God's Necklace

A painful memory made his heart pound so fast. Of all the memories he had, the worst one always seemed to resurface.

Mahendra instinctively pulled his arm back. His face was pale with panic, covered in a cold sweat, and his whole body was shaking. At this moment, he found it difficult to control his emotions, which had become unstable again.

"That damn Morpheus! This is all because of him. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be like this! Next time... if I meet him... I'll kill him!"

His vision blurred, and he couldn't see his surroundings at all. Mahendra, who normally had a stable temperament, now seemed to have gone mad.

Wandering King and Nephilim approached, observing Mahendra's state with caution.

"You know, blaming someone else for your own mistakes is an act of cowardice—something only someone who runs away would do," Wandering King said.

"What?!" Hearing that, Mahendra's voice rose, and he glared sharply at the blind man.

"What's wrong? Still want to argue? You can't even see your surroundings clearly."

"You don't know anything! That insolent Morpheus dug up my past, making me remember who I am."

"Then—"

"But only my bad side! And now he's making me do this without realizing it. Again!" Mahendra replied furiously. He was fuming, and his breathing was heavy.

"Boy! You're blaming someone else?"

"Besides, this is all his fault anyway!"

He looked at his blood-soaked hands. At that moment, memories of the past and present overlapped, making him believe that what happened to Jasmine was also happening to the golden-eyed girl.

"Oh?! But in my opinion, you're the one who did it yourself," Wandering King said in a firm voice. "You're the one who killed her, not someone else!" He then pointed his finger at Mahendra.

Mahendra was instantly startled. He fell silent for a moment. Then his expression became crestfallen as he lowered his head even more. Silence enveloped the area around them.

Even a slight breeze couldn't break the silence.

Nephilim glanced at Wandering King with a look of unease. He seemed to want to say something, but seeing the deep silence around them, he changed his mind. He then sighed and left.

"Mahendra, look...?"

Only then did Mahendra realize that the situation wasn't the same as before. Slowly, the hole in Ningsih's stomach healed, returning to its original state as if she had never been injured.

"Ning... are you okay?" He hesitated for a moment before calling her by that name. Mahendra held both of her shoulders, worried about her condition.

"No... problem," she said, her speech still a bit slurred.

"You stupid boy!" Without warning, Wandering King tied Mahendra up with a rope and dragged him into the room. Before leaving, Wandering King told Mahendra not to leave the room for a while.

Ningsih, Liliana, and some of her crew went to see Mahendra in the room.
It was clear how Liliana's crew viewed Mahendra—their opinion of him hadn't changed at all. They still thought he was a dangerous person, and if Ningsih hadn't been there, no one might have survived his brutality.

Mahendra sighed, not feeling angry because he knew his actions had been truly monstrous. He wouldn't deny it, even though he felt a deep hurt.

Ningsih approached slowly, then began to run a little to hug Mahendra with a joyful expression. Ningsih laughed and said she missed him, and Mahendra's face instantly became warm and red.

"Hey, she's so clumsy!" Liliana, feeling jealous, quickly tried to pull the girl away from him, but Ningsih's embrace only tightened.

"Hey, get out of the way, all of you!" Wandering King shouted as he returned, carrying a rusty chain necklace.

Ningsih sat on Mahendra's right side, while Liliana stood on his left.

"Mr. Wandering King, this kind of rope doesn't work on me. You should know that best," Mahendra said.

"I know. You went on a rampage and almost wiped us all out, a regular rope wouldn't be enough to tie you up. That's why I prepared this."

He showed the chain necklace. Mahendra glanced at Liliana, his gaze seemingly asking, Why is that thing on his ship?

"Master, I've never restrained a person or an animal with that thing." Liliana shook her head.

"I found it on a pirate ship that kidnapped me."

Everyone wondered in their minds when and why a slave-like necklace would be kept on his body.

"It is a former slave necklace," Wandering King said, reading all their thoughts.
Everyone was shocked when their thoughts were read so clearly. 

Meanwhile, Nephilim, who was secretly eavesdropping from outside the room, just shook his head.

"White Knight, can you help me put on the necklace?" Wandering King asked Nephilim.

"Don't call me that!" he shouted in a panic.

"It's much cooler than Nephilim," he said casually.

A light enveloped the entire slave necklace, not only giving it a mysterious power but also making it look a bit better. It looked like new.

"I have a bad feeling about this. What is he going to do with that necklace?" Mahendra muttered.

"Can't you put it on yourself?" Nephilim asked.

"I'm blind," he replied, making an excuse.
Of course, no one there thought the man was truly blind, but no one dared to contradict him.

The chained necklace was then placed around Mahendra's neck, with the light still surrounding the object for a few minutes. The light felt warm and comforting. For a moment, Mahendra felt at ease with the necklace.

"Wait, what?!" The feeling of safety and comfort didn't last long, and Mahendra was shocked by the slave necklace that had now trapped his neck.

Smiling, Wandering King said, "A rope isn't enough. That's why I'm giving you God's Necklace!"

What kind of crazy person says something like that so gleefully? Only Wandering King, of course. He even called a slave necklace a god's necklace.

"You! I'm not a fool who'll let you put something disgusting like this on me!" Mahendra protested, struggling to break free.

"You want to go to the Upper Realm, right? This is an insurance so you don't lose control when you're there. But it's only useful once."

"I still want to see all my memories from my past life, but... this... is so immoral," Mahendra grumbled.

Wandering King laughed for a moment, then handed the end of the chain to Ningsih.

"If you lose control, your location will be immediately exposed, and your enemies there will lock your soul away."

"They all want to kill me."

"You can't be killed. Even if they kill you, you'll be reborn immediately. That's why they'll definitely lock your soul away," Wandering King explained.