Soul Trigger

Chapter 651 Trading
Amidst the swirling black and purple feathers, Equiel, enduring the dull pain throughout his body, rushed forward and caught Pulitzer's headless corpse.

Seeing the irregular, gruesome fracture, tears instantly welled up, and I angrily looked up at the culprit—

Heart pounding, dizziness, chest tightness, tinnitus, and suddenly I collapsed to my knees.

The soul trigger sent a terrifying warning like an earthquake, shaking her limbs and the depths of her soul, as if a massive weight had suddenly crashed down on her body and brain.

A terrifying spiritual pressure swept over her, washing away all her anger and sorrow. Her knees slammed into the ground with a rusty cracking sound, and a cold sensation ran from the hairs on her body to her neck.

It was a jet-black horizontal blade, gleaming with a snowy sheen, gently pressed against her neck, slicing through the fine red lines of subcutaneous capillaries.
He was surrounded by a sky full of raven feathers and rising blackish-purple spiritual energy. Both the sharp blade and the overwhelming pressure on his soul were intensely permeating his entire being.
I will die, I will definitely die, and I will die a terrible death.

"Terrible" is an understatement to describe the kind of panic that seeped into one's soul.

Neither the bear, nor the strange fish and creatures in the sea, nor even Ms. Laurent, who had shown her her skills in their previous private meeting, could compare to this person... this monster.

She recalled the scene when she signed the confidentiality agreement with Angelica Laurent.

She showed her what an Awakened One was; the Soul Trigger could sense a deep, bloody aura emanating from the other, like the unfathomable depths of the ocean.

But this thing before me… it’s like the collapse of the universe, like the siphoning of a black hole, it’s the unknown conveyed from deep space, it’s something that every cell and spirit in my body is screaming and crying out, wanting to get away from—

Her threat was utterly ridiculous, but…

Aquil clutched Pulitzer's "corpse" tighter, veins bulging, as fear erupted from the underlying mechanisms of biological and spiritual psychology, clashing with Ji Li's gaze:

"I...I...am not afraid of you...I'm not afraid of you!"

In that instant, she thought of something Pulitzer had once said.

Power, power.

She had never craved power as much as she did at this moment.

Life, family, sports competitions—all are so insignificant in the face of power and monsters.

This is why she realized how correct Pulitzer's earlier words were, and how naive her own reaction had been:
This world has awakened beings like myself, monsters like the ones before me, and the eerie fog, the steel-toothed monster, bloodshed, and death from just now.

In such a world, the life of a human spirit is as fragile as paper, just like those weak sailors who were devoured by monsters.

I was unaware that I possessed the power to protect my family, yet I was blinded by my current predicament. What a fool I am...

Ji Li saw the expression on Ai Guier's face, an expression of sudden realization after his worldview had been severely shaken.

He couldn't help but smile to himself. He had a similar expression on his face long ago, but his half-sister had grown up quite quickly.

Rapid growth can often be succinctly summarized by one term:
talent.

I could hear your teeth chattering.

Aquil gritted his teeth, his hand gripping Pulitzer's corpse trembling violently and tightening.

Her eyes were darting around; faced with this predicament, her mind raced, trying to figure out how to get Pulitzer's body out of there.

At the same time, her mind was also in turmoil. She regretted why she had wasted her breath talking to Gregory, why she had let Pulitzer take the fall for her, and why she hadn't studied and developed her abilities properly.

Otherwise, I would never feel so helpless right now.

But... am I really helpless?

She clutched Pulitzer's "corpse," collapsed to the ground, and burst into tears.

"...Please...save him."

"beg me?"

Ji Li, or rather, [Death Knight], glanced at his true form, somewhat surprised.

Aquil, prostrate on the ground, was in tears:

"I don't know what you are, and I don't know why you're doing this, but I know you're powerful, right?"

So, resurrecting the dead must be very easy, right?!

