“Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Yan.”
Facing Yan’s warning, Ayane Hanyu gave a noncommittal shrug.
Seeing her obvious lack of concern, Yan did not say much more.
The relationship between Apostles could be that of collaborators, strangers, competitors, or even mortal enemies, but it could never be that of friends.
What he needed was simply Ayane Hanyu’s ability as an Abyss Apostle; everything else was unimportant.
“I am curious, Ms. Ayane Hanyu…” Yan turned his head toward Ayane, immediately skipping the previous topic.
“How do you control the nature of the Dead Realm?”
Hearing this, Ayane raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“No need for such reserve, Mr. Jin. You can ask for more detail.”
…
“Controlling its expansion, its activity, and even being able to control it to draw in specific people while keeping non-target populations out,” Jin leaned forward slightly, his eerie mask shimmering in the sunlight.
“How is that accomplished?”
“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Mr. Jin.”
Ayane Hanyu slowly straightened her body, taking a step back and raising her palm.
At the same time, Jin turned his head to look.
When his gaze fell upon the center of Ayane’s palm, he couldn’t help but let out a soft sound of intrigue, his tone rising slightly: “Hmm?”
The center of her palm was cracked open, and the writhing flesh around it looked exceptionally eerie in the sunlight.
The pitch-black void within the rift seemed to swallow both the viewer’s gaze and the sunlight itself.
In the next moment, an irregular polygonal crystal squeezed out from the rift in Ayane’s palm at a moderate pace.
She gently grasped the crystal, holding it up to the sunlight to admire it.
She said with a smile, “About two hundred and eighty years ago, this place was one of the sub-battlefields in a war between the Capital and the Northeast Asian Aberrant populations.”
Jin looked at the shimmering crystal, waiting for her to continue.
“When I received the invitation to cooperate, I originally intended to use the Abyss to directly pollute and erode the Dead Realm…”
Ayane stroked the crystal with her fingertip and continued, “But doing it that way, even I couldn’t say for sure how the nature of the Dead Realm would change, so—”
At this point, she lowered her eyes to look at Jin and slowly lowered her arm.
“I gathered some relevant intelligence. As it stands… my information channels are still quite reliable. About two hundred and eighty years ago, this was a site of a brutal sub-battlefield during a massive war between the Capital and the Northeast Asian Aberrants.”
“It is said that the supreme commander in charge of this sub-battlefield for the Capital was a very famous general in the military. The army he led clashed head-on with the elites of the Northeast Asian Aberrant population… right in this area. That war lasted for a full two months. This Capital army suffered extremely heavy losses. At the height of the battle, even the general himself had to lead all the command staff to the front lines, fighting side-by-side with ordinary soldiers.”
Ayane gently waved the irregular crystal in her hand before Jin’s eyes, as if showcasing a rare work of art.
She continued her narration in a tone tinged with a bit of laziness and playfulness: “In the end, it is said… that the Capital general became the only person still standing on that battlefield. He was deep in the enemy’s encirclement, surrounded by the piled-up corpses of his comrades. Facing the tide of Aberrants, he fought to the death without retreating… finally, he chose to perish together with a powerful Aberrant whose strength had reached the Near-King Rank.”
As she spoke, the black substance around the rift in her palm began to writhe like a living thing again, slowly enveloping the crystal.
A moment later, the blackness receded like a tide, and the shape of the crystal had changed—it was no longer an irregular shape, but had become a simple, worn-edged… medal with a translucent texture.
“However, there is another entirely different rumor circulating in private…”
Ayane’s tone shifted, her voice carrying a hint of mystery.
“Some say… that the general mutinied at the final moment, personally designing the downfall of his entire army. Furthermore… he actively induced his own mutation, falling into a monster.”
She smiled, her fingertips stroking the translucent medal.
Her gaze seemed to pierce through it, seeing into the distant past.
“Interestingly, in all the official public records and archives of the Capital, not a single word can be found regarding this massive, brutal battle. Given that, doesn’t that somewhat appalling rumor seem a bit more likely?”
She paused, refocusing her gaze on Jin’s mask, her tone returning to its previous calmness.
