Death... and me

"Something much better?" Rean and Roan found it hard to believe. "What exactly?"

"It's not like it's a secret between those who know about the Foundation Fragments as they all want the same thing. However, you'll have to figure that out yourselves... unless you can make a different deal," replied the demon.

"What kind of deal?"

"I will not get involved with either of you as long as it has nothing to do with the fragments. How about that?" the demon suggested.

Roan snorted in response, replying, "You already know that we want the fragments as well. The moment you come out, you'll have a reason to come after us. Besides, we still want to know the location of the fragments you know of."

"Hmm..." The demon pondered over it for a bit more. "Should we set a time then? For a thousand years, neither side can do anything to the other, regardless of whether they have a fragment or not. That way, we can at least compete for the fragments without being afraid of being killed by the other. We can even join hands to get rid of our enemies while obtaining fragments and trying to get as many of them as possible. Well, not really since I don't want to stay anywhere near you two."

"We share the same feeling," Rean and Roan answered.

Soon after, Rean asked Roan. 'So, what do you think? A thousand years seems a lot of time. But then again, the further our cultivation progresses, the longer it'll take to increase our level. This guy is definitely some old monster with countless years of life experience already behind him. Would a thousand years be enough to be prepared for him?'

Hearing that, Roan asked the demon, "Will you tell us about the location of the other fragments that you know?"

"Sure," the demon answered. "But that doesn't mean I won't go after them myself in the future. We can't touch each other for a thousand years, but that doesn't stop us from competing for them."

Roan looked back at Rean and said, 'In the end, we need the fragments. I say we should give it a shot.'

Rean could only shrug his shoulders in response. 'If you say so, then so be it.'

"Alright. In exchange, you'll tell us about what the other powers are looking to do with the fragments, including you. " Roan didn't take long to set out his terms.

Travux didn't mind since he would be set free. He might not be able to use the Underworld Soul Forcing Link to take Roan's soul. However, he was confident that Roan definitely didn't have the power to take his own either. Of course, he would still try to take over Roan's soul with his own to see if Roan was really as immune as the twins mentioned. "Very well, shall we link each other then? Well, I'm very interested to see if a demon soul could really link to a human soul, though."

Roan was curious as well. Nevertheless, he quickly entered the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm and went to the location of the altar while Rean continued the journey. There, he lifted the seal that blocked all of the altar's senses and touched it. "Let's start."

Roan and Travux then allowed each other's souls to touch each other as they formed the Underworld Soul Forcing Link. As they did that, they set up the conditions of the link, which couldn't be broken. If one broke the rules, the link would force the culprit's soul into a submissive position, allowing the other side to quickly absorb it from literally anywhere.

[New Soul Connection Detected.]

It was then that the system's voice echoed in Roan's mind.

[Underworld Soul Forcing Link.]

[Creating Soul Puppet...]

[Soul Puppet Created.]

[Underworld Soul Forcing Link connected to Roan's Soul Puppet.]

[Connection established. Host Roan shall have the command over the puppet for the use of the Underworld Soul Forcing Link's conditions. Conditions put on the Soul Puppet won't affect the host.]

Roan faintly smiled in response. Sure enough, the Soul Gem System's Soul Protection would not let any harm come to the twins' souls as always.

Roan could feel the connection now, even though it passed through the Soul Puppet, which was a different kind of puppet from the one used for the Soul Binding Contracts. Travux, on the other hand, couldn't tell anything. "Alright, Travux, the deal is made. I'll set you free, but you need to tell me what you and the others intend to use the fragments for. If it's not to take control over the universe, then what?"

Travux laughed as he answered, "Hahaha! It is very simple. The leader of the demons and the angels want the same thing. They want the fragments so that they can use the universe's foundation for their own breakthroughs. Simply put, we all want to surpass the limit of this universe's cultivation. For that, we need to refine the universe's foundation as our own, and the fragments give us hope to accomplish that."

Rean and Roan were taken aback to hear that. Turn the universe's foundation into one's own. That seemed ridiculous. The order of magnitude was just too different. "Is such a thing even possible?"

"Who knows?" Travux wondered. "However, it has been the only method found so far. Or at least it was until the moment I was locked in this altar."

Rean couldn't help but ask after that. "Have you ever heard about the Extinction Sphere? Do you know if it has something to do with it?"

Travux confirmed. "Oh, I remember to have heard something about that. Unfortunately, it was from way before my time, so I don't know that much. The good thing was that it opened a gap in the foundation's protection that allowed it to be refined. Unfortunately, the fragments were lost, and now the foundation is incomplete. Without the complete Universe Foundation, refining it is impossible."

"I see..." Rean thought that the Extinction Sphere might have been created to open that gap, but it seemed that the gap was just a coincidence, or so it seemed.

Travux then told Roan in the Dimensional Realm after that. "Alright, if you're done, set me free."

Roan nodded in response. "Sure." However, Roan simply left the Dimensional Realm and put up the seal around the altar once again.

"W-What are you doing?! Are you going to break the Underworld Soul Forcing Link's terms?!" asked Travux, enraged.

Roan shook his head, replying, "Of course not! I told you I'll set you free. I just didn't say when."