51 51. The Seal Is Lifted

"Mr. Zhongli, is it alright? I mean, that tree–" Ryūhei glanced in Kun Jun's direction in worry. He knew there was something wrong with that tree since his eyes could perceive the flow of energy from the Ley Lines.

"I know. That tree is called Dragon-Queller. It's a place where Azhdaha was sealed in the past. Honestly, I'm impressed by your sense of danger. You felt something odd with the disappearance of miners and adventurers. And the result is a lead toward Nantianmen, where he was sealed. I didn't even think it would be connected to this."

Zhongli pondered for a moment before continuing.

"I think I know where the missing people are. Come with me!"

Zhongli walked ahead while asking Ryūhei to follow him.

"How about this unconscious miner?"

After Ryūhei asked him, Zhongli stopped. Then, he turned to Ryūhei.

"Ah, I forgot."

"..."

Zhongli performed an Adeptus Art to prevent the monsters from approaching. Then he led Ryūhei toward the back side of Dragon-Queller.

"Master Zhongli, I've always wanted to ask. How strong was Azhdaha in his prime, and how does that compare to your strength as the Geo Archon?" Ryūhei asked curiously.

"Hmm, why do you ask?"

"Well, knowing you as the Archon, you must have powers beyond imagination. Just like when the Electro Archon slew Orobashi in the past, you must have the power to slay Azhdaha as well." Ryūhei recalled the legend in Inazuma in which the Electro Archon slew the god worshiped by the people from Watatsumi island, the west part of the Inazuma archipelago. It was an epic battle as the Electro Archon drew Musou no Hitotachi to split the island in two.

Perhaps, Zhongli also had that power since he could launch a barrage of enormous stone spears to defeat the gods in the past.

However, Zhongli denied it as he shook his head.

"To be honest, Azhdaha is stronger than you think. His resistance over the Geo element is so high. Otherwise, I could defeat him by myself. If it weren't for the help from the Adepti, I wouldn't be able to subdue and seal him in the depth of earth."

Ryūhei widened his eyes in astonishment. He didn't expect that Azhdaha was on par with Zhongli even though he heard the tale that Zhongli, or Morax to be exact, was an Immovable God.

Then, he began to worry. If Azhdaha was that strong, didn't that mean it was akin to suicide if both of them confronted him?

It happened that Zhongli saw his expression, so he said to Ryūhei.

"No need to worry. Even if we confronted him, he wasn't as strong as his prime."

"Yikes, that's still worrying, you know! You might be alright, but I'm just a mortal, okay!"

"Now, now! This is an opportunity to see your full potential. And this is also one of the reasons I am fascinated by your unique power."

"Huh?"

Ryūhei was stunned. He contemplated while walking beside Zhongli, trying to understand what he meant. After a while, he turned his head to Zhongli.

"Don't tell me you want me to absorb the Erosion? That's definitely no no!"

Zhongli waved his hand.

"You misunderstood, Ryūhei. Erosion causes Azhdaha to become irritable, making him more susceptible to negative emotions, which are the source of your power. I just hope that you can absorb all of his negative emotions so that he will come to his senses."

Then, Zhongli added to his mind. "In the first place, Erosion is a part of natural order imposed by the Heavenly Principles. So I doubt it will affect him right now."

Ryūhei frowned when he heard that. Zhongli told him yesterday that Erosion could even affect a god-like being. And seeing Ryūhei's expression, Zhongli calmed him down.

"Erosion won't affect you, so you don't have to worry. We can form a contract if you want to."

"A contract?"

"Yes. In exchange for helping me, I'll give you any information you want, and I'll also do a thing for you as long as it doesn't violate my contract. Besides, if you're somehow affected by Erosion, although unlikely, I'll gladly become your servant and try to find a way to stave off Erosion. You don't have the strength of the Archons yet, so if you do get affected by Erosion later, the effects won't be as bad as Azhdaha's."

