the black goo in Abyss’s hand, waiting for his reaction.
“Hmm… This… It’s similar to a magical gel…” Abyss said, swirling the bottle, observing the goo’s properties. “But it’s too viscous, and the energy within it is inert. I don’t sense any interaction with the surrounding magic…”
“You haven’t seen this before?” Leona asked.
“I might have… But I’m not sure…” Abyss looked up. “We’ll know for sure if I taste it.”
“Are you insane?!”
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