Chapter 201: Shivers
Things went on like this for a long time and Vacuse was content and happy. What was there not to be happy about? He had all he wanted, all the food, all the women, and all the riches.
He was an Emperor.
And today, just like always, he sat on his throne to hear his ministers on how to better make the people of the world happy.
"I say, we should implement it already! Why should we allow some people to control such a vast amount of riches? With this policy, everyone will be equal! We’ll all have the same money... except you, of course, Your Majesty." One of the ministers said.
Vacuse quite liked the idea and he nodded with a smile. "I see. Then what are we waiting for..."
"Your Majesty, we can’t do that! What of the people that work harder than others to make their money? What of the people that spent their whole lives building up their wealth?
"The monthly entitled payment is already enough for everyone! With that, nobody can blame the world for their poverty if they mismanaged it!"
Vacuse also liked that other idea and so he nodded.
But before he could say anything, something happened. The room suddenly quieted down as someone walked in. It was one of the ministers as well, but he was dressed differently.
He wore black instead of the bright sunny clothes that the others wore, and his expression was anything but happy.
The other ministers did not like him.
When he got toward Vacuse’s throne, he bowed. "My lord, Dragon Heir!"
Immediately, the man spoke, and everything and everyone froze—literally, including Vacuse—and a strange vague expression flickered on their faces before everything returned to normal.
In that moment when the man spoke, he had already disappeared as if he was never in the room. The minister with the black robe had disappeared.
But for some reason, Vacuse couldn’t concentrate properly on the arguments of the ministers. Either way, he was content to be where he was.
His life as the Emperor of the world continued. Now and then, the minister with the black robe would appear and say some words that made the whole world stop, and then he would be ejected again.
It happened again and again. Each time left Vacuse dissatisfied and strangely angry without knowing the cause, which always made him cut the meeting with the ministers short.
And as this continued, Vacuse the Emperor would find himself saying some strange words that he couldn’t accurately describe. "Soulbearers? What is that?"
"Void Dragon?"
"Vorrakyn?"
The more he mumbled the words, the more he found everything around him strange. He felt hollowed, as if there was a great pit of emptiness inside him that couldn’t be filled.
All the smiles around him began to irritate him, and soon, he stopped going to the daily meetings.
Vacuse the Emperor began to think.
’Something is terribly wrong.’
It was his own voice, and yet it wasn’t. The voice sounded the same but the intonation was different. It was harsh and filled with anger and violence that was covered up with a smile.
But somehow, when Vacuse the Emperor heard his own voice that sounded strange, he instantly felt safe and secure.
That was when he saw that black-robed minister again. "Brat. Are you awake now?"
And he was.
Vacuse Vorrakyn nodded, his eyes gleaming. "What a tedious dream."
Vacuse was now aware, and so the dream shattered.
Reality twisted around him like broken mirrors, and everything went blank.
This time when Vacuse opened his eyes, he felt darkness pressing around him from all directions. He tried to speak but cold water rushed into his mouth and ended his gasp.
He was drowning.
He flapped his hands around, trying to use his void energy to burst out of whatever he was in... but there was no void energy. Panic was starting to fill him now as his body was trying to force him to breathe.
He swam upward but was met with a wall of sticky substance.
Just as he was about to give up, the water around him suddenly rushed, throwing him around before he was slammed into a rough ground.
Finally, air.
He gasped, his throat burning as he took in great gulps of air, coughing and spitting. He sat there in a puddle, just breathing.
"Get up, you rat! Get out of here before I throw you in there again!"
It was only then that Vacuse raised his head and looked around his location.
He froze. And shuddered.
He was in what seemed like a big room. It was dark and humid with the faint smell of rot.
That wasn’t what made Vacuse stare in horror though. It was what was in the room.
Hundreds of egg-shaped fleshy translucent living pods attached to thick vein-like tubes lined the wall, hanging on each other like grapes. In each pod was a human, or a living being of other races. They all floated in the pod with smiles on their faces while their bodies were nothing more than sticks.
Some were still fleshy, but most were extremely thin and skeletal. And they all had dreamy looks on their faces, as if they were having the best time of their lives.
The sight troubled Vacuse so strongly that he shivered and felt something that he hadn’t felt for a long time... fear.
He looked down at himself. He was thin, but not as extreme as the others. Even then, the thought of having spent even an hour in one of those things made him tremble.
And... who knew how many hours he’d spent in there?
Before he could even think of anything else, his cheek flared with pain. "Don’t you hear me? I said you should get out of here! They’ll find you a new job. There’s never a shortage of jobs that can be given to a slave!"
Vacuse finally looked at the man that slapped him.
It was a hulking man with a bald head and cruel eyes.
Vacuse took a deep breath and forced himself unsteadily to his feet, his red eyes flashing with anger.
He might have spent some time in those weird pods and not even known what was going on, but how dare a random man slap him!
Vacuse clenched his hand into a fist to rain void spears... when he suddenly staggered. His voice came out like dry leaves. "What...?"
His Void power—what made him a Soulbearer... Rith, was gone.