Chapter 11: Wonder

Dhein and Thevon had met once before, about seven or so years ago. It was when Princess Shina graduated from the imperial academy middle school at the top of her batch. That day, the emperor had hosted a nationwide celebration and invited all of the clans to feast inside the castle.

The scions, or even the clans themselves, had barely accompanied each other unless there was a problem that could only be solved through cooperation among the clans. And for the past few years, they were reuniting even less. If it wasn’t for formality, the clans wouldn’t even bother meeting one another these days.

Even now that the five clan heirs had reunited for the supposed tournament, they still barely spoke. Maybe that was due to the purpose of their rare meeting. A tournament, in nature, was not a place to make friends.

From what Dhein could remember, the talented mage was extremely mysterious yet unconcealed. While the scion of light never meant to hide anything, most of what he was capable of would unfortunately remain unknown to the world.

And right now, Dhein could still hardly stomach standing face to face with the Light Clan’s scion.

Thevon Luxier stopped in front of Dhein. The arcane mage had been one of the few who were able to look him in the eye and not show any signs of disturbance.

Even Zarria, who stood beside him, kept quiet. Perhaps, she understood that this was a business between the heirs to the two strongest clans. Even though she had the power and skills to match the scion of light, she still acknowledged the fact that the only two who could stand on equal grounds right now were her brother and him.

Dhein turned around completely to face Thevon. Fiorelle, who was still recovering, was standing behind him.

If there was one or two things in this world that he was confident about, it would be his great knowledge about all of the clans and his ability to put on a mask.

After a few seconds of silence, Dhein spoke with a cold, distant tone.

“Greetings, Lord Luxier. Do you need anything?”

Thevon’s eyes scanned the three before answering.

“I appreciate you for asking, Lord Theocheirós, but no. I was investigating around the outskirts when I suddenly heard the commotion, so I came here to check. Is everything alright?”

The scion of light’s gaze fell on the blonde girl behind Dhein. There was visible curiosity in his eyes.

Dhein found this man’s thoughts ever hard to read, and that was the one thing he really hated.

Normally, Dhein would face a person with clear intentions, be it good or bad. It was far easier to find the right words to control what the other person would think that way.

He didn’t know how sharp Thevon was and how quickly he would be able to realize the truth. Even how he would react upon finding the truth was a mystery to Dhein — one that he wouldn’t mind remaining unsolved.

After a moment of silence, Dhein replied.

“It seems that the sudden distress that Lady Fiorelle has experienced was due to her receiving a revelation.”

Dhein could have sworn he saw the lids of Thevon’s eyes twitch. He continued.

“I understand how it must have startled you as it did me. This is also my first time witnessing a Wixorn displaying their unique power.”

Thevon nodded.

“I see…”

Moments later, he added:

“What was the vision about?”

’So he’s curious about that too,’ Dhein thought.

He was initially worried that it might be about his secrets, and Thevon being here to hear it didn’t make things any better. But judging by how Fiorelle was acting, it seemed that it was, once again, a vague truth that she barely understood. So, Dhein was thinking more about how he would use this opportunity to trick her again.

He turned to Fiorelle.

“That was what we were about to find out.”

They looked at the blonde girl who was still taking deep breaths. She was calmer now, but the traces of pain remained in her face. After a few seconds, she spoke.

“I saw a God.”

Dhein’s eyebrows furrowed. He could feel Zarria and Thevon were just as intrigued as him.

However, he believed that among them, he was the most knowledgeable in this field. He had spent a great amount of time learning all about Gods and the divine realm, after all.

“Who is this God?” he asked.

Fiorelle let out a sigh and then looked down.

“I’m not sure… but she was extremely beautiful. She had glowing hair that flowed like white flames. She was very gentle and kind.”

That wasn’t enough information for Dhein to go off of, so he waited for more of Fiorelle’s description.

“But she was hiding somewhere dark. Her ankle was chained to a diamond hand and… she looked like she was waiting for someone.”

Dhein sighed quietly.

’That is very vague indeed. Even I can’t make anything out of that information,’ he thought.

Fiorelle continued.

“Also, the vision was in two parts, to my surprise. This has never happened before.”

“What was the second part about?” Zarria asked.

Fiorelle looked at her, hesitating. Soon, she proceeded to talk.

“I saw the imperial city. Then, the spirit of truth took me underground. Deep below the palace, I saw an ancient dragon, sleeping soundly in the dark.”

Everything fell silent as she said those words.

“That’s all.”

The noises around them started to fade as Dhein began to spiral into deep thinking. He knew some big truths that no other person did, and he was also confident in his knowledge. But even then, he still failed to comprehend what Fiorelle’s vision could possibly mean.

A god with flaming white hair chained to a diamond hand? In all the books that he had read, none of the gods that he knew fitted those descriptions. What did that vision have to do with anything that had been going on?

But the latter part of the vision was even stranger, and fairly terrifying.

Did that mean that the empire was secretly hosting a dragon underground? If that was the case, Dhein would immediately prepare to leave the country.

His thoughts were cut short by Thevon’s sudden question.

“Lord Theocheirós, what do you think could that mean?”

Dhein turned to him, a serious expression on his face. He was no longer sure about what to do.

Should he continue tricking Fiorelle to help the princess, or was there an even more important matter that needed their attention?

Zarria cupped her chin, gazing downwards. There was also a subtle seriousness in her eyes.

“Does this mean that the empire is hiding a dragon somewhere?” she muttered.

Bringing up that subject again caused the mood to plummet.

Dragons were unfairly powerful creatures that could easily wipe out an entire country in one day. They were invulnerable to physical attacks and also resisted magic damage like it was nothing.

It was said that these giant fire-breathing creatures were originally created to be weapons of gods used against gods. When the celestial war took place in the heavens, divine armies mounted dragons and used them to annihilate their enemies.

Now that they have lost their purpose after one side of the heavens won, these dragons were thrown to the mortal world, allowed to live among its tiny inhabitants.

In this world, there was only one person in history who had been recorded to defeat a dragon, and that was the four hundredth successor to the Divinity Clan, Dheinyrus Theocheirós.

Of course, there was no way Dhein defeated a dragon. It was all just a misunderstanding. The dragon in the forest was already dead when Dhein found it. People thought he killed the massive beast because of several factors such as the position and how it died just a couple of seconds before Dhein took the core.

Think about it now, Dhein couldn’t help but be terrified at the thought that someone was able to eviscerate a dragon. And that ’someone’ was living among them because of how close the scene was to their Manor.

“I don’t think it does,” Fiorelle replied, shaking her head.

“The visions I receive have never been literal. It’s probably a metaphor about something that has been going on in the empire, but I don’t know.”

Dhein wished she was right. Even if the five clans were to work together right now to fend off a full-grown dragon, they still wouldn’t stand a chance.

“But let’s not rule out that possiblity,” Dhein said nonetheless. They couldn’t risk it.

Thevon looked at him, a bit shocked.

“Are you saying there could really be a dragon hiding under the palace?”

Dhein sighed.

“It’s still not outside the realm of possibilities,” he answered.

“Remaining vigilant wouldn’t hurt.”

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