Zhongli declared something unexpected. He was even willing to become Ryūhei's servant if he failed. Although he had no problem with fighting against Azhdaha since Zhongli was on his side, absorbing his negative emotions was a different matter since he was already affected by Erosion. And based on Zhongli's statement, Erosion seemed to affect the soul. It was something he couldn't handle right now.

On the other hand, Zhongli declared something like that just because he believed nothing would happen to Ryūhei, and he hoped that Ryūhei could help him in this case. After all, although Azhdaha wasn't friendly anymore, Zhongli still valued his past friendship with Azhdaha and hoped that Azhdaha could remember his past.

But what Zhongli said earlier intrigued him.

"Mr. Zhongli, you said I wouldn't be affected by Erosion. Why do you think so?"

"I can't say much, but Erosion is imposed on elemental dragons and Archons."

Ryūhei furrowed his brow.

"Imposed? By who?"

But, Zhongli shook his head, refraining from telling him.

Ryūhei looked at Zhongli, then contemplated for a while. He knew Zhongli's character though not completely. Saying that Zhongli was lying was unlikely because Zhongli would only remain silent instead of lying.

And, based on what Zhongli said, it seemed the so-called Erosion was imposed by a higher being than Archons. At first, Ryūhei thought that it was imposed by the goddess who reincarnated him. But, he denied it as it was unlikely. Why would the goddess who reincarnated him and bestowed a system and talents on him impose Erosion on Archons and elemental dragons? It doesn't make sense at all. After that, he opened his mouth.

"*Sigh* fine. I'll help you."

Ryūhei didn't mind helping him. He knows what it feels like to lose, and it really fucking hurts. What hurt even more was that Zhongli seemed unable to kill his friend and decided to seal him deep underground, causing his friend long agony. From Zhongli's earlier words it was like a sign that he had not given up on saving his friend from Erosion.

Most likely, what Zhongli said was right regarding Erosion only affecting elemental dragons and Archons. After all, it only affected higher beings, not humans.

Hearing Ryūhei agree, Zhongli immediately formed a new contract with him.

Behind the Dragon-Queller, Ryūhei could see a cave dug deep underground. Ryūhei didn't know why, but the moment he saw the cave, he could feel so much resentment, as if it had just appeared out of nowhere.

Ryūhei muttered.

"Did this Dragon-Queller thingy obstruct my senses?"

Perhaps what he thought was right. When he saved a person earlier, he didn't feel any negative energy in the surroundings. This might be because a huge tree called Dragon-Queller was preventing the negative energy from leaking. But when he stood near the cave, the negative energy seemed to gather in one place as if it had no way out of the seal.

"I only felt 5 presences. We're missing 2 people. Perhaps…" Ryūhei knew that the other two might be dead, but he wasn't sure since there was something that could block his senses just like earlier.

Ryūhei and Zhongli stepped into the cave. From its path, the cave was dug in a downward spiral, and it looked like it had been dug for quite some time. Both of them walked through the path for 80 meters before they found some corpses on the ground. Two of them were still new, and the rest had already become skeletons. Not far from the corpses, 5 people dug into the cave lifelessly as if they were already dead. One of them was a miner, and the rest were adventurers.

However, what caught Ryūhei's attention was the visible seal on the wall with formulas or symbols within it.

All of a sudden, everyone who had been digging turned around to attack Zhongli and Ryūhei.

Before Ryūhei took action, Zhongli cast a shield to protect the two of them. Then, he opened his mouth.

"The minds of these people have been controlled using the negative energy that comes from Azhdaha. Can you absorb it?"

Ryūhei nodded and absorbed the energy from them. And after absorbing, they fell unconscious.

Ryūhei dragged them away one by one from the seal. But when he was dragging the last one, he felt something appear suddenly behind Zhongli, who was still protected by the shield.

He immediately let go of that person and teleported near Zhongli. But it was too late. It happened so suddenly. And the moment he teleported beside Zhongli, the shield was already destroyed, and the energy from the shield somehow condensed and crashed into the seal on the wall.

Ultimately, the seal was lifted, and both Zhongli along with Ryūhei were sucked into the gap of the lifted seal.