"I killed Neo Aldif, but he had a plan in place for such a situation... Thatâs where Liam Aldif comes in..."
"He used Liam as a âpawnâ; he plotted a sinister plan to take over Liamâs body..."
Ashtel told everyone about Neoâs plan and how he used a forbidden technique to seize Liamâs body for himself and then forcefully ascended him to the rank of SS-rankers to fight him.
The more Rio and Link listened to this matter, the more shocked they became.
Up until now, Rio had thought that although Liamâs father was indeed not a good person, he would at least take care of his own son.
But to think Neo would do such cruel things to even his own sonâthat was something no one had expected.
"N-no wonder Liam is nowhere to be seen..."
Link shivered thinking about this matter.
His father fought the heavenly punishment for his sake! Due to this, Link has always respected his father, and he was naively thinking that all fathers might have some basic level of love for their child.
But he was very wrong; Liamâs father was a monster through and through. He was the type of person who had no bottom line, and he could do anything as long as it could help him achieve his goals.
"He took over Liamâs body and with the help of the spire of ascension, he became extremely powerful... even I was pushed to a corner with his insane strength..."
"In the end, I managed to drag him down to hell along with me with one final attack. I was prepared to die at that moment; thankfully, Riya saved my life..."
Rio narrowed his eyes as he asked the question that had been plaguing him since the moment Ashtel started talking about this incident.
"You are referring to Neo Aldif every time you say that he died... But wasnât he inside Liamâs body? And if you killed Neo in that form, does that mean that..."
Ashtel took a deep breath at Rioâs question and replied solemnly,
"Thatâs the main reason I wanted to talk about this matter; the thing is... I did completely destroy Neo Aldifâs body and soul... Liam Aldifâs âbodyâ was also destroyed by me and reduced to nothingness..."
"But! I am very sure that âsomethingâ happened at the final moment! I sensed the presence of a very bizarre power for a few milliseconds back then..."
Ashtel clenched his fist as he continued speaking.
"I was already at my limits and perhaps itâs just a hallucination or mistake of mine, but I would prefer considering the âbetterâ option; unless we are completely sure, we cannot declare âLiam Aldifâ dead..."
"I suspect that some bizarre power helped transfer Liamâs soul before his body was destroyed by me!"
Hearing Ashtelâs words, a ray of hope appeared in the eyes of everyone present.
As long as there was even a little bit of hope left, it meant that there was still a possibility that Liam might be alive.
"Was it Ellieâs power... I remember hearing from Liam at one point that Ellieâs powers are very mysterious, as sheâs a shadow dragon..."
Ashtel nodded his head at Rioâs question.
"I know about that dragon girl... sheâs only with Liam in astral projection form; her real body is likely somewhere in the âspirit realm.â After all, âshadow dragonsâ have to face many problems if they leave the spirit realm with their real body..."
Shadow dragons once caused a catastrophe due to their betrayal and were banished to the spirit realm. If any of them tried to enter the material world with their real body, they might get targeted by everyone!
Liam having Ellie beside him was already quite a controversial topic, and many people who knew about him actively criticized him for that matter.
Even Neo himself was jealous of Liamâs ability to maintain a stable contract with Ellie, a shadow dragon whoâs capable of many types of shadow magic.
"Itâs possible that dragon girl might have some ability that can let her contractorâs soul escape to her side if they are in mortal danger. But I am quite sure that there was some other power too..."
"That kind of power is not something any random person can create; it was power that seemed to have affected ârealityâ itself..."
Ashtel is a powerful person whoâs shattering âspace-time fabricâ and many types of magic every other day.
Heâs very sensitive to such high-level powers.
"That was definitely the effect of some powerful âWorld Authorityâ! But I donât think I have heard of anyone who has âthatâ kind of âworld authorityâ; it was the first time I saw it..."
"That bizarre power, likely helped Ellie transfer Liamâs soul out of his body..."
Ashtel was also confused about who that power belonged to and why that power helped âEllieâ in rescuing Liamâs âsoul.â
Back then, Ashtel didnât have time to think about the matter properly, as he was also reaching his limits, but now that he has given the matter proper thought, many clues have appeared that were invisible before.
Rio and Link immediately got up from their seat after hearing Ashtelâs words.
"Then what are we waiting for! Letâs go! We will search every nook and cranny of the entire spirit realm and bring him back!"
"As long as thereâs a possibility that Liamâs soul is in the spirit realm along with Ellie, we can bring them both back!!"
Rio, Link, and Liam became best friends long ago, and they will definitely not sit still after knowing that their friend needs their help; the two of them were ready to go that very moment.
"No... This matter is not that simple. If it were that simple, I would have already gone there myself. Why would I need to discuss it with you all?"
Hearing that question from Ashtel, Rio and Link stopped being overconfident and obediently sat down.
They both knew that Ashtel is the type of person who could just shatter a hole in the âspace-time fabricâ and make his way to any place in the world forcefully.
Even the Dragon King cannot stop Ashtel if he decides to forcefully enter the dragon valley, and if heâs not doing this, then it means the matter is definitely more complicated.
"The thing is, you two do not know what kind of place the âSpirit Realmâ actually is..."
Link was confused by Ashtelâs words and retorted in a confused tone,
"How can that be? In the academy they clearly taught us that the spirit realm is a place filled with spirits; itâs a lush and vast forest filled with all kinds of spirit being... How bad can such a place be?"
Ashtel smiled at Linkâs naĂŻve words and, instead of answering his question, asked back,
"If the âspirit realmâ was indeed such a happy and colorful place, then why would the âShadow Dragonsâ be banished to that place of all as a form of âpunishmentâ?"
"You donât really think that everything you were taught in the academy is a hundred percent true, right? The true world is not like that; itâs ever-changing and never in the same state at all times..."
Ashtel rolled up his left armâs sleeve and showed a âpermanent scarâ on his forearm.
That scar has been on his hand since a long long time ago, since the time he had just reached the realm of SS-rankers.
"The Spirit Realm is not a pleasant place; itâs a literal âHell Holeâ!"