《The Overlord of the Void》 Prologue: [Chance] Sam sighed at the sight outside his window as he looked down ten stories below from inside his hotel room. Thousands of people were walking the streets, most were on their way to work and slave away in a large company with hopes of ascending the social ladder. Others were more simple, only thinking of the bare necessities they needed to survive the next day. There were also those who had nothing, surviving in a world that had discarded them, they were given no future as they simply lived. Then there were those of the one percent who had it all---money, influence and power, with no care in the world, acting as if they owned the heavens itself. It was the same sight every day. "The world might have progressed, but we as humans have stagnated..." Sam said to himself as he turned his head away from the window. Staring into his hands, he thought of how strange he was. Sure, he wasn''t the first person to be disappointed in the truth of reality, but it was different for him in a way... It was like he was disconnected from the world around him. Shaking his head, Sam took his attention away from such things and picked up the helmet-like device beside him. Sliding it on comfortably on his head, he made a small smile and fell into unconsciousness. = 0 = 0 = 0 = [Congratulations! You have vanquished the [Void Overlord] and his subordinates!] [Level cap reached, Exp reward: 0] [Title/s received: Overlord of the Void] [Fame reward: - ] [Money reward: - ] [Skill/s received: - ] [Items received: [Twilight God''s Betrayer Set (Armor Set) (Divine)], [God''s Error (Ring) (Divine)], [Corrupted Reality Shards (Misc) (???) ¡Á13], [Pure Void Essence (Misc) (???) ¡Á736], [Abyss Reaver (Scythe) (Divine)], [Alpha Construct (Multi Weapon) (???)], [Omega Construct (Multi Weapon) (???)] [Class Upgrade Achieved! [Void Wanderer+++] has evolved to [Overlord of the Void+++] [Thanks to your efforts of HhU@#22¦Ð¡Â¡Â9???¡ã, you are gifted a special item! [Chance (Uy¡Á¦Ð€???) (38-$#$$)] While looking through the continous barrage of screens showing the list of rewards he gained, Xero felt a little cheated. Compared to the nightmare inducing level of difficulty with defeating what was undoubtedly the strongest boss in the game, the rewards were few and he didn''t even get a skill!This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Though his eyebrow raised with curiosity as the system screens seemed to warp and glitch during the last part. ''It''s the first time something like that happened.'' Moving through the items in his inventory, he tracked down the suspicious reward that caught his attention well enough to wash away the fatigue of his recent battle. Xero scrolled down, and after a few seconds, a small black cube simply labeled [Chance] with a glitched description he couldn''t make out, appeared in the very bottom of his inventory. He spawned it and found himself holding the black cube. Upon his further inspection, several runes of unknown origin seemed to be carved into it. ''?'' Xero carefullytraced his fingers over the runes and watched as it glowed bright red. A strange feeling washed over him. His senses flared into life in a way that wasn''t possible in the game no matter how realistic it seemed, feeling almost as if the barrier between reality and fantasy was blurring. ''Would you like to be freed from this world?'' A clear voice resounded in his head. Somewhat aghast but mostly confused, Xero had his eyebrow raised because of thestrange question. He proceeded to look at the other parts of the cube but found nothing. The voice repeated itsquestion,''would you like to be freed from this world?'' Xero felt as if the words were sharper this time around, almost as if the disembodied voice was being impatient. In a short moment of silence that felt much longer than it was, Xero sighed and looked at his open hand, then looking up at the infinite blackness of the void. He grinned. "Yes," he answered. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Samopened his eyes feeling like a freshly raised zombie summoned by a novice necromancer. He lost consciousness somehow while inside the game, it happened the moment he answered the voice''s question. Although he really didn''t know what to expect, most of him thought of the question as a joke with a tiny part of him hoping for something more..... exciting. Now, he found himself; the somewhat scrawny human of average height and build, floating in a space of pure white. In front of him was something like a deep black smoke in the vague form of a human, it''s very presence seemed to warp the space around it, butSam felt a strange connection to it deep inside himself. Then a familiar voice---resembling neither male or female and somehat robotic in nature, echoed in the white realm of nothingness. "Hmm, you''re an interesting one, I''m surprised at how a human could make such a complete soul, not to mention several dozens of them... Truly, you are unique..." Sam''s expression contorted in confusion. He seemed to have been feeling that a lot lately. The voice spoke again and disrupted his thoughts. "Then without further ado, I shall now free you from the bond of this world..." Without warning, Sam felt his presence tear away from his body and into the black figure formed out of smoke. His vision went dark and his very being was engulfed in pain of the mind shattering sort. Images and voices filled his head as multiple memories of someone else''s swirled together with his own, nearly driving him to insanity. Emotions he''d never experience before filled his depths as he felt his soul get ripped and torn, slowly eroding and reforming thousands of times spontaneously. A person suddenly appeared in his vision---a handsome yet feminine-looking young man. He had silky hair colored a bluish-white, reminiscent to freshly fallen snow. Heterochromatic eyes---one a calming deep blue while the other a fierce blood red, both with a slit iris. An oval face with delicate features that could be seen as feminine, completed by thin crimson lips, a sharp nose, and ghastly pale skin. It was Xero---his avatar. Just a little over six feet, with a thin physique that had tight developed muscles, he had the body of an athlete. Even as he was literally being ripped apart from the inside out, Sam felt a slight embarrassment at seeing how made his avatar. Then, he felt something shatter... And the world turned black. ... ...... ......... ''I''ve granted your wish... Do entertain me...'' A fading voice echoed in Xero''s mind as he came to be. Chapter 1: [Spawn] Samwas standing in infinite darkness with Xero standing in front of him. "You must understand what''s about to happen," Xero said, his smooth voice carrying over to Sam''s ears. "Our individuality will be erased, our souls and minds shall be fused into one entity with my body as the vessel and your consciousness as the core..." The white-haired boy continued to explain, any tangible emotion was devoid from his face. Sampaused and looked at the expressionless Xero, a single question was stuck in his throat. Then as if he was able to read his mind, Xero chuckled, then grinned before speaking. "You don''t have to worry about me. I''d be happy if you do this. After all, I''d just go back to being data if you don''t and so will the others." Sam returned a small smile and reached out his hand. "They''re all gonna rely on you," Xero said, a hard seriousness in his eyes. "I''ll try my best not to fuck it up,"Sam replied. Xero sighed and shook his head then smiled. "I never would''ve guessed that my creator would be someone like you." Samfelt Xero reach out and shake his hand. "I''m sure you''ll do great," Xero said as he faded into the blackness. = 0 = 0 = 0 = With a familiar voice fading inside his mind, Xero came to be. A feeling of divine comfiness was surrounding him. Eyes fluttering open he found himself in a familiar room---It was his quarters His eyes appraised the surroundings. Truly it was fit for a god, perhaps an evil god because of how much black and crimson coloring there was. Getting off the bed, he wandered around the quarters which was evidently much bigger than the entirety of his hotel room back at Earth. Standing in front of a full-body mirror, Xero realized that he was in black pajamas with white stripes. Coughing in embarrassment, he proceeded to strip and change into some more appropriate clothing. Whilst unbuttoning his shirt, his mind wandered... To him it was surreal, and deep inside was a flaring childish excitement and happiness, but there was something inside him that seemed to seal down his emotions to be a lot more..... manageable. Now top naked, he took a moment to admire his body, somewhat prideful at the sight, while also embarrassed by the action. Moving towards the incredibly crafted closet, Xero pulled it open and instead of clothes, he saw a swirling darkness that warped a piece of time and space itself filling the closet.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ''Magic!'' The very word sent shivers of excitement and curiosity down his spine. Although he had gained hundreds of years worth of memories and knowledge about magic, combat, the void and much more from the original Xero, he still marveled at the thought of something unbound by logic---something outside the realm of normalcy that he had lived for since the beginning of his past life as Sam. He reached out into the darkness and several images appeared in his head. All of them were clothes that he simply needed to will and pull out of the pocket dimension. *Knock!