Chapter 370: Meeting
Ace helped Arno up and let him sit in the living room. He said to Arno:
“I believe in you. I have always believed in the kindness and determination to protect within your heart. Regarding Ancestar, I also have something to tell you. Ancestar should be dead, but because of the black mud’s binding and his unique heart, a mutation seems to have occurred!
“He is in an eerie state between life and death. My dream spell might allow us to meet Ancestar’s soul again.”
Arno’s newly calmed heart immediately surged with emotion. He stood up abruptly and asked in disbelief, “Really?”
Seeing Ace nod, Arno hesitated. He said to Ace, “Lord Ace, my current appearance completely abandons the virtue that the Melancholy Uncle upheld. He might be very disappointed.”
Ace understood Arno’s thoughts. It was precisely because he sought approval that he feared disappointment. He said softly, “Don’t you want to see Ancestar again? When a child grows up, he always has his own ideas. Only by telling him your truest thoughts can you know if he will accept you.”
Arno’s dark red eyes were a mix of longing, guilt, and determination. He raised his head to face Ace: “Lord Ace, I want to see the Melancholy Uncle.”
Ace nodded with some gratification and led Arno to the place where the ice coffins were stored. Arno looked at the two ice coffins, staring at Ancestar and Ollie within them, his dark red eyes growing moist.
Golden dream mist diffused from Ace’s Mental Imagery World, gradually enveloping Ace, Arno, and Ancestar’s ice coffin. An invisible rhythm of magic power began to play.
Ace whispered to Arno, “Do not resist. Relax your mind, retract your Heart Power into your heart, and follow my guidance.”
The dream mist gradually surged into Arno’s body, resonating with his soul. Arno yawned and fell into a deep sleep.
Inside the ice coffin, the fingers of Ancestar, enveloped in black mud, seemed to move slightly.
After confirming both sides were ready, Ace closed his eyes and pulled their consciousness into his Mental Imagery World.
Arno felt a dazzling flash, as if crossing layers of barriers. Like entering the “Fantasy Land” of the Magic Net, he fell from the sun.
A cloud gently caught him. Standing on the cloud, he looked at everything around him in amazement.
The sky was clear for miles, a brilliant sun hung high, and the cloud slowly approached the earth. Lush green forests, crystal-clear rivers, and in the distance, curls of smoke from cooking fires.
Birds sang softly, and squirrels gnawed on nuts. Arno took a deep breath of fresh air, jumped off the cloud, and stepped onto the soft soil.
“Isn’t nature refreshing?”
Ace’s gentle voice suddenly rang out behind Arno. Turning around, he found Ace wearing a white citizen’s robe, barefoot, sitting comfortably against a large rock like an ordinary citizen of Medimus City-State.
Arno looked around but didn’t see Ancestar. Anxious, he was about to ask Ace when he suddenly heard a rustling sound from the jungle.
Wearing worn-out armor and riding an old horse, it was Ancestar.
He took off his helmet, revealing brilliant golden long hair and a melancholy yet handsome face. Looking at Ace and Arno with surprise and a bitter smile, he whispered, “Has the High Tower perished? Are we all dead? Is this the River Styx? The scenery isn’t bad.”
Two lines of tears flowed from Arno’s dark red eyes. He choked out in a buzzing voice, “Melancholy Uncle!”
Ancestar walked slowly to Arno, frowning as he asked, “Has your soul been eroded by the Abyss? Why does your aura resemble the Abyss somewhat?”
His brow then relaxed, and he continued, “We are all dead anyway; what’s the use of asking these things?”
Ace, lying on his side on the large rock, said softly, “In fact, Arno and I are both alive, while you are in a state of neither living nor dead.”
Ace stood up slowly, walked up to Ancestar, and gave him a hug. He said, “Thanks to your tenacious resistance, Arno and I joined hands to defeat Alex.”
Ancestar was delighted upon hearing this, then suddenly realized, “Is this Lord Ace’s magic allowing us to meet? But I clearly died. Why neither living nor dead? A person is either alive or dead; how can one be neither?”
Ace smiled gently and joked, “You have a very questioning spirit. I suddenly feel that your taking the Knight’s Path might have been a mistake. If you had taken the Wizard’s Path, perhaps you could have achieved greater accomplishments.”
Then his expression became serious, and he said to Ancestar, “Your state is very rare. You should have died, but due to various reasons, your heart hasn’t stopped beating yet. Your soul was about to extinguish but was frozen, forming this state of being nearly dead but not quite.”
Ancestar asked, “Then is it possible for me to live?”
Arno also looked at Ace with hope. Ace shook his head and whispered, “Impossible. Your soul has already collapsed uncontrollably. Without the black mud and the ice coffin, your soul would have perished by now.
“Your heart will also slowly stop beating after your soul collapses. However, there is one path that can allow your existence to continue. I don’t know if you are willing.”
Ancestar was slightly disappointed. He asked curiously, “Could it be the path of the Lich Witte? Transforming into an undead Lich?”
Ace corrected solemnly, “Not a Lich, but an Undead Knight!”
Ancestar smiled with a sense of relief, as brilliant as the morning sun in spring.
“Please forgive my refusal, Lord Ace. If I could be resurrected, even I wouldn’t be pretentiously sentimental. But if it’s a strange kind of undeath, I would rather choose death.”
Ace was somewhat disappointed, but he decided to respect Ancestar’s thoughts. Smiling gently, he said, “I understand. Arno still has something to say to you. After he finishes, I will grant you release.”
Ancestar turned to look at Arno in his armor, only to see the armor gradually dissipating. Dense, oppressive pressure of Hatred rushed over. Even in Ace’s Mental Imagery World, it stirred up shockwaves like turbulent waves.
Patches of forest withered, rivers instantly became filthy, and the earth became dry and cracked. Arno looked straight at Ancestar with dark red eyes, black tears flowing slowly.
With the release of the pressure, his demeanor became cold, and his mental state became unstable, as if he could lose control at any time. The Arno from just a moment ago seemed like a different person. In a cold, disdainful tone, he said, “Master, this is my choice.”
Ancestar’s expression was one of immense shock and anger. His Compassion Heart Power activated, and he punched Arno heavily in the face. Arno’s head tilted, but he suffered no damage.
“You dare to gaze directly into the Abyss! You actually abandoned our virtue creed!”
Ancestar was like a lioness whose cub had been hurt, acting like a madman.
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