Hero of Darkness

3 DAYS LATER.

A desolate and charred landscape of 50 kilometers with nothing but shattered ground and barren lands that carried the feeling of devastation was filled with strong gusts of winds that carried smoke and dirt.

This place was none other than the central region of the Eastern Grasslands where the battle between Kahn and the Hero of Fire took place a week ago.

Outside this perimeter, there was tight security and 4 warships guarding this perimeter while 20 thousand fireborne soldiers under the direct command of the imperial clan were stationed to monitor the borders.

Rustle!

Rustle!

But unbeknownst to everyone, suddenly a big whirlpool of black, white and green smoke appeared in the middle of the sky out of nowhere; taking the shape of a spherical cloud.

Swoosh!!

"Looks like I'm late."

A calm yet domineering voice appeared from the very spherical cloud that was moving like a blob of fog.

Schwoaa!!

The coalesced smoke quickly exploded and dispersed in the surrounding area and a tall figure was revealed.

A six feet tall handsome and mature silver-haired vampire with stark-white skin and glowing red eyes floated calmly in the air. The black and green armor made for the royalty adorned by this individual emitted the aura of Sovereignty and Power, enough to make anyone instantly bow before this mysterious figure.

"I guess I arrived before those people since I was already searching for him in the nearby empires. Good thing they need to complete the formalities as per the old rules before entering an empire.

Let's see what happened here first." spoke this vampire in an authoritative tone.

Snap!

He snapped his fingers and the very next moment, over 50 kilometers of the radius was instantly covered under a black and white dome that flickered and disappeared instantly.

To the outside world, this change was too fast and instantaneous to even notice the fact that the whole region was isolated under a domain.

To the guards and assassins, the battlefield looked just the same… shattered and destroyed everywhere. However, the inside world had turned completely opposite to their expectation.

Similar to the True Dimension… everything under the Vampire's domain had turned into either Black or White. But in this 50 kilometers circumference… there were 22 places where things turned into different colors.

Each color represented a particular individual or a being.

The vampire's body flickered and he appeared close to each distinct color that represented different auras and saints.

Soon, he started waving his hands in anticlockwise circular motion and then split that imaginary circle he made.

Within 10 seconds, half of this intangible circle turned white with a black dot in it while the other half turned black with a white dot.

This circle resembling the Yin-Yang pattern enlarged for 50 kilometers and quickly spread around all these colors and their respective locations.

"A fireborne who achieved the 2nd phase of primordial bloodline transformation. Even though he or she was only a first stage saint… this is a big accomplishment.

And I sense a bit of human bloodline in it as well.

Wait… I have seen this bloodline signature before.

Could it be one of her descendants?" he analyzed and asked himself.

The person he mentioned was indeed Venessa Hos Sigfreed.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

One after another, he appeared at different places and checked the auras. He needed only a second to quickly form an opinion about what happened here and who partook in the battle in that particular area.

"Someone has tampered with this battlefield.

The aura of that 6th stage fireborne… that person's corpse was brought here only recently and the blood was spread in this region." spoke the vampire in a thoughtful voice.

The one he was thinking of was none other than the Pope whose corpse was later brought by Havi to fake some traces on the battlefield.

"A complete imperial fireborne bloodline. Means the Emperor was also here." he hypothesized.

Soon, he moved to all the separate battlegrounds where Kahn's subordinates and Hero's Party members fought individually.

"What the hell is this?!

A variant of Godbeast Fenrir, someone already comparable to a 4th stage saint with the abilities and skills of a Magic Swordsman?

That person has even acquired the Gravity Law!" exclaimed the vampire in disbelief.

Next, he moved to another battlefield.

"A primordial titan?!

A variant of the Godbeast Roc!

A True Demon bloodline individual with their own domain?

What the hell happened here? These people shouldn't even exist!" he clamored in bewilderment.

He had found the existence of Blackwall, Oliver and Jugram respectively.

And right when he checked Ceril's battlefield…

"An Undead with Darkness element… with the gifts from the Deity of Necromancy. How does this make any sense?" he wondered again.

"A variant of Spirit beings… he or she has strong control over souls. And they can shift through space or any object momentarily." he said with a grim expression as he analyzed the place where Ronin fought.

"This place… is filled with Life Force. As if it was the epicenter of all life in this area. If I'm not wrong… this person has traces of the Ashokvatika bloodline." he spoke in a solemn tone after investigating Armin's battlefield.

