BXBX NOVEL Chapter 441 The Book Of Souls
One week later:
POV Vesuvius:
The pages of the ancient book bound in the old, dried skin turned themselves. The purple-glowing letters on its yellowed paper shifted and rearranged. The aura of death, threatening to decay the surroundings, leaked from the radiant ink.
The pair of shining eyes darted from one corner to the other while the dragon tried to comprehend the text\'s shifting patterns. Each word, each shift, each pattern, and each page containing not just instructions but also emotions, sensations, and feelings they evoked within his mind.
Most of them looked like gibberish, causing headaches to the dragon just by looking at them.
The time ticked slowly, the previously fast river turning into slowly crawling mud. It was like hypnosis, each shift directing his mind into a subconscious state. The changing patterns slowly lead his mind away from the physical world.
Then his eyes opened as he felt it. He felt his two souls, the one burning hot and the second freezing cold.
\'I can feel my souls...\' The previously abstract concept of souls was no longer as mysterious as he could now feel them.
He closed his eyes and focused on the feeling. It was dull and distant, but it was there.
Immediately, multiple pages turned by themself as if the book was alive, a few chapters of the previously unreadable gibberish becoming readable as his two souls pulsed.
He looked at the page again, but it was gibberish as before, \'No, they aren\'t readable. What is this?\' Yet, he felt the meaning of each letter.
He focused even deeper until it clicked within him as he realized what was behind it.
\'I am not reading it with my eyes. Instead, my two souls just understand it?\'
The surreal feeling of reading not with his eyes but feeling each letter with his soul confused him.
His mind stopped as he realized what was on the page, his pupils slightly dilating, \'This, this might be what I need...., coincidence? No, I don\'t believe in coincidences like this, it is more likely someone\'s manipulation.\'
Even he wasn\'t as arrogant as to think his luck was so great he would exactly gain the piece of knowledge he was searching for.
Suddenly the connection with his servants throbbed, and the new information entered his mind.
He opened his eyes, the images and thoughts streaming into his mind through the glowing gate of the spell.
\'So they have found you. Yes, this is definitely not a coincidence.\'
With a slap, the ancient book closed, and the aura of death subsided, sucked back into the old leather cover.
\'The dragon god wants your soul, and they will get it.\'
The golden light flashed, and Vesuvius appeared high above his city. His giant body shrunk in seconds, and lightning exploded around him, the purple solar storm cruising around his wings.
Then he shot toward the horizon, the trail of lightning and purple solar matter lingering in his tracks.
POV ???:
Fire quietly crackled in the fireplace, and an aged man rested in his armchair. The rain drummed on his windows, and the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs calmed his mind.
His old wrinkly hands, still filled with strength even after the years, were firmly gripping a glass of wine as he reminisced about the old time with a smile on his face.
He traveled the world with his friends, exploring the vast deserts, tall mountains, and green seas of trees. Yet it all ended, making the regret and grief sting in his heart, and his smile vanished, \'That accursed gold. All the grief it caused. So many of us died to get a little bit more.\'
The greed broke their party. He was rich now, but his life was hollow and without meaning. He murdered his friends, distanced from the surviving ones, while constantly looking over his shoulder.
\'What?\'
Suddenly a shiver passed down his spine, compelling him to look up at the ceiling. There was nothing, only the white and smooth stone.
\'The wine must be getting on my old body.\' He closed his eyes, tired of the endless rain. Even though he was scared of the nightmares of the golden statue that haunted him since that day, he was too tired to resist anymore.
POV Vesuvius:
A large town appeared on the horizon, its previously shabby walls replaced by tall, thick stone walls with glowing runes engraved in their foundation. The castle in the center threw oppressive shadows over the streets.
However, everything was quiet and peaceful, with the common folk walking up and down the streets without worry. Everything was clean and shiny, even the previously haggard houses replaced by beautiful, three stories complex built of smooth stone.
The dragon hidden within the storm clouds, his body small and the flames around him extinguished, observed the town with interest and nostalgia.
\'It has changed a lot... the first town I have ever come to contact with.\' Even after all the years, the sentiment remained, \'They have joined me as my first human town. They deserve their privilege of surviving this cataclysm intact.\'
Without any extra delay, a glowing spell circle lit up in his mind, the link forming toward a distant soul.
"Come, Alesia, I need your assistance. Enter my divine kingdom and I will open you a portal." Only a short intent of affirmation came as the response.
The golden light flashed behind the dragon, and an elliptical portal showing apocalyptic scenery on the other side opened, masked by the clouds swirling around it.
His aura pulsed for a fraction of a second, causing the entire town to freeze momentarily, searching around in confusion.
The cold and lifeless aura pulse responded, and a small black dot shot across the open fields between them, quickly approaching him. The mist spread through the fields, the bugs and flies dropping death.
"I require your assistance as it comes from our deal." His voice, directed by his domain, reached the approaching shadowy mist.
A sickly old man in a black coat, holding a walking crane, appeared out of the mist below the dragon. The cold aura carried the sensation of staring into an open grave or the last few seconds before dying.
"Who is going to die?"
"No, this time I want you to craft something."
The golden portal flashed, and the smaller dragon with shining green emeralds forming a crown around their head appeared the next second, flapping their wings.
All three beings stared at each other, their auras clashing, trying to repel each other.