* *Knock!* A girl with a beautiful young face suddenly entered his room, not using the door, but instead phasing directly through the wall. ''What was the point of knocking?''Xero asked internally before inspecting her. She had wispy dark grey hair so long that it dragged behind her as she walked. She was also short, barely five feet in height with a childish physique. Her face was oval adorned with big, bright red eyes with something inhuman about them, a cute button nose, and red lips. The most peculiar she possessed trait was her semi-transparent cream-colored skin. This girl dressed in a frilly fantasy-style french maid outfit was Silith,a child of his own creation. She scanned their room, her expression was a mix of urgency and panic. Her eyes widened and her semi-transparent cheeks turned bright red as the image of the top naked Xero was burned into her mind. Silith''s black pupils seemed to be swirling as she stared for a moment, before quickly lowering her head and moving her gaze to the floor in embarrassment. Xero sighed and made a small smile. He chose a pair of jeans, a white shirt, black boots and a hoodie from the closet. There was a split second where shadows enveloped him, crawling and twisting around his form. As the shadows disappeared, Xero was already in his new clothes. In the corner of his eyes, he could see the flustered girl covering her wide-open eyes with semi-transparent hands. He brought down his hand on her head with a light chop, the girl made a cute squeal as she was brought back to reality. A heavenly feeling enveloped Xero''s hand. Subconsciously, he proceeded to stroke her head whilst he ran his fingers through her hair. ''Dammit, it feels like my hand is going through a sea of angel feathers, I think I might get addicted...'' For a moment he felt himself transcend into a realm of peace and prosperity. "M-master..." A weakened voice came from the girl squirming under his touch. Xero quickly pulled his arm away from Silith, coughing into his hand as he straightened his posture. He smiled as he looked at the girl and said, "Silith, you should try using the door, others might think it rude for you to enter through the wall." To his surprise, the small girl suddenly kneeled on the floor with her eyes cast downward. "I-I''m sorry master, this one shall accept any punishment for being rude, but something urgent has arisen a-and I-I..." She said, her cute voice faltering. Silith was suddenly lifted off the ground as Xero carried her by the waist. He looked her in the eyes with a serious gaze. "Remember that I shall never hurt those I love in any way, especially my own creations." ''L-love?''The words repeated inside Silith''s mind like a broken recorder, her face grew even redder than it already was as she quickly nodded her head in response to her master. Xero put Silith back down on the floor. It might''ve been his imagination but he thought he saw disappointment in her eyes as he did so. Getting back on track, he asked, "so, what''s this urgent news?" "Um... the Shadowspire seems to have been moved..." Silith answered. = 0 = 0 = 0 = In a ruined temple built in the middle of an ancient forest, a divine sword rests upon a pedestal. Within this holy blade was a slumbering entity---an entity made from a piece of a god''s power. After two and a half centuries, it reawakens to the touch of an unknown pulse of power. Inside her domain Seira smiled, kicking her feet playfully as she drifted in empty space. "Looks like things are about to get interesting..." Chapter 2: [Flight] Xero strode through the halls with Silith trailing behind him. Passing through a group of maids, they bowed down with eyes downcast until his presence was out of sight. It seemed to be a similar trait with everyone that noticed him, just like the reverence and unwavering devotion they held in their eyes. Inside, he felt slightly uncomfortable about the respect and loyalty he was being shown. It made the fragments of his old introverted personality to act up, making him want to hole up in some isolated room. Then there was also the other side of him, a version of himself that felt natural about it---it was what allowed him to play out the role of the Overlord flawlessly, another thing he inherited from the original Xero. As he walked, his thoughts returned to focus on Silith''s report. In his hand was a folder that had the compiled information on the Shadowspire''s situation. He read through it already---his enhanced mind memorizing it word per word with barely a glance. The premise was quite simple... ''In summary... the Shadowspire in its entirety was moved to an unknown location, with the also unknown method of transfer causing a wave of mana to burst outwards with the Shadowspire as its epicenter. This would''ve alerted virtually everything that containedmana in their bodies to a rough estimate of our location, and of course, the perpetrator is still also a mystery...'' It was troubling news for sure, especially since most of the other systems seem to have been damaged during relocation. Though Xero was already pretty sure that he was the one who caused the whole phenomena... one way or another. Hesighed, putting the file away into one of his storage rings. "Silith, where are the twelve now?" He asked, twelve figures appearing in his mind---the twelve first creations he''d ever make. Silith was smiling as she stared at Xero''s back, her mind that seemed to have been wandering somewhere else was snapped back to reality at the mention of her name. "M-most of them are already repairing the damages to the Shadowspire''s systems, but Lord Amon and Zret''s locations are currently unknown, while Lady Lilith is working with handling the regular functions of the realm," she answered somewhat hurriedly, a light blush on her cheeks. Xero suddenly stopped in his tracks and felt Silith bump into him from behind. A thought popped into his mind. He turned to face the grey-haired girl behind him. "Silith, wanna go to the outside world with me?" Silith nodded vigorously. = 0 = 0 = 0 = A complete fucking hell, it was a quick summary of his current situation. It was like a broken marriage---happening suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving you lost, confused and with half of your possessionsgone. He was the leader of this expedition, all was going well until dawn came... with it was the death of nearly half his men, all caused by mana poisoning.It left him, and the other remaining "lucky" survivors with severe mana sickness. Not only that, things became much worse as he discovered that it wasn''t simply the expedition members were affected, but so was the surrounding wildlife, and mana density only continued to increase as they got closer to their destination. "God''s be damned!" He cursed, his voice carrying outside his tent, and in frustration he slammed his fist on the table. "The expedition force is too weakened to be able to continue on with surefire success on finishing the mission..." He sighed and rubbed his temples. The Emperor had personally given him the order to lead the expedition. It was all in order to retrieve a holy artifact that was hidden somewhere in the Ancient Shrike Forests.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. So much resources have been given to ensure the expedition''s completion, especially since there have been signs that the demons have also made a move for the artifact. If he goes back now, empty-handed... He shivered at the thought. Although he didn''t want to use "it", he knew that the only way of keeping his head away from being an addition to the Emperor''s collection was to utilize everything at his disposal. "Bring me the damned witch!" He yelled out. "Yes my lord!" A man from outside the tent replied, the sound of his footsteps as he scurried away to fulfill his order quickly followed. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Xero quickly canceled the activation of his [Gate] spell before any more dust could get through the other side of the portal. He and Silith now found themselves outside the Shadowspire and its realm. Xero found himself quickly disappointed at the sight around him. For miles, there was only the dry rust-colored earth beneath his feet and the unusually hot air. His senses told him that there was no living organism within a 10 mile radius from where he was standing. They were basically in a desert completely devoid of life. Though it seemed like there was something interesting a bit further away towards the north. Xero crouched down and rubbed a bit of the soil in between his fingers. Using the skill [Analyze], Xero immediately gained an in-depth analysis of the dust in his hands, just as the name of the skill suggests. ''That''s strange... life here isn''t built the same way as us. The earth here and what seems like everything else got eroded by the high density of the mana in the area,'' Xero deducted as he cleaned away the rusty soil from his fingers using magic. He turned to look for Silith and found her crouched down, attention occupied by drawing on the ground with her fingers like a child. ''Then again... isn''t this the actual day of her birth?'' Xero wondered. When he tried to see what she was making in the dirt, Silith seemed to notice and quickly kicked away her work and stood back up and looked up at him in silence. He