Chapter 14- Tempting Offer

"Are you not afraid to die?" she asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Everyone is afraid to die, but they die either way. Young or old, death is inevitable. Even if you are a god or an immortal, you can die when someone kills you. Even if you are rich or poor, you will die, and nothing else will matter. If everyone keeps worrying about dying, then they will stop living life. Everyone would be an emotionless puppet, and they would simply wait for that death. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't live a life; happy or sad, life is life, and to live is the true essence of existence."

"Famous last words," Aria scoffed and pierced the tip a little deeper into Zach's neck.

After staring at Zach for a while, Aria sighed and retracted her wings. "I hate you."

Zach raised his brows with a confused look on his face. Until a second ago, Aria wanted to kill Zach, but now, she forgave him.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Zach asked with a puzzled and curious look on his face.

"I liked what you said about life and death. It reminded me that I am alive," Aria answered with a distant smile and solemn look on her face.

"...."

"Who told you that?" Aria asked with a curious yet calm look on her face. "Your father?"

Zach instantly frowned his face upon hearing that.

"Don't you dare make that face in front of me. And I was simply guessing," Aria asserted with a sigh and shook her head in disbelief. "Why are you mortals so sentimental; always corny for their own selfishness?"

"Someone close to me once said that to me when I was a kid. At first, I couldn't understand what they meant. It had so many words, yet it explained nothing. But I guess only the people who have experienced such a thing and suffered from it can understand. As for me…" Zach shrugged with a short scoff and said, "I don't know. My entire life has been strange, so I am used to everything."

Aria stood up and looked at the sky with an emotionless expression on her face. Then, she clapped once, and a red moon appeared in the sky. After that, she jumped and sat on her throne in the same pose and position she was sitting when Zach saw her for the first time.

"Tell me, mortal. What makes you different from the other mortals?" She asked as her eyes shined crimson. Her body under the red moon made her beauty more imposing.

'Do I need to answer that? I just want to go back to the entry of the dungeon.' Zach thought to himself and stood up. He patted his clothes even though there was no dirt, and looked into Aria's eyes.

After a brief moment, Zach had no other choice but to answer: "I am not a mortal. I have the blood of gods, demons, and many celestial beings, but my body is human."

Aria raised her brows and uttered, "If any being has the blood of more than three supreme entities, they die. The tremendous powers in their body start to malfunction and end up killing them. And those who survive that end up like me... all alone for eternity. No place to go, nowhere to belong. No life, alive, but worse than death..." she asserted the last sentence in a low voice so Zach couldn't hear that.

"What was that? Why did your voice suddenly get lower?" Zach remarked.

"If you truly are what you claim you are, then you are a threat to the gods too. Why haven't they done anything to you?"

"I only have blood, which I inherited from my father. My body is still a human. It is my weakness. It doesn't allow me to do things. It is not allowing me to use my powers or cultivate on that matter."

"Hmm~" Aria hummed in wonder and raised her brows after hearing Zach's reply. "It has been eons since I heard the word 'cultivate' from a mortal. So you are a cultivator?"

"Not exactly. But I can cultivate MP in the game, which is not limited, so I guess that does make me the strongest player of the game, as of now."

Aria squinted her eyes and changed her pose. She leaned on the slat and folded her arms below her bosom. "Do you think you can be the strongest just because you have unlimited magic power?"

"I never said that. But…" Zach nodded and uttered, "I can manage to become one."

"Oh?"

"I managed to defeat you without using magic," he added in a low voice.

"Hah?! When did you defeat me?"

"I knocked you out three times, and you couldn't even touch me, even once," Zach replied with a smirk.

Aria frowned her face and said, "Do not make me regret my choice of not killing you. If I want to kill you, I can kill you just by thinking about it. But even I have heart. When I fight with someone, I fight with morals. I was simply matching my power with yours. I was holding back."

'You looked pretty serious to me, though.' Zach raised his hands in the air and asked, "So, why did you forgive me?"

"I told you already. Your words made me—"

Zach interrupted Aria and remarked, "That's bullshit. You don't look like a type of monst—Ahem! You don't look like a type of person who can be swayed by mundane words."

"How rude." Aria averted her gaze and uttered, "I thought maybe I could use you to defeat the petty gods."

"I am sorry, but I am expensive. So you can't just 'use' me unless you give me something in return."

Aria glanced at Zach from the corner of her eyes and asked, "Don't you want to get out of this game?"

"No one knows how to get out of this game. We are just told to survive, and that's it."

"What if I said I can take you out of this game?" Aria asked with an inexplicable expression on her face. Her white hair swayed with the wind and her crimson eyes shined as her pale skin glowed under the red moon; with a soft glare in her eyes and a curious smile on her face.

****

Total players in the game 46210.

8 new players logged in.

2 players died.