This counted as an important piece of information for Val.
Before this talk, he didn’t know that wizard could increase their lifespan by strengthening their Arcane Heart!
‘My Arcane heart has already been strengthened many times. Just how great is his lifespan? Can I live for 200+ years? Well, only time will tell,’ Val thought.
He started at Oliver for a good few seconds as if digesting the news before nodding, “I understand.”
Hearing Oliver’s words reminded Voidslayer of another reason why Assam had sealed it and this memory was so terrifying that it shivered.
Val felt it trembling in fear as he was holding it in his hands. He looked at it calmly and mentally reassured it, “What are you afraid of? It’s not like it’s real.”
“But my spirit can be refined into a medicine for those old fogies! You really need to keep the fact that I’m a spirit sword a secret until you gain enough strength to protect me,” Voidslayer said.
“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind,” Val assured it.
“Promise me!” Voidslayer demanded.
“I promise,” Val replied.
The next moment, Val focused his attention back on Oliver and asked, “Do you have other questions for me?”
“Actually, I do,” Oliver replied. “I have two more questions. The first is this – you’re not the type to act recklessly. So, how did you find yourself making the same mistake twice? The first time, you were ignorant about the side effects of wizardry so it made sense. But this time, you clearly knew what it would do, yet you still went ahead and did it. Why?”
“I didn’t have any other choice. If I hadn’t gone all out, I would’ve died. Just for your information, I live with Eliana in the infamous Haunted House in the Eastern District. After the lucky encounter that greatly increased my power as a wizard, I felt confident and decided to perform an Exorcism by Force on the Haunted House. But I overestimated my capabilities. My enemy was far stronger than I thought. Even though it was daytime and the power of the talisman had taken effect, I had to go all out to defeat it and rid my house of evil,” Val explained.
“A devil that can pose a challenge to a low-level wizard during the day,” Oliver muttered, “it must be at the intermediate level. But what kind of devil was it?” 𝑶𝓋𝓵xt.𝑐𝑜𝚖
Val was itching to share the truth. The existence of a vast underground area beneath the eastern district was a matter of grave importance, and it needed to be reported. As a Northerner, Oliver could easily bring the matter to the district leaders’ attention. With the involvement of the lower city authorities, it would be simpler to investigate the matter and track down and apprehend the person behind the plot of creating the Uglyface Devil using the Charnel Rite.
Once that bastard was caught, they would undoubtedly be culled like a pig as their crimes were unpardonable, and Val’s trouble would lessen.
However, if this person wasn’t caught in the near future, they might visit the haunted time to pick up the fruits of their disgusting labor. If they realized that their hard work had been ruined, who knows what they would do!
Val wouldn’t hate an evil person just because of their evilness. However, if they could become a threat to his life, he would do a good deed like a model citizen without hesitation in order to get rid of them!
That’s why Val decided to manipulate Oliver into getting the city’s help to track down and kill the mastermind!
However, as he was about to speak, Voidslayer’s voice rang in his mind. “You can’t tell him the truth, Master!”
Puzzled, Val inquired, “Why not?”
“Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘If you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back at you’?” Voidslayer asked.
“Yes,” Val responded, “But what does telling him the truth have to do with the abyss?”
“When the Uglyface Devil got awfully close to us,” Voidslayer explained, “I caught the scent of the Abyss on it. It had been there, but before we reached the underground area, it didn’t seem like it had ever emerged from the well. This suggests an opening to the Abyss has formed in the well! You can’t reveal this to anyone. Doing so would not only result in a great loss for you but could also unleash unimaginable terror on this world!”
Val was taken aback. Then, he asked Voidslayer another question.
“What is the Abyss?”
Before Voidslayer could respond, Oliver leaned forward in his seat, waving his hand in front of Val’s face. “Hello? Are you there?”
Caught off guard, Val shook his head slightly and said, “Apologies. I guess my mind wandered off.” He then answered Oliver’s earlier question. “The devil I fought was unfamiliar, so I can’t identify it. However, it appeared when I found some Shaxil in the Haunted House and killed them. It seems it was forcing the Shaxil to collect fear from people to feed itself. Moreover, it must be a single-sourced devil since it has been living among us without being found out.”
Oliver found Val’s explanation plausible.
After all, considering such a powerful devil should have been detected long ago but wasn’t, it could only mean that the devil was living among humans in disguise, keeping a low profile. But Devil needed to feed on humans or negativity to survive. Val’s words led Oliver into believing that this unidentifiable devil solved this problem by enslaving Shaxil and forcing them to do the dirty deed for him. This way it kept its track clean. Even if its plans were discovered and wizards were sent to the haunted house to perform exorcism, it wouldn’t be caught!
“I see,” Oliver said before patting Val on the shoulder, “Rest well. After you recover, come and find me. I have a proposition for you that I believe you’ll find interesting. If you accept it, it will change your life forever.”
“Where will I find you?” Val asked.
“These days, I don’t plan on going anywhere. You’ll find me at my home,” Oliver replied before undoing the barrier and leaving the God’s Hand clinic.