simply gave her an awkward smile, not really knowing how to respond. "Master are we going back?" The short girl asked in her usual timid and almost hesitant fashion. There was a short pause as Xero thought about his next actions. "We''ll go north first, something interesting seems to be there," he replied, making his mind up. Xero searched his storage ring and pulled two other rings out from it, one a plain black and the other was silver with blue runes engraved on it. He handed both of them to Silith. The girl seemed to have a floating question mark hanging over her head. "The black one is a mana suppression ring and the silver one has a one time use [Resurrection] spell placed on it," he explained. "M-m-master! A-as a low servant... I cannot accept this!" Silith said in a panic as she quickly handed the rings back over to her master. Xero gently flicked Silith''s forehead. "Gu!" She made a high pitched sound in surprise. Xero got down to her eye level and patted her head. "Silith, know that there is no such thing as a lowly being created by my hands," Xero chucked, "hmm, I just realized that I''ve been the one to give you your personality, but still... I think that it''ll do you good to be a bit more confident in yourself," he said, ruffling her hair. Silithi who was blushing nodded and quickly wore the two rings. With a satisfied smile, Xero turned his attention north, towards whatever was there that seemed to have a semblance to divine energy. ''Based on the form and construct... seems to be a weapon artifact most likely.'' He once again looked at Silith and realized a small fact, ''her hair isn''t getting dirty despite being dragged on the ground.''Getting the other unnecessary details away for now, Xero approached her. In a quick simple motion, he picked Silith off the ground and into his arms. The girl in his arms squirmed in embarrassment, her face and ears were progressively turning red. It almost looked like she was overheating, though her body''s actual temperature was really cold as a result of her race. Xero looked at her face and blurted out something in his mind, "you''re cute." Whether it was the work of imagination or not, he swore to have seen steam come out of her ears, before she covered up her face with her grey locks. "It''d be faster if we fly since your race doesn''t have access to any flight spells, I thought that this would be the best method," he explained, "also it''ll be shameful for me if I brought you all the way out here simply to get you dirty." Silith silently nodded in response, her face still obscured by her hair. Xero simply smiled, he gathered his mana and cast a spell. On his back formed black phantom wings with feathers that looked like they were made out of glass, except it was flexible and much sturdier. Flapping his wings, he was easily able to lift off the ground and felt very natural with wings. After erecting a barrier that surrounded both him and Silith as a final precaution, he suddenly shot up in the air and flew north, going forward just a bit shy of supersonic speed. Chapter 3: [Holy Blade] Silith fidgeted slightly at the feeling of warmth she felt from her master''s touch. She parted the hair covering her face with her small hands and looked up at him---the being who was her creator, she felt as if she could just melt in his arms. As they flew through the sky, the recent events flashed in Silith''s head, and to her, it almost seemed like a wild fever dream she''d hope to never wake up from. Although she pledged to serve her creator''s wishes until death without question, she really felt relieved and happy that the creator was the person he was. In the short span of a few hours, she interacted with the creator more than she ever did in the last 126 years of her life''s history. He seemed very different from the stoic and brooding overlord he used to be, but he still possessed the same deep wisdom and infallible strength he always had. Likewise, he still possessed the same aura---an aura that exuded a feeling of gentle warmth, yet with a cold swirling darkness just hiding underneath. Although among everything else, the most pronounced change she''d noticed was the new brightness that was visible in his eyes... he seemed a lot happier and much livelier than she''d ever seen him before, he almost seemed to glow in her eyes and it made her feel happy too. "Hm?" Her master seemed to have noticed her gaze on his face as they were flying and looked at her with a smile, his eyes seemed to ask the question"what''s wrong?" She quickly closed her hair back up in embarrassment and shook her head, Xero made an amused chuckle and replied to her gesture with a simple nod before he turned his attention back forwards. Silith let out a breath of relief... if she had a heart, it would have probably popped already. It was a curious thing for her as to why she had been the one chosen to accompany him, there was certainly a lot more people qualified for the job, and in all honesty she felt like she''d just be a burden... even now she was being carried by her master because of her lack in mobility-related abilities. She was the youngest among a specialized group of maids. Since created, they were tasked with being both maids serving directly under the creator and at the same time, a task force trained mainly for infiltration missions, and although in terms of raw power, she and most her other sisters were more or less equally matched, there was still a big gap between them when it came to experience. Silith had never been good with maid work and was inexperienced in real combat situations, the main reason she was here right now was because today had been chosen as her first time tending to the creator... there was supposed to be a second and more experienced maid with her that would ensure she didn''t mess up and shame their entire group, but everyone else was preoccupied with the system damage dealt to the Shadowspire and were sent to support in the repairs. In all honesty... she had often felt like a failure, but then..."I think that it''ll do you good to be a bit more confident in yourself,"the memory of her master''s words played in her head. She blushed, shaking her head to expel the voice in her mind. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Xero found flying quite enjoyable, especially at such high speeds. The sky was a light blue and was cloudless for the most part---it was beautiful, something that was quite a rare sight back in Earth after how much the atmosphere there had been polluted. This sight was another thing the was thankful for, among the many others. Moving his thoughts away from the sky, with his enhanced sight that was now far beyond human capabilities, Xero scanned the horizon. The desert-like landscape that he''d seen for miles was now slowly changing back into the forest that it once was, and the further away it got from the areas dense mana, the more life there was. There was also a mountain range much further beyond---it was in a distance that the dense mana wasn''t able to reach, and so, its creatures and fauna were left intact, but that wasn''t important at the moment. Right now his attention was on a structure that looked like something resembling a temple but was now something closer to a giant glorified pile of rubble. Xero started to descend and felt several very weak mana signatures somewhere in thestructure. His feet touched the ground and he dispelled the wings on his back, then gently placed Silith who had been quiet the entire flight back on her feet. Focusing his mana in his palm, he held an image of a simple longsword in his mind, then his mana started twisting as it shaped itself into the image. There was a flash of bright light in his hand, and in the next moment, he found himself gripping a non-ornate longsword. Xero inspected it... The sword was around 110 cm, the blade itself, together with both the crossguard and the hilt seemed to be formed from a type of silvery metal, though in reality, it was just a simple mana construct, it was nothing special in appearance but was very sharp, sturdy and unnaturally lightweight.