The Darkness System: Rise of the Broken Sovereign

Kael reached into his system storage and pulled out the Netherworld Soul Locking Flag.

Flutter.

The cloth unfurled behind him—runes blazing as it floated in the air. His hands formed rapid seals—snap, snap, snap—and ten souls erupted from the flag’s pocket dimension.

SHRIIIEEK!

Ten translucent forms materialized around Kael—the Storm Wolf Alpha, the Abyssal Thornsire, the Thunder Lizards, the Lightning Serpents, and the rest. Each one radiated hostile soul energy, their tempered forms denser and more refined than when they’d been first absorbed.

Darian Scott pulled himself from the rubble. He wiped the blood from his lips and his eyes narrowed. His hands formed hand signs—snap, snap—and lightning gathered around him. Not just any ordinary lightning—rule-infused lightning, blue-white and heavy with conceptual weight.

His aura spiked—WHUUUM—Spirit Soul Rank 1 mana surging through his meridians, feeding his rule power.

”Let’s go all out then,” Darian said.

Kael smirked.

”Is that you going all out? ’Cause I haven’t even gone 70% yet.”

He stored both Shadow Slayer blades in his system storage—click, click—and raised his right hand. The Special Grade gauntlet materialized—hummm—runes blazing, aura amplification activating. His aura surged—150% boost—the golden shimmer around his body thickening dramatically.

”Now, this is me going 80%.”

Darian’s lightning coalesced. A full body armor of condensed lightning formed around him—crackle—covering him from head to toe in blazing blue-white plate. His spear hummed with rule-infused energy.

He rushed forward. WHOOSH. Lightning speed—the air itself parting around him. His spear thrust toward Kael’s chest.

CLANG!

Kael easily deflected the spear with his gauntlet. The Impact Nullification absorbed the kinetic force—fzzzt—converting it into aura. Darian’s eyes widened behind his lightning armor.

The ten souls descended on Darian simultaneously. SHRIIIEEK! Claws, fangs, and condensed soul energy tore at his lightning armor—crackle—cracking it in multiple places.

Darian roared—AGH—and discharged a radial blast of rule-infused lightning. FWOOOOM! The blast struck the souls—pop, pop, pop—pushing them backward. Three souls dissipated temporarily, returning to the flag to reform.

Kael stepped inside the opening. His gauntlet-covered fist drove forward—BOOM—aiming for Darian’s chest. The aura amplification tripled the force. Darian swung his spear horizontally in a desperate block—CLANG—the shaft absorbing the impact. But the force launched him backward—slide—his feet carving trenches in the ground.

Kael raised his left hand forward.

”Pulsar.”

WHUUUM.

A small black core with silver cracks formed in his palm—like a compressed star. Gravity condensed around it. He fired it.

WHOOSH.

Darian thrust his spear forward. ”Celestial Tempest Spear: Storm Annihilation!”

FWOOOOM!

A massive beam of rule-infused lightning erupted from the spear tip. The beam met the Pulsar midair.

BOOOOOM!

The two attacks collided and destroyed each other—crack-crackle—detonating in a shockwave that flattened the terrain around them. Dust and debris exploded outward—whoosh—and the canyon walls cracked.

Kael activated Lightning Body. CRACKLE. His form dissolved—ZIP—and reappeared behind Darian.

Darian reacted instantly. His spear swept backward—whoosh—a spear technique infused with lightning rule power. FWOOSH. Multiple arcs of rule-enhanced lightning trailed behind the spear tip.

Kael jumped back—whoosh—and activated Orbital Deflection. WHUUUM. The gravitational field rotated, bending the lightning arcs sideways—screee—deflecting them into the canyon walls. BOOM. BOOM.

Darkness spread from Kael’s feet.

Shhhhhh.

Like liquid shadow, the darkness crept across the ground—fast, silent, reaching Darian’s position in seconds. From the darkness, chains erupted. Dark chains of condensed Devouring Darkness—CLINK—wrapped around Darian’s arms, his legs, his waist.

