Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power - Chapter 341

Chapter 341: Chapter 341: Domain
Chapter 341 – Domain

The mourning cry of a broken woman was one wrenching to hear. Added to the already gloomy and fear-drenched atmosphere, it was one that made some beings quiver in dread, praying harder for relief from this unending nightmare.

Neila Cerveau was but a newly awakened at that time, yet for some reason, her cry echoed through all the capital of Asterion, accompanied by the cracking sound of the sky as if the world itself was giving her voice.

And that mourning voice managed to reach one being, who was standing tall and steady amidst the writhing darkness, a maid uniform framing her body perfectly.

Her red-white hair was falling softly over her face, covering her left eye, leaving the right one open for the world to witness the purple color glowing with an enchanted luster.

An umbrella was in her gloved hand as she placed it above her head to block the stray attacks of her master, the Sun Empress, who was battling against the Moon.

She sighed wistfully under her breath, feeling something she rarely felt in the course of her thousand years of life. She felt sadness and pain seeing the state of this empire, all because of the hidden rottenness they had allowed to fester inside the Asterion bloodline for too long.

She found it disgraceful, that such a bloodline that came directly from a god could fall so low and become so wretched.

She slowly raised her head to the sky, witnessing how it was shattering and how fire, frost, and darkness were dancing lethally there.

She paused, taking the sight in, and wondered what Aster, The Celeste, would say seeing his descendants in this state. Or even, what Vesper Asterion, Firstborn of Aster, would say, seeing the state of the empire he lost so much to build.

So pitiful. So pathetic. So wretched.

All because of rules and laws that should have been discarded with this new age. But no, the arrogant were one hell of a stubborn. Until their downfall came knocking at their door, never would they realize that changing times meant changing rules.

Evolution.

That was the theme of Fokay. Yet they never realized it.

‘And now, behold what you have allowed access to,’ she thought, looking at the writhing and moving true shadows licking at her feet.

These were not normal shadows. These were shadows that directly came from OmbreNuit, the very goddess of Shadow.

She should have been afraid of these, yet she only felt peace amidst this new state of the empire, for her affinity with shadows and concealment was acting strongly in this environment.

She closed her eyes to steady herself, forcing back whispers, her action interrupted by a soft voice behind her.

“Quite a sight, right, Melantha Drought?”

The maid of the Sun Empress — Melantha — did not bother turning her head at the sound of her name being called.

“You took your time, Sora,” she answered, her eyes now looking beneath her.

Lady Sora approached her with light steps. Each step of hers caused the True Shadows to part away, as if afraid or unwilling to approach something inside her.

Sora only smiled, teeth falling, as she came and stood beside Melantha, her eyes sliding downward too. Her lips split into a soft and loving smile.

“So it’s him,” she whispered, looking at the young boy curled up around Melantha’s feet. He was small, looking around seven years old, with golden hair shining brightly even in that heavy darkness.

He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, thanks to the presence of Melantha, who blocked any shadows and stray attacks from touching him.

At Lady Sora’s words, Melantha only grunted a sound of acknowledgment, feeling at the same time the whispers she had blocked coming back stronger inside her head.

A whisper of an Empire. Of a damned.

She bit her lips and ignored the whisper the goddess was trying to convey to her, focusing back on the current situation.

“What is his name?” Lady Sora asked again as she crouched down, caressing lovingly the cheek of her nephew.

“Apollo,” Melantha Drought answered, her voice suddenly heavy, “Apollo Luminary Asterion, the Hope of the Celestial Empire.”

Lady Sora’s smile widened, her teeth falling faster,

“Apollo Luminary,” she echoed,

“What a heavy name you have given him, sister.”

…

Meanwhile, in the destroyed Silver City, Kaden stood amidst corpses of knights, his body bathed in blood, though none of it was his own.

Lord Silver was still floating in the sky, looking at him with his silver eyes that seemed to decay everything they rested upon.

This time, with the aid of his Absence Trait and the use of his Will that devoured all the blood and souls of those he killed, making him thus stronger, Kaden succeeded in killing the whole squad of Knights, leaving only the untouched Lord Silver high above.

He did not act yet, the two of them watching each other while feeling the oppressing shadows dancing around them.

Kaden had noticed the disappearance of the sun and moon in the sky, making him wonder and dread what was happening, yet he had no time to think of that.

He needed to kill his foe. But first, he needed to mourn the loss of the twins.

He sighed, lowered his head slightly.

He had felt their death, after all, they were bound to his blood oath and had a wisp of his power injected in them.