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. He casually swung the sword at the air and it whistled sharply---the unbelievable speed of the motion leaving an afterimage to linger in its wake. The air around the blade was warped and displaced as it moved, creating an invisible force that despite not hitting the ground itself, had enough power to cut a deep line in the earth that stretched for several meters. After a short pause Xero swung again, then a third, a fourth, a fifth... he simply continued to swing at the space in front of him, with a delay in-between swings that shortened as the number of swings increased. Although his movements were undeniably refined, fluid and precise to say the least, he had no form or stance at all and simply looked like he was lashing out against the air, and was somehow... winning. After his 20''th swing, the delay in Xero''s movements seemed to disappear, and like a whirlwind holding a blade, he was able to do hundreds of swings in a second, with each one leaving their an independent mark on the earth. It was quite the bizarre and awe-inspiring sight, especially because of the several afterimages that followed Xero''s movements, this was proved by Silith who was staring at him from a short distance away with sparkling eyes. Xero suddenly stopped, seeing as how brutalized the ground already was.''The sword feels just like an extension of my hands...''he thought as he viewed his reflection from the longsword''s blade. Just then.. the mana signatures he felt earlier rushed forward towards his direction. They came out of the ruined temple, most likely becoming aware of his existence because of the racket he was making. They seemed to be golems made mostly of something that had a similar appearance to sandstone. It stood at roughly 3 meters, with a vaguely humanoid shape, two small black stones that acted as eyes and a blue glowing core at the center of its chest. Apart from its size, it really wasn''t menacing in any way, though Xero could sense the hostility coming from all of the 13 mana signatures and simply waited for their first move. The golems to his surprise had suddenly started casting spells---something not that common as golems were usually made with the purpose of tanking with overpowering physical abilities. Still... a spell of the level it was casting wouldn''t have even been able to dirty his clothes. Xero stood silently and waited to see just what it was going to cast to sate his curiosity, but before the golems could even finish spellcasting, he caught a glimpse of Silith in the corner of his eyes as she rushed forward and within a blink of an eye, closed the 200 meter distance between herself and the golems and proceeded to reduce them to dust in a ruthless manner. It happened quickly, but every moment was clear in Xero''s eyes. Silith''s hair suddenly grew quintuple in length as she charged forward, her grey locks seemed like they became a part of her limbs as it floated off the ground, hardened to an incredible degree and started to come together to form something similar to a spear tip. With movements reminiscent to a striking viper, her hair lashed out and started making holes in the bodies of the golems, always starting her barrage on their cores. It didn''t take longer than several seconds for all of it to finish, leaving Silith standing over a small hill of blue golem core fragments and sandstone-like rubble with her form completely pristine and dirt-free, there was also the angle of sunlight and the dust that added to the dramatic effect. Xero smiled, although mildly disappointed he wasn''t able to see what spell the golems were about to cast, he was able to see a cool scene and found it a much better outcome. = 0 = 0 = 0 = A girl was kneeling before him, her sky blue eyes that looked up at him had long lost their life. Six men surround her with their swords drawn and pointed at her neck, but he knew that those blades would be nothing more than a nuisance to her if she''d wanted to kill the men here, even the chains that held her legs and arms might as well be decorations. The only thing that was keeping her from slaughtering all the men here was the seal carved on the flesh of her back. He felt nothing but disgust at the sight of her... a monster hiding in the skin of a human.It was utterly shameful for him to rely on something such as this---a witch. "You shall be tasked with the retrieval of the holy artifact, you are given eight days to complete your task, and if you don''t return by then with the artifact or try to do something stupid... I think you would know what would happen to you next..." he told her with disdain clear in both his words and his expression. He held a small circular device in his hand and activated the spell placed on it, a bright red magic circle glowed brightly as a sign of his success. The girl held no readable expression on her face as she simply nodded, the back of the white shirt she was wearing started to blacken as it became soaked in her blood. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Xero stood in front of the ruined temple with Silith beside him. It was actually quite massive now that he got close enough to witness it in its entirety. ''Judging from the state of these walls... this must''ve been standing for at least eight centuries now, there are also several spells etched into the bricks, but most of it has been eroded or destroyed, most likely by the passage of time, still... not bad...''he thought as he inspected the structure. ''Well, time to take it down...''Thatwas his next thought, as the idea of going inside and searching for an artifact in some old dusty ruin just really didn''t appeal to him, especially with Silith herewith him. The thing was obviously a health and safety hazard. Even if none of them would get hurt if the entire thing collapsed on their heads, it was simply not a desirable prospect. Utilizing a form of telekinetic magic, Xero lifted what was nearly the entire temple from its foundations, the floating rubble then started to clump up into a giant ball in the air. With all the rubble now formed into a sphere, Xero snapped his fingers and a purple flame flared to life, it blazed brightly and engulfed the entirety of the sphere, creating a purple sun in the sky that emanated no heat, then almost instantaneously, it disappeared and the light show was gone, together with all the white bricks that used to form the massive clump of rubble which was simply reduced to nothing---not even ash. With barely any structure remaining from the original temple, a single item was laid bare---a beautiful ornate sword that seemed to have been untouched by the ages laid stabbed into a pedestal. The presence of fragmented divine power could clearly be felt just from being near it, and the golden blade itself glowed a soft white as holy energies leaked out from the runes inscribed on its surface. Xero stepped closer and felt several barriers surrounding the sword activate in attempts to stop him from proceeding. To him, it simply felt like a really thin piece of stretched plastic trying to hold him at bay. He took a single step forward and the barriers shattered. Finally faced with the sword itself, Xero took hold of the blade with no ceremony and pulled it out of its pedestal with almost no effort. As it was freed, the runes on the blade lit up brightly, and as if being pulled into a dream, the entire surrounding area was swallowed and turned into a blank white. Chapter 4: [Domain] Xero looked around him and saw nothing but pure white.''I''ve been getting into these situations lately,''he thought, remembering the time his souls were fused, already it felt like a distant memory. "Is the host going to reveal themself, or shall I drag you out into the open? Someone from the outside is most likelygetting worried about me right now, so I don''t really have much time to play," Xero said, his tone turning cold. A haughty laugh resounded in the empty whiteness. "Hmm... you''re a lot more composed than the other heroes who have come here in the past, I was hoping to see a bit more reaction out of you..." A disembodied voice akin to that of a female child said, her wordsresounding everywhere. Xero grinned arrogantly, "did I destroy your expectations?" "Ha! Child, why don''t I put that arrogance of yours to the test?" The voice replied. Then suddenly from out of nowhere, hundreds of golden swords that had forms that made them look like they were forged purely from crystal, appeared from above and started to rain down on Xero who continued to keep an impassive look on his face. On the part of the realm Xero stood on, cracks started appearing. And from those cracks seeped in a black mist that surrounded his form like a protective cloak. As the crystal swords touched the mist they would turn grey, and as if rotting, began to immediately dissipate--their form ending up as flakes of ash. When the ash converted from the golden blades touched the white realm, more cracks would start to appear and repeated the cycle. "W-what?!" The voice cried out in a mixture of shock and confusion. "Is that all?" Xero asked with a bored look in his eyes. Then as if to answer his question, a surge of mana appeared in front of him, and from it formed a phantom image of a man---golden-haired, tall and handsome with sharp features, donning stylish armor complete with a cape, and finally, it was armed with a replica of the ornate sword thatsucked Xero into this realm and started this entire thing.''It''sbasically a generic protagonist type character under the lawful good alignment!''He reacted in his mind but kept his outside emotions unreadable. "This is a phantom of the last hero that has held my power, he was one who was nearly able to achieve divinity and had unmatched battle prowess during his time. Let''s see how you hold up now," the voice explained, returning to her earlier haughty demeanor. Xero sighed and stepped forward, but before he could make another move, he felt a sudden disturbance in the pocket realm. The sound of a shocked gasp from the disembodied voice indicated that she had also felt the disturbance. He felt a familiar presence spawn in from behind him and quickly realized what the true nature of the disturbance was... he smirked. "That''s Silith by the way," Xero said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder and towards the girl with ash-colored hair. Silith quickly dashed forward, in the same manner she did when she brutalized the golems earlier, her hair once again growing in length, but this time instead of spear tips, the grey locks turned into something resembling long axe heads. Wasting no time, she went on the offensive and spun around gracefully as if dancing, with her sharpened hair spinning outwards with her. An endless wave of hair blades slashed at the phantom image, but it was able to act fast enough to protect himself with his sword, thoughthe unique form of attack had left no openings to perform a counter. Xero couldn''t help but compare Silith''s battle tactic to a Beyblade as he watched from the sidelines. Realizing it had no way to counterattack, the phantom image jumped away from the rangeof Silith''s unrelenting attacks. The grey locks of hair were able to change their forms almost spontaneously, it hastily changed into a familiar spear tip and struck out towards the escaping phantom---keen to fill it holes, refusing to let it escape.