Chapter 174 Leaving the Assessment

Chapter 174 Leaving the Assessment

"Yes, observe."

Nyarlathotep confirmed it, straightening in its seat. Its face vanished once more into darkness as it raised a hand to point at Charles, tone as arrogant as ever.

"A mere human who can remain so composed facing me—you truly are different."

Charles's expression grew complicated in an instant. An Outer God wanted to observe him for such a trivial reason?

But this way, it seemed to prevent a new curse from being born. Such a trade seemed quite worthwhile.

So Charles smiled slightly. He very much wanted to stand up, but the pain throughout his body kept him half-reclined on the floor. Fortunately, the floor here wasn't uncomfortable—even lying like this wasn't tiring.

"Then how do you plan to observe me?"

"A souvenir."

The moment Charles's question left his lips, Nyarlathotep immediately responded, raising its palm. A point of light floated in that massive hand.

"I will manifest a duplicate as your souvenir to accompany you."

Nyarlathotep flicked its palm forward. The point of light flew toward Charles.

Only when it drew near did Charles see it clearly—a circular pendant strung on a black cord. Aside from the glowing pendant itself, it seemed to have no other special features.

"However, it won't help you like those ordinary souvenirs of yours."

The pendant lost its divine power before Charles, falling to the ground with a crisp clink. At the same time, Nyarlathotep's voice rang out.

Its tone carried contempt. That reminder sounded more like preemptive mockery.

Charles didn't respond. He wanted to pick up the pendant, but his only functional hand braced the ground. The slightest movement brought pain that turned his face pale and broke him out in cold sweat. How could he possibly pick anything up?

"What? You're unwilling?"

Nyarlathotep had clearly noticed this. It spoke harshly, displeasure evident.

Charles wanted to roll his eyes in exasperation—and he did exactly that. With a mirthless smile, he retorted sarcastically, "Esteemed Messenger of Chaos, take a look. My arm and back are a mess. The fact I can still talk to you at all is a testament to my stellar constitution."

Nyarlathotep definitely caught the sarcasm. It narrowed its eyes, hummed contemplatively, and shook its head. "You truly are human—so fragile."

"Of course, I can't compare to you," Charles spoke through gritted teeth.

"Fine, I'll send you out. Rest and heal properly. Don't die."

Nyarlathotep seemed thoroughly exasperated yet utterly indifferent. With a casual wave, Charles vanished instantly.

In the space that had returned to silence, Nyarlathotep sighed softly. "A human..."

The sound was long and drawn out, yet unclear.

Charles heard those words. He was falling again.

The weightlessness of high-speed descent sparked fear in his heart. Not far above him, the pendant Nyarlathotep had thrust upon him also plummeted downward.

But mere seconds later, the fear coiled in his heart vanished instantly.

Then Isis's voice exploded in his mind.

[Charles!]

Hearing Isis's voice, Charles smiled with relief. "Isis, it hurts so much."

The bandages on his arm regained their radiance, instantly wrapping around his injured elbow. At the same time, Isis's voice sounded in his mind. [Don't worry, I'll heal you.]

His descent slowed slightly, as if someone below were catching him. Finally, Charles was gently lowered to the ground.

The pendant that followed landed on the grass nearby.

Charles could touch it with an outstretched hand.

The pendant felt ice-cold in his palm, hard to the touch—like a stone.

He picked it up and examined it closely. It truly was just an ordinary stone. If there was anything different, it was that both sides bore a carved pattern, and beneath the carvings was a translucent pale green layer that looked somewhat like fluorite.

As for the patterns, Charles turned them over and over, finally confirming that these were the script from the central pillar. The two sides respectively meant 'life' and 'death.'

Not exactly auspicious symbolism.

Charles frowned and casually stuffed it into his pocket.

Isis had now materialized. She helped Charles up from the ground, looking around. "How should we get to Xavier's place?"

This was some distance from Dubey Street. Plus, with the buildings and streets constantly shifting here, walking back would probably take a very long time.

Charles used Isis's support to stand, letting out a long breath. He tested the elbow he hadn't dared move moments ago. "We can only try our luck at the intersection. Hopefully, Mr. Wolf and I share some telepathic connection."

His tone was remarkably light, as if he hadn't taken the matter to heart at all.

The two came to the intersection outside the castle. After waiting a while, no miraculous telepathic connection occurred.

Charles watched the streets shifting again in the distance and sighed softly. "All right, looks like we're walking back."

So the two wandered toward the street corner.

They had no map, could only rely on luck to find 305 Dubey Street—or find Wang's shop, which would let them obtain a map for navigating the constantly changing District Two.

However, Lady Luck still favored them.

They'd just turned the corner when the sound of hoofbeats suddenly came from behind.

Both immediately looked back. District Two was sparsely populated—hearing hoofbeats was quite rare.

And this meant Charles and Isis might be able to catch a ride to Dubey Street. So when they heard the hoofbeats, both turned to look.

From the far end of the street they'd just left, a carriage swayed toward them.

"Wonderful, it's a carriage!"

Isis was somewhat excited. She turned back enthusiastically to the street they'd just left.

As a pharaoh, Isis had never needed to walk anywhere. Ironically, she'd walked more in death. But years of pampered luxury still made her unwilling to pass up any opportunity for comfort.

If not for this carriage appearing, Charles believed that within three minutes at most, Isis would have transformed back into bandages wrapped around his forearm.

The carriage reached them and slowly stopped.

The window curtain pulled back to reveal Logan's surprised face. "Charles!"

"Mr. Wolf?"

Seeing Logan, Charles was equally surprised.

He followed Isis into the carriage, looking around to confirm Logan wasn't out on business before asking again, "What are you doing here?"