《The Diabolic Cultivator Thief》


 Chapter 1 - The Crimson Blood Covering The Sky And The Earth

    Chapter 1: The Crimson Blood Covering The Sky And The Earth


    Translator: Park Nambyul


    ¡°I-is this is the ending for me? Am I going to die just like this? Is this the ending waiting for me? I don¡¯t want to die, not-not like this! My eyes¡­ ugh.. they are hurting¡­ too heavy for me to let them open I-I ju¡ª¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Kill anyone who is still breathing. No one can leave this war ground on their own feet. Even if the war has ended, we must not let anyone escape¡±, said the soldier in a very commanding and loud voice. He looked a little upper-class soldier than the rest of them.


    The group of five or six troops who were still searching the ground of crimson color blood nodded together to the command of their leader. Everyone was searching that lifeless ground. So that they would kill anyone who was still alive. Those soldiers were killing mercilessly even the dead bodies to make sure. After the terrifying war, everywhere the mountains of the corpse were laying down, it was looking like a place of hell on earth, no matter how far human sight can see they¡¯ll only see the ocean of scarlet blood, dead bodies or those who were still struggling because of their deep wounds. Humans of all ages, all genders and of all status were dead or dying with every passing second.


    The overwhelming stench of blood was in the air. No one can tell that this hell used to be a green and lively place with hundreds of humans, where those people¡¯s cheerful voices filled the whole place with happiness in the past. And now, by the look of the land, you can tell that the war which happened here must have been frightening to death. The scenery could make even demons tremble like leaf in the windy season.


    In that chaotic zone, there was an awkward silence surrounding the whole place. That silence was awkward and had strong killing intent. It looked like there wouldn¡¯t be any living person left there, it was lifeless without any sign of any life!


    Abruptly a very loud but clear sob started coming from a nearby dump of dead bodies, it was the cry of a child, he looked very young maybe just three or four years old kid who had never seen any war before, filthy clothes and wounds were all over him, blood was rolling down from his head, he was crying while searching those dead bodies with terror in his eyes and shaking limbs. He was insanely searching to find someone who he called ¡°Daddy.¡±


    ¡°Daddy, daddy where are you?¡± In a very broken and woeful voice, he was shouting for his daddy. But even after so many times calling no one answered him. His crying grew up louder and louder with more and more tears in his small eyes. In his tiny heart, he knew that his daddy is no longer here. He knew that now no one will ever going to answer his call for help. Now his daddy has left him for eternity. Despite knowing this fact he was still searching that place as if he will find his daddy for sure. But he didn¡¯t stop crying maybe because he was aware of the scary situation of his.


    Just some fifty or so meters away from the child a body that seemed to be dead started moving. It was moving but there was no strength left in the body, ¡°Wh¡­ Who¡¯s cry¡­ing?¡±


    It was the body of a handsome man who wasn¡¯t that much of age, his eyes were closed, he looked young like eighteen or nineteen. Even so, he had a strong aura around him, it was like its saying that this person is powerful who would not die that easily.


    His clothes were shredded to the point that only some part of his body was covered, which made his pure white-skinned body more visible to eyes, he was lying on his stomach. His right side face was also buried in the ground of blood. Even when only half of his face was showing, he still looked attractive, his sharp features which were covered in blood made his looks more striking, he looked like a prince or extremely powerful cultivator even with that kind of appearance, the clothes were soaked in vermilion blood, who knows how many people¡¯s blood was on him.


    He opened his eyes slowly. The sound of a child¡¯s weep made him look around, he wanted to see who was still alive in this graveyard. So he pulled together his little remained strength to move his head a little higher to see in the direction of the weeping child, his long limbs were broken badly, some blood was coming from his mouth, he had blood in his eyes which made him little scary, it also made his sight a bit blurry. With the last strength in his broken hands, he tried to look a bit higher, supporting his body with his hand while balancing his upper body he looked around. At first, he couldn¡¯t look even the closest corpse but then after blinking his eyes for two or three times, his eyesight becomes little better than before, it was still blurry which made him only see some silhouette of the entire place. He slowly rubbed his left eye with his left hand then right eye with the same hand for a more clear vision.


    Those cry of that child was still as loud as before. After rubbing his eyes his sight finally became clear in some seconds. He saw that child who was crying like there¡¯s no end to his cry.


    ¡°Clang¡±


    His eyes become widened by hearing that sound, he was shocked, that was the sound of unsheathing a powerful long sword. The person who unsheathed the sword was wearing clothes of high-class silk with many beautiful embroideries all over the clothes which were made of real gold thread, that person could be described as an attractive young man, but he had a dark face like he was ready to kill anyone without even blinking an eye.


    He was standing behind that kid. The child didn¡¯t notice him because he was still searching for someone.


    ¡°Swish¡±


    Just like cutting the air with just one swing of his sword, he cut off the neck of that miserable child.


    ¡°No¡±, the man stretched out his hand as he wanted to stop that swordsman but he was late. He had no strength to even stand on his own legs anymore, so he fell on the ground like his soul was snatched out of his body after witnessing the scene.


    ¡°Thud, thud, thud¡±, in frustration he punched the ground until his left hand started to bleed more than ever, tears were falling from his eyes like a waterfall.


    Some time was passed after the incident. After calming down a bit, he noticed that that swordsman was gone. He again tried to see that child¡¯s body but he couldn¡¯t because that child¡¯s headless body was fallen somewhere on the ground he didn¡¯t know about. Maybe that child¡¯s body was surrounded by many adult¡¯s dead bodies which were bigger than the child¡¯s body, which made it impossible to find that little child ever again. He was glancing around to find that child¡¯s head which was ripped off, however, he couldn¡¯t find it either.


    Suddenly, some noise started to come to his ears, it was the sound of birds. It was not the ears pleasing sound which small birds make rather it was the sound of big man-eater vultures flapping their wings over some dead bodies. They were coming to the war zone because of that smell of blood, they were just five in counting. So it wasn¡¯t a big threat to everyone there. And those vultures were just eating some dead bodies far away from him.


    That white-skinned man was laying down on his stomach like before, eyes were shut. He was feeling useless because he couldn¡¯t even save a small child from dying. His tears were still falling from eyes, mixed with blood. So it looked like he was crying out tears of blood.


    A drop of something fell upon his left cheek. His eyes were still shut so he thought that that was the drop of rain. He caressed that drop with his left hand, he felt that the consistency of it was little different than of rainwater. He opened his eyes to see his hand which touched that cheek of his. ¡°Blo¡­blood?¡±, he wasn¡¯t shocked but surprised to see blood on his hand because it was not the blood he had on him because of the war, it was the drop fell upon him from the sky. He tried to look upward in the sky to see where this blood on him came from.


    This time he was shocked. He was so shocked that he even forgets to blink his eyes, one of those vultures was carrying that child¡¯s head which was cut off. That vultures was carrying that kid¡¯s head by his ponytail in its huge mouth, the blood was dripping down from his neck!


    Seeing that horrifying scene he became a statue. A teardrop slightly fell down from his right eye, the tear slowly rolls down touching his cheek, no words came out from his mouth. He felt a heartache in his chest, He hadn¡¯t felt that useless in his whole life.


    After a while, the entire war ground was silent. Those vultures and soldiers were also gone. It was evening, even the sky started to cover up in red color, the sun was setting, now it was vermilion everywhere, no matter whether you look up or down. It looked beautiful, dreadfully beautiful.


    ¡°Ad¡­ Ad¡­ Ad¡­Vik¡­¡±


    It looked as if someone was calling someone¡¯s name, the voice sounded very sorrowful and painful. That voice reached that white-skinned man, ¡°Is¡­ ugh¡­ is someone calling my name? Did I hear it right?¡± Mouthful of blood came out of his mouth. The man hastily started to look for the person who was calling when he heard that person¡¯s voice.


    At first, he thought that he heard it wrong but the voice again came to his ears. That other person kept calling for someone. After hearing so many times he was sure who that person could be. It looked like the white-skinned man knew who that person is, he tried to look around again to see where that person might be. Happiness could be seen on all over his pretty face, it was like every time the other person called they sent some energy or hope for him. He was happy, anxious, desperate, he was feeling so many mixed emotions together in his heart, it brightened his whole face, he was still an attractive man even with so much blood and wounds but now he becomes a lot more handsome than ever cause of his huge smile and tearful eyes, this time those tears were of happiness. He was extremely happy just by hearing that voice.


    He tried to get up on his feet but he had no strength left in him. He kept trying, again and again, he desperately wanted to go where that person was, who was laying down ten or so meters away!


    ¡°Thud¡±


    With a loud sound he again fell down, it was his tenth time trying to get up, though his broken body couldn¡¯t support him any further, every time he was trying to stand up again he was falling down.


    ¡°I have to go where Your Highness is. I can¡¯t stop right now. I don¡¯t want to stop right now¡±, He thought. He was staring in the direction of that familiar voice while he was on the ground, laying down on his stomach. He clenched his hands, ¡°I want to see Your Highness. I want to make sure that Your Highness is alright¡± In frustration, his tears again started to fall. He started hitting the ground with his head, he was so angry with himself.


    ¡°What was the meaning of having that much power when I didn¡¯t even protect Your Highness¡± He rested his head on the ground, tears were stopped but his heart was thumping like a thunderstorm.


    ¡°Ad¡­ Ad¡­ Ad¡­¡±


    The person was still calling his name. The voice was lower and more sorrowful than the last time but he heard it crystal clearly.


    ¡°I have to see Your Highness¡¯s face. I want to see Your Highness¡¯s face¡±, He thought while he was gazing in the direction of the Your Highness he mentioned.


    He put his right hand in front of him then the left hand to pulled himself up in the direction of Your Highness. On the path to Your Highness he sluggishly started to creeps, with grave struggle and endless efforts, he was slithering towards the person who was calling his name.


    Some of the soldiers dumped a few bodies somewhere else to walk that¡¯s why the road to Your Highness was not that much of mess or difficult for him to slither yet the road had some sharp rocks, human fleshes, weapon and blood, and lots of blood on the ground. His face was showing his unbearable pain but he was enduring it like he was perfectly fine.


    ¡°Ouch!¡±, he accidentally put his left hand on a pointed rock which he didn¡¯t even notice, he was just nonstop moving in the direction of the Your Highness. ¡°Y-Your Highness, where are you, I-I am coming, do not worry¡­ everything will be fine. So please-please h-hold on a bit¡±, he murmured these lines, the red blood which was stopped, again started to leave his mouth. ¡°I.. I will make everything correct. Everything will be alright¡± He thought while going towards Your Highness.


    ¡°Your Highness¡±, he shouted when he saw a familiar figure which looked like Your Highness to him, ¡°I am coming you just wait¡±. His speed became faster than before, seeing that figure which was just a little far away from him, if he could he would have flown towards that person but he could never do something like that. Tears of joy filling his eyes, he had a very big smile on his face, the light of setting sun made his eyes shine like stars. Even his deep brown eyes were smiling seeing that that person is just some distance away, ¡°Your Highness, see I am here¡­ ugh¡­ I am coming¡±, he shouted.


    The person was laying down on the uneven and messy ground, ¡°Ad¡­ Ad¡­ Advi¡­k?¡±, Your Highness¡¯s half-opened eyes were gazing at him, Your Highness tried to reach out for him as Your Highness wanted to hold Advik as soon as possible.


    In the war ground, the only thing which was looking beautiful was Your Highness. Your Highness¡¯s eyes were closed, with a pretty face Your Highness was facing the sky.


    The evening sky looked dazzling, it had a cold yet gentle breeze. The warmth of the sun was still there, however, not the sun. The yellow, orange, pink, red, and purple color was covering the sky as if they were painted by a talented painter.


    The light of different colors in the sky was making Your Highness¡¯s whole body covered by enormous colors, Your Highness had some teardrops on the cheeks, some blood was coming out of Your Highness¡¯s mouth, the long jet black hair of Your Highness was spread beneath the slender back, Your Highness¡¯s face structure was so beautiful that it looked like it was a precisely crafted sculpture, the extremely rare beauty of that person was just straight out of heaven. No one can tell whether the person was an angel or a human, a man or a woman! Hairs of Your Highness were dyed with the blood, no, the person head to toe was soaked in blood and dirt, except some part of the clothes the whole body was red, filth was mixed with that vermilion fluid, the pretty face was also covered with mud.


    The blood was slowly rolling down from the cuts and wounds from Your Highness¡¯s stomach, which was pierced by a pure silver sword, it was like glass ¨C clear and colorless, it seemed like it was made from freshwater or crystal clear glass, the brown hilt of it was glittering like it was carved from diamonds, the sword had strong spiritual air around it, it was as if the sword was crying because it didn¡¯t want to kill this person who was dying below it.


    ¡°Y-your¡­ Y-your Highness! Look I-I am here!¡± Your Highness sluggishly opened the eyes hearing those words, those eyes were sparkling having Him so close.


    The image of Advik was in the eyes of Your Highness, ¡°A-Ad¡­ Advik!!¡± Advik was there beside Your Highness, laying on the right side, facing Your Highness with great euphoria in the eyes, Advik¡¯s left profile was touching the ground.


    Your Highness¡¯s left hand caressed his right cheek, ¡°Y-you, indeed, are here!¡±, tears were on the edge of Your Highness¡¯s eyes, the hand which were touching Advik¡¯s cheek were stained with blood, still the warmth of this hand ¨C which were gradually fading with every passing second ¨C was warming him.


    Your Highness slightly curved to see Advik. Advik put his hand on the hand which was warming his cheek, ¡± Ha!¡± He grinned while looking in the eyes of the person in front of him. Both were diving into the eyes of each other, the blurry reflection of them was the result of those tears in their eyes, yet it was pleasing; the image in their eyes, the droplets and the light reflecting in their eyes. Maybe both knew that this the end for them, which was why, even in that horrible situation they didn¡¯t mind anything around them; not their filthy clothes, not the sea of blood, not their wounds and not the strong smell of dead bodies rotting everywhere in the destroyed place.


    ¡°I am dying, Your Highness!¡±.


    ¡°Me as well,¡± Your Highness said as if it was a joke.


    ¡°I apologize for before, Your Highness¡±, he whispered with sincerity in his low voice.


    ¡°Back there, it wasn¡¯t your fault¡±. Your Highness sighed, ¡°I was at fault too, so, it¡¯s even now¡±.


    ¡°Your Highness, just tell me already that you¡¯re in-in love with¡­ me, aren¡¯t you?¡±, he joked.


    ¡°Please! D-don¡¯t joke at a time¡­ like this¡±.


    ¡°Argh¡­ But why didn¡¯t you told me the truth!?¡±, Advik asked looking in those deep eyes.


    ¡°I-I¡­ Cough¡­ Apologize!¡±, Your Highness removed the teardrop from Advik¡¯s cheek. ¡± A-Advik¡­ Can I request you for something¡­ Cough!?¡±, a mouthful of blood came out form Your Highness¡¯s mouth, he was clearly in agony.


    Advik nodded and said, ¡°Yes, whatever you want¡­ Shwet!¡±, he smiled lightly when he said the name.


    Your Highness aka Shwet was surprised hearing the name as well. ¡°C-can you sing that song of yours which your parents taught you, I-I know I¡¯m¡­ being¡­ Cough¡­ stupid for asking you to sing in this situation but please¡­, if-if you could¡­!¡±, Shwet requested.


    Advik¡¯s lips curved upward a bit when he heard the request. ¡°Why not!¡±, he took a small breath and started to sing, in the beginning of his singing his voice wasn¡¯t pleasing at all to ears, it was cracking often and those wounds of his didn¡¯t let him breathe properly to sing well, he was coughing so many times during singing the song, the song was as if someone who is tone-deaf was trying to sing!


    Even so, the fading smile on Your Highness¡¯s messy face was priceless, with the closed eyes Your Highness was listening to him, attentively! Somehow, it was a strangely relaxing melody which was helping Your Highness to endure the unbearable pain! After a while, Advik got a hold on his singing, thus, that made his voice better than before! The cold wind was getting stronger than a few minutes ago, the deep blue sky, deeper than the ocean itself was all over their heads, having many stars above them which were making the whole night sky divine.


    Though the sun was gone long ago, still the milky-white moon was there glittering like a pearl in the sea. It could have been a perfect moment only if those dead bodies weren¡¯t decomposing there while the smell of them was mixing with the breeze.


    The pin-drop silence was everywhere, everything looked dead, everything was motionless like someone has put some magic spell out there or the time might be just too slow to notice anything. ¡°A-Ad¡­ Vik¡­ did you¨C¡°, the tension was all over Your highness¡¯s face.


    ¡°Y-yes!, I heard the sound¡­ of something coming in¡­ in our direction!!¡±, Advik stated with a worrisome look. ¡°We-we should pretend to be dead or it may be more dangerous for both of us!¡±, he mumbled.


    The sound of wheels coming towards them grew up louder, it was indeed coming at a rapid speed. The sound of the vehicle, the footsteps of horses was the only thing echoing in that dead place, the noise was piercing. Advik thought that whoever is coming at this late would be just here for the last check on the ground and they¡¯ll leave soon, If they didn¡¯t get noticed by them! However, the sound didn¡¯t stop even after some minutes, it was as if the vehicle was straight coming for them, the thought of it made Advik a bit worried and afraid. He saw a rath heading towards them from the right side, a big but not that fancy type of rath which some royals or nobles would never choose to ride, it looked like the rath of a soldier who wasn¡¯t that of high rank.


