Chapter 482 The Price of Knowledge (End)

Gold filled Basil’s vision once again. His body felt light, reminiscent of the feeling he had experienced when he had just died. It felt like going it all over again. As a comforting sensation wrapped around his body, he closed his eyes. His body regained its weight and his coordination returned. When he opened his eyes, he was back standing before the shining tablet.

Already feeling a connection to it, Basil retracted his hand and looked at the anticipating Matheus. He quirked an eyebrow as if asking what Matheus was expecting. Matheus quietly sighed in relief before grinning at him. Basil stared silently at the grin. He couldn’t understand what Matheus was excited about.

“Glad to see that you didn’t inherit my will.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be sad?”

“Nope.” Matheus shook his head. “I was full of vengeance when I died. Millennia of thinking made me realize that what I intended might not be the wisest decision I could make.”

“I won’t blame you for wanting revenge. You need to put down dogs that bite their owners’ hands,” Basil stated factually.

“I am not like you. An eye for an eye will only leave the world blind.”

“At least, you will not be the victim,” Basil pointed out. “However, I won’t lecture you on what you should do. Regardless of your choice, I will still follow my plan.”

“Good.” Matheus nodded with a pleased smile before looking at Basil with a serious. “What you saw earlier was not a mere glimpse of my past but also a lesson for you. The people who stand with you at this moment might become your enemy in the future. Despite that, are you still willing to lead them?”

“I am not a saviour, Matheus,” Basil reminded solemnly. “Unlike you, I don’t fight to save them. I treat the whole world as my enemy and they decided to stand on my side. Of course, I am referring to the humans; not the Demi-Humans, Elves, and Dwarves. I purposely recruited those three.”

“You must have inherited my hatred for humans,” Matheus remarked with an awkward look.

“I have seen the human’s ugly side. You have nothing to do with it.”

Matheus hummed in contemplation. He recalled the words Basil had delivered with full conviction. He believed that Basil didn’t inherit his resentment towards humans. However, Basil had made it clear that he wouldn’t be helping humans out. He knew what Basil was planning, so it was highly likely that Basil would turn a blind eye to the happenings in the world unless his people were involved.

It was fine. He had never expected Basil to be the saviour just like he had in the past. That had cost him dearly. Basil’s most important role was to protect that Tablet of Truth and not let it fall into the wrong hands. As long as it was safe, nothing would matter. With that said, he needed to tell Basil where to find the last Fragment to complete the Tablet of Truth.

“Have you got to know the new feature the Guide has?”

“[Book of Life]. It allows me to know everything about someone, including their history with a mere glance. It drains your Soul.”

Matheus nodded his head and then held out a white spherical wisp. “Use it on this Soul Fragment.”

“That is Lindy’s.”

“Oh, you can tell? As expected of my descendant. You are good with identifying Souls.”

“How did you get it?”

“Solomon gave it to me before he was killed by those four. It was the most foolproof way to tell the whereabouts of the Second Fragment to the right person.”

Basil ignored Matheus’ chuckle and used the newly acquired feature that the Guide had. His eyes immediately turned completely black. One could only see a pair of black orbs in his eye sockets, replacing his golden-irised eyes. His presence immediately became something incomprehensible to mere mortals.

On the other hand, Basil found himself witnessing an event from the third person’s point of view. Four people whom he recognized as the scoundrels who proclaimed themselves to be the Great Four Gods stood before seven figures clad in black robes. Basil couldn’t make out their figures but had an inkling of who they were.

“We had a deal. We laid the trap for you, you get his heart, and we get the Tablet of Truth,” one of the robed figures spoke.

“We couldn’t find the Tablet of Truth, but we managed to secure the Fragment,” Gregory said calmly.

“That is also fine. We will find the rest by ourselves.”

Gregory reluctantly took out the adult’s head-sized tablet that the figure demanded from his robe. Handing it over to one of the figures, he watched with gritted teeth as the figure nodded in appreciation. They wanted to cheat on their deal but they didn’t. Demons kept their word as long as a proper contract was signed. It wouldn’t be a wise choice to cheat on their deal.

“Will you—”

“Of course. My siblings and I will retreat into Hell.” The figure holding the tablet tilted his head as if smirking at Gregory. “You can kill the army that we leave behind. You are going to Ascend using the heart you brutally took out of your Master’s chest, aren’t you? It shouldn’t be that hard to take care of all of them.”

