Hero of Darkness

Finally, another chance to get out of their current predicament appeared, both Kahn and Aragorn were finally going to contend for the Commandment of Fellowship because now, even Vildred was forced to give him a chance due to the Elven Prince's appearance.

But right when he thought things were salvageable… Aragorn spoke in a loud voice.

"Consider this as me thanking you for the free ride you provided me till now.

If you fail from here… it's on you." he spoke with a confident voice as if he was certain that Kahn would fail the upcoming trial.

Kahn then asked Edmund aka Aragorn about something he was curious about.

"Since when did you plan to use us?"

To his question, the long and gray-aired Aragorn responded with a mocking tone.

"Don't feel so special. Whether it was your Misthios guild or the 12 Valkyries…

Your lives were only meant to be used as my meat shields since the beginning." he revealed without sugarcoating anything.

"It wasn't your comrade who approached me in the Alfheim Alchemy Association but instead, it was me who lured him to myself and create ties with him after knowing his position in your guild which happened to be the strongest mercenary guild.

But things went even smoother than I expected because of your greed." he spoke, taunting Kahn.

"What do you mean?" asked Kahn with a gloomy expression.

"Do you think I'm unaware of your nature?

I'm 280 years old now. I have met many people like you in my life.

Back when you approached me as a business partner by yourself, I could already see that you wanted to earn a lot of money and resources quickly and become powerful as soon as you could.

That's why I accepted your proposal very quickly and turned you into my ally under the pretense of establishing my own company with your help.

You're just a fool driven by greed so you couldn't see through the deception." he stated as he sneered while looking down on Kahn.

At this moment, Kahn suddenly recalled the moments of the day when Armin brought Edmund to their guild headquarters and introduced him.

It wasn't him who 'luckily' met a saint alchemist but instead, everything was pre-planned by Aragorn.

"And your people outperformed my expectations. I expected you lot to go as far as 81st floor but luckily, that stupid Hero of Life had already cleared the path for us.

But evwn so… the way you cleared the 91st floor boss without even having the imperial clan's bloodline token; I must say I underestimated your abilities." he iterated nonchalantly.

[Dammit! Now he already knows that Legolas Ragnarsson is a fake persona. Well, at least, he doesn't know my real identity.] thought Kahn, cursing his luck.

"Legolas Ragnarsson or whatever your real name is… when you and your warriors killed the Elder Hydra, I was only pretending to be knocked out." said the Elven prince with a devilish grin.

Kahn and the entire group were suddenly rooted on the spot.

"Who would've thought… that the group I was using to reach this floor would be so unique, filled with monsters disguising themselves as normal people." he spoke and a sinister smile appeared on his face.

"But after giving it some thought… I am fully confident in my hypothesis. You are…

A chosen Hero, aren't you?"

Utter Silence.

This time, even Kahn and Rathnaar were simply stupefied.

[Great! Fucking everybody knows my identity these days.

This plot is getting too repetitive now.] cursed Kahn in his mind.

Who would've thought their supposed companion will turn out to be the Prince of Zivot Empire and on top of it, they would end up exposing their secrets while killing the Elder Hydra.

[That's not the issue here, boy. Think carefully…

Aragorn can't be killed inside this dungeon because the Maskaanxavir formation and the imperial bloodline's token he spoke of, is protecting him from all of us.

And if he passes the trial and becomes the owner of that Royal Dragon… he will definitely make Vildred kill us all later.] spoke Rathnaar in a somber tone.

[That means I must pass this trial no matter what.] said Kahn with a grim expression on his face.

Vildred on the other side started chanting something in a language Kahn couldn't understand even with his All Languages Known to War Deity blessing.

And after 2 minutes, two translucent white doors covered in archaic runes and formations appeared in front of both Kahn and Aragorn.

"There are 3 trials in total. This is the first part of it.

Enter inside and the one to find and complete the true objective of the trial will pass it.

Know this… there is no time limit.

But if you mess things up and don't pass this… you'll die." spoke Vildred in a somber voice.

At this point, even he had no choice but to let fate decide who was to become his owner.

If Aragorn, who seemed to have prior information about the trial and the rules set by the Maskaanxavir formation, hadn't shown up… he was simply going to kill Kahn and be done with it.

Yet, because the descendant of high elves who for some reason, looked like a human; he was forced to allow them to take the trial.

Sigh!

Without further ado, Kahn sighed and entered the bright light as soon as the door opened.

Bang!

Intense pain suddenly woke up Kahn as something hit his stomach.

"Get up, you smart-ass!"

A low-pitched voice reached his ear and Kahn opened his eyes.

His head felt groggy while his legs, arms and stomach hurt.

In front of him were 3 kids in school uniforms, laughing at him.

Kahn then noticed something as soon as he regained consciousness.

He was now in a Spectral form similar to a ghost as his body was no different than that of a hologram.

But suddenly, the image in his sight flickered and changes happened to his entire body.

His arms were turned short. He was wearing glasses while gasping for breath.

His clothes were dusty and his left sleeve was tattered.

"Argh…." he groaned lightly and an immense surge of pain hit his mind again.

After completely regaining his consciousness, Kahn spoke.

"This place… I know this place."

"Ugh!" he groaned again and noticed that his face was full of bruises and his lips as well as gums were bleeding.

"I told you to bring the money, you prick!" said the boy in front of him and…

Punch!

He punched Kahn and soon, the other kids joined in and all of them started kicking his fallen body again and again.

[What the hell is happening?!

Wait! I know those three.] he thought as memories started flooding his mind like the surging tides of a tsunami.

Soon, Kahn was separated from this small body of his and like a ghost, he left it as the kids kept beating the 'small' Kahn.

[This can't be! No!

I can't go back there!] he exclaimed in fear for the first time.

Because at this moment, whether it was the Soul Kahn or the small Kahn… he was feeling all the pain and helplessness.

Even though these two forms were separated, they felt everything as if they were a single entity.

Because at this moment, Kahn was back in…

His childhood as Elric.