Chapter 2168

Elowen knelt on the solemn altar. Her long, snow-white hair dulled strand by strand as the strength of the Ten-Tailed Elythune's divine soul within her gradually faded. Yet, she seemed not to care. Resting her head lightly against the dragon's body, her face relaxed in serenity. For a long time, Elowen simply lay there with her eyes closed and arms wrapped around Lucan's true form, unmoving. Shannon and Benjamin both felt a tremor in their hearts. In their minds, the image they'd seen in the dream surfaced once more. She'd always been the woman sleeping soundly upon a mountain range. In the thousands of years after Lucan became the Dragon Vein, this was how she'd remained, always watching over him until her divine soul completely faded away. Now, Shannon was sure that the last glance Elowen cast at Benjamin confirmed she'd recognized him. She knew who Benjamin was and had guessed his true form. That was why she chose to sacrifice her divine soul, so Lucan would be reborn as the Dragon Vein. In this world, there had never been a Dragon Vein. For tens of thousands of years, the mortal realm had never birthed a true Dragon Vein, much less one capable of taking form. It was Elowen who'd nurtured the Dragon Vein with her own hands. Her ability to form a marriage contract with Benjamin and be recognized by the Divine Power had never been a mere accident. Emotions that defied words welled within Shannon, but she knew she couldn't stop what was happening. All of this was the karma of this timeline. Even she and Benjamin were strands in this great web of karma. Her hand reached out and instinctively grasped his. Benjamin's fingers stiffened for a moment before he responded with an equally firm grip. It seemed he feared she might vanish in the next breath like Elowen before them. He'd never imagined that his birth came from the sacrifice of a divine soul. Now, he understood what was missing in the rootless emptiness of the divine soul he'd carried for millennia; this was it. But… If he had a choice, he would never have wished for her to do this. If Lucan's consciousness remained, he too would never have wanted Elowen to choose such an end. Benjamin's hand tightened around Shannon's. He wished to tell her that if the future must bring trials, he only asked that she would live well. Shannon felt the tremor in his palm. She seemed to understand what he meant, but said nothing. Then, a phoenix's mourning cry broke the air. Perhaps sensing the fading of two familiar souls, Velquin suddenly rose from the earth. He circled above the altar as his long, mourning cries continued. Shannon stared upward and sensed the lament of grief and sorrow in his voice. She thought that perhaps Velquin's bond with Benjamin was no mere coincidence. Perhaps there had always been karma between Benjamin and Velquin. During the millennia Lucan had slumbered as the Dragon Vein, Velquin had waited for the awakening of the Dragon Vein on behalf of Elowen, whom he once adored most. Now, she understood why Velquin had chosen to burn himself away to purify Vlad. Other than the phoenix's innate mercy and aversion to malice, he'd once watched with his own eyes as Lucan and Elowen's divine souls dissolved into nothing. He couldn't bear to see history repeat itself and feared that the newly reborn Lucan would again offer himself to destroy Vlad. As long as the mortal realm prevailed, the incarnation of human malice, Vlad, would never vanish completely. Velquin couldn't bring himself to destroy the world Lucan died protecting, so he offered himself in its place to Vlad. But in the end, he failed too. … As Elowen's divine soul faded away, so did the barrier she'd erected. At that moment, the skies above the altar swiftly darkened with thick clouds pressing down their crushing weight. Thunder cracked, and the air trembled with the Might of the Divine Power of this timeline. Shannon could sense the Divine Power's fury, not because Elowen defined the heavens by turning Lucan's dragon bones into the Dragon Vein to guard the lands, but because she'd destroyed her divine soul in doing so. Somehow, there was heartbreak and sorrow within that fury.