Gregory clenched his fist and frowned heavily but didn’t say anything. The figure didn’t say anything wrong, after all. Basil watched as the seven figures blinked out of existence. Three out of the four people loosened up—the other one had never been tense—upon their disappearance.

Basil was expecting to see more, but the scene ended at that moment. He was back in his Inner World, looking at the white spherical wisp. The said wisp flickered before bursting into flame. The scene prompted Basil to deactivate [Book of Life]. He had no more reason to drain his soul for nothing.

“Ignorance is bliss, you know,” Matheus remarked as Basil redirected his gaze to him. “Knowing that information, do you think you can relax?”

“I have enough time. Moreover, I don’t have any intention to relax,” Basil retorted.

“But you can’t remain apathetic to the world, Basil. The Seven Princes will come for you once they get out. If you don’t stop the senseless killing that the Demons—”

“I will pry the Hell’s Gate open to retrieve the Second Fragment and complete the Tablet of Truth. They will run for their lives before they can go after mine,” Basil interjected mercilessly. “Let me worry about what is to come.”

Matheus stared unblinkingly at Basil for a few seconds before shaking his head in amusement. He felt quite bitter for making such an outstanding person his Vessel. Fortunately, Basil was confident that he wouldn’t lose to him—the real him. He believed that Basil would succeed, so it eased his mind a little.

Only time will tell.

Giving Basil one last smirk, Matheus slowly turned to dust. He had fulfilled his purpose, so his presence was no longer needed. Before he completely disappeared, he mouthed ‘good luck’ to Basil. Basil replied with a sardonic smirk that told him he wouldn’t need luck. Matheus grinned even wider.

When Matheus was no longer in his Inner World, Basil waved his hand, kicking himself out of his Inner World. The seemingly endless golden field faded, replaced by the secret chamber where he had found the Third Fragment. Looking down, he found the dead body of Bael who greeted him with a smirk. The Demon seemed to have thought he had won.

Taking note of the dread in the air, Basil quickly moved out of the room. He was tempted to hog all of the treasures the Obelisk stored, but it was not the time. Every active Obelisk in the world had been opened. The world had too many Demons roaming it.

Even if the Obelisk of Bael had been cleared, it still contributed to the Mass Outbreak. After all, Upper Middle-Class Demons and above didn’t die alongside Bael, their Obelisk Master. He didn’t want to underestimate his Clan, but they would need his help. Talented as they might be, it had been two millennia since they had actively fought as Warriors.

…

As the integration of a Fragment had always been a short process for Basil, he hadn’t bothered to check the time. He believed that less than five minutes had passed since his integration with the Third Fragment. If he had checked the time, he would be quite surprised to find that three days had passed.

The Pacifer had been fighting against the surviving horde of Demons from the Obelisk of Bael for three days straight. They were, fortunately, faring well, but it was still an overwhelming situation for them. After all, it had been some time since they had last put their lives on the line like proper Warriors.

They were grateful that they had Xander and Cyrus who commanded their army extremely well. The older generations, who had listened to their grandparents’ stories about the amazing Pacifer Army, felt like they were living the amazing stories. Despite the risk of losing their lives, they enjoyed the thrill of the battle.

Boom!

Iliana pierced a big hole through the chest of the Minotaur Warrior who had tried its luck on her. Her face was as flat as new paper sheets. She was trying to force down her worry about Basil given the development. An Outbreak had occurred while he was in the Obelisk. Although Asia had assured her that Basil was fine, she still couldn’t help but worry.

For that reason, she erased as much emotion as she could and focused her attention solely on the fight. It had been her third day of fighting the rabid horde of Demons, but she was still not tired of them. She could vent her frustration on them. She swore she would never back down when Basil told her not to follow him.

Rawr!

Her eyes widened when a roar came from her side. She had just thought about Basil for a second, but a Hog Orc managed to go past her defence. She cursed her incompetence and then readied herself for impact. She gritted her teeth and waited for the pain, but it didn’t come.

Slash!

By the time she faced the offending Hog Orc, it was already bisected vertically. As they fell apart, she could see the figure who had saved her. It was a familiar presence, but it was not Basil.

“Thank you, Asia.”

It was quite disappointing, but she was not ungrateful.