Back inside the temple of power...
Exactly twenty minutes had already elapsed since Lize's arrival.
After the conversation between Lize and Agni had ended, there was no more conversation.
A lengthy silence filled the room as Lize sat on the left side of the bed, waiting for Kenta's comprehension to come to an end.
However, as though noticing something, she opened her eyes and shifted her gaze towards the sleeping Kenta.
The room was silent as Kenta lay comfortably on his bed.
The aura of death pulses violently around his figure as the Soul Eater sword hovered silently before him!
The sword was hungrily absorbing the aura of death constantly being released from Kenta's body.
The marking on his skin shone brightly as his fingers made faint, subtle movements.
From the side, Lize kept her silence as she observed him curiously.
However, at this moment, the density of the aura of death suddenly receded and faded away as it went inside the Soul Eater sword.
At the same time, the marking on his skin also stopped glowing.
"Oh, it seems his comprehension has finally come to an end." She commented as she got to her feet. Meanwhile, Kenta's eyelids twitched subtly as he opened up his eyes.
As his vision regained focus, the image of Lize appeared before him.
"Mmrgh." He stretched his body as he got up. "Good morning, sleepy head. Did you rest well?" Lize's eyes flash with a playful light as she inquires in a curious tone.
Kenta nodded his head, still half asleep. However, soon his groggy mind finally cleared, "Ah, right, I was comprehending the universal law of death. This room, am I back in the outside world?" He questioned.
"That's right, you are inside this place, I believe those mortals call it the temple of power," Lize said, as she observed him.
'Looks like my time in that place was up. I had more questions I wanted to ask them.' He thought, frowning.
"Is something wrong? You don't seem happy. Does this mean you weren't able to improve in your comprehension?" Lize inquired.
"... No, that's not it. I was just remembering something." Kenta replied as he reached out his hand. As though it understood his intentions, the soul eater sword flew gently toward him.
"This sword, the stronger I get, the stronger it grows." He mumbled as his eyes widened. The pressure the Soul Eater sword exuded was even stronger than it was previously.
"Of course, it will. That sword carries traces of Hendrix's will, you know. Naturally, its strength will also grow alongside yours." Lize answered as though it was only natural.
Hearing that, Kenta gazed at Soul Eater with a faint smile on his face. As he gazed at the blade in his hand, his mind wandered back to what had happened in the orphanage when the Soul Eater sword appeared before him for the first time.
It had mysteriously appeared in his life and saved his life when he was in danger, and since then, he had been deeply reliant on it.
He didn't know what was in store for him, being the Reincarnation of the infamous god of death, Hendrix. And he wasn't so sure about his future after his revenge.
However, no matter the case, he was confident he would cut down everything that came his way. 'With the help of my servants, things should be easier.' He thought inwardly, soon the space around his hand distorted faintly as the Soul Eater sword vanished from his hand.
[Master, it seems you have increased your comprehension by a fair bit.] The childish voice of Agni resounded inside his head.
"Yes, unfortunately, I wasn't able to reach twenty per cent." He replied with a vexed look on his face, remembering what little progress he had made.
"How much comprehension did you get?" Lize inquired, curiosity laced in her voice. It was normally very impolite to ask a god such a question; her curiosity prevented her from thinking calmly.
"... Eleven per cent," Kenta responded with a bitter grimace. "I see... Eleven percent honestly, I think you are very lucky. Even for high-ranked gods, it wouldn't be unusual for their comprehension to stay stagnant for many years before they could make a breakthrough. In fact, it could take hundreds, thousands or even millions of years before they show any noteworthy progression in their comprehension." She explained.
"Eh, is that true?" Kenta asked incredulously as he widened his sapphire-like eyes.
"Yes, although it depends on the type of law they comprehend, universal laws in particular are extremely complex and difficult to understand, as it made up one of the fundamental aspects of the universe. Instead of feeling down, you should be happy you even made any progress."
As he listened to her, Kenta's mood, which had been rather down since he found out he hadn't reached twenty percent gradually improved.
The universal law of death was very difficult to understand. His knowledge of the law of death only grew by a mere fraction.
To truly understand what death is, one must also have a certain understanding of the law of life. Both concepts came into existence at the same time. With creation came life. With destruction, the concept of death is born.
These four concepts are what maintain stability and order in the universe.
Only when a god or a goddess had completely comprehended a universal law to completion would they truly become the embodiment of said law.
As the god of death, Hendrix was the closest to the Supreme law of end, or rather the Supreme law of nothingness.
The universal law of Death was just an inferior version of the Supreme law of nothingness after all.