YANK.

Darian was immobilized. His lightning armor crackled—fzzzt—trying to burn through the chains, but the Devouring Darkness ate the lightning mana as fast as it was generated.

The ten souls descended again.

SHRIIIEEK!

They tore into Darian—claws raking through his lightning armor, soul energy burning his consciousness. He screamed—AAAGH—pain lancing through his body and soul simultaneously. His armor cracked—crack—then shattered—pop—leaving him exposed.

Kael infused his gauntlet with aura and lightning rule power. The golden shimmer turned blue-gold—crackle-hummm—lightning and aura merging into a single destructive force.

”Thunder God Flash.”

CRACKLE—ZIP!

He vanished. Compressed lightning rule power propelled his legs—speed beyond perception. He materialized directly in front of the chained Darian—so close their faces were inches apart.

”Lightning Claws.”

SLASH!

Kael’s gauntlet-covered hand raked across Darian’s neck. The Aura Amplification tripled the force. The lightning rule power bypassed the physical defenses. The Shatter-Point vibration detected the structural weak point in Darian’s cervical vertebrae.

SHHK.

Blood erupted—splurt—from the wound. Darian’s eyes went wide. The chains released him—clink—and he crumpled to his knees, both hands clutching his bleeding neck. Blood poured between his fingers—drip, drip—pooling onto the ground.

Kael bent down. He grabbed Darian’s hair—grip—and tilted the dying cultivator’s face upward.

”You know, you’re gonna know who you’re messing with before you try shit.” Kael’s voice was cold. ”But too bad. You ain’t ever gonna use that lesson. Plus you just ended up as a clown who can’t even use lightning rule power properly.”

SHING.

Kael slashed Darian’s head off. Thud. The body collapsed. The head rolled across the ground, coming to rest face-up. The light in Darian’s eyes faded.

Kael pulled out the Netherworld Soul Locking Flag. Flutter. The cloth unfurled over Darian’s corpse. His soul emerged—larger than any soul Kael had absorbed before. A Spirit Soul cultivator’s soul.

The flag absorbed it.

WHOOSH.

Hhhh.

Kael sighed.

”That’s some goddamn unnecessary time wasted. At least his soul will be useful. My first Spirit Soul soul.” He paused. ”Damn. That’s kind of confusing. Spirit Soul’s soul.”

He shook his head and turned around.

The dark wolf dragged the one-armed high elf across the ground by his remaining leg. Drag. The elf was barely conscious, his face white from blood loss.

Beside the wolf, the dark wyvern carried Zolis’s charred body in its jaws. The fire twin was barely alive.

Kael walked up to both of them. Two quick strikes—shhk, shhk—and it was over. The high elf and Zolis went still.

Their souls emerged—faint, flickering—and the flag absorbed them.

[Soul Flag: 23/100.]

”Good job,” Kael said, patting the wolf and the wyvern. Pat. Pat. ”Back you go.”

Both summons dissolved into shadow—fzzzt—returning to the shadow world.

Kael extended his soul power—thrum—and used telekinetic force to gather the scattered items. Storage rings from Darian, the high elf, and Zolis floated into his hand. He also collected the items Molis had dropped when he teleported out—Tier 1 weapons, Rank 4 defensive talismans, their Void Realm tokens, a few rare herbs, roughly three hundred mid-grade mana stones, and seven hundred low-grade mana stones.

Everything went into his system storage. Whirr.

Kael looked around the canyon.

He walked out of the Lightning Holy Ground—step, step—passing through the gateway structure.

Kael looked up at the sky.

Far away—beyond the mountain ranges, beyond the canyons and forests—a massive pillar of flames rose into the heavens. A column of fire so tall it pierced the painted constellations, illuminating the Void Realm’s sky in orange and gold. Beside it, a constellation shimmered.

It seems the flame has appeared already. Hope I’m not gonna be late to the party.