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Silith looked somewhat dazed when the phantom image was able to smack away most of her attacks with his sword, just enough to keep any detrimental damage from being done, leaving only several minor cuts and lacerations. In the corner, Xero also felt somewhat surprised that the phantom was able to keep up for this long against its opponent. Then, a sharp glint of murderous intent appeared Silith''s eyes as her expression turned completely blank. The change in Silith''s attitude seemed to have an effect on her hair as well as it started growing even longer, much, much longer. During this time, the phantom image found his opportunity to attack and dashed forward, his speed seemed to be even faster than what his opponent displayed earlier. He jumped up and spun in the air to gain momentum with his swing, before bringing his blade down on the one he sought to strike down. With one single attack, he held nothing back, swinging diagonally at the girl''s shoulder. Expectedly, he felt the blade cut through all the way to the middle of her chest without any resistance but made an expression ofshock as that was all he was able to reach, his sword suddenly refusing to budge. Silith stood in silence, without any cuts, without any blood, or even a minor scratch on her body for that matter, even her clothes were unaffected by the phantom''s attack.She simplystared at the phantom with cold, violent eyes, seemingly unaffected by the bladestabbedin the middle of her chest. Even the soulless phantom had a look of disbeliefas the sword he used to pierce the grey-haired girl started fading out of existence---the structure of energy that made upits physical form quickly collapsing. Soon... the once elegant and ornate blade was nothing more than wisps of golden embers. Feeling a sense of impending danger from what he saw, the phantom dashed away to get some distance between him and the girl. Not giving the phantom a second chance to escape, Silith''s hair shot forward and created a web-like structure surrounding both her and her prey. The phantom image struggled as he was caught in the trap, but found it inescapable as his limbs refused to be unstuck from the hair. "Looks like this is finished," Xero commented, smiling. Silith stood in front of the phantom stuck in her web-like hair trap, and with a casual motion, she reached out towards its forehead and phased her translucent hand through itsphysical body. A small object emitting powerful energies met Silith''s hand while she dug aroundthe phantom image''s head. Sheripped awaythe object from the phantom and watched as its body suddenly turned limp---like a puppet with its strings cut. In her hand Silith now held asmall diamond-shaped golden crystal, it emanated thick holy energy. She took one more glance at the phantom image before crushing the crystal in her palm, and as it shattered, so did the phantom''s physical body. There was a silence in the realm. Xero moved towards the victorious Siliith and patted her head. "Good job," he told her with a small proud smile. With her master''s touch, Silith''s cold eyes and murderous intent immediately vanished---reverting back to her original meek self. "T-this power is unnatural, how could-" The voice spoke out, based on her tone, she was shaken by the result that unfolded. "You see, an integralpart of fighting is being able to gauge your enemy''s strength," Xero said, interrupting the disembodied voice''s words. *Snap!* There was an unfathomable surge of power as Xero snapped his fingers---the crisp sound echoing in the entirety of the pocket dimension, and for a short instant, the sclera of his left eye turned pitch black. A circle of what could only be described as pure, unfiltered darkness appeared below Xero''s feet and spontaneously grew in size. It got to work quickly and started eating away at the white realm like starved locusts gnawing at fresh crops. The veryfoundations of the dimensionshook as it was broken down to even the very base of its core. Now an ominous black, the realm was completely reformed into Xero''s own domain. And as she was no longer in control of her realm, thecurtains were raised on the mastermind, revealing a little girl with a stature that was even shorter than Silith''s by a small margin, cute face, white skin, golden hair reaching all the way to her ankles, and matching gold eyes that had strange cross-shaped pupils, she was also dressed in nothing but a pure white robetoo big for her size. "H-how could this be... A mortal with the power to overrule the power of a god''s creation, even if you are a chosen hero, that''s just..." Said the girl as she stared at Xero, wide-eyed in disbelief. A grin appeared on Xero''s face at the girl''s reaction and replied, "I might have been mortal once, but now I''m something else... something unbound by the rules that fate dictates." Xero actually found it a bit weird... his almost instant adaptation to the new world. Despite his mental age of 21, his new body was completely different from that of normal human physiology, and the hundreds of years worth of memories from the Xero avatar... there was just something that made adapting to the strange new world as natural as breathing, almost like he was born on it. Beside him, he felt Silith getting revved up and was preparing to lunge forward. He gently grasped her shoulder---a gesture letting her know that he could handle it. Silith nodded in understanding and stepped back. The robed little girl slowly walked closer towards Xero, her big golden eyes glowing as she scrutinized him, and afterward asked a single question, "Who are you?" The grin on Xero''s face grew as he replied, "I am... Xero, Overlord of the Void." Chapter 5: [Contract] "This level of control over such a power you''ve shown should be impossible for creatures of a lower plane of existence," said the little golden-haired girl as she enjoyed eating the sweet little squares of colorful sugar known as candy, something Xero pulled out from his storage rings. She was commenting about the realm that was once a pitch-black void but was now resembling a simple yet wide livingroom. After being thoroughly beaten, she accepted defeat without any qualms and tossed away her haughty attitude. "For a creation of a goddess, you sure do act like a child, got the sweet tooth of one for sure," commented Xero who was laying on a couch reading a small book---it was the handbook that was given to all beginner Ether Gate players, containing basic information over the world, it''s inhabitants and other such information. "Don''t call me a child, it''s degrading. Despite my appearance I''m more than 3000 years old, an original creation of the Goddess Nivina, the divine sword Scherza, you can call me Seira, Mr. Overlord," replied the girl with a proud voice, tapping her small chest with pride. "Sure okay," Xero half-heartedly responded as his focus was drawn towards the book in his hand. Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Silith was preparing tea with her guard still up. Reaching the final page of the book, Xero shut it close. "Where am I anyway?" he asked Seira. "Hmm?" Seira looked up at Xero with confusion before speaking, "didn''t you already know that we are at my realm, or what had previously been my realm before you took over." "Not that, tell me about this world, the continent, the country I''m in, the geography, anything beyond this wasteland, anything useful," explained Xero. It was all because after reading through the beginner handbook and looking at several maps for the world Ether Gate took place in, he concluded that wherever he was, it was clearly not somewhere the game took place in, it was plausible especially because of the results he had gotten when he used [Analyze] on the soil earlier, and found out how different it''s composition. "What!? You don''t even know where you are, just why are you here then!?" exclaimed Seira. "Circumstances and curiosity, now, answers," Xero replied. Looking like she was contemplating about something in her mind, Seira moved closer towards Xero and with a smug look and a wide grin on her childish face and spoke, "promise me... promise me I''ll be yours!" The sound of shattered porcelain echoed in the room from the far corner. Xero turned to look at the smug Seira with squinted eyes, a single word escaped his lips, "what?" = 0 = 0 = 0 = It''d been days since he''d been assigned to do practically nothing. Perhaps the order wouldn''t have been so difficult if he wasn''t in the middle of an ancient tomb deep underground, that was dusty if nothing else, and of course it also had a lingering smell of death around it. He groaned in displeasure as he continuedsharpeninghis sword, hoping to get to use it soon, because even demons got bored. ''Well... at least most of us do,'' he thought, eyeing the demon to his far right. He was a skinny male that was quite young as demons go. Possessing red skin that was a common trait among most demons, black colored eyes and black body markings that were also shared by the majority of demonkind---the boy was basically the image of what an average demon would look like, that was if it wasn''t for his horns---a feature now very rare among the demon race, it was a sign of his noble blood and more importantly, it was a symbol of the power he held. Although they were small enough that hey barely poked out of his forehead through his messy black hair, the horns allowed him to gain capabilities in magic far beyond what normal demons could achieve. Sure the boy was a genius and of noble bloodline, but he couldn''t understand how he could keep doing nothing but study old dusty structures and runes for days. This strange character was the eccentric leader of their little tomb raiding group---Rohlik, an expert mage and a scholar to his very core, another trait that was extremely rare for demons. And for the first time in the two weeks they''ve been here, trying to figure out how to remove a seal on the coffin of a mythical demon lord which may or may not be alive, Rohlik actually averted his eyes away from the runes he was so in love with and turned to his team, specifically towards his direction.