After being away for over half a month, living rough day after day, Luo Wei's skin had noticeably roughened.
When she returned to Star Lodge, she would need a good long rest.
As they were leaving, they spotted two undead dragging a corpse up the beach. Troy recognized it as the death row prisoner that Cleveland had brought.
Only after questioning the two undead did Luo Wei learn that eighty percent of the skeletons on the island were salvaged from the sea.
People along the Western Continent coast found it troublesome to deal with executed criminals, so they would simply dump the bodies into the sea. The currents would then carry the corpses near Demon Island.
An undead mermaid dwelled in the Demon Sea who despised having corpses rotting in her waters. Whenever she spotted one, she would hurl it onto the shore.
She also loathed being disturbed by the living. If she encountered any living person, she would capsize their boats and terrorize them until they fled.
This was the origin of one of the three taboos of the Demon Sea - "No living allowed on the island."
Later, adventurers discovered this phenomenon and began disguising themselves as corpses, or concealing themselves among corpse piles to mask their living scent to sneak onto the island. More than half of them perished there.
Consequently, the undead population on the island kept growing. Those who escaped spread word of the entry method, and eventually it became common knowledge that bringing a corpse was the way to enter Demon Island.
Luo Wei marveled at how foolhardy these people were, but then realized she was no different herself.
A while later, Troy retrieved their small boat from the shoreline bushes where they had hidden it. He helped Luo Wei aboard, and they slowly rowed away from the Demon Sea.
At the southeastern bay.
A figure sat perched on a reef, His silk-like black hair flowing freely, His deep eyes reflecting the dark blue waves and white foam.
His skin was as pale as if it had never seen sunlight, possessing an eerily beautiful quality. Yet His facial features were strong and handsome, creating a paradoxical harmony between His feminine grace and masculine appearance.
He sat with one knee drawn up, chin resting on His hand, His black eyes following the departing small boat.
"It was worth expending so much magical power to alter her memories. Since she witnessed me being consumed by lava with her own eyes, she must surely believe I'm her mother now, don't you think?"
A pale-skinned undead mermaid with hollow eyes floated quietly in the water by His legs.
"Why did you choose to impersonate her mother?" Her voice was clear and ethereal, yet tinged with a hint of melancholy.
The God of the Dead replied with displeasure: "If she truly consolidates the godhood of Death and Time, wouldn't I become her subordinate deity?"
"She borrowed power from me, yet would end up above me - I cannot accept such an outcome."
"But if I'm her mother, everything changes. As long as she acknowledges me as her mother in her heart, when her godhood is complete, I'll be the Mother of the Dark Divine King. Ha ha ha, I'll remain the most powerful Dark God."
Stacy: "What if she discovers the truth? If you become her subordinate deity, what if she strips you of your authority in revenge for your deception?"
"She won't find out," the God of the Dead said cheerfully. "Just like this island - she believes I gifted her both the island and the power to command the undead."
"In reality, she always possessed the ability to command the undead."
Stacy's pale face showed a trace of confusion: "Isn't that because you deliberately misled her?"
"How can you call it misleading? She took a share of my authority - it was originally mine."
"But now it belongs to her." Stacy felt compelled to remind Him of this fact.
"Very well, very well. She takes my authority, I steal hers - we're even," the God of the Dead said resignedly.
"You said before that this was what you owed her." The mermaid's hollow eyes fixed upon Him.
The man gazed skyward and sighed: "If it weren't for protecting the descendant of the God of Life, how would I have made such a miscalculation?"
Stacy: "Aren't you the God of Life?"
"Yes and no. In any case, my godhood as a nature deity has vanished."
Once, He had been a beautiful goddess who captivated countless male gods, far more beloved than even the Love Goddess.
Tragically, His naturally born form later perished. Unwilling to dissipate, He employed dark powers to resurrect, becoming a conscious deity existing within people's fears and darkness.
As a deity of human consciousness, should He one day be forgotten by all, He would face oblivion.
Regrettably, after harnessing the power of darkness, He could no longer bear the godhood of Life.
Bestowing that godhood upon Luo Wei was His carefully calculated decision.
If Luo Wei could ascend as the God of Life, then He could claim the godhood of Death and Time, avoiding subordination.
If Luo Wei failed to achieve godhood, the celestial gods would discover her divine power, seize it and destroy her - either way, He would have no superior deity.
He hadn't intended to relinquish the Life godhood so soon, but Luo Wei had come to Him willingly and even taken an unexpected path by destroying the godhood.
This was surely fate's decree - her path to godhood was inevitable.
As the small boat vanished from view, the God of the Dead withdrew His dark gaze and lightly waved His scepter, His form beginning to turn transparent.
"Come, Stacy. Let us see how that child fares in the Wastes."
"You mean the true descendant of the God of Life?"
"Indeed."
...
Out on the sea.
Reflecting on the death row prisoner's corpse they had just seen, Luo Wei felt something was amiss. She asked Troy: "If a living person knows black magic and can summon undead, would they be considered a necromancer?"
Troy answered: "Certainly not."
"A necromancer refers to a mage who became undead after death. Even mastery of black magic and undead summoning only makes one a black mage."
Luo Wei's brow furrowed. Then why had the God of the Dead called her a necromancer while masquerading as the witch?
He wouldn't make such statements without reason, unless she wasn't truly alive.
Was she already dead?
When had she died - during the original owner's sacrifice?
Then what was her current state - some kind of Schrödinger's living dead?
Luo Wei pressed her lips together. She felt the God of the Dead's words couldn't be fully trusted, at least not entirely.
He claimed He had borrowed Queen Isis's body to give birth to her - was that really the truth?
Moreover, as the God of the Dead, an evil deity, yet guarding the Life godhood on this island - what was His true relationship with the God of Life?
Siblings? Spouses?
Luo Wei recalled He had said the Life godhood was also His, just that He could no longer bear it, implying He had possessed it before.
So, was the God of the Dead actually the fallen God of Life?
In Egyptian mythology, Goddess Isis was not only the goddess of life and health but also the protector of the dead. This suggested the God of Life inherently held authority over the undead, though not prominently so before.
Reviewing the story again: the God of Life fell and became the God of the Dead, whose avatar descended into Queen Isis, then gave birth to her.
No, that's wrong!
Luo Wei instantly realized this conclusion was fundamentally flawed.
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