Endless Debt

The Undying Club prepared a luxury suite for itself, everywhere filled with extravagance; add some wine bottles and ancient paintings, and it would look exactly like Serey's room.

Bologue was not surprised by this, after all, this is the Undying Club. It has existed longer than the Order Bureau, possessing some unsolved peculiarities, which is normal.

During a conversation with Wei'Er, Bologue wondered for a moment if the club's founder perhaps always lived in the club, his room hidden in the deepest part of the maze.

Bologue turned on the lights, soft glow illuminated the study, after closing the door tightly, Bologue sat at the desk, took out the document Lebius handed him, and spread it flat on the tabletop.

Chains and swords etched on the folder, the crimson emblem like blood, blood-drenched, as if it would melt in the next second, seeping into the paper.

Bologue's breath unconsciously lightened, he cautiously opened the envelope, taking out the papers inside.

"Resurrection..."

Bologue murmured, he was finally about to unravel his own mystery... one of them.

For a long time, Bologue maintained a strong curiosity about his own resurrection, as did Serey and the other Undead, because his own immortality was so perfect.

Except for needing Ether to resurrect and the inability to die repeatedly over a short period, his resurrection was virtually flawless.

He wouldn't age, nor did he fear sunlight and silverware, and each revival happened in an extremely strange way.

Sometimes blood flows backward, sometimes flesh resurrects, or mysteriously recomposes out of thin air... all of it is so special.

Bologue turned to the first page, it was an experimental report, the cover bore Bologue's name, beneath it was small writing that read extreme test.

The cover also contained some other information, Bologue guessed it must be related to the experiment's supervisor, recorder, etc., but these details were obliterated with black ink, completely hidden.

Bologue flipped through a few pages roughly, this kind of black redaction was present throughout the experimental report.

The report he received wasn't complete, but processed by the Order Bureau, who hid all the names of the participants from the time, leaving only what Bologue was permitted to know.

Bologue thought it was fine that way, most of those participants back then were probably dead, if not, they likely were old folks anyway.

He didn't care about those things; what truly mattered to Bologue was the true nature of his own resurrection.

Turning the page, Bologue read the text on it.

"First extreme test record, the maximum death threshold the test subject can endure..."

The words lined up together, narrating agonizing pain and memories surged from graves, flashing ceaselessly before Bologue's eyes.

He recalled the dark laboratory and himself tied on the operating table, surrounded by white-coated personnel, injecting toxins into his veins, noting down the number of his deaths.

After waking from the Black Prison, Bologue suffered from guilt's torment, always feeling related to people's deaths, though he remembered nothing.

As if seeking redemption, easing his heart, and probing into the mystery, Bologue cooperated greatly with the Order Bureau's research.

As for the agony of death, Bologue had long grown accustomed to it.

In the earliest phase as a Debtor, Bologue's memories were shattered and mostly incoherent; even if he remembered something, it was dreamlike, illusory, until fully awakening during the extreme tests, when his mental state steadied.

During that chaotic time, Bologue wasn't clear about what happened specifically but sensed numerous deaths and pain.

"Third extreme test record, form of target's resurrection..."

Bologue read the text expressionlessly, those people tested him with traditional contrasting methods.

In a living state, severing limbs, observing the way injuries healed.

In a dead state, severing limbs, observing the resurrection manner.

Maintaining a certain distance between the main body and limbs...

Resurrection manner at different distances...

Beneath the cold text were countless deaths, bodies piled into mountains, thick blood seeping through the gaps.

Bologue received no influence whatsoever, regarding death, he was already numb, devoid of feeling, as if the deaths recorded were someone else's, not his own.

During the reading, Bologue pressed the call button for Serey to send something to eat.

Serey sported a cheeky grin, asked if he needed a massage or similar services, showing off his muscles while speaking.

Bologue didn't bother with him, directly closed the door.

Sipping red wine, the dark crimson liquid slid down his throat, the alcohol somewhat relaxing Bologue's tense nerves, allowing him to continue reading the records in a more relaxed state.

