I! Cleaner!-Chapter 966 - 895: Infighting

"You all?!"

Looking at the Overlords of the Dead Realm who stood behind the Faceless Man, some with apologetic faces, others with vicious eyes, the First Dead couldn't help but raise an angry eyebrow and then, full of disappointment, shouted:

"Have you forgotten what you once said? When I opened the No Return Path and distributed my power, each and every one of you promised me that you would maintain the normal operation of the Dead Realm! This is a shameful betrayal!"

"We are now maintaining the normal operation of the Dead Realm."

The Faceless Man straightened up slightly, then coldly asked back:

"Lord First Dead, is it possible that the one who has truly betrayed the Dead Realm is you?"

"I betrayed the Dead Realm? What madness are you talking about?"

"My Lord, what I am saying is not madness, but the truth."

After "correcting" the First Dead's words, the Faceless Man slowly straightened his spine, with a look of slight disdain, he said:

"Indeed, we came from the living world, but we have long since died! The us of now are deceased souls, standing at the pinnacle of the entire Dead Realm as its rulers! Without us, who knows how many years ago the living world would have perished!

And having sacrificed so much for humans and the living world, we seek the respect and status we deserve and wish for the right to return to the living world. Isn't that fair? What wrong have we done?"

"..."

"And you! Even though you were the first deceased in the Dead Realm, you never considered yourself part of it! Despite having the capability, you never once fought for our chance to return to the living world!

In your eyes, we aren't the rulers of the Dead Realm, but mere assistants to help you deal with the souls of the dead! We are just a few slaves who must remain in this boring world of black, white, and gray, eternally serving humans and the living world!"

"I..."

Seemingly startled by the Faceless Man's sudden outburst of anger, the previously outraged First Dead involuntarily took a half step back, then took a deep breath and said, with a hint of guilt:

"I never thought of it that way, nor did I ever see you as slaves. I just believed that since we are already dead, we should not return to the world of the living.

Moreover, over these many years, you have become too deeply entangled with the Dead Realm for ordinary people to possibly withstand. If you were to rashly return to the living world, it would surely bring about widespread death, so sacrifice is the only choice..."

"Why must we be the ones to sacrifice?"

With corpse wraps entwined around his body slightly discoloring, squeezing out blood mixed with turbid yellow pus, the grim-eyed master of the dead spoke:

"The living beings still alive in the world will eventually come here, so why can't we go back? We also came from the living world, and we have sacrificed so much to maintain its stability. The ones who should step back are not us!" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"But you are already dead..."

Seemingly not good at handling such situations, as the Overlords of the Dead Realm looked at him with those eyes that seemed to be burning, the First Dead involuntarily took another step back, then weakly argued:

"The dead enter the Dead Realm, and after they perish, they return to their origin, allowing new souls to manifest in the living world. This is a part of the world's rules.

Compared to other souls, you have gained a lot. Besides not supporting your return to the living world, I have granted you eternal life and never restricted you otherwise. Why can't you be satisfied?"

"We are not unsatisfied, but we want to receive equivalent rewards for our contributions... Never mind, you should just leave."

After shaking his head slightly, seemingly weary of continuing to explain, the Faceless Man raised his arm, gesturing towards a direction away from the Frozen River, and emotionlessly said:

"Though you are the strongest overlord of the Dead Realm, after you opened the No Return Path and distributed the rules of the Dead Realm, my power, and that of the engraver and the mountain patrol woman, isn't much weaker than yours anymore.

Given a three-on-one situation, you wouldn't be able to win, especially with the others backing us... For the sake of your previous care for us, please leave here. I will not say this a second time."

"..."

Seeing all the Overlords of the Dead Realm, save for the lamp elder who appeared hesitant, standing firmly behind the Faceless Man, the clay figure that the First Dead transformed into couldn't help but have his eyes dim slightly, and then he sighed, saying:

"I can leave... Additionally, I may not be sure whether what I did in the past was right or wrong, but one thing I am certain of is that you are definitely in the wrong!"

"..."

Are we in the wrong?

Watching the First Dead leave in despondence after leaving behind a word, the Faceless Man fell into brief silence, then called out:

"Lord First Dead."

"Hmm?"

Upon hearing the call from behind, the First Dead, who had soil peeling off his body, turned around in surprise, but what immediately caught his eye wasn't the Faceless Man's featureless face, but a phosphorescent, eerie blue lantern flame.

"I'm sorry."

Accompanied by the Faceless Man's apology, black and white bricks spread out from under his feet, replacing the pale ground by the frozen riverbank with a bizarre plaza intertwined in black and white.

Meanwhile, a gigantic tombstone covered in thick green moss emerged from the ground behind the First Dead, with the shadow of the pale blue lantern flame seemingly etched along its edges, engraved on the tombstone's surface like with a chisel.

Finally, the lantern in the lamp elder's hand gently swayed, and the blue flame that had overtaken the First Dead's eyes trickled down from his eye sockets, swiftly flowing over his entire body, turning the bewildered him into a human-shaped azure-blue torch.

"Send him off."

With a somewhat deep tone from the Faceless Man, the lamp elder sighed softly and then lifted his other hand, missing its palm, using the cut-off half of the wrist, to slash through the empty air beneath the First Dead's feet.

"Crack!"

With a sudden, strange tearing sound, the black and white bricks, the bluish lantern flame, and the moss-covered gigantic tombstone vanished before the eyes of the Overlords of the Dead Realm, replaced by an ancient and familiar broken cliff.

Sorry.

Gazing into the perplexed eyes of the First Dead, the lamp elder temporarily in charge of the Cliff of the End sighed, then stepped forward with his head down and pushed the motionless First Dead off the edge of the cliff.

You did not choose to stand with the Dead Realm, and the plan to ambush the purging bureau must not be leaked, so... sorry for this.

"Let's go."

After looking at the First Dead, who stiffly fell from the Cliff of Doomsday like a stone, the Faceless Man couldn't help but sigh, then turned to the astonished Overlords of the Dead Realm and said:

"I didn't wish for this either, but the Lord First Dead knew too much, if he... wait!"

Staring at a pile of shattered ice in the distance, as well as the black glacier already gouged with a large hole, the Faceless Man's eyes suddenly widened, almost tearing through his own face!

"Where is the mountain patrol woman? Where is the mountain patrol woman!!!"