Soulless Soul

Chapter 11: New Face

Sky opened his eyes.

The transition from the horrifying depths of the dungeon array back into the real world was like breaking through a thick layer of ice. Soul moving from one body to the other. For a long, terrifying moment, his lungs refused to expand, trapped in the phantom memory of a dark dungeon where every shadow hid a razor-sharp claw. But then, a sharp intake of stale, metallic air flooded his chest. He was finally free from that strange, mechanical voice. He was free from the oppressive weight of that dungeon which had almost claimed his life. The absolute silence of the room was deafening compared to the roaring madness of the trial he had just endured.

I really survived.

The realization didn’t hit him with a wave of relief, but rather with a profound, trembling disbelief. A street rat like him, who had spent his entire life fighting for scraps in the dark corners of the outskirts, had stared down death and somehow returned. He slowly looked down at his trembling hands, checking if they were still whole, and then froze, completely breathless.

The familiar, cramped reality of his existence rushed back. He was lying inside his reinforced sleep cage—the heavy metal bars and reinforced glass designed to keep a person secure while their soul was dragged into the dungeon array. But he wasn’t alone. Perched on a cheap, scuffed plastic chair placed right beside the capsule was the government officer assigned to monitor his sector.

"Oh, you are awake," the officer said casually. He didn’t look up immediately, instead focusing on snacking on a rather thick sandwich wrapped in crinkling paper. A stray crumb fell onto his wrinkled uniform, which he brushed away with total indifference.

Sky swallowed hard, his throat feeling as though it were lined with sandpaper. It took him a few seconds to find his voice.

"Yeah... I am awake," he muttered, using his street name, Sky, as a defensive shield out of pure habit. His voice was raw, a hoarse whisper that barely carried across the small room. He looked around the stark, grey walls of the containment facility. "I am home."

The officer took another bite of his sandwich, chewing slowly before shaking his head. "Good for you. Honestly, I thought you were going to die like some of the other guys I saw in their rooms today. It’s been a real bloodbath in this block."

Sky forced a weak, cynical laugh. "Ha ha. Come on, sir... you were just going to write me off like that? Have a little faith."

The officer snorted, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What do you want me to do? When someone like you comes here, looking the way you did before you went under... well, the odds aren’t exactly in your favor. Most kids from your neighborhood don’t wake up at all. They just rot from the inside out until we have to call the cleanup crew."

Sky opened his mouth to reply, a sarcastic remark rising to his lips, but before they could continue talking, they were interrupted.

The heavy security door hissed open.

Another officer walked into the room with an urgent, hurried stride. He completely ignored Sky, stepping directly toward the sitting officer. Bending down, the newcomer whispered something quickly into the man’s ear. The sitting officer’s casual demeanour vanished instantly, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"Hm. Is that so?" the officer muttered, his eyes darting toward the hallway outside. He looked back down at Sky, a sudden shift in his eyes. The casual dismissiveness was gone, replaced by a strange kind of superficial respect.

"Well, Skies... it was nice meeting you," the officer said, quickly folding the remains of his sandwich back into its paper wrapper. He stood up from the cheap plastic chair and offered a fleeting, tightly wound smile. "I am genuinely happy you survived. I hope you make it big once you get out of here. Don’t forget the little people who watched over your cage, alright?" Sky blinked, his mind struggling to process the sudden change in atmosphere. "Thank you... but aren’t you going to free me from this cage first?" He tapped a finger against the thick glass of the capsule. The lock mechanism was still firmly engaged from the outside.

The officer winced slightly, taking a step backward toward the exit. "I would like to, kid. Really, I would. But they want to do an inspection first. Higher-ups’ orders."

Sky frowned, a cold knot of anxiety forming in his stomach. "Who?"He didn’t get a verbal answer. As soon as the officer stepped away from the capsule, the door to the containment unit slid wide open. The officer scrambled past the doorway, practically bowing as he exited, making way for the person entering.

A lady walked in.

As soon as her form cleared the threshold and entered Sky’s field of view, his breath caught entirely in his throat. She was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on. Sky’s jaw dropped completely, his mouth wide open in utter bewilderment.

She had short, short-black hair that framed her face in sharp, elegant angles, contrasting sharply against her complexion. Her eyes were an impossible, icy purple—piercing, cold, and possessing an unnatural clarity that seemed to look right through the reinforced glass of his cage. Her flawless skin was smooth, supple, and as white as pristine snow, unblemished by the harsh, polluted atmosphere of the world outside.

Actually, this was Sky’s very first time meeting a woman who did not live in the slums. He was used to the pale, sickly complexion of the subterranean workers and the ash-stained skin of the street urchins. However, while other women’s pallor looked strange, worn down, and profoundly unhealthy, this beautiful stranger was nothing short of striking. She carried an aura of absolute authority and genetic perfection that only the elite of the upper districts could afford.

The woman seemed to be in her late twenties, possessing a poised, mature confidence that demanded immediate submission from anyone in her presence. She was wearing a crisp, dark blue government uniform adorned with silver stripes across the chest and shoulders, denoting a high rank within the government’s Awakened forces. On her feet were polished black leather boots that clicked sharply against the concrete floor with every deliberate step she took.

The jacket of her uniform wasn’t worn properly; instead, it was draped elegantly over her shoulders like a cape, moving slightly with her breath. In her left hand, she held a thick, leather-bound book, her fingers long and slender against the dark cover.

She stopped right in front of Sky’s reinforced sleep cage. Her icy purple eyes drifted downward, landing squarely on his dishevelled, sweat-drenched form. She looked at him for a long, silent moment, assessing him like a scientist observing a strange new specimen under a microscope.

Before she spoke, her lips curled into a faint, almost imperceptible expression of amusement.

"Close your mouth, would you?" she said. Her voice was cool, smooth, and entirely devoid of any warmth, cutting through the silence of the room like a razor blade.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!