Chapter 436: The Black and White Rooms
Chapter 436: The Black and White Rooms
“This is…” Rael trailed off, taking in the sight before him.
There were stacks of corpses piled on top of one another, and every single one of these corpses had a black Blazing Sun symbol etched on their arms, similar to the one he had seen on Alcetas in the memory.
But unlike Alcetas, everyone here was dead.
“This is the storage room,” Adam said. “It is where the Blazing Sun religion kept all the people they labeled as ‘heretics.’ Funny how a lack of loyalty could put you down here, don’t you think?”
He then pointed further ahead, where there was another room, just this time, the door was completely white.
“That is where Solenne conducted her experiments on these people,” Adam added with a slightly furious look, then turned back to Rael.
“If you hadn’t realized it already, this cathedral belonged to the Blazing Sun religion, but after I killed every single believer, it naturally fell into my possession… and Solenne’s.”
Rael nodded slowly. “So you were still together by this time?”
“We were,” Adam affirmed, glancing at the white door. “We were together up until the moment I opened that door.”
Without expanding on his words, Adam walked forward, stepping over the bodies and arriving at the door only a few seconds later.
Rael took the smarter alternative by summoning a pair of wings and gently floating over.
And when he arrived, Adam swung the white door open, revealing a completely white room surrounded by noise-canceling pads, a single bed in the corner, a toilet, and a miniature kitchen without any utensils.
But most importantly, there was a figure resting in the bed, with their entire body covered in a blanket.
Rael got an ominous feeling, so without wasting a single moment, he inspected the person lying in the bed.
And to his surprise…
—Alcetas Audagar [Grade 6 King Class | Level 209] – Vitality: Tier 20 [1% / 100% HP]
“Alcetas…?” Rael muttered, confused. “I thought he was in the Silver Palace?”
“This is the true Alcetas,” Adam said, walking closer to the bed. “He is the person I saw the moment I opened this door in the past.”
He took a deep breath and continued. “His willpower was too great, so Solenne found it extremely difficult to extract his memories. In the end, she managed to extract a few, but definitely not all of them.”
“…”
So that’s why he has gaps in his memory, eh? Rael thought, narrowing his eyes. “His strength is the same as the Alcetas I had seen. Do they share their powers?”
Adam didn’t answer, and instead, he lifted the blanket, revealing Alcetas’s body, which resembled that of a skeleton.
There was barely any meat on his bones, and his eyes were dull and hazy, almost as if he wasn’t entirely there.
Even with his Mindforged Emperor race, Rael couldn’t pick up on Alcetas’s dreams. As for entering his mind itself, Rael was sure that he would come to a dead end.
After all, if the consciousness was broken, then he’d be talking to no one but himself inside the mind realm.
So that’s out of the question, but why did Adam… or I guess Milan, show me this? Rael pondered.
But he didn’t have to wonder for long, as Adam soon began to explain.
“Their souls are connected on a very deep level, and that is why they both share the progress. However… the Alcetas you mentioned is not the real one. He is nothing but a fragmented version of this real Alcetas before me.”
“I could gather that much.” Rael nodded, glancing around the white room. “So this is what changed your mind, huh? I guess better late than never.”
Adam smiled. “When Solenne and I entered the room, Alcetas recognized her and began throwing a tantrum, mumbling all sorts of unpleasantries that I had caught onto. I might come off as a bit irrational, but by no means am I stupid.”
“I put the pieces of the puzzle together, and I realized Solenne’s true identity shortly after,” Adam added. “Alas, we still had feelings for each other, but when I realized she was my sworn enemy, I tried to reason with her and make her change her ways… to stop manipulating people and turning them into her puppets. But she never listened, and that is when our fight broke out.”
He didn’t go into too many details, and instead, he fell silent, letting Rael’s thoughts wander for a moment as he pieced the story together.
From lovers to enemies… There’s plenty more he’s not telling me, but prying would only get me so far, Rael thought with a sigh.
“I’m sure there’s a way to bring this Alcetas back. Maybe you can take the fake Alcetas’s memories and implant the missing fragments into this one?” Rael suggested.
Adam let out a chuckle. “After I found out all of Solenne’s schemes, and the fact that she had recreated Alcetas, that was exactly what I did. I ventured into her domain and tried to reclaim Alcetas’s memories, but… I was only a slightly powerful human at the time. In the face of a Grade 10 monstrosity, my Grade 2 self couldn’t do anything.”
“I see… Dealing with her was a pain in the ass even for me, so I can definitely understand,” Rael replied and fell silent.
Like that, Adam sat beside Alcetas for a few moments, and Rael stood awkwardly not too far away.
But after just a few minutes, Adam stood up and guided Rael out of the two rooms, arriving back at the central cathedral as though nothing had happened.
They walked over to the broken table, and with a wave of his hand, he repaired the table and sat down beside it.
Rael did the same as he sat back down beside the unconscious Melina, and finally, Adam heaved an exhausted breath.
“Even after we fought, she never killed me. She allowed me to live and grow stronger, and at some point, she let down her guard just enough for me to land an attack on her. For the first time since we began fighting, I managed to injure her,” Adam said, leaning back again. “I wish I could tell you more, but it is a very long story.”
He calmed himself down, and then turned back to Rael.
“You must have had a reason for entering this dungeon aside from leveling up. What is it? I might be able to help you.”
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