Book 3: Chapter 89 (2/2)

“Right.” Grimmy nodded and swept his gaze over the people in the room. “Any volunteers?”

“This is safe, right?” Tafel asked. “Once we help Vur, we can easily get out?”

“Nope,” Grimmy said. “Once your soul leaves your body, you die.”

“What?” Tafel pointed at Zyocuh. “How come he’s not dead if that’s the case?”

Grimmy shrugged. “Exception to the rule. You know how those exist.”

The group exchanged glances with each other. Tafel swallowed and stepped forward. “I, I’ll do it,” she said. “You can send my soul inside of Vur.” She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. “Make it painless, please,” she murmured and clenched her hands.

Grimmy reached forward with his claw and placed the tip against Tafel’s forehead. He withdrew his paw by an inch, and then he flicked her. Tafel shrieked as she fell over onto her back and clutched her forehead. She wriggled on the ground, rolling back and forth from side to side before suddenly coming to a halt. Her eyes opened, and she looked up. “Is it…, is it done? Am I dead?”

Grimmy grinned at Tafel and patted her head. “I was just joking when I asked for volunteers.”

“Just … joking?”

“Yup.” Grimmy nodded. “Hilarious, right?” He ignored Tafel’s contorting face and turned his attention onto Vur. “Let’s see how far this erosion’s progressed.” Grimmy tapped Vur’s bellybutton with his claw and lifted. A layer of light black and red light extended from his claw to Vur’s stomach. A fourth of the light was black while the remainder was red. “Hmm.”

“How is it?” Tafel asked. “It looks like the red bit is eating away at the black one. That means Vur’s winning, right?”

Grimmy shook his head. “No. Vur’s soul is the black portion. He’s losing.”

Tafel furrowed her brow. “What? Why is Vur’s soul black?”

Lindyss cleared her throat from off to the side before gazing at Grimmy. No one noticed her except for the black dragon. Grimmy shrugged. “Eh, who knows? The color of one’s soul doesn’t mean much. Besides, that’s not the important part. What’s important is the fact that Vur’s losing and needs some help.”

“Wait,” Tafel said and pointed at the strand of light. “That golden bit blocking the red, what is it?”

Grimmy raised an eyebrow before leaning close and squinting at the strand. “Oh, that’s probably, uh, some sort of false god. You know Vur was blessed by the temple a little before your reunion from way back when?”

Tafel nodded. “You said you didn’t need volunteers? Then how are you going to help him?”

“Well, I don’t need volunteers because I already have plenty of souls,” Grimmy said. His eyes lit up. “You’re his wife. What kind of soul do you think he’d like?” he reached behind his wing and pulled out dozens of glowing orbs that seemed more gaseous than solid.

“…Why do you have these?”

“I don’t know.” Grimmy rolled his eyes. “Why do people collect coins? Why do people collect stamps? So, which one?”