He knew they had chosen this path, with him only giving them the means to extract vengeance for their violated mother.

But he also knew that he could have given them another chance, another opportunity for a better life. One away from the poison that vengeance was.

He bit his lips, feeling the sentiment of disgust and scorn for himself slither inside his heart.

He was a hypocrite, he realized painfully.

And there was barely anything worse in this world than a bloody hypocritical bastard.

He could say that he had done that because he was not strong enough to end this quest by himself without using people for his goals, but Kaden knew he wouldn’t have done that to the people he loved and cared about.

True, he had made peace with that. He had accepted to sacrifice others for his goals if necessary. For his family. For his loved ones.

Yet he felt bitter, somehow, to do the exact same thing he said he would do now that he did.

At these thoughts, as he stood there amidst a rampart of broken flesh, mountains of bodies and a sea of blood, Kaden remembered the last words of his master.

‘You are pretty sentimental for a killer’. The Slave had said, chuckling while dying.

Kaden chuckled humorlessly, finding truth in the words of his master.

At his core, Kaden was a soft and gentle boy who grew up in a loving family.

He was the youngest. The favorite of his father, of his mother, of his sister, of his brother.

He was the apple of their eyes.

And those feelings encroached deep within him, making him the man called Kaden Warborn, who saved his sister from the hands of beasts.

The man called The Harvester, who saved a whole stronghold and a bunch of children held captive by a mind-manipulating bastard.

And the man called Prometheus. A man who was ready to fight an empire for a woman.

He was a man of love, of burden, and of honor.

And that was exactly why…

“I have made you wait for long, haven’t I?” Kaden spoke finally, looking at Lord Silver in the sky. His voice was hoarse and heavy, as if strained by too many conflicted emotions inside his heart.

“You surprised me, Prometheus,” Lord Silver said, “And you have also surprised Him. You have gotten our attention and our respect.”

He stretched his right hand toward him, “Your talent is unheard of, and He has seen in you a Seed of Death never before seen. One with purity unmatched in His immortal life.”

The voice of Lord Silver now sounded like thirty-three persons speaking at the same time. It was eerie and chilling.

“Join us, Prometheus. Join us in this quest of glory, of power, of completeness and True Immortality.”

Slowly, Silver’s face began to glow, his pupils starting to mutate and take the shape of the number 33.

“All of this,” he continued, gesturing at his fallen knights, “could be forgiven if you accept. And I shall tell you what’s happening and what god is trying to turn the Celestial Empire into one made for the damned now that The Celeste’s influence has lessened.”

Hearing all his words, Kaden didn’t answer immediately, his mind and emotions and body linking together, steadily showing him the full formation of his domain.

He was close. Very close.

He raised his head and looked at the 33-shaped eyes of Lord Silver, having the instinctive feeling that he was no longer talking to a man. At least, not the likes he knew of.

“What are you?” Kaden asked.

Lord Silver grinned with lunacy, “I am Castria Silver, the chosen one of Thirty-Three, the Seeker of Ascension.”

“A chosen one?” Kaden echoed, then smiled, “I am disappointed. I thought I was the only chosen one. But tell me, who chose you?”

He tilted his head next, “A god?” he asked.

Silver frowned, “Of course, it’s a god.”

Kaden fell suddenly silent, having finally understood his domain, and what he must let go to summon it.

His domain was one of emptiness.

So all his feelings must go. All his burdens must disappear. All his turbulent thoughts must be drowned in empty silence.

And by letting all of them go, he would let himself go.

He would be empty, free of anything.

And he realized that the more things he let go in order to embrace emptiness…

…the more powerful his domain would become.

So Kaden let go of everything and, with a wide smile plastered on his face, raised his head and looked at Lord Silver, his skin beginning to slither as if snakes were moving inside, his eyes slowly but surely losing any feelings, any thoughts, any emotions.

“If you are chosen by a god, Lord Silver,” he said, his happy smile slowly turning into an empty smile, “then I, Prometheus, am chosen by the universe itself.”

Lord Silver frowned, then his eyes widened in absolute shock as a terrifying invisible light exploded outward from Kaden, enveloping the entirety of Silver City in sudden emptiness, his voice echoing like one of a god.

A voice empty of anything.

Lord Silver shivered, fear began to flicker deep inside his eyes, “H-How? Emptiness? How? How can it choose you? How can empti—!”

Kaden raised his index finger and put it atop his mouth.

Instinctively, Lord Silver shut his mouth. Only to realize what he had done, about to open it but—!

“Domain Activation…”

The city disappeared.

“Cradle of Emptiness.”

—End of Chapter 341—