    ¡°YOUR HIGHNESS!!!¡±


    Advik screamed, yet he was late, the speed of those black horses was tremendous, even when they weren¡¯t of high breed horses they still got some extraordinary legs, Advik didn¡¯t even get the time to think before the rath walked over them, crashing their every single bone by those heavy wheels and those powerful legs of horses, it crashed them like an ant. First Your Highness then Advik was crushed ruthlessly by it.


    A few seconds later, Advik opened his damaged eyes again, the only thing he saw was those grave wounds on the person in front of him, the injuries were graver than before, deeper than before, the blood was flowing out of the body like it was raining, the sword was bent deeper into the person, it ripped off the arteries and internal organs of Your Highness, those organs were showing out of the body, it was unspeakable! it was a mess! It was just as if it would be better if the person simply dies rather than suffering like that, maybe that should be more peaceful and painless death than this tragedy.


    Advik¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t any better, he was heavily bleeding and injured as well, his whole body was in agony, way more shattered ¨C dislocated than before. Just some inches away from them the rath stopped after crossing over them. A man in turquoise clothes, smooth white skin, long brown hair, wearing an evil smile ¨C may be pleased with what he just did. He hopped out from the rath, one saber and one sword crossing on his back, having evilness around him, with a disgusting look filled in his eyes.


    ¡°Phu¡­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA¡­..!! OH GOD!OH GOD! OH MY DEAR GOD! JUST LOOK WHAT I HAVE FOUND IN THIS DUSTBIN! Hmm, SO, The world-famous Thief is here. How-how tragic! Shh¡­ Your situation, aww¡­. poor you! I am sad very very sad seeing you like this that it¡¯s breaking my heart!!¡±, he walked closer to put his leg on Advik¡¯s head, he pushed his head in the land like he was killing some bugs, it was powerful enough to break one or two head bone of Advik. ¡°I THINK WHATEVER HAPPENED TO YOU WAS WRONG, DEFINITELY WRONG. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN WAY MORE PAINFUL!, WAY MORE TRAGIC!, WAY CRUEL AND WAY MORE EVIL! Don¡¯t you think!!?¡±


    He sat down in front of Advik¡¯s head, he grabbed Advik¡¯s hair and looked in his eyes, ¡°That¡¯s why! That is why I am here, to make you pay for what you did to MY FAMILY! Hahaha¡­ Look closely at ME! The table has finally turned, ¡°Thuu¡±, he spat on Advik¡¯s face. ¡°YOU DISGRACEFUL ANIMAL! YOU SON OF A BITCH! I AM HERE TO KILL YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS!!!¡±, he tightened his grip on Advik¡¯s head and forcefully shoved his head deep into the ground.


    Advik was a little unconscious because of anemia, he didn¡¯t know and also didn¡¯t care for whatever was happening with him. His weak and lifeless right hand was just trying to reach Your Highness¡¯s motionless body, ¡°Y-you¡­ Y-your¡­ H-High¡­ Ness¡­!!¡±. There wasn¡¯t any distance between them, at least not that much for others, nevertheless, for him, it was like Your Highness was miles away from him.


    The person in turquoise clothes saw his hand. ¡°Huh!? Are you reaching out for someone!?¡±, he crushed the hand as well and looked at the direction where the hand was trying to reach, ¡°SO!!, this person is someone important to you?! Hahaha¡­ Seriously! I can¡¯t take this anymore! You¡­ are caring for someone else in this circumstance!?! My! FUCK!! I am very happy right now!!¡± when he turned to see the other person, he was surprised. ¡°Huh?! I am familiar with this glorious sword! Ain¡¯t you? Advik Arya The Diabolic Thief!! Don¡¯t you think that this sword is more familiar to you than to me!?!¡±


    He kicked Your Highness, but the kick wasn¡¯t powerful enough to move a strong cultivator much. ¡°Well! Well, I came here to give your life the last strike which your pitiful life needs right now, however, I have changed my mind seeing this!¡±, he smiled. ¡°Do you agree if someone wants to hurt their enemies, they should just simply kill or hurt their enemies most important people and their enemies will surely die in the most pathetic way! Right?¡±, he demonically laughed.


    Advik worried face looked at the insane person, ¡°D-don¡¯t! Please! D-don¡¯t hurt Your Highness or you¡¯ll die by me!¡±, he glared at him with rage in his eyes.


    ¡°Huh!? So YOU can talk! How interesting¡±, he giggled, ¡°Awesome! Much interesting! You can talk and you want to kill me when you can¡¯t EVEN stand! Fufufu!!!¡±


    With a woeful and desperate voice, Advik begged, ¡°P-please¡­ I.. I am begging you..ahhh! S-spare Your Highness! General!! Please!! Your Highness is the only¡­ friend I have!! P-Please!!


    ¡°NO!! I won¡¯t spare anyone! Why should I spare him when you didn¡¯t spare my family at that time!¡± He pulled out his sword, just one move of his sword and it slashed off the head of Your Highness like humans abruptly cut animals for their meat.


    ¡°YOUR HIGHNESS!!!!!¡±, Advik screamed with every last breath inside of him but that scream never leave his lips!


    ¡°LOOK AT YOURSELF!! YOU ARE CRYING FOR SOMEONE ELSE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA¡­!!! I AM EMOTIONAL, VERY EMOTIONAL!¡±, he sheathed the sword.


    ¡°Why¡­ W-why!! WHY¡­ WHY¡­ YOU!!!¡±, Advik cried.


    ¡°YOU ASK WHY ME? Hahaha, I simply think it was fun that¡¯s why. BUT NOW I AM THINKING I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU FIRST!! WELL, it¡¯s still not late! Is it!?!, he grabbed Advik¡¯s hair and hauled him forcibly towards the edge of a mountain, it was just some hundred meters ahead from them, He was moving him like small kids move their toys with ropes, without caring for Advik who was half dead.


    He pulled him nearly at the end of the mountain to look down in the abyss, the depth of it was endless, ¡°Take A Look! This is the place where you are going to die! Hahahahaha!! I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN THAT I CAN¡¯T STOP LAUGHING!!¡± He clutched him to look down in the abyss, ¡± This is Narak Dvaar, down there is Hell¡¯s Flame, it¡¯s said that if someone is thrown into it, they will die and they¡¯ll never be reborn ever again in any universe! Amazing isn¡¯t it?!!¡± He threw Advik on the ground, ¡°But before sending you in that place, I personally want to give you a reward¡±, he smirked.


    On the other hand, Advik was unaware of his situation, laying down near the mountain¡¯s edge, after been through so much, his eyes were still half-opened, he could only watch whatever was happening with him, he not had any strength left to fight, after that much torture he was used to the unendurable pain.


    General touched Advik¡¯s dry lips with his feet, ¡°Aww, you still got some blood to flow out of your miserable body¡­ hmm!¡±


    ¡°You know!? I love seeing you like this but I hate seeing you in pain! So, let me end this, LET ME END YOU!!¡±, the insane General raged.


    He put his left and right hand close to his broad chest with only index fingers and middle fingers of both hands pointing at the sky while remaining others were closed down. He chanted some mantras, ¡°THE SEVEN HOLY STARS OF ABOVE, JUDGE THE DEMONIC SOUL OF THIS HUMAN! KILL HIM IN THE MOST FIERCE WAY!¡± The unstoppable purple lighting from above fell down straight upon Advik, in just a moment it burned his entire body like charcoal. Like that horrible death wasn¡¯t enough. The General unsheathed his both saber and sword only to cut off Advik¡¯s burned corpse into small pieces of dust. ¡°HE IS DEAD!! THE DIABOLIC THIEF ADVIK IS DEAD!! I KILLED HIM!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA¡­!!!¡± He collected those pieces of Advik to put them in a small pouch and he threw it down in the Narak Dvaar!


    Author¡¯s Note :


    Rath: a chariot, especially one used to carry an idol in a ceremonial procession.

 Chapter 2 - The Unknown Realm Of Lost Souls (Part 1)

    Chapter 2: The Unknown Realm Of Lost Souls (Part 1)


    Translator: Park Nambyul


    Part 1.


    A sharp voice of pen scribbling was coming from a room ¨C one was fast like someone mindlessly writing anything, and another one was like someone was very focused to write whatever they were writing ¨C the sound was coming from a room, from a big room, no, it was huge -it was bigger even when a hundred elephants were to store in there- so large that people would think it was a hall but it was just a room if one saw those windows over all six walls of the room they¡¯ll understand ¨C ten feet in width and twenty feet in height, the windows were glimmering because of the pale sunlight coming through them.


    The whole room was painted with gold, real gold, walls were engraved with uncountable gemstones, attractive flower designs were in every corner of the room, it was something out of fairy tales, even the ceiling had precious gems and painting all over it, a big beautiful chandelier which was hanging down from the roof had many valuable decorative accessories decorating it, everything was over the top and overwhelming in the room, not only the richness of it but also the spiritual aura in the room was very powerful.


    Still, the most eye-catching thing in the room wasn¡¯t all of those gold and glittering things rather it was thousands of books and paper spreading and piled up over the porcelain floor and the two golden desks which were surrounded by many documents, those books and documents were blocking the way so one couldn¡¯t see who was sitting behind those books. New and ancient books, documents and paper which were made of dried leaves were everywhere. The entire room was filled with the fragrance of the books, it was very soothing.


    ¡°Argh!!! Fuck! I hate the gods. How can they give this much work to a child¡±, a voice came from behind the piled up books on the desk, a bit high pitched voice it appeared to be a teenager¡¯s voice, it was full of complaint and rebellious kind of voice which confirmed that it was the voice of a sixteen or seventeen years old boy.


    ¡°Everyone else is playing outside so why am I the only one stuck here?!¡±, the teenager was a fairly handsome guy, he was dressed in light green and white clothes which were complimenting him, his silky black hair which was touching his half-back was tied in a ponytail with a black ribbon, one small portion of his hair was braided on the left side with a white stone, fair skin like milk, big eyes exploding with pride and a face with hatred for everyone, three petals of lotus were drawn between his eyebrows, his lips were like a pink rose.


    ¡°Shut up and do your work properly¡±, a little mature voice of a male came from the other desk. The person calmly said while writing down in his document, he was focusing on his book. The man was like the vermillion sky in the evening, because he was very handsomely dressed in crimson attire. The clothes were beautified with several golden flowers, it was making his white pearl-like skin shine drastically, his opened black hair was even below than his broad back ¨C hiding his whole back beneath it, his features were very keen, he had small but glittering eyes, his light red lips were smiling while murmuring the words he was writing, the calm and soothing aura was all around him, everything about him was cool and eye-pleasing, ¡°It¡¯s your punishment for playing with human girls when you supposed to attend your classes.¡±


    ¡°So what?! It¡¯s my time to have some fun and don¡¯t forget I¡¯m just seventeen hundred years old. I¡¯m one of the youngest disciples here¡±, he pouted. ¡°How can you senior gods think that I will dig my head in those stupid books instead of having the fun of my youth!¡±


    ¡°Smack¡±, The older one hit him on the head.


    ¡°Ouch!! Hey, why did you hit me?!¡±, the kid complained rubbing his head.


    ¡°Know your place and where are your manners? You cannot talk to me ¨C your senior ¨C like that.¡±


    ¡°I hate the gods and I hate you the most!¡± The brat slowly pushed his chair away from the desk, and silently tried to sneak out from the room.


    ¡°We gods don¡¯t love you either, Samay¡±, the senior smiled. ¡°And don¡¯t even think to leave this room before you finish your work¡±, the man said while writing in his documents. But the guy still tried to sneak out, when he just made his first step towards the exit the man came and grabbed him by his left ear to drag him back to his desk. He held his shoulders and pushed him down on the chair, ¡°Sit down and do your work properly, understand.¡±


    Samay pouted again, ¡°I don¡¯t want to do it! Do you even know how much data of lost souls I have to rearrange and check?!¡±


    ¡°Just some fifteen thousand souls¡±, the senior smiled, ¡°I know you can do this much work without even feeling tired because you are¨C


    ¡°Huh? Hey! Senior God did you hear the noise?!¡±, the kid cut the god¡¯s sentence in between. The brat tried to hear the sound again, he glanced around to see but there was nothing except books.


    ¨C Boom, thud, thud, thud¡­..


    Those piled up books and all documents suddenly fell down straight over them, every book and documents were on the floor and those two were crushed by them.


    ¡°Stupid brat! It¡¯s all your fault!¡±, he nagged again even when they were stuck in that ocean of books.


    ¡°My? Fuck you? I even warned you but you were busy lecturing me.¡±


    The senior God again hit him on his head, the hit wasn¡¯t that light but also not that hard, yet it still can hurt someone for a while, ¡°You definitely don¡¯t know what manners are! Next time do not even think about insulting me.¡±


    The kid covered the back of his head where it was still hurting because of that first hit, ¡°Ow!!¡± who gave you the right to hit me like that? Screw you!¡±


    ¡°You!!¨C


    The senior was going to hit him again but he stopped when he heard the sound of someone knocking the door.


    ¡°Knock-knock¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, can I come in, you see, it¡¯s an important matter.¡±


    ¡°Who is it? Come in but be care¨C¡±


    ¡°Thud¡±


    The person was on the floor because he hastily entered the room without noticing the books and documents over the floor.


    ¡°Hahahahah!! Do you have your eyes only for Decoration?¡±, the kid joked while making the way out from that ¡°sea¡±.


    ¡°I apologize for my ¡ª Ouch!!!¡±


    ¡°IT¡¯S AN EMERGENCY SENIOR SVAPN!¡±, another person passed the entrance, unknowing that he walked over someone by mistake, heavily breathing like he ran to come here, he was anxious and in a hurry, ¡°Sorry for my rudeness but The King and Chief Minister wants to see Prime Minister immediately.¡±


    The other servant who was on the floor stood up on his own and came inside as well.


    ¡°Understood, I¡¯m coming, you go and inform them.¡± Head still down in front of the Prime Minister, the messenger spoke again, ¡°Sorry Prime Minister Svapn but The king ordered me to fetch you with me right now, so you have to come with me.¡±


    He sighed, ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go but first, help me,¡± Svapn stretched out his hand.


    ¡°Oh! Of course Prime Minister¡±, the person gave his hand to pull Svapn out of the mess.


    The Prime Minister was on his legs again, he thanked the messenger and gently smiled at him.


    ¡°It¡¯s my honor to be able to help Prime Minister¡±, the servant joined his hands and shook his head in respect.


    ¡°Please, take me where our King and the Chief Minister is.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Svapn was about to leave when he remembered something, so he turned back only to see the kid who was still stuck in between those books. He reached out his hand for Samay to hold, ¡°Let me help you, kid.¡±


    The kid shook his hand away and wobbly stand on his own, ¡°I don¡¯t need your help.¡±


    Prime Minister didn¡¯t mind the arrogant kid at all instead he smiled a little, ¡°Fine by me, still, you have to finish your work before I come back or I will triple your punishment, got it?!¡±


    ¡°No way! You can¡¯t do that¡± He complained.


    ¡°I can and I will if you won¡¯t make use of yourself¡± He glared at him with a bit of anger in his eyes.


    ¡°Okay! Okay! Fine¡­ Just don¡¯t get angry!¡±, Samay hesitantly laughed because he knew what misfortune can fall upon him if he dared not to listen to Svapn this time.


    Svapn moved towards the exit elegantly, his red-silky clothes flapped in the air after him. He left the room with the other person, his steps were fast, not mindless. While walking he asked the messenger if he knew what was the matter but how can a mere servant know something important?


    Not getting any useful answer, he didn¡¯t ask any further and silently walked until the door of where The Emperor and Chief Minister would be present ¨C showed up. A big door made of gold and engraved with stones over it was stood ahead of him, he knocked twice and after he got the permission to enter he stepped inside. Facing the servant who was outside, he thanked him again and closed the entrance by himself.


    Svapn turned, ¡°My Lord! I am here¡±, he lightly bent his head with courtesy.


    There were two people standing in the room. One had calm and prideful air around him and the other one had a cheerful and bubbly aura surrounding him.


    The person with calm air had a peaceful dim smile on his lips seeing Svapn there, white clothes covering his little brown but the shining body, having his both ears pierced and long side bangs on both sides falling to his chest, the long attractive sword was hanging over his waist while his hands were closed behind his back, holding his head high which was looking more higher because of his crown, the crown was bigger than the rest two, so it was clear that this person must be the Emperor.


    Equally, handsome man was beside the Emperor. Just by a glance on him, anyone could tell that he had a bright, cheerful and bubbly personality, his clothes were as bright & beautiful as his persona ¨C the yellow sun-like clothes had black embroidery over it, his sparkling eyes were like of a child, shoulder-length hair of his was loosely half tied with a long yellow ribbon, a small yellow half-moon was on his forehead making his face stunning, he was wearing a black pearl on his right ear.


    The two being turned when they heard the familiar voice, the Emperor welcomed him with a light smile, ¡°Thank you for coming Prime Minister Svapn.¡±


    ¡°Please, My Lord! don¡¯t embarrass me by saying thanks, I am not worthy for it¡±, Svapn politely said with a smile.


