Chapter 423 The Only Way to Save Lucian
Holding Dino in her arms, Zara followed the direction he indicated.
It led all the way to a remote corner at the edge of the Upper Realm.
The journey was a long one.
The Upper Realm was still a functioning city, complete with ordinary civilians. Of course, even its common citizens were considered nobility in the eyes of those from the Lower Realm.
Zara covered her face with a veil so no one would recognize her.
When she reached the outskirts of the Upper Realm, she found an unfamiliar man waiting there.
Then she sensed a faint trace of familiar energy around him and immediately recognized him.
"Cyranth."
Cyranth nodded.
He had taken the form of an ordinary young man in black robes, so unremarkable that no one would have recognized him.
"Let's find somewhere to sit."
He led Zara to a roadside coffee shop. The moment they sat down, Zara got straight to the point.
"I've been waiting for you to come back to Earth. I've run into some trouble, and I need to ask you something."
Cyranth was the ruler of a forbidden zone and possessed tremendous power. He might actually know how to solve Lucian's problem.
Cyranth nodded. "I know what you want to ask."
He did not bother being mysterious this time. "I came because I need your help as well."
Zara looked intrigued. "Well, that's new. You actually came to me for help? What could you possibly need?"
"I couldn't find Soraya's spirit." Cyranth sighed helplessly. "I thought I could do it, but I was wrong."
Zara raised an eyebrow. The news did not particularly surprise her.
"So I've decided to use another method to call back the spirit that dispersed when Soraya died," Cyranth continued. "It's the only way I can save her and restore her former power. But I can't do it alone. I need your help."
Zara found that amusing. "There's actually something even you can't do? You're the ruler of a forbidden zone. Aren't you supposed to be stronger than an unidentified life-form operating at half power?"
Cyranth took a sip of water before replying slowly. "Deep down, you know exactly what you are. You aren't an unidentified life-form. You simply reject your former identity on a subconscious level."
He sighed. "I understand. After enduring such a long and lonely existence, it's only natural that you would want a different kind of life. Your life now is certainly far more interesting than it used to be."
Zara fell silent.
[You don't understand a damn thing.]
"I know what's troubling you right now," Cyranth continued. "But what I'm proposing carries a certain amount of risk. I wouldn't have come to you unless I had no other choice."
Zara cleared her throat. "All right, drop the mysterious act and tell me what your plan is."
Cyranth tapped his fingers slowly against the table.
"The solution itself is simple. The most difficult thing to predict is the human heart. You want to save Lucian. That's possible."
"And I can tell you this clearly: the arcane spell used by the Upper Realm cannot truly suppress your power.
But that only applies when your power is whole.
" He added, "Once all of it returns to your body, you'll understand everything about yourself.
You'll also gain the ability to change everything. "
Zara frowned slightly. "That's why I'm trying to find another way, isn't it?"
Cyranth shook his head. "The spell they used still has considerable power. If you forcibly reclaim what is inside him, he will undoubtedly die."
"Life and death follow the natural order. More importantly, he does not belong to our world. Once he dies, even you will not be able to bring him back."
"There is only one way to save him." He paused and then continued, "You must transfer the rest of your power into him as well."
He continued, "When both halves merge, the completed power will break every restraint placed upon him. His memories will return, and the arcane spell will be destroyed."
Cyranth made it sound simple. Zara was tempted, but she immediately understood where the real difficulty lay.
The human heart was the hardest thing to predict.
Seeing that she understood, Cyranth gave a faint smile. "Once the time comes, all he has to do is return the power to you. Then you'll be restored to your true state, and you'll be able to help me recover Soraya's spirit. But can you be certain he'll give it back?"
That was the problem.
By then, the power inside Lucian would have reached a level beyond imagination.
Once someone possessed absolute power, who would willingly surrender it?
What if Lucian could not bear to let it go?
Zara frowned. "What happens if he refuses to give it back?"
"You'll gradually fade away," Cyranth replied. "That power is the source of your existence. If you fail to reclaim it, you will die."
He continued, "But if he returns it, you'll simply recover all your memories and remember who you truly are. He won't suffer any lasting harm. He'll become an ordinary human from Earth again, and barring any unforeseen complications, he'll be able to live a normal life."
It sounded simple enough.
The only question was what they would do if Lucian refused.
He had no memories now, which meant Zara would be gambling everything by transferring the rest of her power to him.
Even after his memories of Earth returned, who could guarantee that he would still be willing to give up such immense power?
Even if keeping it meant Zara would die.
The temptation of absolute power was far more tangible than whatever shaky bond they had built over the past few months.
A few months simply was not long enough for Zara to trust him with a gamble like this.
But if she refused, one of them would inevitably die.
And she could not stand by while Lucian sided with the Divine World and launched an invasion of Earth.
Dino snorted softly and asked the most important question. "How do we know you aren't taking Zara's side and lying to her?"
Cyranth merely pressed his lips together and smiled faintly. "She should be able to judge for herself whether I'm lying. I know exactly how dangerous he will become once he possesses all of her power."
He added, "If I didn't need Zara's help to recover Soraya's spirit body, I never would have told her the truth."
He would have preferred to let Zara and Lucian continue fighting until Zara's time ran out and the power returned to her on its own.
But if that happened, Lucian would undoubtedly die.
This was a gamble.
If Zara won, everyone would survive.
If she lost, she would be the one who died.
On the way back, Zara remained unusually troubled. "If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have treated him so badly before."
What if Lucian regained his memories, thought back on everything she had done, and grew angrier the more he remembered?
What was she supposed to do then?
"Zara, let's not take the risk," Dino urged. "There has to be another way."
Zara clicked her tongue. "This is all my dad's fault for miscalculating. Why did he have to put half my power inside Lucian? Couldn't he have stopped at a quarter?"
Dino fell silent.
After returning, Zara told Aurelion and Pyrelion what Cyranth had said.
Aurelion's opinion was immediate and brutally honest. "Don't do it. If I were Lucian and suddenly gained all your power, then remembered how you forced me to sign over my estate while I had amnesia, I wouldn't give it back to you either."
Zara fell silent.
Did he really have to rub salt in the wound at a time like this?
Pyrelion sighed. "This really is difficult. People in the Divine World are complicated enough, and Lucian is from Earth. On top of that, he's someone who's always been accustomed to power and authority. The risk is far too great."