"Death?" Maya repeated, her brow furrowing as confusion washed over her face. She blinked several times, as if trying to grasp the weight of the word.
"Yes, death," Avaris said, his voice calm but oddly light, almost jovial. "You have to die. The underworld acts as a conduit — a bridge. Through it, you can resurrect in one of the seventy-five super continents." His smile stayed fixed, irritating in its calmness. "That's the path you must take."
Maya swallowed hard, the word 'death' sitting heavy in her chest. Okay, let's say I actually go ahead and do it. Kill myself, I mean. How exactly will I come back? How will I choose where I resurrect? What if… my soul just gets consumed by the underworld? Lost forever?
She fired questions rapidly, desperate for answers, panic creeping beneath her defiant tone.
Avaris's grin widened. He lifted both thumbs and pointed at himself like some kind of celebrity. "That won't be a problem. Don't forget — you have the aid of God. Me. Don't overthink it. All you need to do is die. I'll handle the rest."
Maya's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Her trust wasn't something she handed out lightly, and this felt… off. The first two options he'd given her earlier were dismissed because "helping would be boring." Now, he casually said he'd take care of everything? That rang hollow.
"You'll handle the rest?" she challenged. "Don't give me that crap. You're the same person who crossed off the other two options because your help would make it too boring. And if I can only pass through the underworld with your help, wouldn't it be easier just to take me directly across the dimensional barrier?"
Avaris's smile shifted into something slightly amused. "Hmm… it seems you aren't completely stupid for a human after all." He chuckled softly. "I've unintentionally established a lopsided rapport."
"I'm not stu—" Maya began, but he cut her off smoothly.
"This is the best option for both of us," he said, voice dropping into a more serious tone. "It works for our objectives."
Maya folded her arms, studying him carefully. How can I be sure your objectives won't put me in danger?
The weight of that silence pressed down on her like a stone, thick and suffocating, waiting for his answer.
Then, unexpectedly, Avaris burst out laughing. It was deep, carefree, almost infectious—breaking the tension like shattering glass.
"Don't be so paranoid," he said, voice still light. "Killing you would be easier than breathing. Why would I go through all this trouble to harm you when I can just throw you into the underworld directly?"
A cold shiver ran down Maya's spine. Her eyes flickered with a sliver of fear, but she pushed it down, steadying herself.
Is that supposed to make me feel better? she snapped, sharp and edged with anger and unease.
He waved his hand dismissively. "How you feel is irrelevant. This is the only choice you have. Without my help, you'll wander this world until the medium-grade dragons find you. When that happens, you'll go back to being a slave. Don't think you're special just because you're a lesser grade with a decent ability. The high-level slaves are all lower grade. There's even a medium-grade slave manager — a lesser grade who oversees them all. You're nothing special. When they discover your ability, they'll experiment on you. Your ability isn't like anything they've seen — it's unlike any natural life essence."
Maya's heart clenched painfully, but she forced herself to remain calm. There was no room for negotiation — only the brutal truth of survival.
Avaris grinned again, sensing her tension. "Nevertheless, your death holds no benefit to me, so I guarantee you'll survive the underworld."
Maya's eyes narrowed. So, I'm just supposed to take your word for it?
He shrugged casually. "It's not like you have a choice. This is all the assurance you're going to get."
Maya clenched her fists tightly, trying to steady the whirlwind of thoughts racing through her mind.
"I need time to think," she said finally, voice firm despite the unease bubbling beneath.
Avaris just smiled, unfazed. "Take your time," he said.
The sun dipped lower in the sky, long shadows from towering tree trunks stretching deep along the grass. Three hours passed, filled only with quiet murmurs of the forest, while Maya sat lost in restless thought.
When the weight of indecision finally lifted, she rose to her feet and brushed dirt from her worn clothes. She needed to clear her head — a bath at the river might help. Without a word, she turned and began walking toward the water.
She hadn't gone far — barely a hundred meters — when footsteps echoed behind her.
She stopped abruptly, eyes narrowing. "Why are you following me?"
Avaris blinked, then smiled. "Well, first, I'm bored. And second, I can't have you dying to some medium-grade beast. That would be such a boring death, wouldn't it?"
Maya let out a weary sigh. "I'm going to bathe in the river. I need privacy. Just stay here. I can take care of myself."
She turned back and continued toward the riverbank.
After a few steps, footsteps came again from behind.
Why is this moron still following me? she thought bitterly.
She whirled around, glaring. "Why are you still following me?"
Avaris grinned. "Like I said, I can't have you dying to some lower-grade beast."
Maya facepalmed and groaned. "I just told you I don't need your protection. Just leave me alone—"
Avaris chuckled softly. "You know, I can see everything, right? Omniscience. I can watch you even if I'm not physically present. In fact, I've been watching you since before you were born. The same goes for every other life form — gods and mortals alike."
Maya frowned. If he could see everything, then why didn't he just watch from here? No. If he insisted on following me, could it be that there really was a lower-grade beast lurking near the river?
Avaris applauded slowly, the sound echoing through the trees. "Well done," he said with a grin. "You've proven again you aren't completely stupid."
Maya scrutinized his face, suspicion flickering in her eyes. "If you're omniscient, you're probably omnipotent, too. I don't believe killing a medium-grade from this distance would be difficult for you."
He applauded again. "Nice! At this rate, you might even deduce what I really am."
He stepped forward a bit. "I can't do that. Every beast's life essence is linked to the dragon god. If I kill a beast, it would alert him to my presence. I could easily deny cause and effect — and he wouldn't notice — but that would be too boring."
"Then can't you just lead it away from the area?" Maya asked.
Avaris shrugged, palms up, with an innocent shrug. "That won't work, for the same reason. Too boring."
Maya snapped, "Stop giving me that dumb answer!"
Avaris grinned. "You're going to kill it yourself — with my guidance, of course."
Her eyes widened, voice cracking with frustration. "Nope. I'm tired of your nonsense. Now you want me to kill something that could easily destroy this entire forest?"
"Exactly," Avaris said. "Eventually, a high-grade dragon will sense its presence and come to kill it. There may be more than one. You need to kill it, and kill them once they arrive."
"Are you crazy?" she said, aghast. "I have almost no chance against the beast. Now you want me to kill high-grades too?
"That's where I come in." A gun materialized in Avaris's hand. "I'll lend this to you."
Maya's eyes widened. She'd never seen a gun before — dragons didn't use guns. "What the hell is that?"
"This," he said, holding the gun casually, "is a little toy invented by the humans on the seventy-five continents. Of course, I made it millions of times more powerful, but that's beside the point. Take it. You'll immediately be imbued with the knowledge and muscle memory of how to use it, so we don't waste time teaching you."
Taking the gun in her hand, Maya instantly understood how it worked — better than some veteran soldiers. "That's not a lot of knowledge," she remarked dryly. "I guess most of it went into muscle memory. So, what do I do now?"
Suddenly, everything shifted.
What the hell? Where am I?
Maya found herself standing by a riverbank — more than four kilometers from where she had been moments before.
What the fuck am I looking at?
The grotesque shape looming before her defied description. It wasn't a color she knew, but a sickening, ever-shifting mass of twisted flesh and bone. It stood over six meters tall, with dozens of long, spindly arms — at least thirty-seven — protruding in every direction. Each arm stretched at least three meters, writhing with terrible life of its own.
Its mouth gaped wide, filled with jagged, glistening teeth still stained with the blood of the river's fish.
The creature stared directly at her.
Shit.