    ¡°How are you, Senior Svapn?!¡± The other person asked with a bright smile.


    ¡°Oh! Hello, Chief Minister Sidharth. I am fine like always.¡± Prime Minister replied. He continued, ¡°Please tell me why you asked for me this urgently?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to see you because of this ¨C ¡°, the King showed him a person, a male. The person was sitting straight on the chair with closed eyes ¨C it was as if he was dead, filthy and ripped clothes were barely wrapping his wounded body.


    Svapn went close to the person and spoke while examining him. ¡°What¡¯s with him? It is just a human soul, isn¡¯t it?!¡± He stretched out his hand to open the person¡¯s eyes, ¡°No!! Th-there is something wrong with this soul!¡± He faced the two individuals in a little shock, ¡°It¡¯s like his mind and heart are missing from this soul!!¡±


    ¡°Indeed! That¡¯s the case!¡±, the king said and smiled lightly. ¡°But not just his heart and mind. His memories are also sealed inside of him.¡±


    ¡°As expected from the Prime Minister!¡±, Chief Minister praised with an optimistic voice. ¡°You are very powerful and intelligent. Without us telling, you already found the problem just by examining the soul.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, please! Do not exaggerate it¡±, He declined the praise. Glancing at the soul he asked, ¡°So, what can we do? It¡¯s not that difficult to find the spiritual mind and heart of his, is it?¡±, Svapn touched the forehead of the soul, ¡°I don¡¯t know! I can¡¯t say! But there is something very wrong with this soul!!¡± He looked at those two men in worry.


    ¡°This soul is really very powerful¡±, the Emperor walked closer to the sitting soul. ¡°The problem is that this soul doesn¡¯t have his memories of any of his lives. You understand that it¡¯s even worse than being dead because it¡¯s not usual for souls to separate from their memories and memories are the life resource of souls. One can¨C ¡±


    ¡°-One can not reborn and they¡¯ll wander for eternity in the whole universe, they will never gonna find peace for all eternity. It had been wandering with knowing nothing about himself and noticing anything around him,¡± Chief Minister glanced at the soul and spoke again, ¡°It¡¯s like he must have been killed by the body-soul cutting technique!¡±


    ¡°But if he was killed by that then he wouldn¡¯t be here because¡­ that killing technique also murders the soul with the body. Confirm that the person will die and never be reborn again! Right?! Svapn doubted.


    The King sighed. ¡°This is the reason for calling you here, Prime Minister Svapn¡±, he gently patted on Svapn¡¯s left shoulder. ¡°You are the God of Dreams and Memories. You can rearrange, add, and delete anyone¡¯s dreams and memories, am I right?!¡±


    ¡°You are absolutely right, Your Highness¡±. Svapn stated.


    ¡°If you could find his lost memories then, only then we have some hope to find his mind and heart. Also, the reason why he was killed and his real identity,¡± Svapn attentively listened to the Emperor as he spoke. He looked at both of the two who were in front of him explaining the situation.


    ¡°But if this soul is here without its memories, heart, and mind then it means the killing technique used to kill him was done by an immature cultivator who wasn¡¯t that highly skilled to perform such difficult technique properly! Right?¡± Svapn added.


    ¡°You are correct but that immature cultivator wasn¡¯t that low skilled either if they used this skill¡±, Emperor sighed. ¡°If they knew about this technique then they must be a promising cultivator. Still, they didn¡¯t precisely do it. I think they made a mistake at collecting the dust of the body, they surely forgot about gathering every single particle of the dust of this person before throwing him into the Narak Dvaar.¡±


    Svapn and Sidharth thoughtfully glanced at each other, then again shifted their eyes at the Emperor. Svapn commented, ¡°Now I remember that the body-soul cutting technique is one of the most difficult techniques to master and use to kill. One has to be extremely exceptional to perform it with no errors. And if my memories aren¡¯t wrong, only four people in this whole world can do it without making any mistake, and they are; the Emperor of All Hell, The former Ruler of the Demon World, Aprasth The Creator of this body-soul cutting technique and¡­ Our Chief Minister Sidharth The Green Waterfall Master! Right Chief Minister?!¡±, Svapn looked at Sidharth for conformation.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me.¡± the Chief Minister answered him with a serious tone mixing in his voice which was completely different than his optimistic and cheerful nature.


    ¡°So, if you could please do something¡±, the Emperor directed his left hand in the direction of the soul.


    ¡°Yes!¡±, with a quick nod Svapn moved to that soul¡¯s front. He put his hand on the head of the soul, ¡°I apologize, my friend, for entering into you but finding your memories are important to find your mind and heart¡±, he closed his eyes.


    A few minutes later, Prime Minister finally spoke after standing there with closed eyes, ¡°Your Highness! There is something wrong and different inside this soul.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±, with a troubled expression the Emperor asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s grey from inside. I have never seen this color before inside any soul, it should be any brighter or darker color but not grey¡±. Svapn uttered.


    ¡°Huh? It¡¯s grey!? But how that can be possible?¡±, Chief Minister looked at the Emperor, ¡°Do you know anything about this, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately I am also unaware as to how can anyone¡¯s soul be grey. The color of any soul from inside is always based on their most real nature. The darker the color is the darker the personality will be and the brighter the color is the brighter the personality will be.¡±


    ¡°Majesty!¡± Svapn called.


    ¡°yes, what happened?¡±, the Chief Minister glanced at Svapn who was standing there.


    Svapn has opened his eyes, ¡± Your Highness I have completed my job. He will open his eyes at any moment.¡±


    ¡°So, his memories will come back with his heart and mind?¡±, Sidharth questioned.


    ¡°They will come as well because memories can control the heart and mind of a person. His memories which were concealed inside of him has awakened by me. His memories will work like a magnet to attract the heart and mind of his, they¡¯ll come here no matter wherever they are right now¡±, Svapn explained.


    While those three were still talking, the soul abruptly screamed, ¡°Ugh¡­ Argh¡­ Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!¡±, it was an ear-piercing scream with pain, sorrow, and despair coating it.


    Blocking the soul and other¡¯s way with a left stretched hand. Emperor spoke, ¡°Stay away from him for now. The soul has finally found his memories and everything else after many years, so everything is just trying to settle down inside of him. That¡¯s why he is in pain, he¡¯ll be fine in a few seconds. Let¡¯s just wait.¡± The King said and sighed.


    The soul was screaming in agony, hands covering his ears tightly and shutting his eyes, the soul was suffering. The other three were just watching him in disquietness and a little fear in their eyes. They could not do anything to help the soul, so they were just waiting for it to calm down.


    ¡°Woah! This soul is fierce. Should we do the soul-calming ceremony, Your Highness?¡±, watching the soul lose its control, Chief Minister suggested.


    ¡°No! We can¡¯t, this soul has been through a lot of torture before dying. It was wandering for so many years without any memories of that horrible past and now when those memories have finally returned in him, they are giving him this unbearable pain.¡± the King replied.


    Uneasiness was all over Sidharth¡¯s face because he couldn¡¯t bear to watch someone suffering in front of him, not doing anything to help. He just stepped ahead when the King stopped him from behind, grabbing his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t move, right now we must not do anything reckless.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡±, Sidharth nodded.


    The soul was squeaking in agony and pain. The tears of it were streaming down from his eyes, covering his own ears. And eventually, after a long while, it calmed down. It was sitting unmoved like it was frozen. His eyes were shut but the tears and sweat were dripping down.


    All three of them looked at each other in a bit of confusion before taking their steps closer to the soul, they were hesitating because of the way the soul was behaving just a while ago. Still, after some thought, they come closer to examine it. Svapn hesitantly put up his hand to touch the forehead of the soul, but the soul unexpectedly grabbed his hand in midair, he clutched Prime Minister¡¯s hand firmly. ¡°Who are you? Who are they? Don¡¯t touch me! Where am I, tell me before I break your hand in pieces.¡± The soul talked and the tone of his was very rude and furious.


    The soul looked pissed, very pissed, totally unaware of his situation, it didn¡¯t let go of the hand he was holding. ¡°Son, don¡¯t be scared. We won¡¯t hurt you. We are here to help you but first, let go of my hand.¡± Svapn gave a pleasant smile to make him trust them.


    ¡°No! I won¡¯t gonna believe any word that you are saying and what¡¯s with ¡°Son¡± I¡¯m the same age as you or maybe a bit younger than you, ok! I-I don¡¯t understand anything? Why am I here? Where is this place? Who are you guys? Why-why¡­ was I so in pain a while ago? Ya know, I-I was just dying a few minutes ago. I was in a war ground, SO WHY THE FUCK AM I HERE!? WHY AM I PERFECTLY FINE WHEN I WAS BADLY INJURED A WHILE AGO? and what you bunch of jerks wants from me? Am I in prison?¡±, he was crying the unstoppable tears were flowing down like a river. He was stammering a bit and due to asking so many questions the soul unnoticeably let go the hand of prime minister.


    He stood up and grabbed the Emperor¡¯s shoulder, completely unknown to who the person is, the soul asked ¡°Hey! You! You seem a bit normal and wise than these two stupid friends of yours. So, can you tell me where am I and where are the other people who were dying in that war zone?¡±, with his full strength the soul was clutching the King. He had some tears pooling in his unusual blue eyes.


    ¡°Hey, you cannot act this way with our Majesty, apologies to him right now!¡±, Sidharth tried to stop the soul from being reckless but the soul only heard what he wanted to. When he heard that the person ahead of him is the Emperor he let go of the shoulders he was clutching, he smiled when he heard the person is the Emperor, with amusement in his eyes he asked, ¡°You! You! You are the Emperor of here? So-so you are from the royal bloodline, right? D-do you know Shwet!?! Shwet is also from the royal family. You know Shwet, don¡¯t you?¡±, the soul smiled looking straight in the eyes of the Emperor, with the hope and happiness filling in those crying eyes, thinking that maybe the person knew something about Shwet¡¯s whereabouts.


    He was happy. The happiness was all over his pretty face but that happiness didn¡¯t last long when the Emperor finally spoke, ¡°I am very sorry, child but I don¡¯t know anyone who¡¯s named Shwet and this is not the human world either¡±, the King did not want to tell him the truth but hiding the situation was just useless, he lightly patted on the head of the soul to confront, ¡°Prepare yourself, son, because we have many things to tell you which you might find unbelievable.¡±


    ¡°W-what are you saying?¡±


    ¡°Duh! What you heard¡±, Sidharth rolled his eyes.


    Svapn was listening to everything silently but when he thought that he should step in the conversation he looked at the Emperor and then Sidharth, giving them a small nod. He grabbed the soul to make him sit down on the near chair and offered him some water with a light smile, ¡°First, Sit down and drink this and hear us very carefully.¡±


    ¡°This is the Palace of Lost Souls Realm. You can also call this the palace of the Gate of Lost Souls Realm. While putting his palm on his own chest, Svapn added, ¡°I am the Prime Minister of here. My name is Svapn, The God of Dreams & Memories.¡± He glanced at the King, ¡°He is the Emperor of this realm, he is Agni the God of Souls and Nightmares and¨C¡±


    ¡°Let me introduce myself. Hello! I¡¯m Sidharth, nice to meet you, kid. I¡¯m the God of Feelings and Emotions.¡± The chief minister enthusiastically said with pride and happiness having on his handsome face.


    In a sarcastic way, the soul spoke, ¡°And I am Advik the God of Foolishness. Am I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh God! I didn¡¯t know the God of foolishness exists. I am glad to meet you the God of Foolishness!¡±, Sidharth happily said with a big grin on his lips because he believed Advik without any doubt.


    ¡°Haha! I think you should be the God of foolishness, not me¡± Advik smirked.


    ¡°Sidharth, He is just messing with you. There¡¯s no God of Foolishness.¡± Svapn said.


    ¡°Huh! Oh, haha! That was a nice joke, I totally fell for it!¡±, Sidharth laughed at himself because he believed the soul.


    ¡°Well, he wasn¡¯t joking though. He was undoubtedly being sarcastic with us¡±, Prime Minister thought. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Sidharth is too innocent or stupid.¡±


    Advik without care put his legs on the closet table, he leaned a bit backward. Crossing his hand in front of his chest, he began, ¡°So, you all are gods?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are¡±, Svapn confirmed.


    ¡°So, am I in heaven or something?¡±


    ¡°This is not heaven¡±


    ¡°So, hell?¡±


    ¡°Not hell, also¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s neither heaven nor hell then where am I? Am I dreaming?!¡±


    ¡°This is not a dream as well¡±, Svapn sighed.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear what we said earlier, didn¡¯t you?¡±, Sidharth rolled his eyes and sighed.


    ¡°I did hear it, it¡¯s just that I was busy bearing some intolerable pain, so I don¡¯t remember them right now, hehe, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Sidharth looked upwards, ¡°Oh god! What punishments are you giving us?! What wrong we did to you, god?!¡±


    ¡°Hey, didn¡¯t you say that you are the god himself.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind our Chief Minister!¡±, Svapn advised.


    ¡°But he¨C¡±


    Svapn lost his patient, ¡°Shut up! But, he what?! Can¡¯t you see I am trying to talk to you here? We have to inform you what kind of situation you are in. Us being god or not isn¡¯t important right now. Can¡¯t you even understand this much?!¡±, Svapn couldn¡¯t handle the carefree attitude of Advik any longer than he already did, so he blurted everything out in one go and took a deep breath.


    ¡°Prime Minister Svapn calm down a bit. I¡¯ll talk to him, now¡±, The King calmly said.


    ¡°How scary this guy can be in a sec!?!¡±, Advik thought, ¡°Thank you, wise man, for saving me from this guy! phew¡±, Advik was talking with himself while looking at the Emperor.


    The King stepped in to talk to Advik, ¡°Listen carefully child and do not interrupt me when I talk¡±, the powerful aura and the heaviness in his voice was something else, Advik just nodded to him because he thought that this person is better not mess with.


    When the Emperor started to talk the whole room went silent. No one dared to speak not even one unnecessary word. ¡°This is The Lost Soul Realm, it¡¯s not in heaven or hell. Actually, no one knows where this place is. One can only come here by their spiritual power or hell and heaven can send anyone here if they did anything that cannot be forgiven. Sometimes some wandering souls such as yourself also come here without knowing anything about this place. No one can leave this realm after coming here even if they want to. Only gods and very powerful cultivator can come and go at their will.


    Advik innocently raised his hand upward.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Can I ask something, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°After a thought, the Emperor gave him the approval to ask. ¡°And what about this room, it¡¯s just filled with gold, gemstones and spiritual power so much spiritual power that it¡¯s overwhelming even for me. This room¡¯s making me dizzy.¡±


    ¡°This is a room in our palace of Lost Soul Realm. The palace is also the gate of the real Lost Soul Realm. This palace is in front of the real Realm of Lost Soul, the real realm is in the back of this palace which is some miles away from this palace¡¯s backyard. This palace is in front of the Real gate, so people think that this is the gate of the Realm but it¡¯s not. People have to enter the palace if they wish to enter the Realm and this is the reason why everyone calls this palace the Gate of Lost Soul Realm. Do you get it?¡±, The king said everything in detail. ¡°And you are a soul. Your body has died two thousand years ago. You were wandering before you came here. Your memories were sealed and your spiritual heart and mind were also missing, so our Prime Minister Svapn got them back for you, you should thank him for that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay!¡­ Wait! Wait! Wait! You are wrong! I AM A HUMAN, NOT A SOUL!¡±, Advik with a worrisome and troubled look on himself said.


    ¡°You are not human anymore.¡± Svapn was sure.


    ¡°No!¡­ See, I am perfectly fine, yes I was severely injured but I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ve fully recovered from them¡±, Advik stood up.


    ¡°Easy, kid! We understand your trauma of knowing the fact that you are dead, out of the blue! It happens to every second soul here¡±, Sidharth softened his voice.


    ¡°But-but¡­ No! No!¡±, Advik exploded, his tears were also at the corner of his eyes.


    ¡°I am a human, a fucking human. Remember that! I am leaving this place right now!¡±, the resentment of Advik was at its peak, he was so frustrated with them because no one was believing any word he said.


    With a lot of composure, the Emperor replied, ¡°The fact that you are here means you are a soul. Here in this room, we¡¯ve brought many souls for interrogation. Except us, three only souls can enter here if we allow them.


    ¡°And what if you are lying to me?¡±, Advik argued.


    ¡°We are gods! We don¡¯t lie, undisciplined kid¡±, Sidharth spoke.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe!¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t believe¡±, Svapn eventually spoke after hearing the whole conversation.


    ¡°Fine! Bye, I am going¡±, Advik moved towards the exit but when he was about to touch the door¡¯s handle to open it, the spiritual energy abruptly pushed him away from the door. It was very forceful that he fell several feet away. ¡°Ouch!¡­ Ugh! What the heck was that?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that if no soul can enter this room without our permission then no soul can also leave this room without our approval, hehe!¡±, Sidharth chuckled.


    ¡°Fuck!!¡±, Advik punched the floor in frustration.


    ¡°So, now you believe us?¡±, Svapn came where Advik was fallen.