However, although he could influence the concept of death, he couldn't completely dominate it as his comprehension wasn't one hundred per cent.
Only when an individual had reached the true threshold could they truly be the embodiment of the laws and thrive with the universe.
If Hendrix had completely comprehended the universal law of death to one hundred percent even having his soul destroyed by the combined efforts of multiple gods would not have been enough to truly defeat him.
Currently, there are only a handful of gods and goddesses who have completely comprehended a universal law.
The goddess of time was one such existence. Isis, the goddess of life, is also very close to reaching the limits of the universal law of life and is only a step away from reaching the territory of the Supreme law of creation!
'Come to think of it. If she had not neglected her own comprehension while she was grieving over Hendrix's death, she would have already reached that domain a long time ago.' Lize thought to herself.
'Argh!' This is really complicated, he winced.
'Sigh, no point crying about it now. My strength should increase along with my comprehension; with enough time, I should be able to completely comprehend the universal law of death.' He thought encouraging himself.
Although his comprehension had not increased by a large amount, and his comprehension will probably take even longer in the outside world, it didn't mean he couldn't make any more progress.
'Patients.' He told himself as he took a breath to calm his nerves. Soon, his light blue eyes flashed with an unwavering light as he gazed at Lize. And upon noticing that her soft pink lip curved upwards into a faint smile.
"Good, that's the look I've been eager to see." Lize's lips curved upwards into a faint smile.
"Oh, by the way, may I ask how far your comprehension has reached, Lady Lize?" He asked curiously. The higher one's comprehension, the stronger they were at controlling the laws of the world.
Lize was a low-ranked goddess, but even then, she was an existence far above Kenta, who was currently only a mere mortal, so he couldn't see how strong she was, as her scale of power was far beyond his own.
Hearing his question, a faint grin appeared on her face, "Eighty-five per cent." She answered easily.
"E-Eighty-five per cent!" Kenta's eyes widened in a show of surprise, although he had already guessed as much, considering how much older she was in comparison, it didn't change his surprise.
'And she is only a low-rank goddess, I don't even want to imagine how far the high-ranked gods and goddesses were.' He sighed as he felt a terrible headache approaching.
{M-Master, are you okay?}
As he closed his eyes, a distant voice rang in his ear. It was a familiar voice, one he had heard just recently; it was the voice of the undead ghoul, Julia, who was serving him as his maid.
All his undead were mentally and spiritually connected to him on an extremely deep level, allowing them to not only communicate with him through telepathy like Agni can but also feel the fluctuations in his mood and emotions as though they were a part of him.
They were currently within his soul space, an isolated space within a sub-dimension inside his soul.
{Yeah, I'm fine. No need to worry.} He responded to her calmly.
{Oh, by the way, Julia, there is something I've been meaning to ask you.}
{Hmh, what is it, you can ask me anything. I'll answer to the best of my ability.}
{In that case, you were once a maid serving the royal family of the kingdom of Oura, right?}
{... Yes. I was.}
Although her reply was hesitant, he was able to confirm what he wanted to know from that. This was partially one of the reasons he decided to turn her into his servant.
"Oya, you also created your own undead servants. I can tell they're also very strong." Lize's eyes widened faintly as she said that.
"Oh, you can even sense things inside my soul space as well?"
"Of course, I can... Do you think it's possible to hide things from a goddess that easily? With my divine senses, nothing can remain hidden from my senses." She responded, puffing up her modest chest proudly. Meanwhile, Kenta's brow twitches slightly.
'I really have to do something about these gods. Is there a way to prevent them from snooping around too much?' He pondered.
For a moment, he was actually tempted to ask Lize for a method, but ultimately shook his head.
Even if Lize wasn't against him right now, there was no telling if things would remain that way in the future. Even if such a method actually exists, he doubted she would disclose such information.
Escaping the senses of a god wasn't something to ask casually after all.
And even if it were possible, he doubts it would be easy to achieve.
"Good answer." She mumbled in satisfaction as though guessing his thoughts.
"Julia, can you come out?" Kenta asked, as he gazed at Lize, who stood a meter or so away from him.
Although he wanted to keep his undead a secret for the time being, since she already knew of their existence, there was no point in hiding them anymore.
Hearing his call, space distorted slightly as a beautiful, silver-haired, pale-skinned woman who donned a black and white maid attire appeared before him, lowering her head as she raised the cuff of her maid attire gracefully.
"You called for me, my master?" As she smiled, her luscious red lips curved upwards enticingly.
Kenta observed the woman who stood before him, and after hesitating for a moment, he asked the question he was more curious about.
"Do you know what happened to the lost Kingdom of Oura?"