Above The Sky
Chapter 661 - 661 609 Now all these evil tomes are mine!

661: Chapter 609: Now all these evil tomes are mine!

(5500, second update)_3 661: Chapter 609: Now all these evil tomes are mine!

(5500, second update)_3 In the darkness, the Ghost Valley Knight moved straight ahead, slicing through the office door of the dean with his sword, his gaze immediately locking onto the various tomes of blue, purple, and green.

“The Book of Silver Radiance,” “Rite of the Abyssal Pyre,” “Chaos Nemesis,” and “Twilight Tome”… Such precious books containing special Spirit Energy, just their mere existence was extremely unique and coveted, sat on the bookshelf to the left of the dean’s office desk.

Ian stepped forward, without hesitation he packed all the books and took them away—he even carried a large, seemingly lightweight sack with him, clearly intended for the spoils of his venture.

[Actually, if you wanted to know the knowledge in these books, you could have just asked me, I have them all memorized…]

Adalbert followed behind, muttering under his breath, he wouldn’t stop Ian’s actions, but still hoped that these tomes, indeed containing various evil knowledge and Spirit Energy, wouldn’t see the light of day again.

The soul merging and resurrection used by the Dead River Armament were powerful abilities recombined from the techniques within these books, stirring in him a natural aversion.

“Then your memory is really impressive.”

Ian truly meant his praise, but his hands didn’t stop moving as he put all his spoils into the sack for safekeeping, “But what I need is this ‘evil’ power.

For research or simply broadening my horizons, it’s all very useful to me.”

“Don’t worry, I am the disciple of The Empire’s most notorious fugitive, never the kind-hearted type, stealing The Empire’s books is a matter of principle, you shouldn’t feel uneasy for me.”

—I’m not uneasy about that at all!

Adalbert thought to retort, but in the end, he kept silent… He felt that this Ghost Valley Knight’s personality was probably much more lively than he had imagined.

Of course.

Since Ian was ready to reveal his ‘Ian’ identity to Adalbert, naturally, he wouldn’t care too much to maintain the indifferent facade of Knight Mahdi of the Secluded Valley.

“Get ready to leave.”

After collecting the scattered items in the dean’s office, books or not, Ian satisfiedly hung the sack at his waist—the few books plus some peculiar Spirit Energy artifacts were about the size of a typical backpack.

The Frost Butterfly peeked its head out of the waist pouch, curiously eyeing its ‘new neighbors’—it felt a strange Spirit Energy Fluctuation… and even something akin to Fae vibrations?

This was no illusion.

Among the precious tomes stolen by the Spirit Wisdom Institute from the Imperial Capital Grand Library, there was a volume titled “Joyous Fairland,” which detailed the unique aspects of the Fae.

It is said to have been produced by the Fae of Falling Star City for distribution to every nation as a way to introduce themselves.

Because a conflict soon broke out, there was a deeper understanding of the Fae, leading to no further need for prints, and now it has become a discontinued collector’s item.

[Eh, this is Fae…]

Although he didn’t ask further, Adalbert grew even more curious about Ian’s identity—who was he, to have a laboratory in the Imperial Capital and Fae as followers?

If only he had paid more attention to the news in the Imperial Capital or stayed current with alchemical publications, he might now understand Ian’s true identity, adding another name to the list of those ‘who have seen through Ian’s disguise’.

Unfortunately, Adalbert was a shy individual and had been engaging in cloistered research recently, naturally failing to make the connection.

And so, it was.

Ian and Adalbert, two Deceased Monarchs, made their way through the now utterly silent exit of the Subspace Labyrinth.

No Phantasms, no Magical Beasts, no surviving researchers—apart from Adalbert himself, everyone at the Central Research Laboratory in the Avak Domain had perished, all turned into Lost Souls, collected by Duke of Solin.

As they moved, pieces of enclosed paradises collapsed one after the other, shards of Subspace broke apart, as the special environment created by the fallen shards of the Domain of Void in the Silent Abyss was originally based on the resentment of a Multitude of Souls.

When Duke of Solin collected the souls of a million people, the entire Subspace Labyrinth was on the verge of collapse, barely maintained by the mere presence of Ian and Adalbert, the two Deceased Monarchs.

They arrived at the entrance.

A buzz…

They could already see, at the junction between the real world and the subspace, a thing like a foggy gate.

Looking at the real world through it seemed just like watching a phantasmagoria.

Or perhaps a nightmare.

But now…

“The nightmare is over,”

Ian turned his head toward the young researcher who was quietly pressing his eyes, seemingly wanting to cry, but not a single tear spilled, his body trembling, and said, “Although it’s not a perfect ending, at least it’s better than the worst possible one.”

“Adalbert, I know that you never thought you’d make it out alive in the beginning.

You believe all this research originated from you, and you think that the deaths of a million people in the Avak Domain are all your fault—just like the Deceased Monarch and the River of Death.”

“You kept seeking me out to talk because you felt shaken, tormented, unable to endure this fear.

You feel unworthy of living compared to those who died because of you, who suffered because of you.

But you survived, and your conscience is accusing you.”

“But even if that’s true, so what?”

Ian’s voice carried an almost indifferent ruthlessness, but it was exactly the kind of calm Adalbert needed: “If you had died, then everything would have indeed been meaningless.”

“Don’t be too afraid.

You can still stand under the sun, you can still use your intelligence to change the world.

You’ve earned that right.”

The once terrifying Deceased Monarch was like a child yet to grow up—he was in fact just a young man in his early twenties, inexperienced with the world’s harsh realities, handpicked by the Duke of Solin at a young age, sequestered in the ivory tower, devoted to the study of his favored technologies.

He was intelligent, optimistic, extraordinarily gifted, endowed with a sense of justice, and even without joking, he was a good person with healthy moral views.

Such a person should have had a bright future.

His involvement in the Avak Domain incident…

only showed that Terra and the world were rotten.

[I understand…]

In response to Ian’s words, Adalbert spoke softly, his voice choking: [I just…

thought of my mother…

Did I live up to my mother’s teachings?

Have I truly become the person my mother wanted me to be?]

“If your mom knew of your achievements and determination now, she wouldn’t care how many people you killed, how much of the responsibility was yours.”

Ian shook his head with a sigh: “Don’t worry about your mom; she’s surely being well taken care of by the Duke of Solin…

probably much better than us.”

“Let’s go.

It’s time to start the next phase of life.”

Ian and Adalbert walked out of the Subspace Labyrinth, and with the crisp sound of breaking, the fragments of the Domain of Void completely shattered.

Dawn was breaking outside.

In the dim morning light, one could vaguely see two moons falling at the edge of the sky, interlacing at the rim of the firmament, one dim and fractured, the other bright and clear.

Even in such a starless dark night, dawn would still come, and there would be the glow of the moon.

“Take it easy, Adalbert.”

Gazing at the moon, Ian took a step forward with Adalbert: “There are many more hardships waiting for you in the future, probably just as unbearable as death itself.”

“You can’t rest yet.”