Hero of Darkness

HALF AN HOUR AGO.

Kahn suddenly appeared in the middle of the battlefield after he broke the newly cast suppression barrier with his perfected Dragon Strike which was twice as effective and perfectly synergies compared to his time in Rakos Empire when he was only a semi-saint.

After his allies came out of his shadow and targeted each of the hero's party members under his instructions… the battlefield was split up into 8 parts; Kahn and Axel being in the center of it.

Kahn used the newly upgraded legendary rank Lucifer to face Axel head-on while the subordinates were tasked with getting rid of the teammates of the Hero of Fire.

Kahn quickly used Sword Emperor, the saint rank upgraded version of Sword King skill. After rising in rank because Kahn himself became a saint, the skill now allowed him to create 500 aura swords comprised of different elements and world energy together.

And now that he used world energy instead of mana to use this skill, each massive 10 meter long greatsword was twice effective than before. However, because his physiology and stats were already equal to a peak 2nd stage saint thanks to the effects of War Deity Body… Kahn was already a formidable opponent unlike what one would expect from a 1st stage saint.

Throughout his attacks, he only used the swordsman skills and didn't make any killing moves or revealed his darkness element or dark magic skills either. He could explain his rise in strength later but he could not afford to reveal his real identity even now.

Half an hour later, multiple scenes occurred where the hero's party members were brutally and mercilessly dying at hands of his subordinates.

"Lord Axel, save me!!" screamed Edna as she pleaded and wailed in agony.

But unlike what one would expect, Axel didn't bother retreating and trying to save his allies… instead, he was focused on fighting Kahn while evading his greatswords of 5 different elements targeting from all directions.

And unlike some dumbfucks and impatient morons would think that the fight was getting unnecessarily dragged on… Kahn wasn't in a hurry to blindly charge and engage Axel in a battle. All of it was actually a strategic move since the moment he revealed himself as a saint by stepping into the battlefield.

Kahn was aware of a very crucial thing mentioned in the Art of War.

'Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory.

But tactics without a strategy is just the noise before certain defeat.'

First, through the battle with Venessa and Hector, he saw through the abilities of all the members of the Hero's Party.

Later, he isolated them by choosing the best candidates from his team who could kill the members for certain.

Because even if he had the same numbers… he hadn't seen Axel using any of his Divine Abilities. And he certainly had more than Kahn. Having a war with equal numbers would be the most stupid way to fight the Hero's Party.

Among the enemy side, the biggest threats here were Axel and Azerog.

So he sent Omega to pin down Azerog because only Omega in their group had the strength and the Gravity Domain and Gravity Imprisonment skill that could help kill the 4th stage saint.

Although Kahn too had some of the Gravity Law skills… his attainment was no different than a poser in this law compared to Omega who practiced these skills and abilities during his daily training from the past one and half years.

There was another reason why he himself faced Axel. Because in case Axel used any of his Divine abilities that could kill the opponent…

Only Kahn here had the Dimensional Void ability that could help him escape just with a single thought.

And what was his aim?

No, it wasn't to kill the Hero of Fire at all… Rather, to destroy the artifact that controlled this isolation barrier and get Venessa out of here.

He was already clear that the church started a coup and planned to kill the emperor.

If Havi survived, good for him. But if he died… then Kahn would help Venessa to gather the imperial clan's forces. If things came to worst and church was the final victor… he'd at least escape with Venessa and ensure her safety.

She tried to protect him even when her own freedom was in jeopardy. So Kahn wasn't going to abandon her in the time of need… that's what he wished to do as her friend.

But what surprised Kahn the most was that despite watching his team members getting killed by Kahn's crew one by one… the Hero of Fire showed an expression of indifference.

As if their lives didn't matter to him at all.

And now that Azerog also fell in battle, Axel was all alone and Kahn had control of this battle.

This was exactly what Kahn wished to achieve.

By cornering the hero of fire using their sheer numbers and using this opportunity to force Axel to forfeit the artifact, thus being able to leave this place.

Kahn did not want to stay until some powerful reinforcements of the church arrived.

Finally, Kahn and all of his subordinates surrounded Axel from all sides. Not leaving him a single escape route.

As for fighting Axel… Why the fuck would Kahn do that?

Making a heroic entrance to save the princess from the clutches of the bad guys worked only in fictional stories. Only an idiot without thinking of the consequences would pull such a stupid move.

As for killing the hero's party members… no one would care about a few beginner saints when there was a goddamn uprising in the empire.

But Axel was a different case. He was a chosen Hero and Kahn didn't plan to repeat history and follow in his predecessor's footsteps.

If he could settle the matter without shedding his blood… then that would be the best option for him.

Thus… One hour later, it brought them all to this present moment.

"Forfeit the artifact. Let us leave and maybe you'll live to fight another day.

There are 9 of us and even if you're some chosen Hero… you won't survive a battle to the death." warned Kahn with a serious expression.

He had the upper hand now and he could use it finally get Venessa out of here.

However, Axel didn't bother responding to his warning and the next second… his body let out a scarlet red aura and soon, a 10 meter tall massive ethereal eye that glowed yellow and radiated a divine aura came to be.

Axel then clasped his hands and closed his eyes. In the following moments… the divine eye expelled a yellow beam of light and illuminated the whole 2 kilometers of the region.

[Brat! That's the…] said Rathnaar in Kahn's eye.

Although he hadn't seen it, based on its appearance and his memories when he was given the choice of selecting divine abilities… Kahn figured out what it was.

"Dammit! It's the Sage's Eye!" he exclaimed.

"Ha ha ha! Who would've thought… that you were the one I was looking for all this time." spoke Axel with an insidious grin as he continued in a grim voice, sending shivers in Kahn's spine…

"Hero of Darkness."