Ulysses performed the task assigned to him by his uncle Kallias diligently, informing everyone about his discovery before then sending them over to meet with Kallias.
It was a hectic chore, especially since it forced him to use the domain of Travel more times than he was supposed to.
By the time he was done, though satisfied, he was quite exhausted.
"Perhaps we should wait for a bit before heading to the location of the artifact," Ulysses remarked as he dropped to his buttocks, completely drenched in sweat and struggling to catch his breath.
"Nonsense!... We are on the verge of a momentous discovery. There is hardly a need to waste time here."
One of the scholars in the group remarked with two others quickly agreeing with his sentiment.
This was the first time they would be a part of a discovery team and amongst the TruthSeekers, this was considered a great privilege, enough to ensure that they would be respected till their deaths.
"There is no need to rush. The artifact isn’t going anywhere." Kallias calmly remarked, stepping in to save his nephew from the overenthusiastic scholars. "Let’s rest up for a while and then we can continue on our way. In any case, rushing such things always ends up causing problems along the way. I would know since this isn’t my first time on the field."
The last portion of his statement was used in two ways; to give the group reason to trust him and the dissenters no reason to go against his decision.
Thankfully, it worked just as intended, with those overenthusiastic scholars relenting in their desire to keep moving forward.
Kallias glanced at Ulysses, who mouthed a word of thanks, with the old scholar nodding in response.
Owing to the difficulty that came with keeping track of time in the dead dimension they found themselves in, Kallias opted to keep count and did so until he arrived at the number one thousand at which point Ulysses was rested enough to travel with them.
However, before doing so, some ground rules had to be set.
"First of all, do not attempt to look directly ahead," Ulysses remarked, causing one of the Mystics to inquire.
"Because the corpses of both the Jester and the Hexad are there." Ulysses calmly replied, causing many to exchange looks with one another.
"If there are divine corpses at the location, then we can’t risk going in as we are." Another Mystic spoke up with a few others agreeing with him.
Everyone present was well aware of the fact that though history hadn’t recorded the deaths of many deities, it had recorded a few that occurred during the Crusades of the Fourth Era, an act carried out by the Church of Angelica against those they labeled as heretical deities.
By the end of the Crusades, the Holysor Mountain which served as a natural barrier between Salem Theocracy and those they considered heretics, became known as the Graveyard of the Gods due to the amount of divine blood that had been spilled on it.
In any case, the main issue was that after the Crusades, the Holysor Mountain was then engulfed by a strange fog and became a place that spelt death to whomever dared to cross it.
At some point, the fog even threatened to swallow the entire continent of Henos, which forced the Church of Angelica to create the Holy Barrier to suppress the fog and keep it locked in the Holysor Mountain.
Now, if the death of gods could result in such a phenomenon over in Henos, what was the possibility that it would cause the same issue here in the Unending Carnival?
For the Mystics present, they considered it to be very high, not because they were certain but it was safer to overestimate danger than underestimate it.
Ulysses paused, realizing that the Mystics were right.
He was so enthralled by the thought of sharing his discovery with the others that he had completely forgotten the dangers that came with it.
Forget the fact that beholding the corpse of a deity had varying effects, the Domains those deities had control over were still very much active, which meant at any point in time, they could easily be imparted with wisdom or foolishness or both.
The risk of running mad was too high to even fathom.
What the hell was he thinking trying to send these people over there?
Realizing his mistake, Ulysses decided to correct it. "Uncle, they are right. Maybe it’s best if I go in alone and take out the artifact."
"Alright then, if you believe that is what is best, then no problem at all," Kallias remarked, quite agreeable with his suggestion.
The others also didn’t mind this and so, Ulysses once again traveled to the location of the divine corpses, once again laying his eyes on the artifact nestled in between them.
The Codex of Duality.
It truly was a beautiful thing.
Taking a deep breath, he approached the item and after ensuring that his palms were no longer sweaty, he reached out and grabbed the Codex, feeling its warmth in his palm.
Just as a smile sought to blossom on his lips, the warmth surged through him, perhaps seeking refuge in his being only to return the next instant, sensing the presence of the abomination within Ulysses.
Ulysses dropped to his knees as he gasped for breath while still holding on to the Codex.
"What was that?" He muttered after managing to catch his breath before shifting his attention to the Codex which thrummed with hidden power.
He got back on his feet and sincerely wondered if he was doing the right thing. Find the newest release on novel·fire·net
Was there truly a need for such an item to enter Eventide?
For some reason, he had a feeling it was best to drop it, but ultimately decided against it and then traveled back to where Kallias and the others were waiting.
"Got it," Ulysses remarked while showing the Codex to everyone.
They all marveled at the sight, with some even reaching out to grab it, only for Ulysses to keep it out of reach.
"Let’s get out of here first." He said.
"Agreed," Kallias remarked. "Everyone, hold hands."
And so, they did as he instructed, after which, Ulysses traveled with them, returning to Eventide.