Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 470 Start of the Ritual?

While Officer Emerald was contemplating on how to break the floor below her, the people that she was targeting were still busy on their plan.

"Such a fine coffin... Too bad it was just used to contain one body. Why did they not just use these to contain more bodies? That will be more cost-efficient!" Professor Frances said as she stared at the coffin in front of her.

She looked at the body inside the coffin with an aggrieved look, as if she was not happy with what she was seeing at all.

"Professor, I think your complaint about this coffin is wrong. After all, this coffin is-"

"I know, I know, White Alex. This coffin is a coffin meant to store souls, not bodies." The professor said as she interjected White Alex’ explanation. "My continued studies of the Life Manual had already taught me a f***king lot, so I already know about the matters of souls, ok?"

"There’s no need for you to get angry, Professor. I’m just exemplifying your point..." White Alex replied in face of Professor Frances’ irritated expression. "I know about your enhanced talent to detect the presence of souls, so be assured that I am not doubting you. I am just trying my best to fix your attitude, so that you will become a proper person that many will adore."

"Adore my ass. I don’t want anyone adoring me. Hmph, those people are just ruled by their hormones, which just makes them unreliable! The followers that I like the most are those that I created! At least they know how to treat me well!" This reply by the professor was enough to stump White Alex, and it took him a few seconds to have an answer to that.

"Um, instead of just bickering here, why don’t we just start the transfer already? I can feel that the battle outside is already getting heated. If we take too long, the Dao of Misfortune might affect us badly..." White Alex said as he diverted the professor’s attention away from the matters of her minions. "We just need to bring the body out of the coffin, and we would be almost done here!"

"Okay, okay. I just finished placing the preparations here that’s why I got delayed! Tsk, what a worry wart." The professor grumbled as approached the coffin.

She then placed both of her hands under the edge of the coffin’s cover, signifying her intention to open it. She then grunted as she pushed her hand upwards, which began to rattle the coffin itself.

"Once I open this coffin, I want you to bring Wisteria’s body closer here." Professor Frances said as she continued on straining against the coffin. "Make sure that you do it fast, or we will lose more time!"

"Noted, professor."

Professor Frances still had something to say to White Alex at this point, but a few moments later, she found no interest to speak to him when she realized something weird about her situation.

And that was the fact that no matter how much she tried to open the coffin, it won’t budge, even by an inch.

This left the professor in an awkward state, as she now looked like a woman doing squats in front of a coffin. Such kind of visual was something that will get a laugh out of Asteria, who luckily, was not in this place right now.

"Tsk, this s**t is even locked? What the f**k?" Professor Frances cursed as she began adding more strength on her arms. "F**k this, just f**king open!"

But no matter what the professor did, the coffin still did not open. Even when White Alex and Kid Alex joined in to assist her, the coffin still did not show any signs of opening up.

"Now I understand why Emperor Litch did not kill the souls residing inside this coffin. It’s not because he did not want to kill them. He actually was unable to kill them." White Alex commented ten seconds after he stopped opening the coffin. "Whatever mechanism was used in this coffin must have been so restrictive that not even the Emperor was able to open it. Impressive! Who ever made this coffin must have been a great follower of the Dao of Craftsmanship..."

"Craftsmanship my ass! I don’t care about that history lesson! I just want to get this coffin open!" The professor grunted angrily as she began shaking the coffin. She did not look concerned even when the body inside the coffin began shaking too, something that had White Alex and Kid Alex naturally worried.

"Professor, calm down. Being angry here will just worsen matters." White Alex hurriedly said as Kid Alex did his best to placate the professor. "I already have an idea on how to open this coffin, so let me deal with this."

"Hoh? You have an idea? Hmph, why don’t you explain it to me first?" Professor Frances suddenly said as she looked back at White Alex. "Are you sure this idea of yours will work?

"I guess I just have to try." White Alex replied serenely as he approached the coffin. He then slightly pushed the professor out of the way as he placed his hands right above the coffin.

A blue key suddenly materialized on White Alex’s hands, which he pushed towards the coffin’s surface.

"Hong~"

The descent of the blue key was not hindered by the coffin at all, even when its body made contact with the coffin.

"Ripple ripple ripple..."

Sounds of rippling waves could be heard inside the room as the blue key actually melded with the coffin. Its body, which was as sturdy and brilliant as a gemstone, turned into a pool of viscous fluid that fused with the coffin.

"Ripple ripple ripple..."

White Alex continued to push down the Blue Key at this point, resulting in more of the Blue Key’s portions getting mixed with the coffin.

