The same darkness the imperial capital had dreaded found its way to the Selense Kingdom. Fear dominated the air. The streets had become completely empty as the citizens of the kingdom refused to leave their homes.
It turns out that the traitor in the throne room had eaten the cursed food and had been under the control of the terrorists for quite some time now. According to his former comrades they went and investigated his home. They saw several pieces of evidence of him sharing classified information to an unknown receiver over the last few days.
Just as Dhein expected, he wasn't the only one looking for Shina. It was obvious that even their enemies had also arrived in this kingdom, and they were coming for her.
Dhein took a deep breath as he observed the streets be filled with paranoid soldiers instead of people going about their peaceful daily lives.
From behind, he heard Fiorelle's voice.
"Dhein..."
He turned to her. The girl looked tired and a bit sullen. She continued.
"The queen doesn't have an ordinary illness. I found out that a god is possessing her."
'A what?!'
He blinked, doubting his own ears.
"So this is why you urged me to come with you," Fiorelle added.
If what Fiorelle said was true, then the queen was beyond saving. The gods who had lost the war and survived had been cast to this earth, wandering aimlessly in search of a vessel. There was nothing in this world that could stop the fallen god from eventually taking over the queen, at least none that he knew of.
According to all the books Dhein had read, it would be better for them to kill the queen now than to let the god take control.
This sort of situation happened very rarely across generations. Dhein wasn't even expecting to live through one. But when a god does succeed in stealing a human vessel, it never bodes well for humanity.
"I don't think I can do this, Dhein," Fiorelle added.
"I'm not strong enough."
Their problems were piling up. As if the terrorists turning people into monsters wasn't already the worst that could happen, a god just had to go and make everything harder!
'How could I tell them that we should kill the queen without being hanged?!'
There were also no signs of Shina. Dhein dreaded the thought of her being already kidnapped as they spoke.
'What's with these monarch women being such a pain in the ass?'
Dhein sighed. He wondered if Fiorelle also already knew what the best course of action was at this point.
They had to kill the queen before the fallen god could fully take over her body.
He looked at her and then spoke.
"Take me to her."
***
Moments later, Dhein and Fiorelle were standing on the queen's bedside. The king was sitting next to her, holding her hand.
"How could this be?" he mumbled with sadness in his voice.
"My love has been suffering all this time, and I didn't even know... I'm so sorry, Margaret... Please hang on, I'm sure Lord Theocheirós will be able to help us."
Dhein compressed his lips, his gaze darting away from the king's eyes when he looked at him pleadingly.
The child of spirits looked at him, her eyes full of questions.
He opened his mouth to speak.
"What do you think, Fiorelle?"
She sighed.
"I've done everything I could. The god is just too strong for me to fight."
Dhein stared at her, hiding the grimace that was trying to cross his face.
'That's not what I was asking. Tell them, Fiorelle. Tell them that we don't have a choice but to kill the queen.'
It wasn't like Dhein didn't feel anything about the thought of killing a human being, someone like the queen herself, no less. But what else could they do? The moment the god entered her body, it had already been too late.
In his silence, Fiorelle continued.
"Unless we have the Soul Liberator, there's pretty much nothing I can do."
'What the heck is a soul liberator?!' he cried internally.
The king stood up and then said:
"Please, Lord Theocheirós. Save my wife. As the God Tamer, this should be an easy feat for you!"
Dhein compressed his lips and looked away. His hope was diminishing by the second. He felt that at any moment, they would realize how much of a fraud he really was and it made his intestines twist inside.
Ignoring what the king said, he turned to Fiorelle.
"If you can no longer do anything, then what should you do?" he asked.
The question left the child of spirits in a stupor. But Dhein completely understood, it was a stupid question after all. He was just trying to make her say that the only solution was death.
Fiorelle stared at the scion of divinity. As always, his words were ones that made her ponder.
When she can't do anything, what should she do?
She felt like she'd heard this question before, but she just couldn't recall when.
"I... I don't know..." she muttered in shame.
After she said that, Dhein just stared at her with his sharp, emotionless eyes. She never gave his gaze much thought before, but now that they had been through some things together, she somehow understood his emotions behind it.
'He's trying to tell me something, but I can't figure out what it is.'
Moments later, Dhein walked up to the bedside of the suffering queen. He sat beside her while looking at her face contorted in pain.
For the first time, Fiorelle saw a new emotion crossing Dhein's face and she couldn't help but be mesmerized.
The pain in his beautiful golden eyes looked almost ethereal. There was a subtle grief hiding behind his stoic demeanor as he observed the queen struggling with her soul.
And then, Dhein took her hand. Fiorelle's eyes opened wide in shock after seeing what happened next.
The queen suddenly stopped grunting in pain. Her face had become relaxed and she breathed more steadily. It looked as if she was merely sleeping.
'What... did he just do?'
Dhein looked at her before standing up. He then said:
"Look into her again. Trust in your own abilities this time."
With that, the God Tamer exited the queen's chamber, leaving the king and Fiorelle in a state of pure shock.
This shouldn't be that surprising. He was the strongest Theocheirós who had the power to conquer heaven itself. So what, if he had just banished a god as easily as he did?
Fiorelle was reminded how huge the difference in power was between their clans.
Dhein walked out of the castle as fast as he could, his breath was trembling.
'What the hell was that?' he thought, his mind racing.
Upon touching the queen's hand, he had felt something unseen just looking at him, watching him with pure malice. Dhein had never been so afraid in his life.
It was the primordial fear of the unknown.
He even almost snapped at Fiorelle. Luckily, he only managed to tell her that she should handle the problem by herself.
When he got out of the city, he walked for a while longer until his feet took him in the middle of the forest.
For some reason, when he left the castle, the dreadful feeling of being watched had stopped.
He stood there amidst the nature in silence, trying to calm his nerves down.
Until he heard rustling in the bushes.
'Oh, what is it again...'
He turned his head slightly and then saw a familiar figure. Draped in dark cloak, head covered in hood, face hidden behind a mask.
Shadowblade had come forward.
When the mysterious assassin spoke, he felt his heart skip a beat.
"I have arrived, Dheinyrus," said Shadowblade with a soft, alluring voice that was all too familiar.
Shadowblade removed the hood and the mask, revealing a fair skin, captivating blue eyes, and a flowing silvery white hair.
Dhein's breath hitched as he stared at the person before him.