Legendary Architect of Apocalypse-Chapter 87: Trade

"You’re lying! How could you not know about your own abilities?"

Astralious turned to Elias and reached out to grab him by the collar. However, his hand simply passed through, making him curse his helplessness.

"If I knew what was happening, do you think I would have chosen a memory where I was going to be beaten up as you?" Elias answered, as he passed completely through Astralious to approach the window.

Astralious knew that his words held some merit, but he still couldn’t come to terms with it. If Elias couldn’t free him, then didn’t it mean that he was going to be in this state forever?

"Are you saying that I’ll be trapped here for a lifetime?" he asked.

"It sucks, doesn’t it?" Elias answered, his tone holding a hint of mockery. It was the same fate that Astralious had left him with inside that mirror. He didn’t feel even the slightest bit of sympathy for that Constellation.

In this world, everyone thought for themself. If that Constellation had an opportunity, he wasn’t going to hesitate even a single second before shoving him down the same fate.

Elias looked out the window, trying to gain more understanding about his surroundings. However, it didn’t take him long to find another presence.

Not far from him, he saw someone sitting in the middle of junk items, with a screwdriver in his hand. It was an old man, that had rough white hair, as if they hadn’t been cleaned for a really long time. Even his clothes were stained with dirt and oil.

"Is that the Fable that brought us here?" he asked Astralious, who had already looked out the window before him.

"Why should I tell you anything if you can’t free me?" Astralious lazily walked back to the bed and sat down. "Why don’t you go out and ask him yourself?"

"You want a reason to answer me? How about the fact that your life is tied to me? If I go out and I’m killed by him, you’ll die as well," Elias answered, as he observed the Fable, who was more immersed in what looked like nothing more than metal junk from this place.

"Should I be scared? I would much rather be dead than trapped for eternity." Astralious fell back on the bed, unaffected by the threat. He simply closed his eyes before continuing, "It won’t be my first time dying after all."

"When did I say that you’ll be trapped for eternity?" Elias asked, seemingly confused by Astralious’s assumption. He knew exactly which threads to pull to convince this Constellation.

He had experienced the same thing before. He had also chosen to gamble with his life because he didn’t want to be trapped for eternity. He knew that death wasn’t a viable motivation in this situation. But what about life that came with freedom?

"What do you mean?" Astralious suddenly opened his eyes, looking at Elias suspiciously. "Didn’t you say that you can’t free me?"

"I said I can’t control that ability. That’s what’s stopping me from freeing you. But what about the future? Wouldn’t I be able to control it in the future? It might take ten years, or a hundred, but it’s not impossible," Elias continued, tugging at Astralious’s greed for freedom.

"If I live, then sooner or later, you’ll be free. Even I don’t want to talk to a ghost for an eternity, after all. But if I’m dead here, then we are both dead. If you die while trapped, you won’t even return to the Forest of Fables for a second try. There will be no do-overs."

Astralious frowned, as the offering was just too lucrative. If his freedom was really on line, then he really couldn’t afford to let this boy die, at least until he learned how to free him.

He stood up and approached Elias, saying, "You better keep your promise. Or you will regret it."

Elias didn’t take the threat seriously. Astralious couldn’t do anything even if he didn’t keep up that promise. But still, he didn’t tell that to this Constellation that was extremely useful for him, just based on his knowledge alone.

"Is that the same Constellation that brought us here?" He returned to the topic at hand, and repeated his initial question.

"From what I can see, it’s a very high tier Constellation. It was definitely one that was born in a higher world," Astralious answered, looking at the Fable that had the form of an old man.

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"If it was my old self, I could’ve crushed him with a single finger. But in your current state, that thing is no different than a nightmare in this land that can’t be compared to that little girl that almost killed you."

"Does that mean that we are at a dead end?" Elias wondered if there was another battle waiting for him. Even if the old man didn’t look special, if Astralious was complimenting him, then he was definitely a dangerous entity.

"I don’t think that’s the case. If it wanted to kill you, do you think you would be able to wake up with your limbs intact? I don’t believe that fable is hostile to you, at least not yet," Astralious said. "Moreover, he probably wasn’t the one that brought you here."

"And what makes you think that?" Elias asked.

"Because a high-tier Constellation like him would probably be trapped inside a domain, unable to leave it," Astralious explained, remembering the rules of this place. "If these rules weren’t in existence, then the students entering the Land of Fables would’ve had a much harder time."

"Maybe we were already in his domain when we fought the Harbinger?" Elias tossed out a possibility. "That would mean that he never had to leave the domain."

"That’s also impossible." Astralious shook his head. "That little girl wouldn’t be foolish enough to chase you inside the domain of a monster like this."

"You might not know the territory, but a fable that has survived for such a long time cannot make a mistake like that. We definitely weren’t in his domain when we fell," he further added. "That means someone else brought us here."

Elias summarized, "Which means there’s at least one more Fable here, who might be as strong as the Harbinger. Just great."