Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1253: The Crucial Link

The entire surroundings stopped moving for a moment as soon as Morpheus, the 8th Hero of Darkness, suddenly made a grand revelation that all the heroes and heroines from both past and the present, including both of them… were actually the ‘Demon God’ themselves.

This was the most gobsmacking and mind-boggling secret Kahn had heard since his arrival in Vantrea.

“Excuse me, but WHAT?!!!” exclaimed Kahn in sheer disbelief and utter shock.

“I don’t accept this joke. I won’t accept it even if it’s the truth.” he rebuked Morpheus in denial.

“This shouldn’t even be possible!” he kept on denying as Morpheus showed Kahn a poker face in return.

“I know. It’s totally unacceptable, even if it was a lie. Unfortunately, it is the ultimate truth.” responded the previous Hero of Darkness.

“It took me a lot of time to accept as well, but when I started looking into it over 300 years ago… it became apparent that we all, regardless of the time or worlds we came from… are the Demon God.” said Morpheus.

“What makes you so sure?” asked Kahn.

“Look behind you. Why do you think I’ve kept their corpses with me?” said Morpheus as his gaze landed behind Kahn.

Kahn, with widened eyes, looked behind and saw all the thornes with the corpses of the Heroes and Heroines from the previous generation.

“Unlike me, some of them were targeted by the Demon God even before the Great War of our era began. He simply tried to take over their souls and bodies by latching a part of his own soul.

So that even if someone killed him, he could be resurrected in a matter of months using them. He would also have their rank as saints, their skills and even their divine weapons, as well as the divine abilities.

This was also one of the reasons why I had no choice but to kill them.” revealed Morpheus.

“What?! So you didn’t kill them just to get their divine keys and divine weapons?

Are you telling me that you massacred them all just to prevent the Demon God from resurrecting?” asked Kahn as his eyes displayed the bewilderment in his mind.

“It was one of the reasons. If I hadn’t done it, he would have achieved the Demi-God Rank over 300 years ago already, and the world, along with the entire multiverse, would’ve been erased from existence.

I had no other choice but to do it; otherwise, we wouldn’t even get another chance to have a fair fight against him.

And believe me… My decision and actions only halted his breakthrough by 3 centuries.

I believe that he is on the verge of achieving Peak Saint rank already in the new timeline.” revealed Morpheus with a serious tone.

“What’s the name of this Demon God bastard?… Voldemort?!” asked Kahn with an irritated countenance.

[[Author: It’s LORD VOLDEMORT, you imbecile!]]

“Latching parts of his souls onto other heroes so they really couldn’t be killed… it’s basically the Horcruxes thing again.” murmured Kahn under his breath.

To his ranting, Morpheus spoke with a calm tone…

“You’re asking the wrong question again.

The biggest mystery should be why he has been able to do it to all the Heroes in the first place?” spoke Morpheus as he rested his head on the throne.

“Human souls are far stronger and can’t easily be taken over, even if it’s the Demon God himself.

However, not a single one of the Heroes or Heroines even realised or remembered their encounter with him.

What means did he have to wipe out their memories as well? Do you think the Gods didn’t have a way to prevent that, especially when most of us have always been supported and even protected by their official religious institutions?” said Morpheus as he raised an important question.

It was right then that an alarm went through Kahn’s head as he discovered a possibility to answer the question raised by Morpheus.

“Unless he already had access to our souls. It could also mean that he didn’t try to take over someone else, but someone whose soul was already part of him.

Like having a master access keycard to every lock in the building.” spoke Kahn with a harrowed expression.

“Exactly. He is the origin of our souls in the first place. Spread across different worlds, and then Gods always offered us an illusion that we were somewhat worthy to be their heroes.

In reality, we were just mere seeds sown by the Demon God across different worlds who met their criteria and then got sent to Vantrea.

And do you know the most common factor among all of us?” elaborated Morpheus as he raised another important question.

“What is it?” queried Kahn earnestly as he couldn’t find that connection even now.

Morpheus revealed a grim countenance as he responded with a stern voice…

“All of us… lived a miserable life as if we lived inside hell.”

******************

Morpheus revealed the one common factor that tied all the chosen heroes.

“I already know your story from the Martial Emperor. And the last reason I showed you my memories in Volos… was to show you the truth.” revealed Morpheus.

Now it all made sense to Kahn why the 8th Hero of Darkness went through such trouble to show Kahn his own life.

It wasn’t just to help Kahn understand his character, but also to tie in the common link between their own lives.

“If what you say is right… Then I think I could believe it as the truth. Because I’ve witnessed something similar to others.” spoke Kahn as a grand reckoning dawned upon him.

What both Kahn and Morpheus underwent through both of their lives… the years of suffering and having no hope that made them almost give up.

Whether it was the loss of his parent for Morpheus or whether being abandoned by his own blood and flesh for Kahn… they were bound by the common thread called Tragedy.

“The current Hero of Space, Sasakibe Ryuken… I lived through his memories when we fought. My original intention was to help him achieve enlightenment, but to do so, I had to know his life.

He, too, lost his family, then his wife and child, as one after another, every kind of bad luck befell him through his entire life until he died, just like me.” specified Kahn as he recounted his meeting with the new Hero of Space just a few months ago.

What Kahn didn’t know was that even Maximus Gladius, the current Hero of Nature, was also the same kind of mind whose life was filled with pain and suffering. He lost his family, his grandfather raised him to be a good man who eventually joined the military and sacrificed his life to the gods to protect his people.

What he also didn’t know was that the current Hero of Life, Ervalen Baaslark, also had a life full of grief, struggle and betrayal.

As for the misery faced by Bjorn Ragnarsson and Miyamoto Musashi… Kahn had no idea.

But evidently, it was the most crucial factor in their lives that cemented everything revealed by Morpheus.

“But why? Why is it that all of us have lived such harsh lives?” asked Kahn with a puzzled expression.

To his question, Morpheus revealed a serious expression as he divulged another truth.

“We all are mere reflections of every life… the Demon God has lived.”