The moment the starlight disappeared, the surroundings did not turn pitch black; instead, a pale white light appeared on the ground.
Almost instantly, the wilderness transformed into a wide river.
The river wasn't deep, only ankle-deep, but it was unusually cold.
This coldness was very familiar to Odysseus; it was the great river that transported the souls of the dead from the real world to the underworld.
While conducting some research, he stumbled upon a way to temporarily use this river.
The river's course is indiscernible, and its surface appears remarkably calm, but once you are in it, you can sense that it is flowing.
It is constantly flowing towards death!
Immediately afterwards, Odis saw several figures on the river: his parents in this body, and other family members.
Odis watched all this indifferently. One of the key reasons he was able to use this great river relatively easily before was that he had no feelings for the family in this body, and he hardly felt any emotional fluctuations when he saw them.
But when faced with death, people still feel an indescribable sense of powerlessness, which left Odis standing there blankly, unwilling and unable to do anything.
Bernadette, who was standing nearby, saw her mother and brother Charles. Unlike Odice, she couldn't help but show some emotional fluctuations.
Bernadette slowly sank, and soon her knees and below were submerged in the river.
At this moment, Odis regained his senses slightly and tugged at Bernadette.
Bernadette seemed to wake up suddenly from a dream. She slowly raised her head and looked up at the sky. A vine hung down from the void. She grabbed the vine and slowly rose from the river.
After returning to her normal position, she continued to rise. Bernadette reached out her other hand and grabbed Odis, and the two slowly drifted away from the river.
The further they got from the river, the less sluggish the deathly aura in it became, until their thoughts returned to normal in mid-air.
"That was close." Odis took a deep breath. "If we had stayed in the river, we might have slowly died."
He thought to himself: Luckily, a big shot came in with me. The river just now seemed to have a huge suction force, and it was impossible to escape using "flying magic".
Bernadette said nothing, but simply gazed quietly at the river before her.
The previous wilderness had completely disappeared, leaving only a calm surface of water emitting a faint, pale white light.
In front of the distant snow-capped mountains, there seemed to be a building standing there. Although the appearance of the building could not be seen, it looked very magnificent.
At that moment, neither Odis nor Bernadette spoke; they both realized that the way out lay in that building.
But now is not a good time to explore.
"We traveled a very, very long way..."
A hoarse voice suddenly came from behind them, startling them, because even Bernadette's spirituality had not sensed the person behind them.
However, neither of them turned around. The worst thing you can do in this situation is to turn around immediately, as you might see something you shouldn't.
"We traveled a very, very long way, crossing one snow-capped mountain after another, never expecting it to be such a huge scam," the hoarse voice said again.
Odis, very wary, mustered his courage and asked, "Why do you say it's a hoax?"
"That's not His Majesty the Underworld Emperor at all! That's the tomb of the ancient God of Death!" The voice became more and more agitated as it spoke: "We've all been deceived. This is an elaborately designed prison, and we all came here on our own."
As Odis pondered the other's answer, he asked again, "Who deceived you?"
"The person who lied to us is..."
The other person seemed to say a name, but Odis didn't hear it clearly: "Who?"
"yes..."
At this moment, Odis found that her body had become somewhat transparent, and finally seemed like a spirit floating in the real world, as if she could pass through objects at any time.
Bernadette suddenly said, "We can turn back now."
Odis realized that her transformation was a protection imposed by Bernadette.
The two turned around and saw a mummified corpse not far behind them. A ball of flame was silently burning him, but he seemed unaware of the pain and did not struggle.
"The one who designed this scam was..." He was the owner of the hoarse voice, but Odis clearly saw him open his mouth, but he didn't hear any sound and couldn't tell who he was talking about.
Soon, the mummified corpse was burned to powder.
The flames disappeared, and the powder drifted into the river at their feet.
Although the other party did not say it aloud, Odis understood that he meant "the goddess of night".
The "Goddess of the Night" holds the power of "secrecy," and her name itself represents "secrecy." She does not wish to be mentioned by certain people, and if those people do mention her, it will trigger divine punishment.
Odis glanced back at the distant building: "So that's the tomb of the 'Ancient God of Death'."
Bernadette didn't comment, because she had guessed that what the mummified corpse had just said was a trick by the "Goddess of Night." In the "Goddess of Night's" prison, if you accidentally said the wrong thing, the consequences would be severe.
It is clear that the "Goddess of Night" used the tomb of the ancient god of death to attract a large number of extraordinary beings with the "God of Death" pathway and left them here forever.
Odis didn't think much of it; it matched his impression of this "fellow countryman"—to put it bluntly, he was cunning and treacherous; to put it nicely, he was extremely intelligent.
At this moment, the scene in mid-air changed again. One after another, desiccated corpses appeared from the void and slowly floated towards the snow mountain, as if they were still moving in that direction even after death.
Odis soon discovered that among the mummies were several enormous birds with pale feathers and long feathers adorned with ancient-looking mystical symbols.
Bernadette said, "The Phoenix."
Odis smiled: It seems that the "Goddess of the Night" not only tricked the "Emperor of the Underworld's" subordinates, but also a few phoenixes! No wonder there are many extraordinary individuals with the "Death God" path in the Church of the Goddess of the Night. It turns out that the "Goddess" has a way to "generate income" and a place where she can continuously obtain extraordinary characteristics.
Bernadette pulled on the vine again, raising their position and keeping them out of the sight of the mummies.
They had just stopped when a weathered voice suddenly rang in their ears: "You two seem familiar to me. This lady has something that originally belonged to me, and this young man has a familiar aura. I feel like I've seen you somewhere before!"
The two searched the surroundings, but this time there was nothing there, not even a corpse.
Odis then asked, "Who are you?"
"I am Salinger."
Odis took a deep breath: "Emperor of the Underworld!"
