Endless Debt-Chapter 798 - 259 The Source of Everything

"Hey, Serey."

"Hey, Wei’Er."

Seeing it was Wei’Er, Serey breathed a sigh of relief, bypassed Wei’Er, and pushed open the door to his room, setting the sunshade umbrella aside.

Wei’Er followed Serey, making a few agile jumps, and leapt onto the wardrobe, looking down at Serey from above.

"A lot of things happened while you were away, Serey."

"Really?" Serey removed the flashy things from his body, "That’s a pity... By the way, did anyone come looking for me?"

While changing clothes, Serey picked up a small booklet, reading out names according to the dates, "Jenkin? Erin? Polly?"

Wei’Er said, "There were a few, but I’m not sure if they’re the people in your booklet."

"They probably are then," Serey said, "It’s a real shame, I had planned unforgettable nights with them."

"Oh, by the way, did Narcissus come?"

Wei’Er tilted her head, "What’s Narcissus?"

"Her stage name; as for her real name, I haven’t had a chance to ask," Serey donned his flamboyant clothes, "We met at the pole dance class, and she even invited me for a dance."

Serey raised an eyebrow, looking confident.

"Did you go see her?"

Wei’Er couldn’t be bothered to play along with Serey’s boring jokes and plainly asked, "I thought you were ready. I even thought you wouldn’t come back."

"I... I’m not ready yet."

Serey’s smile froze and faded as if afraid of Wei’Er’s gaze; he averted his eyes and said, "Besides, there’s something new that needs me now."

"A group of the Night Race broke away from the Land of Eternal Night and is rapidly developing..."

"Is this your excuse to cover for yourself?"

Wei’Er easily saw through Serey’s disguise and showed no mercy.

Serey fell silent, slowly walked to the side of the bed, and after hesitating for a long time, he slowly opened his mouth, "Sorry, I’m not ready."

"They all say I’m the child most like my father, maybe I’ve even inherited his damned cowardice."

Wei’Er wanted to say something more, but seeing Serey in such a desolate state, any words had become meaningless.

A shadow flashed past, Wei’Er didn’t want to face Serey any longer and directly left his room. Serey quietly closed the door and collapsed onto the bed.

In the dim light, Serey saw the portraits hanging all over the walls again. The paintings were so vivid, it seemed as if someone had been sealed within the two-dimensional paper.

The women were, as always, watching Serey, with concern or hatred; Serey seemed indifferent to all of it, lazily turned over, and hugged a handful of blankets.

...

Between Nothingness.

In the vast gray-white world, a figure came from afar. His steps were slow, but each step covered a great distance, combined with his bulky astronaut suit, both clumsy and nimble attributes coexisted on him.

The astronaut repeatedly jumped, along with him, floating overhead, were large stones colliding, making a vague and prolonged low hum.

After crossing an unknown distance, the astronaut stopped. He hadn’t been here for some time; mostly, he spent time at the open-air cinema, savoring the variety within the earthly world.

Not far from the astronaut, at the bottom of a Ring Mountain, a wooden door stood eerily, accompanied by the lighting of a faint glow, someone pushed open the wooden door, arriving at Between Nothingness.

The man wearing blue pajamas staggered onto the fine dust, looking up, observing the silent yet peculiar beauty.

He rarely came here because the astronaut hardly ever invited him; every time he managed to come here, he would try to explore every part of it, attempting to fully capture this strange beauty with his eyes.

The astronaut snapped his fingers, like a prank, the power shielding the man vanished, and in an instant, extreme cold engulfed his body.

The man opened his mouth to speak, but not a single sound emerged. Immediately, a thin layer of frost covered his body, and simultaneously, his blood began to boil, the gas in his lungs quickly escaped, and muffled explosive sounds erupted from within. With each explosion, his body cracked like parched earth, covered in hideous fissures. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Terrifying wounds covered his entire body, and pure black tar-like substances seeped from the cracks. They broke free from gravity’s constraints, like wildly growing thorn vines, uncontrollably spilling from his body.

