Chapter 369: You Disgust Me (1/2)
”Do you know that this place is...” Arthur's voice trailed, but his meaning was obvious.
”Inside a spirit?” The man nodded. ”We know about this already, but there's nothing that we can do.” He shook his head with regret. ”However, we are trapped here without the ability to do anything!”
”What have you tried, exactly?” Arthur probed, but the man simply waved off his hand.
”It's inappropriate to talk here. Let's go inside first!” The giant man grinned and turned to walk in. ”Please, come inside!”
Li looked at Arthur, and the latter shrugged and walked into the house. They were taken to a grand guest room lined with many spiritual plants.
Arthur felt better the moment he walked in. He looked at his hand, as golden as the sun, and noticed that an aura grew around it. The man sat on a chair and gestured for Arthur and Li to do the same.
”Please, seekers!”
”This room has a lot of spiritual energy...” Arthur looked around in amazement.
”Of course, we have specifically arranged it to welcome the great wandering souls.” The man said and then introduced himself. ”My humble name is Romba. I lead the people here.”
”My name is Romeo, and my friend is called Ren,” Arthur said, lying without batting an eye. Romba nodded with a warm smile. ”Can I know the history of Ligan?”
Arthur knew that Ligan directly translated to 'pig's guts' in Alvan Language. He was intrigued by the existence of civilization inside a spirit in the Spirits Realm.
He, however, didn't plan on staying here for long.
”The Eater's Spirit swallowed us before its contractor died. The spirit, however, returned to the Spirits Realm. So we were left here, unable to leave this place forever.” Romba explained as if he had the lines memorized.
”The Eater?” Arthur was confused, but Romba seemed to be acting a play of his own and answered straight away.
”The man who wanted to create a separate world inside his spirit by eating away Alva,” Romba explained. ”It happened years ago, and it's no wonder that it's unknown for most people.”
”People tend to forget tragedies easily,” Arthur consoled. ”And how long have you stayed here?”
”Six years,” Romba sighed, shocking Arthur. Li, who didn't understand what was going on, stared around the room leisurely. ”We have been trapped with no way to leave this cursed land.”
”And do you know of a method to leave?”
”We do,” Romba nodded. ”However, the spirit is stronger than any of us. It seems a portion of The Eater's soul merged with it, strengthening it greatly.”
”We found the spirit in the Earthen World, so it shouldn't be that strong.” Arthur pondered. ”Unless there are exceptions.”
”There are many spirits of the Skyey tier but refuse to ascend to a higher world. Gluttony's reason for staying here is simple: to devour things.” Romba said with a frown.
”I understand. Can you tell me the method?” Arthur pleaded, and Romba nodded thoughtfully.
”Follow me,”
***
Romba was a giant man with a heavy build. He had tattoos covering his barrel-sized arms, and they looked to be recent. His long hair covered his back, even though it was dreadlocked.
The leader of Ligan led the two seekers away from the city, toward the center of the island. As he did, he kept telling Arthur and Li about the many aspects of Ligan, even though they didn't ask.
”There are many species of edible creatures, and we made sure that we didn't drive them to extinction. The trees seemed to absorb the spirit's energy, taking only a month to grow fully. That's how we managed to live until now.”
”I see,” Arthur nodded. ”And about this method...”
”You can say that it's the manifestation of Gluttony's ability to expand space. If we can undo it, then we can successfully leave the spirit and return to the outside world.”
”Gluttony is in the Spirits Realm,” Arthur knew the name of the spirit from Romba. ”If you leave this space, then you are going to end up there, I think.”