Jacob looked at the massive monolith with the Faith God's Crown as Soulless introduced it as his core. This meant Jacob was standing in the most secure location of the entire Divine Soulless Pagoda. If he turned his heels now, he could do massive damage to Soulless.
However, Jacob didn't even consider it since he wasn't even sure if he could scratch this core with a twelve-ring God's Crown part of it. It would be akin to committing suicide.
So, Jacob remained standing as he waited for Soulless to continue this ritual, which didn't take long. Suddenly, the monolith pulsed with an unknown power, releasing a blinding light.
Jacob's mind reeled as he felt a terrifying presence, and his vision was filled with piercing bright light, shocking his entire being!
If Jacob didn't have the Cursed Immortal Totem, his soul might've been shattered by that sliver of power, and with how much that trapped black scroll was trembling, Jacob had a feeling that this black scroll might be supposed to protect him.
But now that it was trapped, Jacob took a direct hit from something he shouldn't have, yet he survived. However, his fear grows because he never imagined a divine artifact would carry this kind of power. Then what about the Gods?
Just thinking about it made him shudder, and he was also affected by that strange power. He was simply playing with something too high level than him, and with the slightest mistake, Jacob might not even get a chance to make a wish!
However, by the time Jacob regained his senses, he was still in front of the monolith. Under his feet was a runic circle filled with countless unknown runes, pulsing just like the monolith.
At this moment, the twelve-ring astrolabe in the monolith suddenly turned, and the rings within revolved differently than the other.
Before Jacob could react, a golden streak shot toward Jacob's head and pierced into the depths of his soul.
At this moment, an extremely ancient voice rang in his mind. Although the language was foreign to Jacob, he could understand it, or there was something about that voice that compelled him to understand it regardless.
"The Path of Soul is long and arduous, yet it is a taboo and cursed with the only end: doom. Necromancers defy the death and rob the souls of their peace and salvation. Thus, they are cursed by both life and death, never to have peace where life exists and even in death!
"But we, Soulmancers, not only defy death, we also defy the universe by devouring the Souls and changing their natures, entirely against the rules of the Universe. That's why we are cursed by the universe.
"I left this warning for future generations of Soulmancer and the potential heir of my legacy. Every Soulmancer is cursed by the Universe and c...s... Universal Retribution....reaching Class-12 Soulmancer Rank.
"There…o…wa…y…ing it. So,…r… absolutely…v…y…rea…h…nk…a…d nev…er…de…y...."
Jacob instantly snapped out of his trance. He was shocked to find that his soul force and magic energy were exhausted—all because he had heard that mysterious voice!
'What was the last part!?' Jacob felt extremely uneasy as he couldn't hear the rest of the message, which seemed the most crucial part of the warning.
Furthermore, Jacob was sure that voice belonged to the true owner of the Divine Soulless Pagoda, and that being should be extremely terrifying since just listening to his words drained Jacob's soul force and magic!
'It should be something one gains after they pass the trial and become Nominal Owner. There has to be more, and I'm sure this warning should be related to the demise of Soulmancers…furthermore, the part about Universal Retribution and cursed by the Universe makes me feel extremely uneasy…some words were omitted. What did I get myself into?'
Jacob wanted to lament his luck, which was both excellent and terrible.
"Alright, this is the final phase of the Nominal Ownership Ritual. The residue of my creator's will will ask you a question, and you need to answer truthfully.
"This question can be anything and don't you dare lie because my creator was the strongest Soulmancer that ever existed. The Exalted One's means are not something you, or even I can see through. So, don't you dare lie!"
Soulless's extremely grave voice rang at this moment, startling Jacob as he was too immersed in what that voice just said, and the ritual had already reached its final stage.
The runic circle was now glowing in light blue, and Jacob felt his Divine Soulless Codex react with the monolith in front of him.
At this moment, the same ancient voice rang again, but this time, it wasn't profound and somewhat Stoic; it was very faint yet filled with authority, and Jacob instantly felt a mysterious aura emitting from the runic circle.
"Do you know the God of Evil Void?"
Jacob was startled when he heard this strange question. He thought it would be something personal or profound, but this voice was asking him if he knew a God…and this time, his soul force or magic power didn't stir at all.
Anyway, Jacob didn't need to lie at all as he replied without hesitation, "No…"
The next moment, the runic circle under his feet blinked and faded away, and Jacob suddenly felt a profound connection with the Monolith in front of him forming.
Suddenly, Soulless's elated voice rang again, and this time, it rang directly in his head, "Congratulations, you are now the Nominal Owner of the Divine Soulless Pagoda, and you've earned some privileges and rewards. But there's no need to mention them, for those are limited, and now I'm about to enter your Nexus Point. Don't resist if you don't want your soul to be torn apart!"
The next moment, Jacob suddenly started to float under some mysterious influence, and he had no power to resist.
"Cursed Immortality!" Jacob finally decided it was now time to summon Cursed Immortality, just in case things didn't work out the way he wanted them.
Furthermore, now he was sure Soulless shouldn't have any relation to a Universal Godly Scripture.
Immortika's annoying, eerie laughter filled Jacob's mind when Cursed Immortality appeared. Although he hated that laughter, the same laughter calmed him down for some reason.
After all, Jacob knew as long as that damn book didn't stop laughing, then it means the situation was completely under control!