Amid the tar flashed numerous grotesque faces and strange wails, but none of the sounds managed to escape. It was as if it were boiling, extending thin, fur-like tendrils.

As if the man had not died, the collapse of his flesh broke some sort of constraint, revealing the true form of the monster hidden within.

"Do you think this is fun?"

A clear voice reached the astronaut’s ears, even though shelter had not yet descended. In the next moment, all the overflowing tar reversed back into his body, and the dead flesh was revived, a strong life force resisting the cold and death.

Belphegor stepped forward, advancing up the steep slope, crossing over the Ring Mountain, until he reached the astronaut. It was when he came before the astronaut that Belphegor seemed to re-enter the area of protection, and all influences from the outside world vanished.

"Nothing really, I just haven’t seen your ugly form in a long time."

A hoarse laugh came from beneath the astronaut’s helmet as he turned and led the way for Belphegor.

Belphegor followed behind the astronaut, curiously inspecting him, "How long are you going to wear that diving suit?"

Upon mentioning his own ugly form, Belphegor finally noticed that ever since the Fall of the Holy City, this blood relative in front of him had been wearing this strange diving suit, never taking it off even for a moment during these long years.

If he were to judge only by appearance, without sensing the familiar frantic aura emanating from him, Belphegor would indeed find it hard to associate the astronaut with the blood relative from his memory.

"Who knows?"

The astronaut replied indifferently, and Belphegor did not pursue the matter further. He hadn’t come here for such issues today.

"Is that thing finally completed?"

"Just about. It took so long, but it was worth it."

Saying this, the astronaut led Belphegor to a gigantic Ring Mountain. The mountain encompassed nearly all visibility, and at its deep, dark base, one could faintly discern the outline of a massive creation.

"Your bet with Asmodeus, are you confident?"

"I’m confident," Belphegor said, "but Ewen is too uncontrollable. I thought..."

The astronaut interrupted Belphegor’s words, "Forget it, Asmodeus doesn’t matter. She thinks she has the right to participate in this conflict, but she has never truly understood us."

"Ha, indeed," Belphegor became excited when the great plan was mentioned, "She thinks we just want victory in the dispute... she’s still so naive."

A vast shadow enveloped the astronaut and Belphegor, and with the astronaut’s presence, the massive creation emitted a low hum, then sluggishly began operating.

Tall mechanical structures unfolded one by one, golden mirrors rising like released wings, floating and connecting to form a circular semi-arc golden mirror.

The astronaut waved, causing the massive rocks hovering above like mountains to retreat rapidly. After countless stones shifted, the gray-white clouds and endless sea, the continuous mountain ranges appeared as shallow textures.

The azure crystal-clear planet was reflected in the enormous golden mirror.

Belphegor laughed heartily, "They’d never guess that your domain is here."

The astronaut said nothing, leading Belphegor into the shadow of the colossal structure, where there was also an open-air theater. The two sat down, and the astronaut pressed a remote control, casting light on the screen, placing the azure crystal-clear planet within the frame, as if the colossal creation were some sort of camera.

Pressing the remote again, the azure color vanished, replaced by bands of incandescent glow winding around the planet. Each spot of light’s brightness varied, roughly resembling some kind of meteorological map, marking cloud thickness by brightness level.

Belphegor marveled, "It’s beautiful... Ether."

Amid the incandescent glow, one could see points shining as brightly as daytime, and Belphegor knew those were where the Ether concentration had reached its limit, thereby creating Ethereal Vortex Points.

Numerous Ethereal Vortex Points peppered the globe, with Ether endlessly filling every crevice of the world.

"Can you find it using this?"

The astronaut replied, "Yes."

He unlatched the glass faceplate, as black particles spilled out from beneath his helmet.

"Just find the point where the Ether concentration is highest, and that’s the source of everything."