That's strange. Didn't that mummified corpse say they couldn't find the "Emperor of the Underworld" here?
"It seems the outside world hasn't changed much; there are still people who remember my name," the voice said again.
Bernadette listened quietly to their conversation, glancing intentionally or unintentionally at the buildings below the snow-capped mountains. At this point, she was no longer surprised that Odis knew the true name of the Underworld Emperor, nor was she particularly interested in his secrets.
However, the "Emperor of the Underworld" said that the aura on Odis felt very familiar to Him, and that He seemed to have seen Odis somewhere before. She kept this in mind.
Odis thought for a moment and asked, "Why are you here?"
"Of course, I'm locked up here." The other person didn't seem as crazy as rumored; apart from a slightly cold tone, they were no different from a normal person.
He suddenly asked, "Do you really think 'Death' can die? Hah, I am Death!"
Odis pondered for a moment before asking, "You mean to say that you didn't perish back then, but were actually imprisoned here?"
"No, he has fallen." The voice claiming to be Salinger said, "But for me, 'fall' is not the same as 'death.' Until a new Grim Reaper appears, I still represent death itself."
Odis nodded, seemingly understanding: "In other words, you have the possibility of being resurrected until the next Grim Reaper appears."
"A very clever young man." Although the other person's tone was cold, his words were quite friendly: "Someone doesn't want me to be resurrected, so they've imprisoned me here."
Clearly, the "someone" is the "Goddess of the Night".
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"The fact that you were able to come here, and that you died immediately without even seeing this snow-capped mountain, shows that you are the chosen ones." The voice continued, "I have waited so many years, and I have finally waited for you."
"Release me from here, and in return I will give you an angel-level sealing artifact, and pardon you so that you will never have to face the threat of death again."
Odis smiled and said, "That sounds very tempting."
He thought to himself: This sounds very unreliable. I'm afraid that as soon as you come out, the "Goddess of the Night" will descend and kick you back.
Odis asked calmly, "How can I release you?"
"It's simple, just destroy that damned magic circle," said the voice claiming to be Salinger. "I only need to destroy a few symbols on the grave to get out."
Odis nodded: "I'll go check on the graves in a bit."
That building was clearly a tomb.
"Okay, the power of the seal is getting stronger again. I'll wait for you here," the other party said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the stars in the sky began to appear one by one, shining brightly once again.
The rivers on the ground disappeared rapidly, revealing the former desert.
Bernadette gripped the vines and slowly landed: "That voice just now was most likely just a remnant of the 'Emperor of the Underworld's' consciousness, and its power was extremely weak."
"And if He were to break free from the seal, the first thing He would do would definitely be to snatch my 'Pale Death'."
Odis looked in the direction of the snow-capped mountains and smiled, "I know."
He stretched and said, "I'm not stupid enough to break His seal."
Furthermore, Odis speculated that since there was a sealing formation there, the reason the "Goddess of Night" captured them was likely to have them strengthen that formation.
After all, Odis was very professional in magic arrays.
But how the Goddess of Night knew he was proficient in magic arrays remains a mystery.
It is possible that the "Goddess of the Night" received the news from the "Night Watchers" who participated in the sealing process, after the "Unquenchable Whispers" were sealed previously.
It could also have come from somewhere else.
For Odis, "the more debts, the less to worry about." Since she was already being targeted by the "God of Steam and Machinery" and the "Hidden Sage," one more "Goddess of the Night" wouldn't make a difference.
Moreover, since they have helped the "Goddess of the Night," if their escape fails and the "Mechanical Heart" discovers their whereabouts, they can seek the protection of the Church of the Goddess of the Night.
The Church of the Goddess of Night is at least a little safer than the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery; at least the "Goddess of Night" won't be constantly thinking about the "Wilderness of Knowledge" on him.
At this moment, the buildings in front of the snow-capped mountain seemed very distant again, and the snow-capped mountain seemed very tall once more.
Odis said, "Since we can't avoid it, let's take the initiative to explore it."
Bernadette nodded: "Okay."
She paused and then added, "Be careful. It's better to find no clues at all than to be reckless."
Odis replied solemnly, "Of course."
After agreeing on their "exploration strategy," Bernadette reached out and pushed Odis's back to take a step forward, and the two had already traveled a considerable distance.
Bernadette took a step forward and could now see the building clearly.
Upon closer inspection, it was not a building at all, but a simple structure made up of three huge stone slabs.
Those stone slabs are thick and ancient, as if they have experienced the vicissitudes of time.
Upon arriving here, both of them felt the taste of death, a chilling sensation accompanied by helplessness and sorrow.
Bernadette did not move forward; instead, she took out the wooden box containing "Pale Death" from her pocket.
At this moment, the mystical symbols surrounding the wooden box were emitting a faint light, and the entire box was trembling violently.
Bernadette said, "If we go any further, the seal of 'Pale Death' will probably become ineffective."
"I can wear this sealing artifact to suppress this power of death."
"However, if worn for too long, its negative effects can be quite terrible."
She might have worn it for so long that she didn't want to take it off, and from then on, she became a living corpse, a puppet of the mask.
"So it can only be worn in critical moments." Odis pondered for a moment before saying, "I'll go take a look. If there's any danger, you can use the sealing artifact to cover me."
Otherwise, we can't just leave this level 0 sealed item here, can we?
This is a divine-level sealed artifact, not something to be taken lightly. Who knows what kind of beings it might attract after being thrown on the ground.
Bernadette nodded and said, "Okay."
So Odis began to move forward alone. The further he went, the stronger the aura of death became. He felt his joints begin to stiffen, but it was still within an acceptable range.
Further on, he saw the magic circle, and outside the magic circle, he saw a corpse wearing the robes of the Church of the Goddess of Night.