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Lirikah, we lost contact with the second group," he said as he adjusted his glasses. Lirikah raised an eyebrow at his words. "You mean the group assigned to recover the artifact those humans from the empire were so keen to retrieve?" he asked slightly amused, he''d remember how there was a human expedition sent to retrieve the said artifact and in a stroke of luck, a sudden outbreak of mana poisoning killed off nearly half of them as reported by scouts, though he was somewhat disappointed that he couldn''t deal with them herself. "Yes, it happened just now," his leader answered. "Make a group of five and check for what happened, make sure to wipe out any possible dangers to our operation," Rohlik ordered him as he quickly returned to inspecting runes. Lirikah stretched his arms and swung his blade. With a wicked grin, he moved to carry out the order. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Ana Wendley, once the daughter of a secluded town''s chieftain, she was now known as a witch and is a slave to the empire, all because of her body''s unique physiology. She was ordered to retrieve a holy artifact that the empire desperately wanted---it was an object forged by the hands of a god, and so it was something prized by many, not only humans. Only being roughly 20 miles out from the expedition camp, she had already met opposition---demons, a small squad of them, and based on the direction they were heading, it seemed like they were also after the artifact. Before ambushing them, she placed a talisman on the tree next to her, it would effectively make any type of communication spell unusable for a short time. Quickly springing to action, Ana quickly started casting a [Holy Pillar] spell underneath the demon''s feet as they still remained unaware of her existence. As the spell''s name suggested, a bright pillar of holy light erupted from beneath the demons. Several cries of pain echoed from inside the spell and once its effect ended, three shriveled up and lifeless demon corpses were laying on the ground. One of the five remaining demons seemed to have been a mage and was able to cast a barrier to protect him and two others, while the other two had simply tanked the spell and seemed a little weakened. The demons acted fast and already, the mage was already shooting at her with fire spells, whilst the other four charged forward from two different sides in the attempt of performing a pincer attack. Ana rolled to the right and evaded the firebolts the mage was tossing out, she then drew the two daggers strapped on her hips as she got back on her feet and used magic to manipulate the earth. A thick slab of rock bursts forth from the ground, extending vertically it slammed into one of the demons that tried swinging an axe at her, flinging him towards some trees. Dashing forward, she swung her daggers at the second demon with her body strengthened by mana. Sparks were created as she traded blows with the demon, unable to hit anything but steel, Ana focused mana in her eyes and slowed her perception of time in an attempt to find an opening. Her bout with the demon was interrupted as another entered the fray, bringing his blade down on her wide open back. Unable to move fast enough, the demon''s sword made a long cut on her back as she tried to dodge. Looking unphased by the injury, Ana with a burst of speed, kicked off the ground and got behind the demon that wounded her and in a quick blur, sheseparated its head from its shoulders in a spray of black blood. Not given the opportunity to relish her kill, three redfiery projectiles shot at her. With nowhere to evade the incoming attack, Ana instinctively erected a wall of earth in front of her. Jumping high up, she injected mana into one of her daggers and in reply, runes on the blade lit up in a holy glow. Seeing the target in her sights, she threw the dagger towards the mage demon. The demon''s eyes widened and tried avoiding the dagger, but it suddenly changing trajectory mid-air, the dagger swerved and stabbed him in the shoulder. There was a loud scream and the dagger lit up, and in the next moment demon''s corpse fell to the ground all shriveled up. Ana reached out towards the dagger and it flew back into her hand. Then, a wide tree trunk suddenly came to her vision and slammed into her with incredible force. There was a loud crunching sound in her ears as her bones broke, her body was sent flying through the air like a tossed rag doll. Ana felt something very hard hit her head, turning her vision red before passing out. = 0 = 0 = 0 = "No," said Xero as he flicked the forehead of the smug-faced Seira. Holding her red forehead, Seira glared at Xero with tears at the edge of her gold-colored eyes. "That''s not what I meant!" shouted Seira. "I want to make a contract with you as your artifact!" she explained, trying to be clear on what she meant. Looking at the girl glaring at him, Xero tapped his finger on the couch cushion, contemplating. Behind the two, Silith was cleaning up pieces of a broken teacup while staring daggers at the golden-haired girl. "I see... it must''ve been boring being trapped inside this pathetic inanimate form for so long, I''ve also only seen a little more than a dozen of artifacts with intelligence such as yours, well you still act childishly for a 3000-year-old sword, or so you claim to be,"Xero said. "More than a dozen!?" Seira exclaimed in surprise. "There were only four of us created by the divine beings, there can''t possibly more!" "Your gods aren''t the only ones that have real power,"Xero replied. After pausing for a second upon hearing Xero''s words, Seira nodded in acceptance, "I guess meeting someone like you proves it." "Now that I confirmed that your intelligence meets the minimum requirements, I guess it''d be fine." With those words the entire room disappeared like a fading dream, leaving only a vast expanse of darkness and of course Xero, Seira, and Silith. ''Tch, minimum intelligence my ass!''Seira grumbled in her mind. Silith took several steps backward and Xero created a magic circle beneath Seira''s feet. Xero usedthe nail of his forefinger and slit his wrist. "[Soul Contract] start." Chapter 6: [Chain Reaction 1.0] ''[Soul Contract]!?'' Seira was bewildered by the words uttered by the man before her. ''Just what have I gotten myself into?'' she nervously wondered, and although she didn''t want to admit it, she was also feeling quite a bit of excitement. A soul contract would tie the two of them together, well she''d probably be the one with the short end of the stick since it was being cast on her. After all, this would effectively rewrite her soul and all connections she has with the Goddess Nivina would be severed. ''It doesn''t matter now I guess, the gods might be dead now for all I know...'' Seira watched as the elaborate magic circle beneath her feet started glowing crimson. She felt something from the spell fiddling with the very essence that formed her being---her soul. Then she saw Xero cut himself and let a single drop of his blood flow out of the wound before instantly healing back to normal. Seira marveled at the single drop of life essence, it was pure black with tiny dots of varying colors that sparkled---it was a sight similar to a cloudless night''s sky. She stared as it was suspended in the air, she knew that there was still something profound in that blood of his that she just couldn''t put to words. The drop of Xero''s blood moved from the air and toward''s Seira, she opened her mouth and as the liquid touched her tongue---a sudden wave of pain washed over her, it lasted for the longest second she''d felt in her life before suddenly being replaced by a great ecstasy. Seira felt herself changing, her hair, from the soft golden color it once had turned into midnight black with white streaks, and just like her hair, her eyes also changed in color and became a beautiful shade of dark violet, while her white robe reformed into a frilly black dress. With the contract complete, the magic circle disappeared, leaving only the changed Seira. Xero made a satisfied smile, he snapped his fingers and the realm around them collapsed. = 0 = 0 = 0 = A woman entered his quarters, she was dressed in a maid''s outfit and had thin long black antennas sprouting on her forehead. She was holding a folder in her arms that she handed onto him. "My lord, section 2-C has been repaired completely. The Shadowspire has been estimated to have around 65% functionality, and in 33 hours should be fully functional," the maid reported. He kept an impassive expression and looked at the girl. "Is the master back yet?" he asked and the antennas on the maid''s forehead started twitching. Regretfully as they calmed down, the girl answered his question with a quick shake of the head. It was tiring work for him, even with the great power bestowed to him by the creator as one of the Twelve.