Page 197 of Light Leech

“Because they lack a soul?”

She shook her head. “Because they shouldn’t exist. Light Leeches are an error in reality. They aren’t the only thing that defies existance.” She gestured to the pyramid hologram. “This is the hub of such anomalies. This pyramid and the other surrounding temples.”

“Then what anomaly has you so—“

“That is beyond your clearance.”

Don scoffed. “She doesn’t even understand it, so don’t try.”

I tried to nod, but the binding wouldn’t allow even a simple acknowledgement of understanding.

“Something that defies any science we understand,” Diama said. “Including the knowledge of Gong, Nuwa, and the deeper truths of our world.”

“Interesting,” I said.

“Yes.” Don clapped. “It really is. Now, let’s move along before Kim calls him back.”

“Why does Dokkaebi have Light Leeches if he is a Gui?” I asked.

Don groaned. “Do we really have to keep this going? I want to–”

“Because Dokkaebi is no longer a complete Gui,” Diama said. “Anyone who says otherwise does not understand the cost of his fragmentation.”

So he’s not as strong as you?

“I hope this is true,” Zhu replied.

“But I thought–”

Diama cut the man off before he could digress. “Any rumors that Dokkaebi is a Gui are erroneous. He is a conglomeration of fragmented Light Leeches. His main portion left inside Ralia serves as his light soul while the other fragments make up the leech aspects. In this way he is like a Gui, only because he is a shattered soul with his fragments spread out.”

“I don’t get it.” a man said.

A younger woman raised a question. “But after fusion, he’ll be a whole Gui again, won’t he?”

Diama shook her head. “Once he fragmented himself, he sacrificed wholeness for the sake of spreading himself out. He can join his other parts, but he is more like a less beautiful kintsugi vase. Rather than shattered fragments sealed with gold, he is a shattered image held together by power beyond our knowledge.”

“But this is all conjecture, right?” the same young woman asked.

Diama took a moment before saying, “Yes.”

I held onto her faltering confidence with every last ounce of waning hope that I had.

“You must be hungry,” she said. She waved away the others as disgust colored their faces.

I nodded.

“Come.” She waved me forward and I followed. She glanced at Don. “We won’t be long.”

She led me to the back of the room, through two sets of doors, then down a staircase into a dim room with plenty of movement towards the back.

She tapped the wall and blue light colored the room, revealing a bunch of half-naked people, mostly middle-aged, balding men.

“What is this?” I asked.

“I would rather have you feed on these people than on my own. Knowing that you were coming, I gathered more cattle to keep you satiated. Eat what you need, then move on. I know working with your Gui will be demanding, so I have already prepared for continual shipments.”

“But who are they?”