Chapter 34: Without A Soul

Everyone kneeled before Shina Venilon as she and Dhein entered the city of Selense. They were eagerly welcomed inside the king’s castle to celebrate the princess’ return, but upon seeing what was behind them, everyone gasped in shock.

“Is that a dragon!?” they exclaimed.

As expected, introducing a dragon to humans wasn’t going to be simple by any means.

Wild murmurings spread through the crowd.

Too tired to address them, the two walked the road, escorted by the guards. They entered the castle of King Garvill.

Upon stepping onto the pristine red carpet, they were immediately met by Fiorelle.

“Dhein!”

Her gaze shifted towards Shina. And then to the little dragon beside her. The blonde girl’s eyes widened.

“That’s…” she muttered, unable to form a sentence.

Dhein opened his mouth to speak.

“Fiorelle, do you have anything to report to me?”

She was silent for a moment. When she was done collecting her thoughts, she replied.

“Yes, but that can wait. I know you two have gone through something and that you’re tired. Please rest first and then we can talk some other time.”

Dhein nodded.

The king’s servants were positively accommodating. Everything they might need was provided to them in a generous but humble manner, making sure that their guests felt at home.

This was one of the reasons why Dhein loved this empire so much. Kingdoms and nations, despite having their own identities and cultures, were loyal to one emperor. The empire was built in trust and camaraderie. No ruler of a particular land claimed it as their own, but rather, they acknowledged that they were part of a larger, singular empire. They came together to build a safer, richer place for humanity to thrive in a world full of mystery and horror.

And that was the reason why they must fix this crisis once and for all.

Dhein submerged his body from the neck down, to the luxurious bathtub exclusively provided for him. The temperature of the water was perfectly set, washing away all the aches and soreness in his muscles.

There was so much left to do. They needed to find all the people who had eaten the cursed food and maybe try to cure them. The investigation wasn’t over yet, either. Queen Garvill’s condition was also a concern. Remi was a pretty complicated matter, too.

Dhein let out a sigh.

’I wonder how Zarria is doing…’

The traitors and corruption within their clan were the issues that bugged him the most. Once everything was settled here, he wanted to go home and fix everything by himself.

’Father is in the Tianmin Empire right now, we can’t rely on him. Mother who is currently the acting clan head, is also occupied in handling the external and internal affairs of the clan and keeping everything together,’ Dhein thought.

Indeed, they had to take this matter into their hands.

Also, there was one more thing that he needed to face.

Dhein focused on his inner subconscious — into the deepest, most untouched corners of his mind where his forgotten memories and buried thoughts were cast.

That was where he lay.

Upon touching on that realm of his mind, Dhein heard a foreign voice echoing in his head.

’Oh?’

“What the…” he uttered, his face lingering in shock and confusion.

A second later, the voice rang softly inside his head again.

’You managed to reach out to me. Commendable.’

He could hear the fallen god’s voice inside his head clearly now. And it seemed like it could also hear him.

“Can you hear me?” Dhein asked to confirm.

’Of course I can. I hear everything.’

Dhein’s eyebrows furrowed.

“There goes my privacy, I guess,” he muttered to himself.

’Don’t mind me, I don’t care about your life enough to listen in your conversations,’ the fallen god remarked.

Dhein shifted in the tub, lifting his body higher from the water level to sit upright.

“So, you can hear me but can’t see anything, right?” he asked, hoping that the answer was ’yes.’

’Yeah, that’s right. And it’s not like I’d care to watch your mundane, worthless life anyway.’

Irritated by this god’s attitude, Dhein scoffed.

He then spoke again.

“So why are you inside my body? And why am I able to suppress and unleash you at will? Is this the awakening I have been waiting for?”

’Heavens no! I am trying to take over your body for myself. I don’t know how you’re doing this to me, but I can’t seem to gain the control for your consciousness.’

For a few seconds, Dhein fell silent, thinking.

Weird things began happening when he touched the queen’s hand. Could this be the same god that was trying to possess her?

“Wait… are you the god the queen has been fighting off?” he asked.

’Oh, you mean that stubborn woman. Yes, but I couldn’t take over her.’

The god shifted vessels from the queen to Dhein. That means the queen had already been cured!

“But why did you choose me?”

After a couple of seconds of silence, the god replied.

’Because you have no soul.’

Dhein blinked a couple of times, processing the words he heard in his head.

“What did you just say?”

’You don’t have a soul. I don’t know how you’re even alive, but that’s the truth. That’s how I easily entered your consciousness and took over earlier. But for some reason, you can control when to summon me or suppress me.’

Dhein felt the blood draining from his face.

’What the fuck is this god saying? I don’t have a soul?’

But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Usually, before a god could enter one’s body, the original owner of that body’s soul would be challenged to fight for its place. Winning would mean they got to keep their body, losing would mean their soul would be banished.

Not only didn’t Dhein get to fight against the god’s soul for his body, but when he got possessed, he stayed inside his body and was even able to spectate what was happening. He was fully aware.

More importantly, that would explain why he was powerless…

A member of the Theocheirós Clan gained their power by connecting their soul to the divine. And so, if someone in the clan had no soul to begin with, naturally, they won’t gain celestial powers either.

Dhein’s blood suddenly ran cold, his heart racing.

Loads of questions appeared in his mind, but he didn’t even know who to ask them about.

“You’re free to leave my body at any time. If I have complete control when to summon or suppress you, then why are you still here? You can just search for another vessel instead.”

The god laughed.

’No, you are perfect for me. Actually, I have discovered something deep inside your mind.’

Dhein frowned.

“What is it?”

The god replied.

’There’s a miniature world inside your consciousness. Unlike the queen and any other human where their insides are empty and dark, yours is… curiously different.’

’In this miniature world, I get to build what I like to call the ’constellation ladder’. When this task is completed, I can fully possess your body.’

Dhein gulped.

“And how do you build it?” he asked nervously.

After a moment of silence, the god replied.

’Every time I kill what you consider an enemy, a new star will appear in your consciousness. Once complete, I would then assemble those stars into the right constellation.’

’When that is finished, I will be reborn.’

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