“But, rumors are just rumors. I personally came to this land, and in the heart where the Dead Realm was brewing, I discovered… this.”
“This is…” Yan spoke for the first time, interrupting her narrative.
His voice came through the mask with a hint of realization and confirmation.
“A Token of Obsession?”
“Heh…”
Ayane let out a light laugh and slowly nodded, her tone carrying a bit of praise.
“As expected of the knowledgeable Apostle of Fate… correct. This is indeed a Token of Obsession. Moreover, it is a Token of Obsession formed after that general’s death, when his incredibly strong, lingering will fused with this land.”
She balanced the medal in her palm, as if weighing its inherent burden.
“Quite interesting, isn’t it? If that general truly betrayed them, why did he die at the very center of this battlefield? But if he were a loyal hero who died a heroic death for his country, why would the Capital’s officials remain so tight-lipped about this battle and his name, as if it never happened?”
“The truths and stories hidden behind these traces buried by the dust of time are always so fascinating…”
Ayane slightly closed her fingers.
The black substance gushed from the rift in her palm again, slowly swallowing and wrapping the medal like a living thing until it completely disappeared from sight.
“But, they aren’t just interesting; they are also very… useful.”
Her tone became deep and powerful.
“The Abyss felt this thought that has crossed nearly three hundred years of time—yet remains strong, stubborn, and almost obsessive. Thus, I gently guided it—”
“And then, this silent Dead Realm awakened in response to this obsession.”
Ayane took a step forward, gracefully leaning over the railing of the rooftop again.
She gazed at the distorted area in the distance, smiling as she turned her head toward Jin to explain in more concrete terms: “The Token of Obsession was swallowed and contained by the Abyss. You can understand it like this—it’s as if it was locked behind a special door. However, a tiny gap was intentionally left open.”
“It is through this gap that the general’s obsession is able to maintain a weak and marvelous connection with the outside world, especially with the Dead Realm that is closely related to it. And the Dead Realm will instinctively draw closer and aggregate toward the core that shares its source—the direction where this obsession resides.”
“This instinct is the fundamental cause of the Dead Realm’s abnormal expansion. The degree and range of the expansion depend on the size of the door gap I left. Open it a bit wider, and the connection becomes stronger, making the expansion more rapid. Close it a bit, and the expansion naturally slows down or even stops. As for controlling who can enter the Dead Realm and who is excluded… that requires the Abyss to wrap that obsession more finely, to understand it, and even to some extent, to bewitch and guide it…”
As Ayane spoke, she skillfully pulled a pack of slim ladies’ cigarettes from her pocket, took one out, and placed it between her red lips.
She pulled out an exquisite lighter, and with a “click,” she lit it.
She took a greedy, deep breath and then slowly exhaled the gray-white smoke, which curled and rose in the sunlight.
Only after doing all this did she look at Jin through the thin smoke, asking in a relaxed tone, “Did I explain it well enough for you to understand, Mr. Jin?”
“Perfectly, my lady.”
Jin took a half-step back and bowed slightly in a standard aristocratic salute.
After finishing, he straightened his body, his tone filled with sincere admiration.
“You are a genius, a true genius!”
“Saying that will make me blush~”
Ayane took another drag of her cigarette, though her behavior was the exact opposite of her words, appearing very much to enjoy the praise.
“But Mr. Jin, why go through all this trouble? The Medium… wouldn’t it be better to just capture her directly?”
Hearing this, Jin slowly shook his head, fixing his gaze once more on the figure in the dried-up riverbed.
“The Medium requires deeper guidance to be complete. And it isn’t just her; the lucky one currently in the Dead Realm who is favored by fate is also an indispensable cornerstone for cleansing the world. Sorrow, fear, despair… only after giving them more vivid colors can they be called perfect. The show is about to begin. Ms. Ayane Hanyu,” Jin slowly turned his head to look at Ayane, who was puffing smoke beside him.
“I cordially invite you to complete this magnificent theatrical opening with me. What do you say?”
Ayane’s fingers pinched the cigarette butt, and she flicked it away before slowly exhaling the last cloud of smoke.
“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Jin.”