You can bring Pulitzer back to life, right?!
Whatever you're trying to do, you can't kill Pulitzer just for the sake of killing Pulitzer... He was caught in the crossfire, he's irrelevant to you, right?
"Please, I beg you! Just bring my brother back. Whether you're planning to kill someone or find some kind of mortuary object, I'll help you. I'll do anything for you, just bring him back!"

Aiguil held the corpse in his arms like a pillow, his face devoid of its usual irritability and sharpness, his eyes red and swollen from crying.

Seeing her like this, Sir Deadgate remained silent for a moment before speaking:
"Interesting. But unfortunately, I don't have the ability to resurrect others."

"Impossible! I've heard people say that spiritual energy is the power of miracles! With enough emotion and spiritual energy, one can do almost anything!"

“Theoretically speaking, that is true, but he is your brother, not mine.”

Aquile was suddenly stunned. After a moment of silence, she wiped away the smears from her face, her expression turning ferocious:

"...meaning that as long as I have enough faith and spirituality, I can bring him back."

Ji Li chuckled, "Your mind works both quickly and uniquely."
"Theoretically speaking, this possibility does exist."

After receiving Ji Li's affirmative reply, a glimmer of light appeared in Aigui's eyes:
"I have to save him...I have to bring him back! What should I do!? Hell, or some other world...or a mortuary?"

"Become powerful."

"Teach me."

Aquile wiped away her tears:

"Please teach me..."

"I'm the one who caused this tragedy in your eyes, and you want me to teach you?"

Aquil's eyes trembled:
"...It doesn't matter, as long as you let me bring Pulitzer back...As for the others..."

She had also killed Gregory in a fit of rage, and she had seen the other student contestants die in the mouths of the Steel-Toothed Man.

But in the face of the hope of reviving Pulitzer, guilt, pity, and even hatred for the culprits can all take a back seat.

If only Pulitzer could be resurrected!

Ji Li stared at Aiguil. To be honest, he hadn't been here long and had never seen the guy like this before.

"That's truly a touching story of family love."

Aquile opened his mouth as if to speak, but paused and then closed it again, merely staring nervously at Sir Deadgate, awaiting his reply—

“I can teach you how to become a powerful Awakener, and I can even grant you temporary power directly, but from now on, your life is mine.”

Life...

By trading himself with an unknown being, Aquile had no idea whether it was right or wrong.

Perhaps I should have a serious talk with Ms. Laurent, perhaps I should seek help from the Ludwig family, perhaps...

No, they don't have such strong spiritual energy fluctuations or his power.

For them, perhaps the only answer is to give up and bury them... but that is absolutely not acceptable.

A slow, deliberate look settled in Aquile's eyes:

"it is good……"

Then she heard the other person change the subject:
“However, you don’t need to become stronger to achieve the goal of reviving Pulitzer.” Before she could understand what the other person meant, she felt her grip loosen.

The "reef," her keepsake that she had been clutching in her hand, was taken away by a raven and stuffed directly into the open neck of Pulitzer's headless "corpse"—

"you?!"

Instantly, deep blue, endless seawater gushed from the cut of Pulitzer's "corpse" and enveloped it.

To Aquile's astonishment, a head slowly grew out.

She gasped, her eyes filled with barely suppressed relief and ecstasy, and hugged Ji Li tightly—

"Didn't you say you didn't..."

“I don’t have it, but I can make him have it.”

Aiquier didn't understand Ji Li's nonsense, but none of that mattered anymore.

Because she could hear Pulitzer's heart pounding in her ear, which was pressed against his chest—

Breathing is normal, heart rate is normal.

He really has come back to life!
Overwhelmed with joy, Aiguir hugged Ji Li with one arm and covered his mouth and nose with the other, tears of relief streaming down his face.

"That's great...that's great..."

She cried as she hugged Pulitzer's "new" head to her shoulder:
"I'm sorry, I promise I'll protect you this time... I promise I'll protect you..."