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Gabriel the Shadow Walker, it was name and title given to him by his master. He acts as the creator''s blade and is the best assassin in the entirety of the Shadowspire, also he was in command of all the scouting and infiltration units under the banner of Lathraia Podia. Still, even with these facts, he was drained by the massive amounts of mana it took to keep the Shadowspire from crumbling in on itself. His body felt sluggish and heavy, it was a shameful state to be in as one of the chosen Twelve, that was why he closed himself up in his quarters---a pocket dimension of ever twisting shadows and infinite twilight. Gabriel was about to dismiss the maid when her antennas suddenly started twitching once more. She looked at him with a worried expression as she spoke, "one of the scouts under your command has left the Shadowspire''s realm without authorization, it was a rank S, Esio." He got up from his cross-legged sitting position and manifested a dagger from the twisting shadows, a deep annoyance rose up from within him. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Ana regained consciousness and with it was the feeling of pain all over her body. It only meant one thing... ''I... didn''t die?'' The memories of what happened returned to her and remembered a tree smashing into her before passing out. ''Demons!'' She forced her eyes open and tried lifting herself up from the ground, vision returned but her legs weren''t responding. With the amount of damage done to her and the little remaining mana in her body, there was little she could do but wait until she had enough stored up to cast a healing spell capable of letting her walk. In conclusion... unless the demons forget about her existence or dismiss her as dead and leave her alone, she''d die. That was also considering that the injuries she piled up didn''t kill her first. For some strange reason, now that she was finally faced with a situation where she could do nothing but die, a feeling of relief washed over her. She was exhausted of always being in pain, of being exiled and being treated as a tool. Perhaps this was the salvation she had been searching for, all this time it was hiding in the form of... death. After 11 years she finally felt a semblance of hope in this dark world. Ana''s story would finally meet its end... or so it should have. An incredibly powerful presence suddenly appeared, something that had power matching the Emperor himself. The sky darkened and black clouds started gathering as if they were forced to bend their will. Something was there and not even nature could steer clear of its power''s influence. The ground rumbled, shook and tore... In the distance Ana could see countless giant deformed monsters made from blood---they grew like plants sprouting from the back of a single man---he who had crimson eyes brimming with boredom. The man yawned and cracked his neck to the side, his short deep red hair dancing in the stormy wind. He brought his arm forward and the monsters howled as they charged. Ana watched as demons fell like insignificant insects. She watched the man as he casually destroyed trees, earth, and flesh with a single gesture. It was a level of power mortals should not hold. A body of a demon suddenly came crashing down to her side, kicking up dirt and splattering blood on her face, some getting in her eyes, blinding her. She blinked, and when her vision came back, a man was crouched down in front of her---his red eyes examining her piece by piece. This man... a force that could bend nature to his will, smiled at her and reached out his hand. The aura of predatorial might vanished, the sky cleared, howling winds were silenced, and the creatures of blood dissipated all at the same time. "I''m Esio, what''s your name?" The man asked. Chapter 7: [Chain Reaction 2.0] Esio offered his hand towards the frail girl, her form was beaten and bloodied. It was pitiful to say the least and that was probably one of the reasons he came to save her. The lack of will to live in her eyes... it reminded him of himself before he became a servant of the Overlord. The girl tried to take his hand with her own, her entire body trembled with pain as the simple action brought tears to her eyes. "Ah, sorry," Esio said. He quickly reached out for the small leather pouch strapped to his thigh, inside it was a dark void. Sticking his hand inside, he took out a sealed glass tube filled with bright red liquid, it was one of the mass-produced potions of the Shadowspire. "You need to force yourself to drink this, applying it externally will greatly decrease its effects," he explained as he unsealed the tube and slowly poured it into the girl''s mouth, careful to make sure she didn''t choke on its contents. ''It was careless of me to not have immediately tended to her injuries, perhaps I''ve been too accustomed to how many of the denizens of the Shadowspire can get their heads severed, shrug it off and walk away...'' Esio thought as he watched the potion drain. The effect was nearly instant as the wounds of the flesh and even the internal damage the girl held healed in a matter of seconds. There was disbelief in the girl''s eyes as she came to her feet, cured of all injuries. Esio sighed in relief. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Ana looked at her bare body in awe,the clothes that once covered her were now destroyed to the point that they couldn''t be considered rags, it wasn''t inconvenience as her body easily adapted to the current temperature. Truly, she couldn''t help but think that what had just happened was divine intervention, she had never once believed in god after being a slave, but if not god, the who could have saved her from death''s jaws? ''The Devil...'' Ana thought frightfully as she looked at the man in front of her, his face was red as he quickly looked away. The power he used, the crimson color of his eyes and hair... the chilling smile he made earlier while he watched her die... who else would be so twisted other than the Devil himself? Did he heal her just so that she could continue to live life as a slave and bear suffering much worse than death? What if--- Her swirling thoughts were cut-off as she saw the devil hand her the red coat hewas wearing just a moment ago. "I-it''s dangerous for a girl to be naked with a stranger..." he said, eyes pointed to the side and away from her, he tried to keep a stoic look but the embarrassment on his face was very poorly hidden. After becoming an expendable weapon for an Empire that had never once treated her as a human, she realized that the man who had accepted her as a girl---a living being---was a person she would follow even if he was the Devil himself. She took the jacket and covered herself up.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! She felt something awaken within her. Warmthbloomed in her chest as something long dead revived within her... It suddenly came flooding back to her... the meaning of being alive. Tears formed on the edges of her eyes. The man took notice of what was happening and had a worried expression. "Do your wounds still hurt?" He asked. Ana fell to her knees and cried. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Gabriel took a step forward as the portal closed behind him. The land around him was completely barren and it continued so for a long way. He activated his [Detect] skill, but there was no sign of Esio, no scent, no trail, he had even cloaked his mana signature perfectly. It was something easy to accomplish as one of the Shadowspire''s highest-ranking scouts. Still, locating his target was not a problem. On Gabriel''s forehead, a third eye opened, the iris was a pitch-black without a pupil. It moved erratically towards all possible directions very quickly, it took only several seconds before the eye closed up once again. ''Northwest, 22 kilometers...''The information on his target''s location registered. Asone specializing in mobility, Gabriel could close the distance inan instant if he truly wanted to, but he was still weakened and during these unknown circumstances he needed to preserve his strength as there was no telling to what might happen. He would not risk the chance of failure at upholding his duty during an unexpected circumstance. Still... he needed to hasten this job as there was no telling when his master would call upon him. Leaving no time to waste, his body seemed to evaporate into black mist as he surged forward. