...

One hour quickly passed as Izroth opened his eyes and halted the circulation of his Source Chant.

​​

'My Essence is nowhere near full, but this much should suffice.'

The agreement Izroth made with the Death Emperor may have given him 24 hours to complete the task; however, he did not plan on waiting any longer than necessary to escape from this Minor Realm. After all, someone like the Death Emperor, who had been here for centuries, must know a way to leave this place.

More importantly, according to Aurie's earlier observation, time in the Netherly Swathe flowed differently from the Mortal Realm. Who knew how long it had been since they entered this place? One hour? One day? A week? There was no way of knowing until they found a way out. Well, there was one way, but Izroth knew that with the Death Emperor's personality, it was not information he would give up for free. Therefore, Izroth decided to wait until he fully restored the tombstone. At that point, whether he wanted to or not, the Death Emperor would have no choice but to comply due to the Soul Binding Contract.

"You are a strange human. Why is it that I sense no Law of the World running through your body, yet you possess a Source?" The Death Emperor commented when he saw Izroth stand to his feet.

'Oh? I see... That also works.'

"I have no reason to tell you. But, if you answer my question first, I don't see the harm in letting you know." Izroth replied calmly as he placed the palm of his hand on the Death Emperor's tombstone and removed the carving knife coated with the Liquid of Silverline from his inventory.

"Very well. Ask your question. There is little under the firmament that this emperor is unaware of." The Death Emperor said confidently. Usually, he would never make this type of unfavorable deal; however, he was genuinely interested in Izroth's unique case. As long as the question was not too invasive, there was no issue with this exchange.

"How much time passes outside this Minor Realm every hour?" Izroth asked as he began to strike multiple points on the tombstone with the tip of his carving knife. This time, Izroth's goal was to untangle the mass of strands and magic cycles. After that, the only thing left for him to do would be to realign everything in its proper order. Of course, this was much easier said than done.

"That's your question? Hmph, wasting this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on such a useless... Well, it matters not. It is your loss." The Death Emperor scoffed.

He then continued, "To answer your question, for every hour that passes in this Minor Realm, only one minute goes by in the outside world."

"One minute...?!" Aurie exclaimed. She was also curious about the time difference between the Mortal Realm and the Netherly Swathe. But Aurie never imagined that the time difference would be so vast! Even though she and Izroth had been here for nearly ten hours, just a little under ten minutes drifted by in the Mortal Realm. If the Death Emperor was telling the truth, then this was an amazing discovery!

It also made Aurie feel some relief. As a Commander of the War Brigade, if she had gone missing for hours without reporting in, it would definitely not go unnoticed for long. Still, although Aurie was glad that Izroth chose to ask that question, she felt that it was a loss on his part.

Aurie was not too taken aback by the Death Emperor's claim about Izroth. After all, if someone like her who was not in the legendary realm could discover that fact, then the Death Emperor who sat at the peak of the legendary realm would certainly have no trouble—even if he was in a weakened state.

Whatever the case, Izroth's situation was unique, and the secret behind it should not be disclosed so easily, especially to someone like the Death Emperor who held no attachments to the Mortal Realm. However, what's done was done.

"I've answered your question; now it is time that you uphold your end of the bargain, human brat." The Death Emperor stated.

"Rest assured; I am a man of my word. To answer your question—I have no idea." Izroth said with a carefree smile.

"Brat, you dare trick me!" The Death Emperor bellowed as the boundless graveyard trembled.

"As I said, I am a man of my word. I truly have no idea why I was able to obtain a Source before learning of the Laws of the World. Of course, if you'd like, we can make another Soul Binding Contract. If you're wrong, however, I will have you serve me an additional one hundred years. What do you think?" Izroth stated.

"You-! I've never met such a shameless brat..! Forget it! I'll take you at your word. You want to take advantage of this emperor again? I won't allow it." The Death Emperor snapped as he went quiet, and the trembling within the boundless graveyard came to a halt.

Despite the Death Emperor's skepticism, Izroth genuinely did not know the answer to his question. He had a few speculations, but everything was just baseless theories—unproven truths. In the end, it was not a lie when he said he had no idea.

Aurie inwardly shook her head. She did not want to side with someone like the Death Emperor, but Izroth was indeed a bit more... shameless than she initially gave him credit for. To think there would come a day when a former powerhouse of the Nether Realm was played so effortlessly by someone young enough to be many times his junior.

...

Twenty minutes of silence sped by as Izroth spent the whole time reorganizing the strands and magic cycles on the tombstone. He was successful in doing so but quickly came before a roadblock upon his completion.

'As I thought, it's no good. The strands have already died. How troublesome...'

While strands were not technically alive and could not "die" in an actual sense, they had lost their structural integrity. To put it into perspective, it was like having all the correct pieces to the puzzle, but every puzzle piece was deformed.

As for repairing each strand individually, forget 24 hours; not even 24 days would be enough time given the sheer quantity.

When the Death Emperor noticed Izroth stopped working on the tombstone, he inwardly grinned and said, "What's wrong? Don't tell me you have no clue how to proceed? Where is that confidence of yours from earlier?"

While Izroth's success meant his freedom, it also represented the Death Emperor's servitude for a century. If Izroth failed, he might have to wait another decade or two to teach them a few things, but their roles would be reversed. Not to mention, the Death Emperor acknowledged Izroth's talent but detested that arrogance of his. This would be a good opportunity for him to learn that there was always a bigger sky than the one he believed himself to stand above.

Izroth, however, ignored the Death Emperor's taunts. Right now, he felt that he was close to an answer. But, something was missing.

'What am I overlooking? It should be- Wait... is it possible?'

Izroth came to a sudden realization. Of course! The answer was right in front of him the entire time! There was never a need to dig deeper in the first place!

All of a sudden, Izroth started to work on the tombstone. He ejected some of his mana into the carving knife using the Liquid of Silverline as a medium.

However, what Izroth did next almost made the Death Emperor rise from his grave.

Woosh! Bang!

Izroth pierced his dagger into the center of the tombstone. At the same time, the strands that he reorganized were severed, and the magic cycles that were formed as a result slowly began to disappear one by one.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!" The Death Emperor erupted in a fit of rage as the death energy around his grave spiked to a terrifying degree. He did not think this brat would be so ruthless as to destroy the spell that sustained his tombstone at its core because of a few words he said!

"Quiet, I'm concentrating. Unless you want to stay buried here for all eternity." Izroth said with a cold gaze as he activated Flickering Steps.

'I have to move fast.'

Izroth's hands formed countless afterimages as he set aside the carving knife and directly used his hands, channeling mana to them as he reached into the tombstone!

Crrrrrrckle!

The instant he reached inside the tombstone, several magic sequences manifested in the air above the Death Emperor's grave.

'There.'

Woosh!

Izroth grabbed ahold of something and pulled with all his might!

Bang!

The black tombstone turned white as Izroth held a bundle of visible strands in his hands.