 Chapter 3 - The Unknown Realm Of Lost Souls (Part 2)

    Chapter 3: The Unknown Realm Of Lost Souls (Part 2)


    Translator: Park Nambyul


    Part 2


    Advik looked up to see the face of the Prime Minister, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should believe your nonsense or not¡­ ugh¡­ I don¡¯t know if I am a soul or not either¡­ well actually I don¡¯t even care whether I¡¯m a soul or anything else.¡± He stood up again and faced the Emperor to talk, ¡°I don¡¯t really care about myself anymore. I just wanted to leave because there is someone I really care about. I just want to see if that person is alright or not. They were gravely injured, even more than me, so I just want to check. Please let me go!¡­ I promise I¡¯ll come back after checking!¡±, this time Advik¡¯s voice was serious. He had a courteous feeling in his voice which was different than him of a while ago. His head was a bit low like he was genuinely giving his respect to the Emperor.


    ¡°Do you even know how many years it has been since your death?¡±, Svapn asked in tension.


    ¡°Years? Ha! Don¡¯t joke around! I was in that war ground just two or three days ago¡±, Advik laughed.


    ¡°It has been almost two thousand years since your death, to be precise it¡¯s been exactly one thousand nine hundred thirty-seven years since you¡¯ve died!¡±, Svapn sighed.


    ¡°Yeah, even if that person recovered from those injuries they still can¡¯t live this long if they were human,¡± Sidharth put his hand on the shoulder of Advik.


    ¡°I said don¡¯t joke with me and you all are still!!!¡±


    ¡°We are not joking. Believe us¡±, the King heavily sighed glancing at a wall.


    ¡°No!! I can¡¯t believe this! I shouldn¡¯t have believed you guys. Don¡¯t do this to me, please! Let me go, please! I just want to see Your Highness. I just want to apologize for what evil I did to Your Highness! You know Your Highness is the only one who literally cares about me¡±, Advik kneel down in front of the Emperor, everyone was surprised by the sudden act and change in his character.


    ¡°Hey! You don¡¯t have to do this. We really want to help you, trust us¡±, Sidharth supported Advik to stand up again. ¡°Why are you so desperate to meet this person? Is this person is your lover?¡±


    ¡°No¡±


    ¡°Then family?¡±


    ¡°No! Your Highness¡­ Your Highness is my friend¡­ No enemy¡­ ugh¡­ I-I don¡¯t even know what is our relationship!¡±, Advik painfully giggled with tears arriving in his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s complicated, even I don¡¯t understand what we are, one day we are enemy then another day we become friends¡±, Advik looked at the roof and shut his eyes to stop his tears but they didn¡¯t stop even from his closed eyes, they were scrolling down.


    The room suddenly went silent¡­


    After a few minutes, the Chief Minister broke the silence with his cheerful voice, ¡°We will try our best to help you, just believe us for one time.¡±


    Advik wiped off his tears and turned back to see the Chief Minister and smiled, ¡°Thank you, this time I will try my best to believe you all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good! Now first we should leave this room and eat something, okay!¡±, Svapn with his little smile stepped ahead.


    ¡°Eat something? Me? But you said I am a soul and I think soul doesn¡¯t need to eat anything¡±, Advik questioned narrowing his thin eyebrows.


    ¡°Well usually they don¡¯t eat but here they change, they become a little like humans and that¡¯s why there are somethings they need like humans to charge themselves¡±, this time Sidharth was the one who spoke.


    ¡°How can that is possible?¡±, Advik wondered.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know either. Souls just change when they arrive here¡±, Sidharth replied with a tensed voice.


    Svapn opened the door and some guards who were standing there surrounded him. Every guard had a bothered and frightful expression, they were sweating, one of them spoke with a trembling and dried tone, ¡°P-prime Minister¡­ Prime Minister¡­ the-the student Samay has left the room¡±, he gulped his spite before continuing, ¡°He-he went in the direction of the Gate of Lost Soul¡¯s Realm¡­ We-we tried to stop him but he didn¡¯t listen to anything we said. He said he wanted to play and practice his sword arts.¡±


    ¡°Is he alone?¡±, Emperor asked.


    ¡°Yes, My Lord¡±


    ¡°WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!!!?¡±, Svapn raged.


    The guard was afraid and trembling when he said, ¡°Yes! Its true Senior Svapn, we-we tried our best to stop student Samay but he tricked us and went to the Real Gate!!¡±


    Svapn was furious by what he heard from the mouth of the guard, ¡°W-what are you saying?! He can¡¯t go there. He is not strong enough to protect himself there!!¡±, Svapn was not himself anymore because of the way he was speaking, without any manners or polite tone. Advik was surprised seeing this side of Svapn, because even when Advik made the Prime Minister angry he was just a bit pissed, however, right now he was burning with rage.


    Advik came close to Sidharth and whispered, ¡°Chief Minister, why this guy is so angry? Who is that Samay they all are talking about?¡±, Advik was a little curious to know who the person could be who can make him that furious? The Chief Minister quietly murmured, ¡°Samay is a disciple here. He is a promising student but most importantly he is the little brother of our ex-prime minister Vansh.¡±


    Advik didn¡¯t know what to say anymore so he just said ¡°Oh!¡± in a satisfied tone for the reply he got from Sidharth.


    Svapn grabbed the collar of the guard who was answering his questions, ¡°Take me there! Take me there right now! If anything happens to him, what am I going to say to Vansh?!¡± The guard was so scared by the furious Prime Minister that he started to beg to spare him. But Svapn did not want to spare him it was like he wanted to kill this guard right there, still, he won¡¯t do it because his righteous self won¡¯t let him murder a weak old guard.


    One by one some guards who were behind started to speak in a hesitated voice, ¡°Even if that kid is a talented kid he still is a child. He can never make it out if he went inside the Real Realm, don¡¯t you think Prime Minister?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are right. That place is terrifying, no one can leave that place even after they die.¡±


    ¡°P-Prime Minister Svapn¡­ I-I think you should forget to save Samay. Don¡¯t put our lives in danger just-just for one person, please!¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡±, Svapn raged and raised his hand to slap the guard. However, just when he was about to hit the guard the Emperor spoke a little loud and command him to stop. Svapn stopped halfway and turned to see the Emperor who was standing behind and listening every word thoughtfully.


    The Emperor spoke, ¡°What are you doing Prime Minister? You cannot forget your position. Don¡¯t hit those who are weaker than you.¡± The Emperor came closer to him, ¡°You know how Samay is, how stubborn he becomes when someone orders him to not do something, he will do the exact same thing to annoy them. No one knows that better than you.¡±


    Sidharth was standing there noiselessly, but then he also stepped in there to chat so he spoke, ¡°Samay is a clever and intelligent child. It won¡¯t be any problem for him to trick them, don¡¯t you think, Senior? Even you were tricked by that little devil, once! Please calm down first and then start searching for him¡±, Sidharth tried to make Svapn find his usual calm and gentle nature.


    Advik was just confused by everything. He didn¡¯t understand anything except that someone named Samay was missing and everyone there was very anxious to find the kid as soon as possible. Because he was so confused and clueless about the whole situation, he lost his interest easily.


    When the Chief Minister left him to talk with the Emperor and others, he started to look around out of boredom and in amusement. Nothing else but walls of gold decorated with precious stones were encircling him. He looked around to see everything and examining everything because he was still unsure whether to trust these people or not. ¡°I can become a millionaire if I can steal just one gemstone from here¡±, he was touching and feeling everything near him with an amazed look on his face.


    ¡°This place is really heaven for a thief like me¡±, he thought. The prosperity of that palace was unreal even if it was only the corridor where he was standing he still felt the wealth of the palace. The corridor was furnished by many things that were making it extremely fancy and royal.


    Advik was wandering around aimlessly while exploring the palace, he wasn¡¯t that far away from others but not that near to them as well. He paused when his eyesight froze on a flower pot, a beautiful white flower pot that had different kinds of flowers in it. However, his eyes were only seeing those blue flowers ¨C those forget me not ¨C he walked closer to touch them without even blinking his eyes. He creased the flower¡¯s petal gently, it was smooth and fragile. The touch of the flower made him remember about someone, his lips curved upwards thinking about it.


    The Emperor and others were still discussing. ¡°Emperor I¨C¡°, Svapn was hesitantly going to say something but before he could finish what he wanted to say the Emperor smiled and said, ¡± You can go, I know how important Samay is to you. No need to ask for permission.¡±


    Svapn had a surprised look on his face hearing that one simple line from the Emperor¡¯s mouth, ¡°Mmm¡­ Thank you so much, my lord!¡±, Svapn nodded to him before hastily leaving to find Samay. He just took a few steps when he heard a voice, ¡°Wait, Senior, I am coming along with you¡±, Chief Minister waved his hand to stop Svapn. Sidharth ran as fast as he could to catch up with his senior. When he catches the pace of Svapn he humbly asked, ¡°Senior, we should also tag Advik with us. Maybe this small journey could help him in some way. Can you ask the Emperor to tell him to follow us.¡±


    Svapn carefully thought about what Sidharth just said before he spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a good idea but if you are insisting then I¡¯ll ask Emperor by mind connecting technique.¡±


    Sidharth just hummed in the reply. Svapn concentrated to connect with the Emperor while running at a rapid pace in the direction of the Real Gate. After a few moments, Svapn got a voice in his mind, ¡°What happened, Prime Minister?¡±, Emperor asked in his mind.


    ¡°Majesty, can you tell Advik to run in our direction. Chief Minister said that if he comes along with us he¡¯ll get some help by seeing everything himself.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ That¡¯s very thoughtful of him but the kid has already left this place when you two left. He is also running in the direction of the Real gate¡±, the Emperor said.


    ¡°Oh no! I am afraid that he¡¯ll get himself in trouble¡±, Svapn was worried.


    The Emperor spoke again, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid you don¡¯t know how capable he is. His cultivation skills are extremely high. Advik can help himself in any danger I am sure. You just focus on finding Samay.¡±


    Svapn was not so satisfied with what the Emperor said, still he just respond, ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± He disconnected himself and tried to focus his eyes on the path with a troubled face.


    When Sidharth saw his senior having a troubled look he couldn¡¯t stop himself from asking, ¡°What happen, Senior? You are looking a bit troubled by something.¡±


    ¡°Advik has already left the palace and maybe he is following us¡±, Svapn sighed.


    ¡°What!!?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but the Emperor said not to worry about him for now and concentrate on finding Samay.¡±


    Chief Minister thought and then spoke, ¡°That child, Advik. There is something very wrong with him.¡±


    ¡°Yes, there¡¯s something demonic in him. I sensed it when I was trying to get his memories back¡±, Svapn said in a worried tone.


    ¡°He can be a big problem for us in the future, don¡¯t you think, Prime Minister?¡±, Sidharth was also bothered.


    ¡°I also worry about that but if Emperor didn¡¯t point out anything in specific then I believe that it¡¯ll be fine¡±, Svapn smiled.


    Sidharth nodded and smiled as well, ¡°Right! For now, let¡¯s focus on finding this troublesome brat.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this time I am not letting him go that easily, I swear!¡±, Svapn said in a heavy voice. Then both of them ran in a darker path.


    ¡ª


    The fast and light as air steps were moving in the direction of the back of the palace. It was day time. The backyard was so huge to be called a backyard rather it was more like a big garden or forest with many trees, plants, bushes, fountains, lakes, and flowers. It was a beautiful sight because of all those things in the garden and the atmosphere was very calming as well. ¡°Haha, it wasn¡¯t difficult to escape from those people. I can¡¯t just sit and watch everything. I have to do something on my own or else I¡¯ll be stuck here forever and that¡¯s something I would never let happen.¡±


    Advik¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t rapid because of his weak body but he was still running with his all might. He had all his concentration on the road yet he was examining the environment around him. Everything was different and unusual for him. The sun was bigger than normal, the sky was higher and bluer than he had ever seen, the breeze had a very high spiritual energy flowing with it which was totally new for him.


    ¡°They think they can chain me in that palace, huh, that¡¯s impossible. Not even God has that kind of power. I am the infamous Diabolic Cultivator Thief, how can they even imagine to stop me, fools¡±, Advik was having some thoughts on his mind until he stopped seeing a mountain like a gate in front of him. There were two guards protecting that huge gate. So, Advik hid behind a tree to check upon them, he was heavily breathing, some drops of sweat were rolling down from his tensed forehead and neck, he was tired because of his weak body. He glanced at those guards from behind the tree.


    He tried to hear the guards but they were standing there like a statue, he couldn¡¯t hear anything even if he wanted to. Advik just wanted to stay away from any unnecessary attention because right now getting noticed by anyone could be a trouble for him.


    He saw the fifty meters high walls were stood both sides of the gate. It was unimaginable to cross them. The only option was to pass through that gate. ¡°Why these two guys aren¡¯t saying anything. How can I pass from that gate, it¡¯s so huge as a mountain. What can I do?¡±, the desperate and troubled thoughts were filling in the head of his.


    He was a little exhausted after running because of his weak body. He couldn¡¯t think of any idea to make himself free from that place. Even if it was just for a moment he wanted to rest. He leaned his back over the tree and slowly slid down. He squatted down himself to collect his energy.


    Should he climb those walls, should he try to ask the guards to let him go, should he try to cross the gate secretly, should he try to dig a small tunnel, should he just kill those guards or should he go back to the palace and wait for things to settle down on their own, there was so many thought rushing in his mind.


    He was trying to think every possible way to pass from the gate but most of them were just useless. Tricking or killing those guards was the easiest option for him it was as easy as killing an ant to him however he didn¡¯t want to do it. The bloodthirsty scenes he had witnessed in that war was enough for him. He just wanted to stay away from blood and killing as far as he could. And the last option of going back to that palace was something he will never ever choose.


    He was idly sitting while his back was leaned over a tree, his slim fingers were playing with the grass while he tried to think of an idea with closed eyes. His one leg was lying straight on the ground while another one was making an arch which was also supporting his hand. Even after some time passed nothing came up in his mind, it made him frustrated. Every moment and every second was important for him but he just couldn¡¯t find anything. He thought he was definitely lost this time.


    Advik was disappointed, frustrated and angry with himself. It was useless for him if he can¡¯t use his cultivation power. It was the despair he felt, ¡°What can I do? What should I do? It¡¯s like I am even more powerless than these bugs. Is there anyone who can help me? Who would want to help a thief like me? I deserve this, I always knew that I deserved something like this. Guess this is the fate I cast upon myself¡­ Hey! Hey! Hey! Why am I being so hopeless? I am a very optimistic person, right! I should think of something. It¡¯s not that big of a problem. I can do something, I should do something! But what, what can I do? My cultivation is gone its not within me anymore. I am nothing without my cultivation¡±, Advik took a deep sigh.


    His eyes were closed and he was feeling dizzy and sleepy because he needed rest. Suddenly he felt a tingling sensation on his index finger, it was like an insect or a tiny ball was trying to sit down on his finger. He tried to ignore the thing but it didn¡¯t leave him. Every time he tried to move his finger to brush it off, it flew away and then came again to sit down again when the finger stopped moving. The thing was stubborn to leave him. Eventually, he had to open his eyes to see what it was.


    His lips curved upwards when he saw the thing because the thing was a Firefly, it was a bit bigger than a standard one, still, it was shining and sparking in a bright green color even in daylight. The thing was constantly trying to sit down on his finger but Advik always moved his finger away, never letting the Firefly to sit down on his hand. The Firefly was also very obstinate so it was always going upward in the air and coming back. The Firefly looked like it wanted to show him something.


    The strange behavior of it made him think about it, ¡°Is this Firefly just playing with me or it really wants to show me something? Should I go with it to find out? It could be a demon¡¯s work? Hmm¡­ Let¡¯s just see what misfortune can fall upon me this time¡±, Advik smiled and stood up, ¡°So? Do you really want to show me something?¡±, Advik laughed.


    The Firefly tried to pull his finger in a direction like it was trying to show him a way out from the place. Advik looked surprised when the Firefly took his hand but he didn¡¯t say anything and choose to follow it. The Firefly was flying on the same level as his sight, a bit further than Advik. His mouth was shut but in his mind, he thought that this time he surely become a joker who is trying to get help from a Firefly! He giggled and then silently walked behind it.


    The sound of crushing some dried branches and leaves were the only thing he heard along with his breath. He passed by some trees, plants, and bushes before the Firefly stopped abruptly in front of a wall. Advik was confused when he saw another wall, ¡°Hey! Why do you take me to another wall? I am tired of seeing them! If you wanted to help at least find a door or a small tunnel for me, stupid fly!¡±, Advik roared at the Firefly. If the Firefly was a human it would have sighed hearing Advik¡¯s stupid complaints or it would have a face of ¨C ¡°I am the one helping you here, so at least try to look around, would you¡± ¨C kind of face.


    Advik was feeling a bit restless and anxious. He tried to touch the wall to see if it had some hidden door or something. The walls were not that high he could climb up on the wall but it had big thrones on the top of it so it was not possible to cross the wall. ¡°Stupid fly, now I¡¯m stuck here! I don¡¯t even remember the road to go back. Fuck¡­¡±, Advik sighed.


    The Firefly again sat down on the wall and flew away from it as it did with Advik. It was trying to show him something again. Advik carefully looked at it, ¡°Huh? Does it really have an exit? Are you trying to show me something again? Is there some kind of hidden door on this wall? Stupid fly! Why didn¡¯t you tell me before?¡±, he touched the place where the Firefly was sitting again and again. Advik tried to push the wall but nothing changed. He again pushed it with more force, still, it didn¡¯t work.


