358 Replacement Ritual (2/2)

But honestly, Raven was truly the best candidate that this old man could ever find. And because of who he is, the problems earlier are nothing but small issues that he could settle should he put his mind onto it.

If there's really something that's preventing Raven from accepting this proposal, it would be one thing.

”How much time do you still have?” Raven asked the old man after a period of silence.

The old man looked at him and sighed, he then replied: ”My initial estimate is about 10,000 years. But there is a pest that's sapping my lifespan, and if it's left alone, I'll have less than 5,000 years.”

Raven's face crumpled as he heard that. The situation was worse that he was expecting. He didn't know that he had that little of time left.

”This pest you mentioned…” Raven said, ”Is it a hateful hybrid?”

”Yes.” The old man nodded with a defeated expression, ”It's that Pale Being that shouldn't have been born here. I had no idea how it found me but it did, it also formed a bloodline pact to me without my consent and now it is siphoning my lifespan for it's own use.”

”I had been doing all I could to prevent it from doing any damage, but the bloodline pact binds me. If it weren't for you summoning Her Majesty Jubileus, I am afraid that the plane would die sooner.”

”Damn that Pale Lizard.” Raven gnashed his teeth as he finally understood how that hateful creature managed to live this long despite the lack of nutrition. ”Is it still in slumber?”

”Fortunately, yes.” The old man replied which caused Raven to sigh in relief, but that relief was short lived. ”From my estimations, it's slumber will last for no more than two more years. Probably less.”

”Huh?” Raven was shocked, ”How can that be? Jubileus said herself that Vit'hum's slumber will last for at least a decade. It hasn't even been close to that yet.”

”The bloodline pact remember?” The old man said, making Raven rub his face aggressively in irritation. ”It's using my lifespan to offset Her Majesty's punishment.”

”Damn! So I'm running out of time huh.” Raven suddenly felt a headache knowing all of this.

He was lost in thought for a moment, he had thought about many things and how his original plan has to he revised once again due to this new information. It was then that he remembered that he still hasn't say whether he accepts the old man's proposal or not, so he figured that he should give his answer.

”I'm sorry old man. I'm afraid that I can't be the one to replace you.”

Hearing his reply made the old man smile in defeat, but before he could say anything, Raven continued:

”I would've loved to do so, but unfortunately I have to ascend - no.” Raven paused and continued: ”I MUST ascend. I have to form my Divinity.”

The old man's face was laced with shock as he heard Raven's words. He could hear the urgency, need and resolution behind Raven's voice. But most importantly, he was shocked upon hearing the word 'Divinity' from his mouth.

”How in the world did you know about that!?” The old consciousness' voice was laced with surprise.

This reaction was understandable for him. Not to mention people from the lower realms, a great majority of the Divine Realm's population didn't even know about the concept of Divinity in terms of cultivation. So imagine his surprise when he heard from the mouth of kid who hasn't even stepped into the Divine Realm even once.

”You said it yourself didn't you?” Raven said, ”That I am a strange man?”

”Do you want to know what makes me strange?” He asked the surprised old man. ”If you can form an oath of secrecy, and if you can promise me that you will stay calm throughout the whole revelation. Then I will tell you.”

There was something on Raven's voice that captivated the attention of the old man. It would be a lie if he didn't say that he's not curious. After all, all of Raven's exploits are something that someone of his age could never do, yet he did and something tell him that what he showed wasn't even half of the things he could do.

With his curiosity piqued, the old man made formed an oath of secrecy and said:

”I promise.”