But after he moved to the final place… he was completely baffled because 5 different auras fought within a 15 kilometers radius and the highlight of the battlefield was the Soul Essence.

"The Hero of Fire used his Divine Weapon.

He also created some sort of blood monster.

And if my assumption is right… then he must have summoned a Deity at this place." said the vampire as he tracked Axel, Blood Titan and Kagutsuchi's presence.

He could even trace the soul essence to predict that Axel used Amaterasu during the battle.

And lastly… he moved to the enemy side that these 3 faced.

"Am I dreaming? A variant with the Dragon and the Basilisk bloodline?

What the hell is this creature?!" he clamored and facepalmed himself after detecting Rudra's bloodline.

But when he came to Kahn's aura…

"He has 3 divine abilities. And 6 Blessings from the War Deity.

I sense 4 gifts. One by the War Deity Kravel and 3 gifts granted by the Blacksmithing Deities Brokkr and Eitri as well.

Seriously… this guy has surprised me a lot." he spoke with a sense of relief.

But the next second, his countenance turned extremely ugly.

"BLOODY! FUCKING! MORON!!!" he shouted and grabbed his head, as if having a mental breakdown.

"Don't tell me… he chose the Synthesis divine ability and created those monsters.

That titan and the undead even have Pseudo-souls. That's not good." he spoke with an aghast expression.

He started pulling his hair in annoyance.

"Too many different abilities, skills and bloodlines. He must have absorbed abilities from other monsters and fighter classes. And then gave them to his monsters somehow.

He chose the damn Ability Absorption!" he raged and clenched his fists tightly.

And finally, he came next to the place on the ground where Kahn left the battlefield using the Dimensional Void crack.

At this point, his stark-white skin turned even whiter as if life was sucked out of him.

"Oye… someone please tell me that he didn't choose the Dimensional Law." said the vampire as if he was speaking his last words before death.

"I give up. The new Hero of Darkness is already a lost cause." spoke this vampire as his figure slumped in defeat.

"This fucking idiot!

Did he really think that his predecessors and those heroes of other gods in the past were braindead retards who couldn't see the potential of these divine abilities and chose to ignore them for small and short-term gains?" he asked himself with an infuriated voice.

"Ability Absorption made by the God of Life.

Synthesis made by the Goddess of Knowledge.

Dimensional Law made by the God of Space." his helplessness could be detected in his voice.

"There's a reason why no one ever chose these 3.

This moron chose the very 3 Divine Abilities that will kill him one day." said the vampire in a tone filled with disappointment.

"He should've at least chosen 2 divine abilities like Death Absolution and Abyss Sanctuary created by God of Darkness.

At this rate… How the hell will he ever become a Demi-God?!" he exclaimed in an exasperated voice.

"Killing the Demon God?

This imbecile won't be able to go toe to toe against even the Demon Emperor's 12 Rakshasa." he berated Kahn in his mind again.

"Why didn't God of Darkness tell him about the consequences of choosing these 3 divine abilities?

Did he intentionally hide this information because of what happened with the 8th Hero of Darkness?

Or does he have different plans of his own with this newly summoned hero?

This situation is turning into a bigger headache compared to other chosen heroes of this generation." he kept wondering because of the current situation.

"And he doesn't even have the Divine Weapon in his possession.

How the hell am I going to complete the mission given to me 300 years ago?" he complained to himself, losing his previous composure of a supreme being.

"Although he has 2 Divine Keys already… I'm sure he doesn't even know what to do with them.

No… I need to find him within the next 5 years. Otherwise, it will be too late and he will…" thought the vampire and completed his sentence with bitterness in mouth.

"Die a miserable death."

Dozens of minutes passed as the vampire kept complaining, cursing his luck while also badmouthing Kahn for the choices he made.

But while he was letting out all the frustration… his expression turned serious as he sensed another powerful being coming towards him from 500 kilometers away.

Yet, this vampire didn't bother hiding his presence anymore. He deactivated the domain and calmly folded his arms together.

15 minutes later… Another being clad in burgundy-red armor while traveling atop a massive bird-like creature made of scarlet red fire, revealing a tremendously oppressive and domineering saint pressure, appeared in the sky.

"You took longer than I expected." spoke the vampire with a smile on his face.

"What the hell are you doing in my empire?!" asked Havi, his eyes full of battle intent and ready to fight.

He pointed out his legendary rank spear and spoke the name of the intruder in front of him…

"King Belmont."

Author : Remind me to post Argos Belmont Reference Art in chapter comments.