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***

"It's beautiful."

Was the only sentence Venti could currently muster. He was in a trance, looking absentmindedly at Dvalin's changing form.

He never would have thought in a million years that Dvalin would ever manage to reach Godhood, yet miraculously it did, it was able to achieve the unachievable.

"Barba...tos."

Dvalin's ethereal voice, hoarse in tone, now calm and finally at peace, echoed in the surroundings.

"I'm glad you're alright, Dvalin. Welcome back."

The bard wished to his friend with a smile etched on his beautiful face. And finally started explaining everything from the beginning to the end, careful not to miss any detail, so that his old friend could finally know the truth about the string of events that took place in its absence

***

**

*

A huge pile of different shades of azure colored scales was discarded a few meters away from the party.

Pain, stress and desperation managed to fuel Dvalin into breaking through its limit, right into the state of Godhood.

Sadly, It wasn't the actual state of Godhood yet, it could only be termed as a premature form of a Godhood.

Right now, however, Dvalin entered a so called ethereal state, where it could pass through objects and people as if it was a ghost, but just like any opportunity at life, there were always tons of risks involved with it.

For one, when ascending to Godhood, your body was bound to break, as the first condition was to discard the mortal husk to ascend to their ethereal form.

Hence, a suitable body was needed to be prepared beforehand, so that they could take refuge in it, which Dvalin could have never accounted for.

In the first place it had not even prepared for its ascension and the current state was one forced by desperation.

If Dvalin couldn't find a vessel to put itself into, there was a huge risk that its soul might wander off into the soul stream, being mistaken as a dead being that wanted to pass on...

Therefore...

"My mind is clear now. Thank you, Barbatos, my dear friend...And the heroes...It seems I've been in the wrong this whole time. Please, state mine own name and I shall bind to you, as the debt accumulated from your heroic actions, far overshadows the value of my life." Dvalin requested in its ethereal almost ephemeral tone.

Venti was confused at its words, "Bind? No, no...You are one of the Four Winds! No one shall bind you anymore! You're a free spirit! You're free!"

"That's no longer the case anymore."

"..."

Silence permeated and settled among the band of people; an awkward one.

That only left out one option. An option that went against the very code of the Archon of Wind, governing over freedom.

"As you can see, my body is presently fully ethereal, and I plan to use my remains to form a new body as I broke through the bottleneck."

If the individual didn't have a vessel to put a soul into, they were forced to make one themselves.

However, there was a simple but important catch.

The soul couldn't sustain the new body alone.

They needed an anchor.

And just like Venti, who was projecting his power through a divine place called Celestia, Dvalin would have to use someone as a catalyst that would allow it to do the same.

But, that would mean Dvalin would need external help of a strong entity that could help sustain it and basically help to nourish it into the state of Godhood.

"Barbatos, for that, I ask of your help. Just like you were partially bound by Celestia, I must be bound to someone worthy. Receiving a name would be enough for it to work."

Venti was conflicted, severely so and spoke in a solemn tone, "I understand what you mean, and I want the best for you...But I can't form a pact with you...My ideal is that of freedom...forming a contract...is like slavery, the complete opposite of all that I entail...I would be going against my own values…I'm sorry, my friend...I can't help you...Please go and find Morax. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help you..."

"I don't have much time, my soul will soon crumble into the wind...I doubt we will able to find Morax in that time..." Dvalin responded, its ethereal tone was tinged with sadness as it informed his best friend of its cumbersome situation.

Venti had to agree with it.

Finding Morax would be far harder than the actual fight against Dvalin itself.

But he knew that he couldn't be the one to do so. As a God, as an Archon governing over certain ideals, they were unable to go against them, or else… consequences awaited them.

Unwillingly, he bit his lips as he looked around him.

It had to be someone from here.

The group here helped him, they saved and freed Dvalin, his dear friend, when all odds were against it.

They were all good people with the right judgement and kind hearts.

However, almost everyone around him was bound by a Vision...

The all seeing eyes of God that seemed to be harmless, silently nurtured the chosen individuals, but it was far more sinister than it seemed, it held a glaring truth that was too shocking to be revealed.

It was all a lie. A hoax. A cob. A binding that revealed its fangs when the time was ripe.

Which could prove to be troublesome for Dvalin in the future, in its journey to attain Godhood and may even strip it of its life.

So the 'master' of the contract couldn't have been any of the Vision bearers.