    He again pushed it with his whole body. The Firefly was also trying to push the wall it was as if it also wanted to help him. After a few pushed from his whole body a sound came like when a door opens come. The part which they were pushing, moved an inch. Seeing that he pushed it more and in the end, it opened. The exit wasn¡¯t that big only one or two people could pass through it together. Advik fell inside the gate when he pushed it, his own force made him fell abruptly inside.


    The moment he fell inside the gate he felt strange chills down in his spine. It was very rare for him to feel like that. The view was completely different than the one outside the gate. When he looked around he was shocked and scared by the dark night which was fallen there. It was as if he was in a whole new world. The gate closed itself before Advik could understand anything. He wobbly stood up to see the dark life of there. The place was different from the place he came from. It had extremely dark energy filled in the air, everything seemed demonic, there wasn¡¯t any sign of life but it still had many resentful screams and cries coming from all directions. It was a scene no one would be pleased to witness.


    Advik collected his strength, ¡°Where is this place? Hey fly, is this the place you wanted me to see?¡±, Advik wasn¡¯t feeling that much out of place like a while ago. There was a big red moon above him which catches his attention the most, ¡°Hmm? Red moon? I am literally not on earth? Where the fuck is this place?¡±, he was just loudly talking to himself and the Firefly was voicelessly floating in the midair.


    ¡°This is the Real Realm of The Lost Soul, child¡±


    ¡°Ohhhhhhh! It¡¯s quite dark here. I can¡¯t even see myself properly. And too much resentful and demonic energy is filling here¡±, Advik said while glaring at the moon in amusement. Advik glanced at the Firefly which was jumping there like it had seen something delightful. It was weird for the Firefly to jump like that in excitement.


    Advik swiftly moved and picked up whatever was on the ground. He turned towards his back, ¡°Who are you?¡±, Advik said while trying to protect himself with a small piece of branch. But when he turned around there wasn¡¯t anyone except the darkness and trees. He was a little scared because he clearly heard someone talking to him.


    He again felt like someone was behind him again, so he again turned with a rapid speed holding the branch like a sword to shield and protect himself. Still, there was no one behind him then suddenly a fist size of a Black Fireball came in the air out of nowhere. The Fireball was floating like it didn¡¯t have any weight in it. Even though it was pure black yet it was illuminating the entire area which was pitch black before it appeared.


    Advik stepped back because of the sudden encounter with that Fireball. Advik forgot about the voice and looked at the Black Fireball in surprise. But the voice came again, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I can take you to where that guy has gone.¡±


    Advik glanced everywhere in shock, ¡°Who? Who is here? Why I can¡¯t see you? Come out right now.¡±


    ¡°I am right in front of you just look carefully and closely¡±, the voice was calm and soothing. It was a matured voice of a male, that was guaranteed.


    Advik watched again, ¡°Huh? There¡¯s no one here¡±, he was not scared now but a bit restless to know who is behind this voice. He looked everywhere and then his sight froze on the Fireball, ¡°¡­¡­¡­ Wait! Wait! Wait! So are you saying that this voice, I mean, you are this Black Fireball?!¡±, Advik said with disbelief in his tone.


    The Firefly was jumping in the air with joy hearing their conversation as if it was also confirming that what Advik just said is true. Advik looked at the Firefly and then at the Black Fireball which was ahead of him. He felt even more stupid because now a Fireball was also talking to him after the Firefly led him in that horrible place! ¡°Am I really gone crazy?! How can a Black Fireball is talking to me?¡±, Advik put his palm on his forehead and started to doubt himself. ¡°Is this also a dream? Fuck! I don¡¯t understand anything anymore!¡±, he kicked a small stone in irritation.


    The Fireball came in front of him again to stop him, ¡°Don¡¯t be reckless. I can really help you just listen to what I¡¯m saying if you want to find the kid who has left the palace and came in this direction, I can tell you where he might be, believe me!¡±


    Advik thought something, looking at the Fireball. Even though it was just a Fireball it still gave him some kind of security and a close friend or a family member like feeling. He just believed the Fireball unnoticeably. It was just a feeling but he was pretty sure that these two could help him. He glanced at the Black Fireball, ¡°Well¡­ hmm¡­ So how can you help me? You said you can tell where that kid is, right? I am actually lost at words¡­ Seriously, first a Firefly and now a Fireball! But if you can help me then hurry up!¡±


    The fireball and the Firefly were just staring and listening to Advik. Even if the place was dark, pitch-black it was still glittering a little because of them.


    Advik smiled and looked ahead at the destroyed path, ¡°Which direction then? ¡±


    The Fireball was calm but it looked happy when it heard that Advik will follow them, ¡°This way and stay close to me both of you. This is gonna be dangerous for us¡±, the Fireball said and lead him on an unknown path.


    Advik was astonished, he thought, ¡°Wow! Now a Fireball and a Firefly are going to protect me and I have to follow them as well, haha, it seems fun.¡±


    Advik was lost in his thought so he didn¡¯t notice when the two left him behind. The Fireball looked around when it didn¡¯t find Advik beside himself. It saw him standing behind so it called for Advik. He abruptly woke up from his thought, ¡°oh wait, I¡¯m coming, let¡¯s go! We need to hurry.¡±


    Author¡¯s Note:


    Narak Dvaar ¨C Hell¡¯s gate

 Chapter 4 - The Real Realm and The Demon Gate (Part 1)

    The forest and the darkness of it were getting thick and thicker as Advik and the company were going more and more deep in the outrageous forest. He thanked the god to have those two with him or he wouldn¡¯t have come this far on his own. Alone in the woods without any light, he would have fallen somewhere on the land just right after taking one step. The red moon was glittering there but the light of it was blocked by numerous tall and thick trees which were stood there.


    The three of them were slowly walking in that dark-isolated land for some time. Advik thought that it must have been a long time since they started their journey. However, he didn¡¯t know what the time it was so he asked, with a playful expression on his face, ¡°Hey, Mr. Fireball, how much time it has been since we started to walk?¡±


    ¡°Ten minutes, only¡±, the Fireball gave him an on-point reply.


    ¡°Only ten minutes? Don¡¯t joke! I think I¡¯m walking for hours and you say only ten minutes! My legs will fall apart if I walk this much in a day¡±, Advik complained. The Fireball and the Firefly didn¡¯t stop. They just choose to quietly listen to him and fly ahead. Advik pouted and angrily stomped his legs while walking a bit behind them.


    The Fireball was annoyed by his childish behavior, so he stopped and spoke, ¡°We cannot stay here but we will find a place for us to rest. So right now just bear with the pain.¡±


    Advik grinned and nodded in the reply. The only things which were guiding his path were those two even though he was dead tired he was still smiling looking at them from behind.


    He unexpectedly giggled when he saw them lead his way, ¡°I was just dying a while ago but when I opened my eyes it suddenly becomes almost two thousand years since my death. I always wanted to live a simple life but that¡­ just remained my dream. Now, here I am trying to escape from this unknown place. I was always afraid of death and now I¡¯m a soul who¡¯s roaming in this horrible forest. I think a good-happy life was always something out of my reach, haha.¡± Walking in that place made him remember and think about many things he would¡¯ve never think at all.


    Advik was lost in his own world but he woke up when the Fireball abruptly called him to hide behind a tree.


    He immediately hid as soon as he heard to the Fireball, he questioned, ¡°Hey! Now, what happened? Why am I hiding again? Really¡­ I have to hide even when I am not a thief anymore!¡±


    The Fireball and the Firefly also hid behind the same tree, ¡°Shhh¡­ Stay silent for a while if you want to enter the Real Gate of the Realm¡±


    Advik made a stupid and a bit confused face when he heard the Fireball talk about the gate, ¡°What! Another gate? Really¡­ How many gates do I have to encounter in a day? Why here are so many gates?¡±


    ¡°Shhhhhhhhhhh¡­.! Shut up!¡±, The Fireball and the Firefly came very close to his face to shut his mouth. The Black Fireball whispered, ¡°Try to look at the gate, it¡¯s the Real Gate of the Realm.¡±


    Advik glanced at the gate while standing behind the huge tree. The gate was as huge as the last gate he saw but there wasn¡¯t any guard around it, thus he normally said, ¡°Oh! There is no need to hide we should just open the gate. There is no guard either. Let¡¯s go, now I¡¯ll lead the way.¡±


    When he was going to step ahead, The Firefly and the Fireball grabbed his shoulder from behind. He turned his back, a bit pissed he asked, ¡°What happen? There¡¯s no one out there. We can easily slip away.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be reckless. Be extra careful when there¡¯s no one in a place where it should be someone, always remember this. You are a thief, so, how can you be this carefree in a situation like this?¡±, said the Fireball.


    Narrowing his eyebrows he questioned, ¡°Did I ever tell you that I was a thief?¡±


    ¡°You were talking to yourself a while ago. I just heard it by chance¡±, Fireball answered.


    The Firefly was also jumping high and low in midair as though it was also nagging or scolding Advik. He looked at it and chuckled, ¡°You also want to scold me for my recklessness? Haha.¡±


    ¡°Focus¡±, said the Fireball.


    ¡°Oh sorry¡±, Advik¡¯s eyebrow raised and he scratched his head before speaking again in a worrisome voice, ¡°Eh, then you mean there is someone out there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is someone out there who can be a big problem for us.¡± Said the Fireball.


    Advik again glanced at the gate to see and examine the gate again, ¡°There is no one but now I think there is some kind of energy here, A Demonic energy!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    He turned in the direction of those two with a dumbed face, ¡°Seriously¡­ God! How did I not see or sense it before? There is someone actually there, more like the gate itself is that someone! Right, Mr. Fireball?¡±


    The Fireball, ¡°Correct.¡±


    Advik lightly hit his forehead in a bit of frustration on himself. ¡°How I didn¡¯t notice it before! Stupid me and my eyes!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t punish yourself for a tiny mistake. You¡¯ve been through a lot lately so your mind was just not stable to see all these things. To notice dark or divine energy you need to have a stable heart and control on your mind and you weren¡¯t in a condition to do that.¡± The Fireball said with a warm and comforting voice.


    Advik laughed, ¡°Thank you¡±, he thought that it was the first time someone didn¡¯t blame him for something. ¡°Even though I don¡¯t know you two that well, you are still helping me. I don¡¯t know what your real intentions are, yet you are giving me a very warm and family-like feeling, so I don¡¯t mind your company, I think.¡±


    The Fireball remained silent hearing Advik¡¯s thought but the Firefly was jumping with joy, it was very happy hearing all that conversation like it understood every word of what they said. It flew and landed on his chest, close to his heart. He was surprised but soon he felt that the Firefly was hugging him so he closed his eyes and put his hand gently over the Firefly, ¡°Thank you too.¡± He smiled. After some second the Firefly left his chest.


    The Fireball called again with the low voice, ¡°¡­Okay, listen to me, kid. That huge gate ahead of us is a Demon. Well, he used to be a demon with a human body, however, he was captured by the Emperor Agni and he turned him into the Gate as a punishment when he tried to escape from the prison of the palace.


    Advik looked at the Gate again and spoke, ¡°Oh, if he had a human body that means he was a powerful demon¡±, Looking back at the Fireball he continued, ¡°But he was a demon or not is not important to us.¡±


    The Black Fireball sighed, ¡°Yes, it is not, the problem is that that demon is still very powerful and that could be a problem for us.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Hmm¡­ do you know anything about his past life, maybe some information about him can help us.¡± Said Advik.


    ¡°Yes I know¡±, the Fireball replied.


    ¡°He was a very powerful demon since he was born. There was no one as strong as him, in his clan. For him everything was easy and there was nothing he could not obtain with his power. He was so strong and loved by everyone that soon he lost he¡¯s all interest in everything he did. However, one day he accidentally found something that he could never get tired of, and that was a book of riddles made by his grandfather who was a riddle writer who gave up on his family, clan, and responsibility for his passion. His grandfather died years ago but he left his books of riddles which became friends for his grandson. From that time on the kid also emerged himself with those books, never letting them out of his sight even for a second. Inspired by those books of his grandfather he also started to write riddles of his own. It was the only time he was happy but soon his father who was the leader of their demon clan found about his hobby. He burned down all of those books even the one written by his father and son because he was afraid that his son will bring shame upon their family if anyone found that the only son of their family is writing some stupid riddles instead of polishing his sword arts, just like his late father did. That incident made a huge impact on his heart. The little kid was so angry with his father and his family for not understanding his small dream that in a flash, he destroyed his own village and family with his abnormal cultivation. He was still lost when some gods and the Emperor Agni surrounded him to imprison him for his deed. He realized what he did but it was too late to correct what he did. In that prison, he again found his love for riddles. Hence he tried to escape from the prison to become something. And that was when the Emperor Agni turned him into the Demon Gate as punishment for trying to escape from the prison. Since then he is stuck here as the Demon Gate.¡±


    They all were still hiding behind the huge tree, Advik quietly whispered, ¡°Okay, so that was his past but it did not give me any good information about him.¡± He looked at the Fireball, ¡°Do you know any of his weakness, something anything which we could use against him?¡±


    The Fireball sighed looking at the guy who was overly excited to meet the Gate, ¡°The Emperor Agni has ordered him to protect this realm at every cost. He had to do what the Emperor ordered him even if he doesn¡¯t want to. However, he has some grudge against the Emperor for locking him up in that horrible prison and so, once in a while he let some people or anyone come in or out through him if they offer something unique or precious to him. Although you still have to solve his riddles which are hard to crack but I think we can find the answer for his riddles. And we have to listen to his riddles no matter what because he loves to recite and create riddles.¡±


    ¡°What a character!¡± Was the first line Advik said after hearing the whole story. He thought, ¡°How can I always encounter people like him?¡±


    The Fireball replied, ¡°Yes, he is something but he has his reason to be like that and for doing what he did. Be careful because he is a demon, a greedy demon after all.¡±


    Advik smiled, ¡°Everyone is greedy, don¡¯t you think?¡± He looked down at the ground, smiling.


    The Fireball called out to him and he abruptly shook his head, ¡°Yes, now what can we do? Face him head-on? Haha¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go because that¡¯s the only option we have.¡± The Fireball said and flew in the direction of the Demon Gate. His eyes widened when he saw the Firefly also followed the Fireball, leaving Advik behind the two were floating some meters ahead of him.


    ¡°Hey, wait!¡±, Walking behind the two he asked, ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°There is no plan.¡± Said Fireball, ¡°We have to solve his riddles if we solved them he¡¯ll let us go but if we couldn¡¯t then we can never ever come here again. That is the only condition he has. And he only asks one riddle from a person. That means there will be three riddles for us. Prepare yourself, kid.¡±


    Advik wanted to ask how the Firefly is going to answer the riddle but he didn¡¯t ask because he had other things to worry about. He was amazed by the fact that a Fireball knew so much about this place, so he just asked out of curiosity, ¡°Umm¡­ hey! Mr. Fireball, how do you know so much about this Realm and why are you helping me?¡±


    ¡°No reason behind helping you. I am just doing what my heart is telling me to do and I¡¯ve lived here for many years, thus I know numerous things about this place. Even the one which is unknown to most of the people here.¡± A cold but straight answer he got from the Fireball but to him, the reply seemed to be truly honest. Hence, he did not ask anything further and choose to quietly follow them.


    Soon they arrived in front of the Demon Gate.


    .


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    .


    .


    Hey everyone! It¡¯s me your slow and lazy AF author of this novel. Sorry for this late and short update. I think this chapter was the shortest chapter that I¡¯ve written so far but I¡¯m trying to make the chapters of my novel a bit shorter without cutting or missing any story. Sorry because I couldn¡¯t update my novel on time because I have high fever for 8 or 9 days and there are some other family problems also, So can you please be patient with me as you can see I¡¯m so messed up with my entire life, hehe!


    Thanks a lot whoever is reading this novel and also enjoying it even a bit. I have seen that there are some people who are enjoying it or liking my novel thank you so much for that.


    Please Share, Subscribe, Like and Comment as much as you can. Thank you so much.


    I still don¡¯t have decided a schedule for uploading the chapters but I¡¯ll try to upload them as fast as I can.


    You can ask me anything even the things which aren¡¯t related to the novel, so please ask! Love, hugs, and kisses from another side of this world.


    Here are my sns ID if anyone wants to talk:


    Insta ID: @Yaoi.bl.paroxysm,


    @Eiza.sophrosyne


    Facebook ID: @Park NamByul


    Twitter ID: @ParkNambyul (I¡¯ve made this account just few days ago and I don¡¯t know how to use twitter at all! Really! But if anyone wanna talk then come to me anytime. And also please tech me how to use twitter!)

 Chapter 5 - The Demon Gate and His Riddles

    Chapter 5: The Demon Gate and His Riddles


    Translator: Park Nambyul


    The huge gate was ahead of their eyes, a huge wooden gate, it was even bigger than the last one. It was pitch-black in color, resentment black energy was surrounding it, there was no handle or anything else on the gate except the mantras which were written in beautiful crimson-colored writing, it was horribly gleaming. The Demon Gate looked outrageous with the demonic air mixed in the atmosphere. Anyone could be terrified if they saw the gate.


