Chapter 279: I can’t ask?

"How I’m supposed to do it?" Lee asked after Overlord Seris suggested he swallowed the two remaining sparks.While regarding the life spark he had no big reservations, he vividly remembered what the disaster on Earth looked like that caused the birth of death sparks. More importantly, the moment he touched one, his flesh began to corrode, even melt, and there weren’t that many outcomes if he dared to directly swallow a spark that basically was an advanced chemical weapon.

"In theory the live spark should counter the death spark, right?" Seris’s argument sounded more like a guess, "And didn’t you go through all of it to fix yourself?"

"I did, but is there a way to increase my chances?" Lee asked.

Earlier he showed her the life and death sparks, but while she curiously observed the former, the moment she saw the latter, she immediately closed the wooden box and ordered Lee to put it away. Clearly she sensed the destructive energy coming from it and her reaction was what caused Lee to become paranoid.

"The only one who could have an idea is Trexian. Since he used life and death sparks to create seals like the one you have, most likely he had done the most extensive research on those. Are you willing to seek him out?" The old madam asked with a grin, but her expression changed the moment Lee sat next to the stream and took out two wooden boxes.

"What are you doing?! Put those things away!" She shouted. Seeing Lee’s confusion, she explained, "Don’t you dare to do that here!"

"Alright." Lee said, "I’ll ask Simone or Gerard to look after me."

"No! I mean, find a remote place without any people." Seris said, "You don’t know what reaction the seven sparks will have the moment you’ll try to fuse them."

"Huh ... so you too are afraid I’m going to blow up." Lee said, "If I go to another world you won’t be able to observe. But if I stay, beasts might attack."

"Go up the mountain, or something. No one’s there!" Seris said, pointing toward the top of the middle mountain.

"It’s gonna be cold." Lee mumbled, looking at the snowy peak. Then he got up, slightly bowed, and said, "In case something happens, it was nice meeting you. You might ask Simone Lamart to bring you some magazines with jokes from other worlds. He’ll be happy to help out a nice overlord like you."

"Right! A joke!" Seris’s eyes lit up, "You haven’t told me one yet!"

"Seriously? I might die, you know?" Lee looked back at her, but seeing she didn’t give a fuck about his worries, thought for a bit, and said, "A woman calls her neighbor across the street: Sarah, is my husband at your place? Sarah says: No! Why? The first one: he said he’ll go to a whore’s place! Sarah: What?! I’m a whore? The first woman: What?! I can’t ask?"

"Little bastard!" Seris hissed, seeing Lee rushing up the mountain slope. She was pretty sure he cursed her just now, but the joke itself wasn’t that bad ... probably – six out of ten.

***

Lee was upset at Seris, but recognized that his feelings might’ve been result of his displeasure with himself. On the other hand, was it that hard for her to make sure no beasts attacked him for a couple of days? With her ability it should’ve been nothing. Sending him up the snowy mountain was a sadistic move, especially since he wasn’t wearing any winter clothing. Not that he was cold – it was the matter of principle.

It took Lee three whole days to reach the peak, and in the end, he was almost thankful to the old madam. The view was incredible. Of course, he had seen the puffy carpet of clouds from above before – it wasn’t quite as thrilling as when viewed through an airplane window with a glass of wine in hand.

Now, though, sitting a the very peak of the mountain, in his hands he held two wooden boxes containing life and death sparks. He still couldn’t believe he was about to swallow them, although he had the same feeling every time. In fact, four out of five sparks he had swallowed voluntarily, on each occasion persuading himself he had a reason to do it.

This time it was a little

different – eating anything that had death in its namewas retarded, but his existence kind of depended on it. Besides, he had an inkling the overlord below wasn’t trying to hurt him, at least – not on purpose.

Lee performed a couple of deep inhales and exhales, enjoying the rays of the setting sun. Then he opened the two boxes and put the sparks in his mouth, swallowing them at the same time.

He didn’t notice his physical reaction of his body getting paralyzed, and then getting destroyed from within.

What he saw was the image of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of people suffering in agony at the same time, their mouths open in soundless screams of pain and terror. There were men and women, children and elderly. There were people of all races. But they all had one thing in common – they were dying, with their bodies and souls being torn apart.

Before Lee could react in any way, a wave of purifying water swept across the nightmare, dissolving it into light. In it’s place stretched vast fields with blooming flowers. Under the bright sunlight, bees buzzed busily, rushing from petal to petal, and birds happily sung, enjoying the warm spring breeze ... until the horror returned.

The agonizing pain of tens of thousands dying disturbed the scene, this time causing Lee to share their pain, but the next moment it was swept away again.

Lee had no clue how long it continued. He felt like a piece of metal that was repeatedly heated up to be thrown in a bucket of water right after. He had no clue if his physical body suffered while he endured the mental torment, but he knew he would straight up go insane if it lasted for to long.

But then something truly surreal began. The scenes of horror and beauty merged into one. Men and women fluttered from flower to flower like butterflies, their faces smiling, but screaming in pain. Children chirped like birds, while elderly droned like bees – joyful, but empty. Meanwhile, the once cheerful birds and bees now writhed in agony, their cries piercing the sky.

The previously purifying wave kept sweeping over the world, changing the scenery over and over, except there was always someone suffering in terror, while another – trapped in bliss. It all spun faster and faster, until Lee saw nothing but a swirl of colors and heard a buzz of sounds instead of voices or screams.

Like hypnotized, Lee watched the colors spin around him, his mind void of any thoughts, until everything turned into bright mist.

The first thought he had that he had never felt such bliss, but then the sense of loss weighed down on him like a mountain was placed on his shoulders. He felt loss, like a part of his was missing. And he knew it was something incredibly important.

It wasn’t in item, and not even a part of his physical body. It was something that stemmed from the depths of his soul. He was confused, and the longer it lasted, the more anxious he grew. But then he realized what it was.

"Lisa!" Lee woke up with a scream.