MY 10,000× DIMENSIONAL SYSTEM - Chapter 205

Chapter 205: Conversation I
Conversation I

Since the fight started, the Warden had watched.

He observed all of Christopher’s actions. The attacks he used, the way he moved, his manner of speech, all of it. From start to finish, he had done everything he could to learn as much information as possible.

Yet he didn’t act. He didn’t dare to. Because as he watched Christopher, he became acutely aware of the fact that Christopher was also keeping an eye on him.

The moment he considered moving, his wound would flare up and cause him indescribable agony. It was as though Christopher was telling him, ‘Wait your turn.’

He didn’t like it. He didn’t like that a being came into his Master’s domain and started calling the shots. He wanted nothing more than to make Christopher suffer, to make him beg, to make him crawl. Anything, anything to make him feel even a bit of the rage the Warden held in his heart.

But the Warden was patient.

Even as his life force dwindled from the injury, even as the strength in his body waned, the Warden watched and waited, waiting for a chance to perform his task.

That chance came just as Christopher was about to subdue the Scions.

With the last of his energy, he activated the formation under the town. One so unbelievably complex that only a Paragon could create something of such caliber.

***

Christopher felt the change before he saw it.

One moment, he was contemplating just sending the Scions into the Primordial Expanse, and then the next moment, he was transported into a room.

‘No, that’s not right. My body is still where it was, this is my soul.’ He realized as he sensed his connection to his body.

However, he didn’t dwell on that as he instead focused on the table, or rather, the being that sat at it.

It was a male, humanoid, but not truly human. Their skin was too pale for such a thing. His hair was long and tied in a single large braid that fell down his back, and in the center of his forehead was a pale blue gem that swirled with otherworldly light.

His face was also angular, but not overly so, and there was a distinct lack of imperfections that made one look at him without even noticing they were staring.

However, his lips were also a pale blue as if he had frozen to death, or had used that color of lipstick. The same applied to his eyes.

However, despite his attractive features, Christopher felt nothing but revulsion when staring at him. It was such a deep and visceral reaction that he couldn’t help but be startled.

It wasn’t the same as when he got angry or excited those times. At least then, it came from him. It was irrational sure, but he knew that the strong feelings came from him and no one else.

However, it was as though every fiber of his existence rejected the presence of this man as two desires started to fill his mind. To leave, or to destroy him on the spot.

With a snort, Christopher made ample use of his Authority and rendered the feeling null. He wasn’t about to let himself fall victim to some stupid curse.

Still, this event piqued his curiosity.

“Hm, you can resist the effects of my curse. Interesting, but not surprising.” The man spoke and stared at Christopher with a hint of interest.

“You must be Pruina?” Christopher asked and the man, Purina nodded.

“Correct, and you seem to be a Primordial Arbiter. May I ask why someone as distinguished as yourself has taken interest in my little realm?” Pruina spoke, his tone calm, but there was real respect in his voice.

Christopher wanted to feel abashed from being addressed so respectfully, but at this point, with the way virtually everyone in the realm spoke it, he was used to such things, not that he liked it.

“Well, I’ll be frank. I want it.” Hearing this, Purina didn’t show any reaction, he looked unsurprised if anything.

“I see, might I ask why?” He enquired and Christopher shrugged. He would assimilate him into the Dimension anyway. Still, for caution’s sake, he just said.

“It will benefit me.” Pruina hummed at this.

“I’m assuming you have questions.” He asked and Christopher nodded. At this, Pruina showed a small smile.

“For one so young, you’re surprisingly laid back and cool-headed. Well, most of the time.” Christopher arched a brow at this. He assumed he was talking about when he attacked the Warden.

“Speaking of, what’s the deal with that Warden guy?” He asked and Pruina just shrugged.

“I told him that his main task was to find a suitable vessel for me at all costs. I meant that, so he did just that. He saw you as a suitable vessel and decided to threaten you. Ultimately that wasn’t a good idea in the end, but you can’t exactly get angry at him. He thought he had the edge over you. The strong take from the weak and all that.” Christopher was surprised by the sudden change of demeanor.

If before he was calm and collected, now he just seemed bored and indifferent.

“Don’t be so surprised. You tend to lose the desire to keep up appearances when you’ve just been a soul, unable to interact with anyone for more than a million years. Well, I assume you were surprised. It’s a bit hard to read you with that mask of yours, you know?” He leaned back in his chair, his expression exasperated.

‘… More than a million years.’ Christopher couldn’t imagine. He was barely in his late twenties, the idea of living for that long, without any interaction. He doubted he could stay sane.

Moreover, he recalled the curse that tried to make him revolted by Pruina and resisted a sigh, who knew how lonely he had been even before he died.

“… Why did you have such favor for Azure?” The question made Pruina raise a brow.

“Azure…? Ah, you mean number one.” He realized what Christopher was talking about and chuckled, but Christopher could see the fondness in his gaze.

“Well, there are many reasons, but it all boils down to a single one.” He raised his finger.

“You’re surprisingly eager to answer,” Christopher noted and Pruina shrugged.

“Again, when you’ve been dead without any sort of contact for more than a million years, you tend to drop all pretenses. Besides, it’s nice to finally talk to someone for so long.” Pruina smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Anyway, the reason I favored her so much is pretty simple. I believe she told you about my control over souls correct?” Christopher nodded.

“Well, long story short, she’s the only other person besides you who wasn’t affected by my curse. Or was.” Pruina sighed.

“I was still pretty weak when it happened, but her original self, she had some sort of immunity against curses, and we were friends. Lovers in fact.” He shrugged, but the pain in his eyes was clear.

“She died.” He said flatly.

“At the time, I didn’t know how to completely prevent souls from vanishing or deteriorating. So by the time I created number 1, her soul had mostly faded, with only some faint behavioral attributes of who she once was.” He chuckled, but it was dry.

“So I kinda just decided to treat Number 1 as her own person, even gave her a new name. Still, it’s kinda hard to stop caring for her as I once did, and she was even very talented as a new entity. It seemed like fate was playing a cruel joke on me, you know? The person I cared for died and I had her soul, yet I couldn’t bring her back. So I tried to forget about her and move on, yet she somehow kept appearing on my radar.” He sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

“Life is messed up like that sometimes.” When he finished, Christopher just stared at him for a few seconds, then spoke with a tone far more casual than before.

“Guess you’re depressed huh?” Pruina scoffed.

“No shit.”

They were silent for a moment, then Christopher spoke again.

“So who cursed you anyway?” There was a beat of silence, the Pruina scoffed again.

“What do you think? Some unbelievably powerful ancient entity that doesn’t like me. And before you ask, she didn’t just kill me because she’s sadistic as hell.” Christopher raised a brow.

“A she? Don’t tell me. Did you reject her?” He couldn’t help the humor that crept into his voice.

Pruina snapped his head in Christopher’s direction.

“Don’t insinuate such a vile and dastardly thing again!” He said through gritted teeth only to see Christopher’s shoulders shaking.

“You… ARE YOU LAUGHING?!” He yelled and Christopher finally lost it as he tilted his head back and started laughing loudly. Probably not the nicest thing to do considering that the guy is in such a situation, but Christopher couldn’t help it.

“Not cool. Not cool at all.” Pruina flared his nostrils and Christopher finally calmed down slightly.

“Okay… okay. So what DID you do to piss off someone that much stronger than you?” He asked and Pruina’s mouth twitched.

“… I rejected her daughter.