Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1205: Proving Worth

First, Kahn made his decree as the Hero of Darkness, announcing that he would be the one to lead the entire Abyss Empire under a single banner for the upcoming Great War.

Then he started the whole self-comparison and started asked the questions that many already had in their hearts and minds.

Other than the Cult of Darkborne, the remaining two forces had no reason to relinquish their authority and follow Kahn’s leadership without any qualms and misgivings of their own.

For all he knew, there could be a possible coup or a breach of trust later on, most likely when Kahn was in dire straits and in need of their full support.

Even with his powerful generals and the Chapter Masters, it was not a sufficient force to fight in the Great War. The majority of the forces would be fighting on different fronts, saints included; thus, there needed to be even more saints to maintain the order and protect the people as their strongest forces fought on the frontlines.

Kahn could absolutely not lead the Great War without their unquestionable support.

What about his strength and eligibility to lead them?

Kahn needed to give everyone a reason to accept his command irrevocably.

And being the mastermind, Kahn was after everything he learned since his arrival in Vantrea... he saw this moment coming from miles away.

Before anyone could even think about defying his claims and authority and becoming uncooperative before the crusade even started... as the whole empire watched together, Kahn decided to put on a show that none of them would ever forget.

”Dimensional Domain, First Form: Commandement of the King!” exclaimed Kahn.

BOOM!!

His terrifying aura erupted, and a dark blue pillar of light shot up from his body.

RUMBLE!!

Rumble!

The entire headquarters rumbled as if an earthquake had finally hit them, many quaking in their spots.

However, the intended target of this surge of energy wasn’t them, but the open sky above.

And finally, a pitch black spherical dome of pure darkness encapsulated the sky, and its total diameter was a whopping 80 kilometers.

Not only did Kahn cover the main headquarters of the Cult of Darkborne, but he also had the military stations, such as garrisons, warships, and forts of the Doom Templars located nearby under his sphere of influence.

A normal Beginner 7th-stage saint could extend their domain to 70 kilometers at most, but Kahn’s had surpassed that limit by 20 kilometers already. Which, by every standard, meant that his strength was already on par with an 8th-stage saint.

As soon as the domain took effect, all the saints within the domain, whether they belonged to the Doom Templars, Imperial Faction, or the Senate... could feel half of their strength leaving their bodies.

But the effect didn’t just stop here...

Calavanius, the leader of the Magus Secundus, felt something else.

”Not only the strength of the body... but one’s ability to use magic or their element of the inherent affinity; it has been sealed completely!” he exclaimed in disbelief.

Tyvebrax, on the other hand, said with an anticipating tone...

”Domains usually have their elements of the saint ingrained in them as part of the characteristics that make them unique in the first place.

The cult leader’s domain, while made of pure darkness, isn’t actually about the darkness element itself.

I can almost sense a law of reality coherently existing as part of the domain. However... what I don’t understand is how he can seal our ability to use our elements and magic while restricting half of our strength.

He’s not even using any relic or some legendary artifact... so how is this even possible?” stated and wondered the Chapter master of the Abyss Deinos.

It was then, Calavanius made a hypothesis.

”Unless... he has already invoked and also mastered a magician class. Only a man proefficient in making sealing magic formations can integrate them perfectly in his domain.” said the leader of magus secundus.

Gasp!

Gasp!

His words echoed in the surroundings as other Chapter masters were also baffled by these revelations of both Calavanius and Tyvebrax.

The 7th-stage saints from the Imperial faction and the Senate had their faces turn sullen and almost lost their color by the sheer amount of difference in strength they could feel.

Both of them were Intermediate 7th-stage saints, yet they felt like their full strength wasn’t even in the same caliber if they fought against Kahn. And even if they fought him together, the result would remain the same... Kahn’s overwhelming and one-sided victory.

Among the 3 princes, the 3rd Prince, who was also a beginner 7th-stage saint and the most prominent candidate to become the next emperor, felt like he was standing in front of the maw of a primordial beast, unable to even breathe.

”This... There is too much disparity between our strengths.” he spoke with an incredulous expression.

On the Senate’s side... their intermediate 7th-stage saint, a 7-meter-tall being with a head resembling that of a yeti with multiple gray horns coming from the side of his head, also spoke with an indignant tone telepathically...

[Change our plans, President. We would be lucky if this man wishes to be our friend and not kill us out of pure annoyance.

The Doom Templars only had the High Priestess as their strongest saint. But even she was not supposed to fight on the battlefield due to the importance of her role. So she was only a force of deterrence up until now.

With the Hero of Darkness already being this strong just with his domain... I don’t think anyone in the Abyss Empire can defeat him.] he said to the president.

[What... what about him?] asked the President without mentioning who he was specifically talking about.

[He... chose to stay neutral. He is serving someone else because he knew that before the Hero of Darkness was found, his involvement in these matters could spark a civil war.

But even I refuse to believe that he would be taking our side or the imperial faction, seeing how the Great War is already at our doorsteps.] responded the saint.

The president could only nod lightly as he maintained his firm stance.

Meanwhile, Kahn wasn’t done just yet.

”Now that you have seen my domain, there may be questions in the future regarding whether it can actually help during the battle against multiple strong saints.

However... my domain is not my core strength.” said Kahn, and before anyone could absorb his iterated words...

BOOM!!!

Kahn flew high up in the sky instantly, and his body burst like a nuclear explosion, instantly spreading in 50-kilometer radius.

The dark and blue aura was enough to kill everyone with that explosion, but Kahn was intentionally controlling it from affecting a single soul within the domain.

A ginormous humanoid figure appeared amidst this terrifying aura from the explosion. But before anyone could see the face... the spectral body started changing its form.

FLAP!

Flap!

Kahn’s spectral form of a human soon started changing.

First thing to change was that he now wore a pitch-black and blue samurai armor.

Soon, his human face and claws turned to that of a wolf, and the skin changed gained serpentine scales as well as 2 horns appeared from the sides of his head, similar to a Basilisk.

Flap!

Wiggle!

In mere seconds, a one-and-a-half-kilometer-long massive tail and 1 kilometer wings of a dragon.

And now, he had become a formidable 2-kilometer-tall being who had thousands of weapons, including Lucifer, Gungnir, Beowolf, Sigrun, and Vidarr. In his right hand, was the titanic version of the ancient rank Muramasa.

Along with them, millions of 10-meter-long arrows, swords, spears, tridents, and daggers also spread in both the ground and the sky.

Now, Kahn’s aura was comparable to a legitimate 8th-stage saint, and everyone who witnessed his domineering pressure could feel the terrifying strength in his existence as Kahn finally assumed his most powerful battle form for the first time since the Conclave of Heroes...

The Apostle of War.