Death… And Me

Chapter 3213: Releasing Diliy

Sister Orb acted carefully. That Soul Worm was almost fully merged with Diliyʼs Soul, and its tendrils spread like thin threads to every corner. Even with her meticulous job, damage was unavoidable. Thatʼs where Rean jumped in. His Light Element was perfect for the Soul, and at every slight change, it acted, helping stabilize and heal the damaged parts.

Finally, thirty minutes later, the Werdlem Soul Worm was pulled out of Diliyʼs Soul, being confined by the power of the Celestial Soul Dimensional Realm instantly. Rean could take his sweet time with Zangeshu later to analyze it further.

Rean worked a little bit more on Diliyʼs soul, helping him to further stabilize his condition. He did his best, but souls are delicate things, so even his Light Element had its limits. If he was at a higher realm, it would have been much easier, though.

”Phew...” Rean took his hand away from Diliyʼs head, taking a deep breath and nodding in satisfaction. ”Iʼm over with it. Diliyʼs soul will be weak for a while, but he should be fine now. The rest of the healing process is something he will have to focus on his own.”

*Ugh...*

Diliyʼs eyes trembled, and they slowly opened as he held his hand against his head. Sister Orb wasnʼt holding him down anymore, but she was still making it impossible for Diliy to see anything other than Rean and a few meters of his surroundings.

”W-What happened?” Diliy tried to open his eyes, his head feeling like trying to split in half. He looked around with difficulty. Then, he found Rean there. ”Hum? Rean? No, wait...” *Ugh...*

Rean patted his shoulder with a smile. ”Take it slowly, Diliy. You had been under the control of the Inquisition Hall for several centuries. You are free now, but there are some lingering side effects that will take time to heal. Check your soul.”

Diliy quickly focused on his soul, and immediately understood the precarious state it found itself at the moment. ”I remember now... That day when they came to my World Splitting Sect... That guy from the Divine Realm threatened to destroy my World Splitting Sect if I didnʼt do as they said.”

He continued. ”Then I was brought to the Inquisition Hall, where they used some weird device to inject something in my head. After that... after that... what happened after that? I do have my memories of the past four hundred years, but they are all fuzzy...”

Finally, some of those memories, the most recent ones, seemed to stabilize in Diliyʼs head. ”R-Right! Rean, we fought just a moment ago, didnʼt we?”

”We did,” Rean nodded. ”Truth be told, the battle wouldnʼt have lasted that long if we had the intention to kill you. However, the plan was to restrain you instead, so it took some time. I brought you into this place where I could act against whatever was controlling you. Thatʼs when I found this thing in your soul.”

Rean waved his hand, and the Werdlem Soul Worm, which was still wriggling while floating in mid-air, appeared in front of Diliy.

”Thatʼs the thing!” Diliy would never forget that moment. ”I saw it entering my head and then my soul. After that... I was still me, but I wasnʼt me. Does it make any sense? I had my normal thoughts and my own experiences and moved as I wished. However, everything I did had the Werdlem Empire and the Inquisition Hall in mind.”

”Yes,” Rean agreed. ”Calling you a slave from that moment onwards wouldnʼt be wrong, but it wouldnʼt be right either. This thing, which Iʼm calling Werdlem Soul Worm, is truly impressive. It still lets you rely on all your experiences but makes it so they all work for the sake of their masters.”

Rean then looked to the side, calling someone else over. ”Come here.”

It was Rifindio. ”What is it?”

”Eh?! Right! You were in the battle just now, too!” Diliy quickly remembered. ”Rean, that was the guy who took me away from the World Splitting Sect.”

Rean obviously knew that. ”Donʼt worry, master. He is on our side now.” Rean then turned his attention to Rifindio. ”That said, what do you know about these Werdlem Soul Worms? I refuse to believe you know nothing.”

Rifindio quickly began to speak. ”I do know about their existence indeed. You can find them pretty much anywhere in this Universe. From what I know, they are mainly used in the low- ranked Universes of the Werdlem Empire to guarantee stable management. They are very convenient. However, there is a rule that must be followed at all costs when using these Werdlem Soul Worms.”

”Rule?” Rean got curious.

Rifindio pointed at it. ”Only direct members of the Werdlem Empire can receive such things. They must not be used on anyone who isnʼt part of that list. The Inquisition Halls are a very good example. You will never find a person being controlled by this thing outside the core of the Werdlem Empire Forces.”

Rean narrowed his eyes. ”Thatʼs a weird thing. They could use it to infiltrate other powers inside their own Universes to keep an eye on them. Why would they restrain themselves to their own experts only.”

Rifindio shook his head. ”You know my status in the Supreme Palace by now. It is not like I was told much during my time there. If I were to risk, I think thatʼs because the Werdlem Empire just doesnʼt want its own forces going out of control, especially when an expert from outside joins it at a later time.”

”Like me...” Diliy sighed. He was forced to join, and to make sure he was loyal, he received one of the Werdlem Soul Worms. It was necessary since he was the only expert on the planet capable of using the Fifth Stage of Weapon Intent. The Inquisition Hall wanted him. ”Rean, can you tell me what happened during the time Iʼve been under their control?”

Rean didnʼt mind. ”Sure, Iʼll use a Spiritual Sense Message to make things fast.” And so, Rean explained everything that happened so far to Diliy.