"The removal of internal organs, the stripping of bones, multiple deaths in a short period, the destruction of the psyche..."

Bologue muttered as he recounted one gruesome test after another. In the records, interspersed were a few black-and-white photographs, reflecting grotesque and twisted forms.

With one hand flipping through the records, the other hand held a fork, spearing a sausage from the plate and stuffing it into his mouth, chewing it into mush.

"Oh? Crushing experiment."

Bologue mumbled indistinctly, spearing another sausage, chewing and swallowing it.

Continuing to flip through, Bologue finally found something interesting.

"According to the latest experimental records, we have overturned the previous assumptions; the target's time is not fixed."

Upon reading this part, Bologue realized that they thought their own time was frozen because they had always maintained this eternally youthful appearance.

But if Bologue's time were truly frozen, he should have stopped all bodily growth, such as not growing hair or beard, and not needing to eat or excrete.

Yet Bologue lived like a normal person, sometimes annoyed by the endless shaving, considering whether to have the beard removed.

"If we study it from the perspective of time, perhaps new progress can be made."

Upon reading this sentence, Bologue perked up a bit and continued to read on. What followed were a bunch of tiresome experimental records, but Bologue didn't skip them; he patiently, persistently read on.

At least he could infer from these tests how his injuries in battle would heal.

It sounded quite useless, but Bologue was a diligent learner who didn't mind learning these things; his lifespan was so long, with plenty of time to waste.

Bologue always had a premonition that learned things would eventually come in handy, even if they were inexplicable.

Flipping further, suddenly a blood-red page appeared before him, filled with numerous warning signs. Black lines crossed out much of the information, filled with ominousness.

"After repeated extreme tests, it can currently be determined that this is a completely new form of immortality."

Bologue turned the page and read such a passage.

"The target's state is peculiar; he seems to adaptively make some changes, yet there are still some patterns that can be followed."

Bologue set down the fork, pushed the plate aside, and began seriously reading the following content.

"The target's soul remains active, and over time, it disperses and stabilizes."

Underneath the text, a soul detection report was annotated. They conducted a semblance of a Condensation ritual to determine if his soul could be interfered with.

"Unlike the initial assumptions, the target's body's time is not frozen, meaning he indeed maintains a 'living' state rather than being stagnated by time.

From a physical perspective, the target is bestowed with eternal, ageless, nearly undead properties.

But from the direction of the soul, the target's soul remains affected, allowing it to be condensed, ascended, and still exert influence over the body.

This is an extraordinarily complex situation we've never understood.

The target's revival mechanism is not the preliminary judgement of physical resurrection, but a regression on the timeline, erasing the temporal state of death with minimal Ether consumption, and instead loading the state of life.

Time regression can be maintained in a local context, allowing the target's injuries to continuously restore to the optimal condition until falling into a death state for complete temporal regression."

"Time... regression?"

Bologue murmured softly, having mentally prepared himself in advance; such an explanation did not surprise him.

"There are still many unsolved mysteries about the target, such as the current conclusion of time regression. [Information Cover] believes that time regression might not be the full picture of the target's Blessing, but due to current technological limitations, we can only reach this conclusion.

The target is unaware of his own chaos. Repeated affirmation by the Crow's Nest indicates that the target indeed does not understand the process of becoming a Debtor, nor knows the specifics of the transaction.

Ultimately, confirmed by [Information Cover], the target himself has an independent time axis outside the world's time axis, continuously cycling and regressing.

It's unclear what impact this independent time axis will have, requiring further observation."

Bologue turned to the end; this was the entirety of the information. Bologue felt there should be more, but obviously, Lebius hadn't provided that part to him.

But for Bologue now, what he knew was already enough.

"Time regression?"

Bologue raised his head, looking toward the nearby mirror; the smooth surface reflected Bologue's face. Thus far, he finally caught a glimpse of a narrow aspect of his own chaos.