Suddenly, she felt that Pulitzer's body temperature was a little too low, so low that it was almost cold, and she was startled and lifted him up.

I saw fish-scale patterns appear on his skin, then quickly disappear.

Her face paled in surprise, triggering a spark in her soul as she sensed a distinct fluctuation of spiritual energy emanating from Pulitzer—

The Awakened One absorbed that requisite... just like my glove?
Aiquier clenched her fist, and the bio-armor gradually shrank back in her subconscious mind. This time, there were no red sports gloves; instead, it completely merged into her body and soul.

So... Pulitzer is also an Awakened One?

She turned to look at the dead man beside her, her expression blank.

Is it because of this person's ability, or Pulitzer's ability... or both?
Aquile's expression was somewhat complicated. She was glad that Pulitzer could be like her, but she didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, especially after what had happened today.

These so-called "superpowers" are clearly not as simple as they seem.

Especially since this was obtained through a transaction.

She won't regret it, but only if Pulitzer is truly "not a problem".

"but……"

The booming voice echoed in the girl's ears, and she jolted awake, looking up to see the cold visor of the Deathbringer:
"He's back to life now. My promise to you is to make you stronger. Our deal is only half done so far, but we still need to sign an agreement regarding your life."

As her complex and joyful emotions gradually subsided, she knew it was time to pay.

"...Is it a contract, or something like parchment..."

She thought of those people in legends who made deals with the devil, and it seemed to be exactly how she felt right now.

"No need to bother."

He drew in mid-air, and to Aquile's astonishment, imprinted a spiritual circuit onto her wet shoulder, which gradually disappeared into her skin:

“When necessary, I will contact you through this emblem. You can also use your spiritual energy to touch these patterns to send me messages, but there are certain distance limitations.”

Furthermore, this thing can also grant you some power and extra tricks; you'll have to figure out how exactly.

This is naturally a spiritual circuit.

Aquil watched with slight discomfort as the lines disappeared from his skin, then nodded after a few moments of hesitation.

"I understand... So if there's anything I don't understand about spiritual matter, I can ask you for help, right?"

"Yes."

"Then may I ask how I should address you?"

Sir John Deadham stared at her:
"Odin."

Aquile was momentarily stunned.

Odin?

At this moment, the surrounding space finally began to collapse—

After Pulitzer's "corpse" and the reef merged, Limbo was completely without a lair master and fell into an unstable state. Now it's time for it to end.

"The Lingbo Domain has begun to crumble; you will be able to leave soon."

The formation of this Limbo, or rather, the Avalon landmass, has nothing to do with me.

So once you're out, don't reveal my presence, lest the real oriole discovers something amiss.

"Wait, destruction? How do we get out of here...?"

Ji Li was about to carefully answer her dear sister's question.

But amidst the spatial tremors, he sensed his spiritual circuits beginning to burn—

Clementine?

After instantly switching to Clementine's perspective and glancing over the scene, Ji Li immediately interrupted Aquile's barrage of questions:
"Time is of the essence, I must leave now. As for him, you should know how to explain things to those knights, right?"

Ji Li was referring to the Pulitzer Prize, of course.

"I'd say it was a coincidence...or luck? But wait, what am I supposed to do..." Aquile said.

Before he could finish speaking, a huge cloud of black smoke and a flock of ravens exploded from Odin's body, sweeping past Aquil like a storm.

By the time she lowered her arms, the other person had completely disappeared.

Only the gap in the space in front of him widened further and further, until it finally shattered—

……

The outside world at this moment.

"Aren't you going to run away anymore?"

Taunting voices came from the clearing in the woods.

Clementine looked at the silver armor that appeared before her, as if facing a formidable enemy—

The ultimate ruler, the knight of dead water.

-

P.S.: I was on a business trip and still in the car, so I typed this chapter on my phone. I was in a real rush while writing it...

(End of this chapter)