This process only stopped once the Blue Key was gone from White Alex’s hand, which at this point, had resulted on the coffin’s entire body obtaining a blue hue.

"Click!"

The door of the coffin then opened with a click, making Professor Frances and Kid Alex jump.

"There you go, Professor. This coffin is now opened by the Blue Moon Key, something that is related only to the Blue Moon itself..." White Alex muttered as he grabbed the body inside the coffin. "Hmm, so my guess about this coffin’s material was right. Interesting, interesting..."

He then passed this body to Professor Frances, who was still looking at the now blue coffin with a confused look.

"Is there a problem, professor?"

"Problem? You’re asking me if there’s a problem? Hmph, there’s no problem at all. I just don’t f**king get how you were able to relate the existence of the Blue Moon Key with this coffin. I mean... this coffin doesn’t even look like it came from the Blue Moon!" Professor Frances said as she kept a tight hold on the body that she was holding.

"Since you said that you have no problems, then I will not explain how I was able to pull this off. I will just tell the truth to you once we finish our job here." White Alex replied, with his gaze concentrated on the body. "So if you want to get answers, then you should be finished with everything first’

"...Even if you are more respectable compared to Alex, you are still as irritating as him. Hmph, when will I ever meet a decent version of you..." Seeing that White Alex chose to kept his mouth shut on what he just did, Professor Frances was left with no choice but to acquiesce to him.

"Thud." Ignoring Kid Alex who looked like he was offended by her words, Professor Frances set the body down on the floor, right beside the still unconscious Wisteria.

She then fixed the relative positions of these two, making sure that each position of their respective body parts were reciprocative with each other.

Once she had done this, Professor Frances waved her hands as a book materialized above her.

After grabbing this book with both of her hands, Professor Frances looked back at White Alex, who was just watching everything that she did with a thin smile.

"Oi White Alex. Are you sure about this? What I am about to do is something that I do not recommend." The professor said as she stared at the two bodies sprawled in front of her. "Even with my current capabilities, there’s still a low chance of this succeeding. And even if I succeed, the possible side-effects of this method could be too much for us. With those factors at hand, do you still want me to go on wih this?"

In face of this question from Professor Frances, White Alex’s only reply was a small grin

"Those who seek the path of power always have to face risks. That is part of their destiny, so cowering against risky things is a trait that only a weakling should have." White Alex said as the grin on his face widened. "No matter what kind of power you seek, the Dao is still impartial to anyone. If you want to gain strength, then you should face risks! Only through the baptism of life that you can reach your full potential!!!"

"So in basic terms, you want me to proceed with this."

"Yes, that’s what I meant to say, Professor. Do forgive me if I went off-topic with my answer."

"Sigh, there’s no need for you to apologize. There’s just no way to change your mouth anymore..." Professor Frances replied wearily as she shook her head. She then looked back at the body that she got from the coffin, looking at it with a stare different from before.

Now, Professor Frances was looking at this body like it was just a specimen that she was about to dissect, something that seemed to have instilled fear to Kid Alex.

The professor ignored the whimpering sounds from the kid as she approached the body, with the book that she was holding releasing thumping sounds every time she took a step forward.

Once her foot was only a few inches away from the head of the corpse, Professor Frances stopped as an unsure look appeared on her face. She appeared to be troubled by something at this point, which had caught the attention of White Alex.

"Is there a problem again, professor?"

"White Alex, I think I will need Kierra’s assistance for this process. I just realized that even with my current level, the burden of transferring a soul is still too much for me." The professor replied as she crossed her arms.

She appeared to be disappointed with herself as she gave this answer, which White Alex did not exactly point out.

"You want Kierra to assist you? You know about her condition now, right?" White Alex replied quickly. "With the state that she’s in, the help that she can provide you is just limited..."

"I know that, but with her ability as the Soul Reaper. I think that even a small help from her will do." Professor Frances replied as she crossed her arms. "Any help will be better, as that will increase my chanc-"

"Boom!"

The center of the vault’s ceiling, which was just located above Professor Frances suddenly collapsed, creating the sound of explosion that interrupted the professor.

This collapse was accompanied by the descent of numerous rocks and soil, which forced Professor Frances and her allies to jump away from the center. They brought Wisteria and the corpse with them as they retreated, leaving their former spots empty.

As they tried their best to protect Wisteria and the corpse from the falling rocks, they heard a voice coming from the punctured ceiling.

This voice sounded both carefree and mature and the same time, something that did not sound right in context of the current situation.

"So the original Alex is also not here? Hmm, that guy is getting sneakier than I imagined...."

"!!!"