    Advik¡¯s eyes scanned the Gate from bottom to top in amusement, ¡°Woah! Such a huge gate. It¡¯s even huger than the one I saw before.¡± He deliberately spoke with a loud voice. ¡°Hey, Shriman Dwaar, Let us pass through you, we need to find some people. Help us!¡±


    The eerie gate remained voiceless and motionless for a moment before it spoke with a cloud bursting voice, ¡°WHAT DO YOU WANT? LEAVE THIS PLACE RIGHT NOW. IT¡¯S NOT A PLACE FOR KIDS TO PLAY. DON¡¯T DISTURB ME!¡±


    Advik was enjoying his situation but choose to not show it on his face, ¡°We are not here to disturb anyone. Just let us pass through, please!¡±


    The gate was lazy and it didn¡¯t want any trouble for itself, it just heavily sighed and opened his mouth and large round demonic eyes ¨C it was frightening, his those eyes looked at them with wrath, it spoke, ¡°OKAY! JUST SOLVE MY RIDDLES AND I¡¯LL LET YOU GO. YOU ARE THREE SO THE RIDDLES WILL BE THREE AS WELL, UNDERSTOOD?¡±


    ¡°Sure, fine by us. Just ask, I can solve them in a second¡±, Advik confidently grind.


    ¡°I HAVE A CONDITION BEFORE I ASK YOU MY RIDDLES AND THAT IS, YOU WON¡¯T EVER COME BACK HERE IF YOU FAILED TO ANSWER ANY OF THEM AND YOU HAVE TO ANSWER ALL THREE RIDDLES CORRECTLY IF YOU WISH TO GO.¡±


    ¡°Yes-yes, I know, just ask!¡±, Advik excitedly said.


    ¡°YOUR FIRST RIDDLE IS ¨C WHO MAKES IT, HAS NO NEED OF IT. WHO BUYS IT, HAS NO USE FOR IT. WHO USES IT CAN NEITHER SEE NOR FEEL IT. WHAT IS IT?¡±


    ¡°Coffin, the answer is coffin¡±, It was not even a moment for the Demon gate to recite the riddle when Advik with a rapid speed said the answer confidently.


    ¡°How? How did you know the answer, you didn¡¯t even waste a moment before answering. You are using some wicked kind of method for this, aren¡¯t you?¡±, The Demon gate was furious and anxious at the same time. Because it was unthinkable for it to find someone who could answer his riddles in a moment.


    ¡°How you ask¡­well, I know the person who created this riddle. I know it was not yours from the beginning. The creator of that riddle was a woman. She was a tall, beautiful and smart woman. She was the one who told me the answer to it when I couldn¡¯t think the answer to it a long-long time ago.¡±


    ¡°No! No! No! You are lying! This riddle¡¯s creator is unknown. Even I couldn¡¯t find the creator, so how a lowly life like you could have found them? You are lying, I am sure!¡±, The Gate just tried to deny in every possible way. It just never wanted to believe that the creator met him but not the Gate.


    ¡°Then, don¡¯t believe. I am not here to prove that I¡¯ve met the creator of some riddles. If you don¡¯t wanna believe then don¡¯t believe. I also have this precious gemstone ring of her which she gave me as a parting gift.¡± Advik put his palm on his cheek and looked upwards, ¡°Aha¡­she was such a beauty, I miss her sometimes.¡±


    ¡°S-show me that ring, then I¡¯ll believe you¡±, the Gate demanded.


    Advik smiled hearing that demand. He put his left hand into his pocket which was in his ripped balloon pants. He took out a small pouch and opened it to take out the gem-stoned ring. It was glittering like a star, no, even more than a star. No doubt that the ring was priceless, costly. The breath of the Gate stopped when he saw that ring in front of his eyes.


    Advik stretched out his hand to show the ring to the Gate, ¡°Do you want this ring? It¡¯s very precious to me because she herself gave me this but right now I am just a wandering soul and I don¡¯t think I need this and it¡¯s bigger for my fingers, so, I can give you this. Don¡¯t you want it?¡± He gladly asked the Demonic Gate.


    The Black-Fireball shouted hearing that statement of Advik, ¡°Child, what are you doing? This demon is greedy, don¡¯t give him something which is so important to you and what about the feelings of the lady who gave you this ring, don¡¯t you care about her feelings that are attached to this the ring?¡± Even the Firefly looked at him with anger.


    Advik was shockingly calm in the circumstance, he smiled and looked at the Fireball, ¡°She gave me this ring and I can do whatever I wanna do with this because she said that I can use this ring if I ever meet any danger. And after she gave me this ring it becomes mine, so I can do whatever I want with it.¡± Advik softly smiled.


    ¡°HEY! HEY! HEY! Don¡¯t TALK ON YOUR OWN. I AM ALSO HERE¡±, the thunderous voice of the Gate rang again.


    Advik¡¯s eyes again looked at the gate, he brightly spoke, ¡°So, you want it? You can have it!¡± He put away his hand and clenched it in his fist. ¡°You can have it but I want something in return, you see¡­I am not a saint who gives there everything without asking anything in return.¡±


    ¡°What do you want?¡± the gate was more composed than before.


    Advik juggled the ring while he spoke, ¡°I think you know what I want, we just want to enter the Real Realm and we don¡¯t want to answer any more riddles by you, ¡± he crossed his hands, ¡°You can have this ring if you make this deal with us, think about it. It¡¯s a very special ring which was given by the creator of many famous riddles.¡±


    The Gate looked like he was seriously thinking about the offer. It went silent and Advik again started to juggle that ring in his hand, ¡°Are you thinking about it, Shriman Dwaar.¡±


    ¡°Yes, stay silent for a second.¡± The gate said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it, just say yes already. It¡¯s a lifetime offer, see-see this ring.¡±


    ¡°I am thinking!¡±


    ¡°Just say yes¡±


    The Demon gate, ¡°¡­¡­..!!¡±


    Vismay, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­????¡±


    ¡°Accept my fabulous offer, hurry up!¡±, Advik was getting impatient.


    The gate, ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡±


    ¡°This ring is truly precious, see!!¡±, Advik was again showing the ring to the Gate, ¡°Look, look at it.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­.SHUT UP, WILL YOU? I AM TRYING TO THINK SOMETHING!!!!¡±


    ¡°Oh, ok¡­ay¡±, Advik took his hand back and stayed quiet.


    The Gate looked at Advik who was mutely standing in front of it, the Gate thought, ¡°Hmmm¡­this ring is really beautiful and I think its value is more than thousands of bags of gold coins and this boy seems to be extremely naive to give me this valuable ring in return to let them enter the realm which is incredibly deadly even for high ranked demons. I think I should accept this a deal.¡±


    While the gate was in thoughts, Advik shouted, ¡°I feel you don¡¯t want to accept my once in a lifetime offer, then it¡¯s no use to stay here. I¡¯m going. You can think as much as you want while I¡¯m gone¡±, Advik turned and stepped a little ahead.


    Advik was going to go in the opposite direction when he heard the Gate, ¡°Hey! Hey! Lowlife kid! I accept your offer. You can enter the realm and you don¡¯t have to answer the remain two riddles as you wished. But first, give me the ring and I promise I¡¯ll let you enter.¡±


    The Fireball was fury, ¡°How can we believe you? Maybe you won¡¯t let us enter after getting what you want, then what we will do?¡±


    ¡°I will not do anything like that, trust me for once¡±, The Gate assured them.


    ¡°Mr. Fireball, just trust him¡±, Advik reassured the Fireball then stepped ahead to give the ring to the Gate. He opened his fist and the ring which was on the palm of Advik flew towards the gates.


    After gaining what it wants, the Gate replied, ¡°You can go now, be careful because inside of the realm is not for fun¡±, the Gate opened itself, the sharp-piercing creak of it was the signal that the gate was opening.


    ¡°Thank you for your advice, we¡¯ll take care of ourselves¡±, Advik gladly glanced at the Demon Gate. He looked at the Fireball and the Firefly which was floating there for a while, he smiled at them and hastily went inside the gate together.


    The Gate closed itself behind them with a loud bam¡­.. The Real Realm was frightful, exceedingly dreadful. It was dark with highly-body-shivering dark and demonic energy filled in every inch of it. The deafening resentment screams and cries were coming from all the directions. The scent in the air was of blood and fleshes. The freezing wind was slowly blowing. Advik¡¯s eyes widened after watching such an outrageous scene, his legs froze, he couldn¡¯t even find the smallest place to put his feet. Everywhere was just trees and trees. If what they all saw before was just a deadly place then this time this was the hell itself in front of them!


    New and old fleshes, corpses, and bones of various kinds of beings were everywhere scattered. The smell of decomposing fleshes was overwhelming, the cut-off limbs were everywhere even over the trees, blood was dripping on the ground like it was pouring there for years. The Firefly flew more close to Advik. Advik covered his nose and mouth after he smelled those unbearable smells, ¡°It is so absurd and terrifying here. Who can do something so cruel? Are you sure that this is the Real Realm, not the hell itself!?¡±


    ¡°No, this is just the Real Realm nothing else.¡± The Fireball replied with a sad, low voice.


    Advik looked in every direction, ¡°H-how it becomes like this or is this place is always like this?¡±


    ¡°This Realm is always like this because of demons, ghosts, spirits, monsters, devils and other fiendish creatures live here or I should say they all are stuck here, imprisoned here by the hell or heaven. They have to fight for the food here. No one is safe here¡±, The Fireball said.


    ¡°Ohhhhh¡±, Advik was still struggling to find a clean place. He was not afraid, not at all but it was the heavy smell and other corpses that were making him feel disgusted.


    The Fireball continued, ¡°But for some time this place has become even more dangerous even for the demons and ghosts who have lived here for decades.¡±


    Advik looked at the fireball, wearing seriousness all over, he said, ¡°Why did you take me over here if you knew about this situation. Do you want me to die? Well, I cannot die anymore but still, why do you want to put me in danger?¡±


    The Fireball softly denied what Advik just said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t want anyone to die. I am really trying to help you. Nothing else, I swear to my God.¡±


    Advik remained quiet, he again glanced in every direction. Everywhere the situation was worse than what he was seeing a moment ago. It was frightening and devilish kind of a place. After some minutes of silence, he spoke, ¡°Do you know who did this? Who is behind all of this? Do you know anything else about this place?¡±


    The Fireball answered, ¡°Look, kid, this is not a place to talk. We have to find a more secure place or will be the new pray for the demons. It¡¯s a place where many different kinds of beast and monster come to hunt for their food, so we must leave this ground as soon as possible.¡±


    Advik, ¡°Hummm-ed¡±, he sat down on the spot, staring at the ground, he thought something, with a tensed face he grabbed some mud from a bit clean place. He tightly closed his palm which was full of the mud. After a moment he gently let the mud slid out of his palm, he was smiling and carefully looking whatever he was doing. With the mud gone from his palm, the terrifying and wrathful screams and cries paused. The whole place¡­ just like an empty room went silent.


    The Fireball and the Firefly were quietly watching him. He smiled and sideways peeked at them, curiously he asked, ¡°Hey, why aren¡¯t you guys asking anything? Don¡¯t you think playing like this is very childish and stupid in this scary circumstance.¡±


    The Fireball¡¯s voice was amused, ¡°You purified this area by what you just did, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Advik was stunned and chuckled, ¡°So, you knew? That was unexpected, that is why you both were so quiet.¡±


    ¡°But why you did that? It won¡¯t change anything here.¡± The Fireball worriedly asked.


    ¡°Hmm¡­you ask me why. I don¡¯t know why either. I just did it because I don¡¯t want to see any other soul wonder and scream like me¡±, he stood up and shook off the dirt from his back, looking at them, he spoke, ¡°I know I can¡¯t do much but as long as I can help, I¡¯ll help.¡± He again beamed and put his hands on his waist, ¡°So where should we head next? I¡¯m totally clueless about this Realm.¡±


    The Fireball was in thought, it murmured, the voice of the Fireball was extremely low that even Advik who was nearest to it didn¡¯t hear what it just murmured¡­.


    ¡°You have changed a lot, Advik.¡±


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    .

 Chapter 6 - Archery After Two Thousand Years

    ¡°Hello, Hello? Mr. Fireball, are you even listening?¡±, Advik waved at the Fireball who looked as though it was deep in thought.


    ¡°Oh, yes-yes, I¡¯m listening¡±, it abruptly answered to him.


    ¡°Where should we go from here?¡±


    ¡°Oh, we should head towards the voice.¡± The Fireball said.


    ¡°Which voice? I can¡¯t hear anything anymore. I just purified this area and there is no voice and no sound coming after that¡±, he smiled and emphasized, ¡°You know, I did a fabulous job. No voice will come now, hehe.¡±


    The Fireball flew some inches ahead and paused, ¡°Probably the voice of the guy you are searching. We should go straight in the direction of this voice, I¡¯m sure this voice is not some kind of trick of demons.¡±


    Advik stepped close to the Fireball, the Firefly followed him, ¡°Are you sure that we won¡¯t get ourselves in any more trouble¡±, his voice was worried.


    ¡°I am sure, it is the kid. I can hear voices from miles away and I promise this is not any demon¡¯s doing¡±, the Fireball confidently reassured him.


    Advik took a deep sigh. Stretching his hands as high as possible, and putting them down. He again looked at the Fireball, ¡°Then lead our way once again.¡±


    He just took one of his legs on the path when the Firefly came right in front of him and started to jump in the air like it was scolding him for leaving and forgetting it behind. He smiled, ¡°I have not forgotten about you¡±, his left hand gently patted it. It stopped jumping when the big-gentle hand patted it so gently. The Firefly quietly just went for his shoulder. It swiftly sat down on his shoulder. Advik was surprised, he giggled, letting the Firefly do as it wanted. ¡°You are also very stubborn, my tiny friend.¡±


    ¡°Tara!¡±, the Fireball said while flying ahead from them.


    ¡°What?!¡±, Advik was confused.


    ¡°Tara, its name is Tara and she¡¯s a girl. Call her by that name. She doesn¡¯t like when people don¡¯t call her by her name.¡±


    Advik looked at the Firefly who was sitting comfortably on his left shoulder, ¡°Oh, so your name is Tara and you are a girl. I thought you were a guy, haha! You know you have a very good name. Just like stars today you illuminated my path. Thank you, Tara.¡± He gave a bright-gentle smile looking at her once again. Then he looked at the back of the Fireball who was floating ahead from him. He had something in his mind, thus he called out to the Fireball, ¡°Mr. Fireball!!¡±


    ¡°Vismay¡±, the Fireball said.


    ¡°What!? What you just said?¡±, Advik asked the Fireball with tensed lines on his forehead.


    ¡°My name is Vismay. I thought that you were going to ask my name as well because I just told you her name, hence, I also told you mine.¡±


    ¡°Ohhh¡±, sighed Advik, ¡°Vismay! Quite a unique name for a fireball, haha.¡±


    ¡°Not as unique as yours, I think¡±, the Fireball chuckled lowly.


    ¡°Yes, yes, nice joke.¡± Advik rolled his eyes. He sighed. After some minute of running, he glanced right and left as he was huffing because of running, following the Black-Fireball, Vismay. He was going to ask something again but he was disturbed when he heard someone shouting.


    ¡°Help! Help! Help! Someone, help me.¡±


    Advik was worried, forgetting what he wanted to ask, instead, he asked, ¡°Mr. Fireball? Is this the voice you were talking about?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we need to hurry, Someone is in danger¡±, said Vismay then they all geared up their speed on the way to the voice of the boy.


    When they arrived at the spot, Advik tried to look in all directions. Now, it was easier to see even far away because they left behind the thick dark forest. It was still dark here, the vermillion moon was covered by black clouds, the wind was blowing faster because the area was open, the road was hard with only small and big rocks everywhere and there was no grass to be seen anywhere. Even after looking everywhere he could not find the boy but his voice was coming even louder than before.


    ¡°Can you hear me? Where are you?¡±, Advik shouted.


    ¡°Help, I¡¯m here, I¡¯m stuck here¡±, the voice replied.


    Advik and Vismay heard the voice. Nodding at Vismay he slowly stepped ahead. He was alert that this could be a demon but still, he chooses to follow the voice. He, Vismay and Tara slowly stepped ahead and to their surprise, they end up standing at the near edge of the mountain. He looked down in the abyss and shouted once again, ¡°Are you down there?¡±


    After a few minutes, a voice came from the dark abyss, ¡°Help me, I¡¯m stuck here¡±, The voice was asking for help yet it was not looking like it actually wanted help rather the voices¡¯ tone was more like it was commanding them. The Fireball flew a bit down to check, the abyss lit up the second it went down. Advik again looked down in the abyss and because of Vismay, he saw someone standing and waving their hands. The handsome teenage boy was standing on a small cliff which was attached to the mountain Advik was standing on, it was just nineteen or twenty meters down.


    Vismay was not enough to lit up the whole place, hence it was still dark. He spoke, ¡°Advik, can you see him?¡±


    ¡°I can but I cannot tell the details, your light is not enough, the abyss is too deep and dark. But he¡¯s not that down, we can help him.¡±


    The person was still calling for help but the tone of his wasn¡¯t a tone of a scared boy rather it was a young and bossy kind of voice.


    ¡°Hey, kid, do you need our help?¡± Advik humbly asked looking down at the boy.


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t! I am just playing here and I¡¯ll fly from here when I am done!¡±, the brat savagely said.


