Both sides were at loggerheads, with battle on the verge of breaking out.
"It's been a long time, Morax! We haven't seen each other in over a thousand years, have we?"
If his previous actions had surprised Morax, then Azhdaha's tone of voice just now made him somewhat incredulous.
"Azhdaha... you?"
"As you can see, Morax, I have regained my memories."
"How is this possible? The erode of time is irreversible."
"Heh heh, nothing is impossible in this world. I once thought I would live out my remaining days in a haze of hatred and humiliation, but thanks to the young friend on my back, he helped me retrieve my memories."
"Yuto? It was you? You can actually reverse the erode of time?"
Azhdaha's answer and Lord Rex Lapis's question left the Adepti present utterly shocked. As long-lived beings, each of them was over three thousand years old and deeply understood the harm that the erode of time caused them.
Due to the long years, they had experienced too much and forgotten too much. The characteristics of living beings became increasingly blurred. Simply put, they became indifferent to everything, finding everything meaningless, even death. Then, they would end their lives in idle thoughts.
Their friend, Narukami Ogosho, although everyone agreed he had passed away, as an Adeptus who had experienced the Archon War three thousand years ago and the Battle of The Chasm five hundred years ago, his sudden passing might also have been due to the erode of time.
This was why the Adepti looked at Yuto with new eyes. Yuto felt a little embarrassed under their gaze, scratched his head, and explained.
"Azhdaha is a Geo Dragon of the earth. Although the memories of rock are easily forgotten, the memories themselves have not dissipated; they are merely deeply hidden. I, too, by chance, helped Azhdaha retrieve his memories."
"My young friend is too modest. Cloud Retainer, Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper, Ganyu, Vigilant Yaksha, and this one… is that little qilin? Why are you all here? I thought you had encountered some powerful enemy and rushed over."
"Hmph! It's all because of you! You suddenly escaped from beneath the Wolvendom Tree. We Adepti ran ourselves ragged searching for you throughout Liyue. With no other choice, Lord Rex Lapis dispersed the surrounding mortals and unleashed his full aura, hoping to lure you here so we could all join forces and re-seal you."
"…So, you are all gathered here today not because of the Gods in The Chasm, but to re-seal me?"
The Adepti exchanged glances. If Azhdaha were still in that eroded, maddened state, then naturally they would have to seal it. But now that it had regained its memories and its consciousness was clear, it seemed there was no need to seal it anymore.
However, what they said didn't count; they still had to see what Lord Rex Lapis intended. They then uniformly looked at Lord Rex Lapis, who was also deep in thought.
"By universal reason, Azhdaha, you indeed violated the contract we made. I am the God of Contracts; I absolutely cannot do anything that goes against a contract, so…"
"Wait, Lord Rex Lapis, even if Azhdaha violated the contract at that time, it had already lost its memories and forgotten about the matter. Is an Azhdaha who has lost its memories and an Azhdaha who possesses memories the same dragon?"
Yuto's words made Lord Rex Lapis ponder for a long time. The question Yuto raised was essentially a philosophical one: which is more important, consciousness or the physical body?
The premise of upholding a contract is to be aware of the existence of the contract itself. Clearly, Azhdaha from a thousand years ago had been so eroded that it remembered nothing, forgetting the contract itself. At this point, for him to still demand that it fulfill the contract was completely unrealistic.
"A contract is a contract!"
"Very well, did the terms of your previous contract with Azhdaha explicitly state the duration of punishment? After Azhdaha made a contract with you, it upheld the contract for a thousand years. After violating the contract, it was suppressed and sealed by you for a thousand years. Is this punishment not enough?
Furthermore, he did not leave the seal voluntarily; I took him away. The responsibility does not lie with Azhdaha. In terms of emotion, reason, and contract, there is no reason for you to hold it against him again."
"Are you… exploiting loopholes in my contract?"
"Hmph! Liyue's laws themselves have been continuously updated and improved over these three thousand seven hundred years. The contract you signed with Azhdaha thousands of years ago, when viewed today, is already full of loopholes. What's so strange about that?"
------------------------------
"Behind the scenes, there's a world of exclusive content waiting for you on Patreon. Get early access, to see the latest chapters!!! That's where it all happens.
👉 Check it out: [patreon.com/TripleCrown07]