    ¡°Oh, okay, then we should go back. Mr. Fireball I mean Vismay-Tara, he doesn¡¯t need our help, let¡¯s go back. I thought he needed our help but he doesn¡¯t¡±, Advik innocently turned and stepped ahead, he heard the brat shouting again.


    ¡°Hey, can¡¯t you help me? Can¡¯t you see I¡¯m stuck here? Are-are you stupid or what? Do I have to tell you or beg you to let you know that I want your help?¡±, the brat was angry and irritated.


    Advik turned his back, having a smirk on his face, he spoke, ¡°You should add ¡°please¡± when asking for help, don¡¯t you know? Well¡­ sigh¡­whatever¡±, he bent himself, while stretching out his hand, he said, ¡°Take my hand, I¡¯ll try to pull you up.¡±


    The kid looked at the hand then at the man who was giving him the hand, crossing his hands, he spoke, ¡°I am not going to touch a dirty hand like yours and more importantly do you think your hand can reach me who is more than ten meters down here, stupid. This is why I hate adults.¡±


    Advik looked at the hand and moved it up and down, ¡°Mmmm¡­ I don¡¯t think my hand is that dirty. Don¡¯t be like a maiden, okay. I am trying to help here.¡± He pulled back his hand and stood up. The kid thought that Advik is going to leave him there, he worriedly glanced at him. Advik saw the worry on the brat¡¯s face, he knew the kid is prideful and he won¡¯t gonna ask for help even if he wanted to. Advik chuckled softly. Smiling at the kid he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t leave you here like this. Just wait I¡¯ll find a way to lift you up.¡±


    The boy was pissed with his stupid smile but no matter what he had to believe the only ray of hope he had, ¡°Whatever¡­¡­just do something fast.¡±


    ¡°Yes-Yes¡±, Advik said, he stepped back and look around. However, his face changed from confident to worried as soon as he turned, ¡°Oh no! No! No! No! No! No! I said I will help him! But how? How am I gonna do it when I can¡¯t even reach him¡±, he started to walk in circles with an anxious look on his face.


    The Fireball and the Firefly surprised-ly came ahead of him to stop him, ¡°Hey! Wait¡­what happen? You were so confident just now? Where did your confident self has gone?¡±, the Fireball asked in a thick and low tone.


    ¡°No! I can¡¯t I don¡¯t know what to do! I am such an idiot¡±, Advik hit himself two or three times with his left hand. He was about to go see in the abyss once again when Vismay came beside his ear. Advik looked at it and questioned, ¡°What? Do you have something to say?¡±


    ¡°Can you see those high mountains ahead of this endless abyss?¡± Vismay said, floating beside him.


    There were indeed some huge rocky mountains ahead of them. They were some hundred meters away from them and it looked as if the wind was swiftly clashing there. Many tornados could be seen even from afar. The wind was really strong even Advik was feeling the power of the wind when the cold but swift, forceful but light wind was touching his whole body. His ripped clothes were flapping because of the gust.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know but around this time of the day the air of those mountains gets heavy and it blows at a rapid speed. The wind becomes so strong that it can throw anything back to us with much more force.¡± Vismay said.


    The Firefly Tara tightly grabbed Advik¡¯s shoulder because the wind was getting stronger. It would have flown away if it didn¡¯t clench something to support itself so Tara grabbed him.


    Advik was thoughtfully staring at those mountains. After some minutes of staring, he looked at Vismay, ¡°What did you mean?¡±


    The Fireball chuckled, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bit naive?¡±


    Advik was confused and pissed, ¡°What do you mean? Just tell me directly?¡±


    ¡°Do you know archery? Are you good at it?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡­¡­what do you mean by that? I don¡¯t understand you at all¡±, he sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I am good or not but I can shoot flying birds or kites easily.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I think that is enough then¡±, Vismay flew back inside the forest where some big trees were stood. Vismay was trying to find something, it was looking as though it was also inspecting those trees there.


    Advik curiously followed the Fireball. He heard that brat¡¯s noisy voice but he decided to ignore it for now. He stepped next to Vismay, dying because of the confusion, he asked, ¡°What the hell are you doing? The wind is getting stronger and your behavior is getting even weirder. Asking dumb and irrelevant questions at the wrong time and now mindlessly roaming in this forest! Just¡­what-what the hell is happening here? Care to explain anything to me?¡±


    Vismay stopped and came near him, with a usual gentle but thick tone, the Fireball replied, ¡°Do you know how to make bow and arrow using this type of wood?¡±, Vismay was indeed serious while asking the question.


    Advik was making a dumb face, ¡°¡­¡­Huh?¡±, he was surely more than surprised by what he heard. ¡°Wh-what did you say? Are you stupid or what?¡±


    Vismay was as calm as before, ¡°You know, the wood of these trees is very durable and flexible. They can bend as much as you want and won¡¯t break unless one uses their hands to break them. If you make a bow and arrows from it, it certainly will be of very high quality.


    The anger and confusion were building more and more inside of Advik, he was frustrated, ¡°Oh! Wow! So what can I do if the wood of here is so good for archery? I don¡¯t care!¡±


    ¡°Just go and ask the kid if he knows mountain climbing, even a little. Well, I know they teach them every survival technique in that palace but just ask him to be sure.¡±


    ¡°W-what? Mountain climbing? Do you even know how straight the mountain is from his side? It doesn¡¯t even have any cracks or holes to barely put one¡¯s hand and you want him to climb the mountain? He can never do that, he¡¯s just a child!¡±


    ¡°Just go and do as I say.¡±, Vismay pushed him from behind and dragged him near the abyss where he was standing before. Advik was too tired to argue any more than he already did, thus, he just stopped thinking much and looked down. The kid was still waving and shouting but silent himself when he saw Advik up there. Without any interest, he spoke, ¡°Hey kid, do you know mountain climbing? Do you have some upper body strength?¡±


    The boy was also exhausted after waving and shouting that much. He also didn¡¯t want to argue or waste any of his energy, hence, he just gave a straight answer without much thought, ¡°Mountain climbing is not my plus point but I am very good at doing handstands, so I am sure my upper body¡¯s strength is higher than many people.¡±


    Advik turned with an irritated face, ¡°You heard that, right? Now what?¡±


    ¡°Go back where those trees are. Make a bow and some arrows using the branches of those trees. It would be not that strong but it will work for us. Use some vines to make the bowstring, understand? Now get to work.¡± Vismay ordered.


    Advik just opened his mouth to ask something but Vismay interrupted him by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t you even dare ask anything right now. Just do what I am saying.¡±


    The Firefly Tara also jumped in midair with amusement seeing Advik got ordered by Vismay.


    With irritated heart and half-assed feelings, Advik went to collect the woods. ¡°I will kill that Fireball, no¡­what¡¯s its name? Vismay? Vismay¡­.right. I will definitely kill him. How can he order me around like that?¡±, Advik searched the ground, and every tree, touching and feeling them to find the best wood. He broke some branches and tried to bend some of them one by one. Just to see how flexible they can be, ¡°I have to find some long and slim one for arrows.¡±


    He collected some beaches that were everywhere on the land and put them on his waist. He tied them over his waist with a long vine. Then he tied one side of another branch which was in his hand with a long vine then tied the other side of it with the same vine, ¡°This should be fine¡±, he smiled and stretched the bowstring. He positioned himself as though he was about to shoot the arrow but there was no arrow on the bow, ¡°It¡¯s kinda nostalgic feeling for me. It¡¯s been so many years since I last aimed at any target with an arrow.¡±


    The feeling in his heart was warm and innocent after holding the bow and arrows. Even though the bow and those arrows were just made from a branch and even if they looked just like some kid¡¯s toy it was still a bow and arrows. They were nothing compared to the real highly spiritual bow and arrows yet they were giving him the peace of mind he was searching the whole day. He always used a sword as his personal weapon however bow and arrows were just too special to him. Someone very special thought him archery so, obviously, archery was special to him. Way more special than any gold palace or thousand of precious stones.


    Even the emotions he was feeling while smiling and aiming at the sky without any arrows, was priceless to him. It was the heavenly pleasure he was feeling when he remembered to take those arrows and bow to Vismay, ¡°Oh fuck! I have to go back or else I don¡¯t know what can happen to me.¡± He rapidly stepped back to where he came from.


    Vismay and Tara saw him coming. Tara was like always, jumping in midair after seeing Advik come back to her.


    ¡°It seems you¡¯ve made the bow and arrows¡±, said Vismay with a dim happy tone.


    ¡°No, I have to sharp these arrows to it become more like arrows. Right now they are just branches. Let me sharp them¡±, he searched the land and found a keen flat rock. ¡°This will work¡±, he sat and started to sharp those arrows with the rock. After getting satisfied with the sharpness of each arrow he stood up. ¡°Hmm¡­here¡±, Advik showed the bow and arrows to Vismay. ¡°So what now? How this is going to help that kid?¡± He was still frustrated and perplexed.


    Vismay flew a bit higher and came back soon, ¡°Do you still remember what I said a while ago about those mountains and wind?¡±


    ¡°Of course! How can I forget that? It was a long speech about how strong the wing is and how it can send anything back to us with much more force.¡±


    ¡°Hey don¡¯t talk on your own. Help me I¡¯m down here waiting for someone to help me. Is there anyone who still remembers me?¡±, the kid shouted with fury.


    Advik looked down into the abyss, ¡°Shut up, okay!! I am trying to help you here but this Fireball is just too stupid to understand that. Just wait¡±, he was also losing his patient.


    ¡°How long do I have to wait? Can¡¯t you do something faster?¡±, the brat grumpily asked.


    ¡°Just wait!¡±, Advik replied to the kid. He looked at Vismay and asked, ¡°What now? I don¡¯t understand anything anymore! Why are you even more difficult than that riddle of that demon gate.¡±


    It looked as if Vismay chuckled after hearing that. ¡°Look, you have your bow and arrows in your hands and that mountain is ahead of you¡±, Vismay said, ¡°Do whatever you can do with these three things. I¡¯ve helped you enough. Now it¡¯s your turn to help that kid.¡±


    Advik was frustrated, irritated and perplexed about the whole situation. ¡°What the hell? What can I do with these things?¡±, he put up his hand which had the bow, he stared at it. ¡°What-what can I do?¡±, he pulled out an arrow from his waist.


    Vismay and Tara were attentively looking at him and the kid stopped looking upwards because his neck started to hurt, he was thinking something with closed eyes.


    After staring at the bow and the arrow, Advik glanced at the mountain. He remembered what Vismay said to him about those mountains. Closing his eyes he thought somethings while clenching the things in his hands. He straight up his hand which was holding the bow and put the arrow on it. With closed eyes, he positioned himself with the bow and arrow as if he was ready to shoot the arrow. He was still worried and confused but still stood straight and set his eyes on those far away Mountains.


    This time Advik had an actual arrow on the bow to shoot. He was uncomfortable, unconfident about his archery, it was two thousand years ago when he last shot his arrow in front of someone. Even though it was just a Fireball, a Firefly, and a brat who were there it still made him anxious about his archery. He was not at all confident about his abilities. His memories were lost still he remembers the feel and pleasure he gets from archery. He was incredibly happy to have the bow and the arrow in his hands but the pressure of doing it in front of someone was somehow too overwhelming to him. His doubt on himself was making him tremble, his hands started to shake, he lost his whole focus. The only thought filled in his mind was he could not do archery anymore. He was about to lose the grip on the bow and the arrow but then a voice came.


    ¡°Advik, FOCUS! Just think of your target and you¡¯ll understand everything else on your own. Just believe in yourself and your archery¡±, shouted Vismay.


    His eyes widened, he woke up from his doubtful thoughts by Vismay¡¯s voice. He again tightly held the bow and the arrow. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath then again tried to remember what Vismay told him about the wind and the mountains.


    After some moment of silence, he opened his eyes, this time the eyes of his were somehow different, somehow confident, somehow sparkling with believing in himself it was as if the words of Vismay gave him some lightning like a strike. It was as if he realized what he has to do. He looked at those mountains and then down in the abyss, he looked as though he was examining and calculating the whole area. After staring at those mountains for a while he got something in his mind, ¡°Ahh! Now I know what I have to do.¡± Quickly assuring that his arrows are still on his waist he moved on the right side of the mountain he was standing on.


    Searching everywhere and looking everywhere he was moving ahead, ¡°I have to find a higher place just a little higher than this mountain. It¡¯ll be great if I could find a tree or a small hill.¡±


    He was looking for a higher place and as if his wish was heard by some God. Just some moments after he saw a large and tall tree near the edge of the mountain. ¡°My God! You really heard me this fast?¡± His legs swiftly moved towards the tree. Without any difficulty, he claimed the tree as soon as he came close to it. He sat on a strong branch which he found strong enough to handle his weight, ¡°This will be fine.¡±


    Advik was exhausted but ignored it and positioned himself to shoot. He grabbed the bow in his left hand and an arrow in the other hand. He put the arrow on the bow and pulled the bowstring. He took a deep breath and set his eyes on those mountains ahead of him, ¡°Now I know what I¡¯ve to do. I have to shoot these arrows from a right angle and if my calculations will be correct then these arrows will come with much more speed and stuck on the front side of this mountain. I¡¯ll make these arrows straightly come and stuck on this mountain, near where that kid is waiting. These arrows can be like the branches of a tree or staircase. He¡¯ll be able to climb this mountain easily.¡±


    Advik smiled, he closed his eyes and sighed once again then he opened his eyes and shoot the arrow as he planned. Just after a few moments, he saw the arrow come back with rapid speed in the direction of the kid.


    .

 Chapter 7 - Stairs Made of Arrow’s Reaching the Mountain’s Top

    Chapter 7: Stairs Made of Arrow¡¯s Reaching the Mountain¡¯s Top


    Translator: Park Nambyul


    Samay was deep in thought, with a tension between his eyebrows he was circling around on the small cliff that was attached to the mountainside. The intense wind was hitting his whole body, making it a little difficult to stand still. It was in a split second when an arrow with lighting speed came to his way which he didn¡¯t see.


    Somehow he sensed the current change in wind and thanks to his quick reflexes he bent himself down. He saw the arrow swiftly cut the winds and stuck itself on the mountainside. The kid slightly flinched when he saw the arrow on the mountainside.


    It took him some seconds to understand what happened. He blinked twice before scanning the arrow once again. The arrow was made of a special wood called Devakastha, it was a kind of wood which was used to make various types of spiritual weapon for highest-rank immortal cultivators. It was not a wood anyone could find and make arrow or any other weapons from It whenever they want yet Samay was seeing it in front of himself glued on the mountainside.


    Full of disbelief he frowned, ¡°How the hell this arrow made of Devakastha is here?¡±, he was more than shocked maybe a little scared altogether, it was not an everyday thing to see an arrow made of divine wood: Devakastha, here in the Lost Soul¡¯s Realm!


    He gather his thoughts, putting some effort just to stand after barely saving himself from the arrow. He was half bend when another arrow came to his way with the same lightning-speed as the last one. Again his quick reflexes saved him when he sat down covering his head with both hands. He chose to stay still, afraid to be surely stabbed by the third arrow if it came.


    One by one shower of arrows came towards him or towards the mountainside. Every single one was as rapid as the wind which was swiftly blowing there for quite a while. Those arrows were cutting the wind like hot knife cut butter; elegantly but rapidly.


    The strange thing was that every arrow was sticking itself on the mountainside like someone was making them do it. The kid was still confused but not at all scared like a while ago. The storm of the arrow abruptly stopped. He felt no more arrows will come so he looked at those mountains that were far away from him.


    ¡°I think now those arrows won¡¯t come any more¡±, he pursed his lips, doubtfully staring at those far away mountains. ¡°That guy where is he? He said he¡¯ll help me but I know he has left¡±, he snapped out when he heard the familiar shouting.


    The brat turned and looked upwards. He startled seeing the idiot waving at him with a large grin that was going from one ear to another. His heart twinged.


    The idiot was still carelessly smiling and waving with both hands, ¡°Hey! Did you missed me?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡­ Who do you think you are? Why would I miss the likes of you?¡±, Samay glanced at him but averted his eyes when he saw Advik looking at him with a pure smile. The kid was undoubtedly glad but too prideful to show it in any manner.


    ¡°Okay! Okay! I know I am no one but let¡¯s not fight right now I¡¯m dead tired of everything.¡± Advik half bent himself. The smile was gone in an instant yet it was calming to see him. ¡°Just listen to me this time if you don¡¯t want to stay here forever. He scowled, ¡°Look at the mountainside of the mountain I am standing on¡±, he pointed his finger downwards.


    Samay was again hostile like before, ¡°Whatever¡±, he rolled his eyes and looked a little down at the mountainside. He was astonished, ahead of him were two parallel lines of those arrows stuck on the mountainside which was going to the mountainside¡¯s top. He lost his words still somehow managed to ask, ¡°Wh-what is this? Did you do it? But how?¡±


    ¡°Yup! I did this. Don¡¯t you think I am amazing?¡±


    ¡°You did a great job¡±, Vismay praised and Tara buzzed with happiness.


    ¡°Hehe¡­ thanks! Thank you for showing me the way¡±, Advik replied meekly.


    ¡°Hey¡­ don¡¯t you dare to forget about me I am also here! And tell me what I suppose to do now?¡± Samay snarled.


    ¡°Just climb the mountainside using these arrows as stairs, it¡¯s as easy as climbing trees. Believe me, the wood is very reliable and strong they won¡¯t break while you climb¡±, he smiled and continued, ¡°Don¡¯t worry they are tightly stuck deep in the mountainside they won¡¯t fall off. However, be careful and stay as close to the mountainside as possible it will be more secure.¡±


    ¡°Are you really sure these arrows are reliable? Do you think they can handle my weight?¡±, of course Samay knew how strong and heavenly powerful those arrows could be because they were made of the divine wood; Devakastha. But knowing that this idiot has shot them he was unsure about the whole ¨C climbing the mountain by arrows ¨C thing.


    ¡°I could have given you the whole time of this world to think properly if I had any but right now we are running out of time¡±, Advik frowned.


    The kid walked towards those arrows and touched the one which was glued on his eyesight¡¯s level. He tried to pull out the arrow but it was indeed tightly attached to the mountainside. His right eyebrow lifted up before he put his left leg on one of the arrows which were lower and near his legs. He firmly grabbed the arrow of his right-hand side. He sighed before putting his another leg on the arrow while he tried to catch the arrow on his left side.


    Samay shifted his eyes upwards and instantly felt disgusted by the stupid grin on Advik. Again he focused on the current situation of his. Now he was balancing his whole body on the arrows. He didn¡¯t even dare to think about how he would be looking to others just now.


    ¡°I don¡¯t ever want to remember this after I climb up somehow¡±, Samay stopped thinking much of his situation and tried to climb up using the arrows. Slowly but steadily he was putting his legs one after one while always making sure his grip over the arrows.


    Soon he was near the top of the mountainside. Samay once again sighed when he saw Advik who was like always; smiling. The idiot gave his hand and he took it without much thought, ¡°I don¡¯t like saying this word but¡­ th-thank you.¡±


    Advik beamed hearing that and pulled the kid up.


    Both of them were standing against each other. Now the difference between their height was so much that Samay had to still look upwards just to see the idiot¡¯s face. Advik was indeed towering over him. Not that macular but still he was quite handsome that he could steal many women¡¯s hearts in a glance. However, he was immediately irritated seeing the grin on his face.


    It was the same for Advik, he had to look a bit low to talk to the kid who was looking at him with scanning eyes. The kid appeared fifteen or sixteen years old to him. He thought the brat is really good looking even when he has that pissed face. Anyway, he gave a comfortable smile again, ¡°Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?¡±


    Samay looked as if he was not used to people¡¯s gentle nature. He gazed at the tall man, ¡°¡­. Th-thank you, I-I am fine.¡±


    He thought the kid looked a bit different just now, he docile-ly smiled at him and looked at the Fireball, ¡°So, now what? Do you know any place where we can rest? I am dead tired and hungry. He put his arm on the kid¡¯s shoulder, ¡°This kid also needs food to charge himself, right?¡± Advik glanced at him who was not seemed to be happy with his over-friendly behavior. Sensing the glare of Samay he put away his arm.


    The kid was livid, ¡°No! I don¡¯t need food but I want answers. I want to know why a wandering soul like you is helping me.¡± The kid scowled with suspicion gathering in his eyes. ¡°And tell me what¡¯s your relation with this Fireball and Firefly. Are they your pets?¡±, he stared at Vismay and Tara.


    Advik scoffed, ¡°Woah! So many questions in a go. Well first, they aren¡¯t my pets.¡± He put his palm ahead of his eyes and Tara reached it in a flash, it sat down on his palm. Advik smiled, Samay had an expression between confused, pissed and horribly disgusted. ¡°You can think of them as my friends. Today they helped me a lot.¡±


    With grimace Samay stared at Tara who was comfortably sitting on the palm, ¡°A-are you sure they are not harmful?¡± he was not taking his eyes off from the Firefly.


    Advik sneered, ¡°I am sure they are as harmless as rabbits and what a fireball or a firefly can do to us?¡± he laughed.


    Samay glanced at the Fireball who was floating beside him. He first didn¡¯t think but now when his thoughts were collected he found it strange to see a Black Fireball. Even if he had seen many various creatures and studied about them for months, he still had never seen anything like this Black Fireball in front of him.


    He felt some discomfort standing right beside it. However, he was not at all afraid of it.


    Advik was giggling while staring at the Firefly which was sitting on his palm. He changed his focus to Samay who was silently staring at Vismay. He sneered, ¡°Are you in love with Vismay¡±, he chuckled.


    ¡°What!!¡±, he was snapped out of his staring.


    ¡°No? I mean¡­ I said that because you were staring at Vismay with so much intenseness filled in your eyes¡±, Advik scoffed.


    Samay glared, ¡°Shut up, you are just too free to assume any-fucking-thing! Why the fuck I fall for a mere Fireball?¡±, he moved away.


    Tara flew off from Advik¡¯s palm. He looked at the kid, ¡°So now your turn to introduce yourself.¡± He came closer to put his both hands on the small shoulder of Samay, ¡°Please! Tell me you are¡­ what was his name¡­ what it was¡­ugh?¡± he looked up while trying to remember the name.


    ¡°Samay¡±, Vismay said lowly.


    Advik beamed, ¡°Yes! Samay¡±, he looked at the kid. ¡°¡­. Are you Samay¡±, his was troubled, he thought what would they do if this guy wouldn¡¯t be Samay.


    With a sullen face, he put Advik¡¯s hands down from his shoulders, ¡°Yes, I am, so what?¡±


    This time Advik over-excitedly cupped the brat¡¯s cheeks. He shook the kid¡¯s whole face up-down, ¡°Yes! Yes! Yes! I-I am so happy. In the end, I¡¯ve found you. Now they won¡¯t waste their time to search for a brat like you instead they¡¯ll help me to go back to Shwet¡¯s side¡­ Yesssss I did it!¡±, Advik put off his hands. The kid was in a daze, his mind was literally spinning around. Samay was holding his head to settle it down.


    Vismay was still floating beside Samay, ¡°Aren¡¯t you too obviously showing that you are not at all happy to find him.¡±


    He was still holding his dizzy head, ¡°Did Svapn send you to find me?¡±


    Finally, Advik stopped beaming like mad. He saw the kid, ¡°¡­. Eh, no he didn¡¯t.¡± He thought the way the brat said the name of the Prime Minister was not so good and disrespectful. He felt the kid really didn¡¯t like the Prime Minister that much, hence his tone was so aggressive when he said the name. He continued, ¡°I come to find you on my own just to help them. I thought it¡¯ll be easier if more people would try to find you.¡±


    Samay furiously glared, ¡°How do you even know them or me? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you ever before?¡±


    Advik was silent for some seconds before he answered, ¡°I¡¯ve died nearly two thousand years ago Svapn told me. When I opened my eyes he was in front of me. I didn¡¯t know what was happening to me. I¡¯ve lost most of my memories¡±, his eyes were wet when he lightly smiled with them at the kid, ¡°Svapn said I was roaming around for years and somehow ended up in this realm. I had lost my heart, mind, and memories he found them for me.¡±


    Advik added, ¡°I don¡¯t know how much of what they¡¯ve said is true but I don¡¯t know anything or anyone here, thus I am trying to believe them because¡­ because that¡¯s the only thing I can do.¡±


    Advik looked into the kid¡¯s eyes. Samay was undoubtedly shock, surprised or confused but he was carefully listening to him without asking any question, ¡°Right now I just want to find a way to go back to wherever Shwet is. I just want to find him. I don¡¯t remember much of my past but I know he is someone very important and I want to find out why I was killed¡±, he looked at Tara who was too silent like it was also understanding him.


    He wiped out his cheeks. He looked down and then at Samay, he smiled with red-wet eyes. ¡°You see, I-I think my memories are bit blurry right now. And I want to know what I should do now when I¡¯m just a soul who has lost everything. I need to find something which can help me to live on.¡± He smiled again, a very bright-pleasant smile but the three of them saw the pain and suffering and struggle Advik was putting to smile like that.


    Samay wanted to say something, anything to comfort the person in front of him but he was no good at comforting people in any way. He remained voiceless, just staring at Advik with empathy. Even Vismay and Tara were not daring to even speak a word.


    Some minutes passed in silence. Advik turned his back at Samay when he felt he couldn¡¯t hold his tears and longer. He wiped off his eye but the water was not stopping. It¡¯s this thing that maybe everyone hates about tears; the more you want to hold them the more they drop, the tight you close your eyes the more reasons you¡¯ll find to cry.


    Samay knew Advik was crying and snorting but chose to stay quiet and only stare at the man¡¯s back. After a while, Advik turned around on his own with a grin, ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking about my tragedy¡±, Samay blinked seeing the sudden change, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of Vismay he can talk even I was shocked when he first spoke to me.¡±


    Trying to cool down the atmosphere Samay also shook off his head. Going back to his usual personality, he snapped, ¡°What do you think of me? I am the best disciple at the palace. I have seen many more dangerous and terrible things than a Fireball which can speak. He is nothing new to me¡±, he snorted.


    Crossing his arms Advik raised his eyebrows, ¡°This brat is even more overconfident and self-centered than my younger self.¡± He sighed softly.


    Abruptly, Tara came close to Samay. He felt strange so he backward his step. However, Tara still followed him. Trying to sit down on him maybe? He recoiled, he was definitely irritated by her in just some seconds. The brat tried to fly her away, ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t come close!¡±, he was bewildered, waving his hands everywhere, ¡°Stop it!!! Stop this thing!¡±, the more Tara was coming close the more Samay¡¯s voice was getting loud and louder. ¡°Stop it!! Stop it right now!!¡±


    First, Advik did not notice this uproar because he was still dealing with those uninvited emotions. However, when Samay started to shout and scream that much, he noticed him. Advik sniggered then started to laugh.


    The brat was staggering, ¡°Don¡¯t-don¡¯t come! Stop this thing. I don¡¯t like bugs! Stop her, right now or I¡¯ll use my sword!¡±


    Advik¡¯s stomach started to hurt laughing out loud that much, he was still laughing grabbing it. He creased his eyes. It was a hilarious situation; Samay was running in circles around him to stay away from the Firefly, Tara was trying to catch him simply because it wanted to comfort him, hug him, and Vismay was still beside the laughing-idiot nevertheless he was still shouting at them to stop their childishness but they were not listening to him at all.


    Advik was still holding his stomach while laughing hard. Samay scurried and came behind him. The kid clutched the man¡¯s shoulders from behind, ¡°Please stop her! I¡¯ll do anything you want just stop this thing!!!¡±, he was grumbling and quivering, the sweat was dropping off from his forehead. Even his voice was hoarse.


    Advik saw the kid, felt the actual fear of the brat. He was clenching so tight on Advik that he felt the nails of his. He understood the fear of Samay, he paused his laughter. He scowled and meekly said, ¡°Stop Tara! Stay where you are, please!¡±, he softly squinted at it.


    The other two were surprised when it stopped moving in the midair. An astonished voice spoke, it was Vismay, ¡°This little girl never listens to me but now she is listening to you¡±, he said, ¡°She is listening to someone she has just met¡­ sigh¡­ I think handsome men has it all, after all!¡±


    Advik chuckled hearing that, glancing at Vismay he replied, ¡°You think I am handsome!?¡±


    Samay glanced at the Firefly from behind Advik¡¯s back, it was innocently flying at a safe distance from him. He left the man¡¯s side and came ahead, looking at Tara to make sure she was not coming for him anymore. He got his old hostile self returned, ¡°Well, you are just average and this dirt and awful smell on you is making it worse.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Really?¡±, putting his hand closer to his nose he sniffed, ¡°Because of all the drama and running for hours I didn¡¯t realize much as noticed this myself, but, I am really messed up right now!¡±, he grimaced. He worriedly turned to the Fireball, ¡°Mr. Fireb-Vismay do I smell bad that much?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t have a nose.¡±


    ¡°Do I smell, Tara?¡±


    ¡°Are you stupid it cannot speak!¡±, Samay rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Oh, yeah! Then you tell me do I smell? Am I that filthy? Why I don¡¯t have a mirror!!?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are totally messed up. I don¡¯t even know how Svapn stayed with you in that room because he is such a clean-freak. He can¡¯t even bear the smell of one day old wore clothes.¡±


    Advik started to brush off the dirt from himself, ¡°I have to clean myself or I¡¯ll die!!¡±, he was patting the dust off from his body whilst screaming how nauseous he was feeling. His every effort was going in vain because no matter how much he was trying to clean himself it was never enough.


    Of course, he was looking like shit due to not bathing for nearly two thousand years!! Even if he was just a soul still he needed to clean himself at least for the sake of people and their noses around him! However, who can blame him for roaming like that when he was not himself. When he didn¡¯t even know where he was or what he doing before coming in the Lost Soul¡¯s Realm.


    Samay frowned, staring at the messed up guy who was panicking merely because of the dirt, ¡°Hey! Are you a clean-freak as well?¡±


    Without stopping himself, Advik answered, ¡°Nope, I am not a clean-freak. I just like cleanliness, is there a problem with that?¡±


    This time Samay couldn¡¯t hold his laughter, ¡°Hahahaha! A soul who is also a clean-freak! What a joke!!!¡±


    ¡°Stop playing! Advik stop your childishness over dirt and you, Samay stop laughing¡±, both guys stopped in middle at once. Vismay came into the conversation, ¡°We should head to the near village, Bhayabhoomi, there we can find an inn to stay.¡±


    Advik was puzzled but still scoffed, ¡°Bhayabhoomi ?! What a horrible name?¡±


    The Fireball continued, not minding the stupid joke, ¡°That Bhayabhoomi village will be much safer and secure than this hunting zone for the demons. Also, there we can find some clothes, food and other necessary things for us.¡±


    Samay spoke with much more attention than ever before, ¡°Bhayabhoomi ?¡±, he looked at Vismay, ¡°I¡¯ve heard and read about it. People say it¡¯s one of the smallest villages of Lost Soul¡¯s Realm which has become the wealthiest village overnight¡±, Advik gave him a disbelieving look.


    The kid¡¯s eyes were glittering with amusement, ¡°Yes-yes! We should go there.¡±


    ¡°No, we should not¡±, Advik was serene, ¡°You don¡¯t know but Svapn and Sidharth also came here just to find you. They left me behind so I don¡¯t know where they went but I think they have returned back to the palace after not finding any trace of you. Let¡¯s go back to the palace.¡±


    Samay paralyzed hearing that, he lost his words. Only one thing was filling in his mind that Svapn and Sidharth literally came to rescue him! He never thought that anyone would come to save him but they did. He was not showing but his heart just melted finding out about this, ¡°Okay, then let¡¯s go back.¡± the brat pleasantly smiled.


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t go back¡±, both guys looked at the Fireball, ¡°You can¡¯t go back because Prime Minister and Chief Minister both are still here¡±, the kid¡¯s heart twinged, Advik was just more confused, ¡°I can¡¯t find their exact location but they are here. I can sense their spiritual life here. We have to find them.¡±


    Samay startled, Advik was puzzled, he sneered, ¡°Don¡¯t worry they are the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of this Realm, who can harm them. I¡¯m sure they are too powerful and intelligent, their cultivation must be very high. We shouldn¡¯t worry about them and go back.¡±


    ¡°But there is a problem here¡±, Vismay¡¯s voice shook, ¡°I can sense their spiritual life is gradually diminishing every second¡±, Samay grimly looked at Vismay, ¡°Maybe they are in some problem. We have to find them, help them. It is too risky to let the two highest cultivators roam here when their cultivation is decreasing.¡±


    Advik grabbed the kid¡¯s wrist, Samay stared at him with wide eyes, ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±, Samay was oblivious what was happening, Advik clutched tightly on him and tried to drag him, ¡°What are you doing where are we going?¡± he snarled.


    ¡°Vismay, tell me where we have to go, I want to help Svapn and Sidharth¡±, Advik solemnly said while moving ahead somewhere.


    ¡°Let me tell you the correct way to Bhayabhoomi, it¡¯ll be more easy for us if we can first find a more safe place for us to plan this search for them¡±, Vismay flew towards Advik.


    Samay looked at the hand which was holding his wrist and taking him somewhere. He didn¡¯t know what he was feeling but he knew he was glad to meet this person who is a little weird, little stupid and a freaking soul! He was gazing at where the hand was clenching him so firmly. Without much thought he let the other guy take him wherever he was going.


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    Dictionary:


    Devakastha: it literally means ¡°Divine Wood¡±


    Bhayabhoomi: Bhaya ¨C Fear, Bhoomi ¨C Land


    Samay: Time


    Svapn: Dreams


    Sidharth: Means ¡°one who has accomplished a goal¡±, derived from Sanskrit ????? (siddha) meaning ¡°accomplished¡± and ???? (artha) meaning ¡°goal¡±. Siddhartha Gautama was the real name of Buddha.


    // Hello!! My 357 readers! First of all, I¡¯m so sorry for this late update. Sorry! My real life and its problems got me. Thank you for sticking with me even now. I know this work is not the best out here still I¡¯m working hard to make it better. I know there are many mistakes and it¡¯s lacking in many ways but I¡¯m trying, really! And thank you so much to help make this novel better, I don¡¯t know if I can mention the name of readers who pointed out my silly mistakes, but thank you from the bottom of my soul, hope you are still reading my work and seeing some progress! Don¡¯t forget to tell me my silly mistakes again! *Hugs and kisses for everyone*


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