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Xero once againfound himselfin the ruined temple Seira was once housed in. The single blazing sun in the sky had shifted considerably and in two hours or so would dip back down into the mountains, signaling the beginning of dusk. Around him, several kilometers away he could feel new mana signatures,two of them being very familiar to him. "Master..." Silith called his name as she looked at the direction of where the mana signatures were starting to converge. ''It seems like some interesting things have ensued in the few hours I was away...''Xero thought. While in the middle of deciding on whether he should go and see the situation,one of the rings on his fingers started blinking a bright red light. It was the communication ring that connected directly to the one managing the Shadowspire, Lilith, one of the Twelve and the second being he had ever created. Accepting the request of communication, the blinking of Xero''s ring stopped as a voice entered his head. "Master I apologize for being so sudden," the sultry yet calm and reserved words of a woman filled his ears. "No need to apologize, I just wanted to stretch my legs is all. More importantly, has something happened to the Shadowspire?" Xero asked. There was a moment''s pause before Lilith''s voice replied, "forgive us master but prisonersof the Endless Crypt have broken out." A grin unconsciously spread out on Xero''s face. He felt a rush as the prospect of a worthy battle appeared before him. "I understand, make sure everyone is safe and assign Six, Four and Seven to recapture the escapees but make sure they abort if they find their lives in danger. Also, Lilith, make sure to keep everyone away from the lowest level, I shall deal with it myself," he instructed. "Master how about... One?" Lilith reluctantly asked. Xero''s grin faded away as the image of a small girl sealed within an unbreakable prison entered his mind... One. His excitement quickly turned to regret and guilt as a part of the original Overlord took over for an instant before being washed away, leaving him empty and drained of emotion. He shouldhave felt annoyed but even that wasn''t possible. He sighed and replied, "no, keep her in her room, if she and that onemeet if he somehow escaped his prison along with the others..." The characters he created were no longer just data, and Xero could now only guess as to how they would interact with the others around them. He balled his hands into fists at thesudden and fleeting feeling of exasperationhe felt for himself. He had forgotten that his actions now had consequences he might not be able to undo. Taking his continued silence as an answer Lilith replied with a simple "understood", and cut-off the mental connection. Chapter 8: [Chain Reaction 3.0] Lirikah felt a shiver down his spine. it was the first time in a very long time that he had felt such a deep and primal fear, demons in the first place were a race that was supposed to be feared and not the other way around. And yet... the thing that had wiped out the advance force that was sent to retrieve the enshrined Holy Blade was something that could make even a dragon tremble. The control of blood he showed was something not even the ancient vampires could replicate. ''Is this another one of the human''s experiments?'' He wondered as he used the enchanted spyglass to watch the red-haired reaper as he constantly shifted his view away from the golden-haired human. ''Could he have felt my presence?'' Lirikah thought he could feel cold sweat form on his brow. He was scared enough to feel like running right there and then, sure, demons were usually prideful beings, but they still knew to value their own lives than anything else, especially Lirikah, it was the reason he was able to become as strong as he was now. Then again... maybe he had become a little bit more ambitious than the others of his race. There was something deep inside him, a primal desire, that made him want to kill the monster before him. A test of his own acquired strength that has been honed for decades. ''You crazy bastard!'' He cursed himself internally, but couldn''t stop the nervous grin from appearing on his face as he took his blade. He had long been planning his attack, the only thing left was to initiate it. Through the spyglass, he searched for an opening to strike. "The forest, once they... huh?!" Lirikah''s eyes widened as his two targets disappeared, the only thing left in their place was a trail of rising black smoke, no, itactually seemed closer to mist. Something inside the demon just clicked and before he knew it, he was already running the opposite direction. He couldn''t stop his own body as all his senses kicked in for self-preservation. The surroundings started to darken into nothingness as if he was waking up from a dream.The air in his lungs was cold and the feeling in his limbs started to numb, it seemed as if he ran for an eternity but still didn''t feel as if he had moved from his position, soon his entire vision was drowned in nothing but darkness, his body completely void of any feeling. A realization came to him then... You can''t outrun death. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Esio''s senses blared as he felt danger approach, he immediately began erecting a dome of blood that surrounded him and the girl. It was halfway complete before suddenly breaking apart and evaporating intored smoke. Black mist that had the silhouette of a man suddenly lunged at the girl beside him. "Shit!"Esio cursed as he dashed in between the two, but the mist simply shifted out of his way. It was only for an instant but he saw a hand appear out of the mist with a black dagger that struck out towards the girl. As fast as he could manage, Esio pulled the girl towards him and spun effectively switching places with her. His body moved on instinct and he threw a kick towards the mist. There was no impact or anything like that and Esio only found himself upside down and several dozens of meters in the air. Below him,mist surrounded the girl. He cursed himself and made a thin platform of blood for his feet and kicked-off to accelerate his descent. A familiar figure appeared out of the mist. "Stop!," Esio cried out. Forming long curved blades out of his own blood he twisted in the air as he rocketed downwards. There was a sharp clang as his blades struck something solid, shockwaves enough to split the ground below in two. Between the fingers of Gabriel, Shadow Walker, one of the Twelve, his blades remained stuck, no amount of his strength would have allowed him to pry it away. The black mist suddenly disappeared, flowing towardsthe Shadow Walker''schest as his body fully formed. There was a loud snap as he broke the blood blades between his fingers.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "Shit!" Esio cursed as he jumped away, feeling the killing intent that was raging towards him like a tsunami. Not even being able to launch from the ground, he felt something grab his collar before suddenly acceleratingbackwardat an imaginable speed. The world turned into a blur and pain assaulted him as he was slammed down on the rocky ground and dragged like aragdoll. Esio grunted as his entire body was used to cut through rock at a speed he couldn''t even gauge, it was enough to break through his natural defenses and with his head taking the brunt of the impacts, he would be unconscious before long. Gritting his teeth he tried to grab the arm on his collar, trying to somehow escape the vice grip of his superior, only for hishands to phase through a cold black mist. Just when his vision started going dark, Esio felt the air wrap around him before slamming back down into the dirt. He was on the edges of unconsciousness and unable to move his limbs. In front of him was a man, towering over him by over two heads length, long black hair tied into a warriors tail dancing in the wind with the tips seeming to become black mist. The man wore no armor, only loose black robes that seemed to absorb the light around it, even so, he looked just as intimidating if he were covered in thick armor. With pitch-black eyes absent of pupils and muscles with pulsating black veins, the man was certainly no human. "You... insolent child, to try and attack you''re superior and the most disgraceful act of all, you had disobeyed the will of the Overlord and escaped from your post in the Spire''s time of need," Gabriel spoke slowly, his tone neutral, but with the very air around him warping and cooling down into extreme levels at every time he opened his mouth. Esio could feel the air in his lungs become cold, causing him a slight inconvenience with every breath. This was the way the Shadow Walker showed his emotions. Gabriel formed a short blade from the mist around him. "If it were solely up to me I''d have taken your arms and legs for all to see to save the Overlord face from the taint you have made onhis great name, but as a fellow creation of the same creator, I will deliver you to him for only he has the authority to punish us," Gabriel said as he threw the dagger into Esio''s stomach. Esio stilled, unable to control any of his bodily functions except those required for him to keep living. "I''ll bring the thingyou have picked up, perhaps there is information she may be able to give about the Shadowspire''s predicament along with the horned creature I have picked up, after that they will be disposed of." Those were the last words Esio heard before he felt the space around him warp in a feeling similar to having his body disintegrated. = 0 = 0 = 0 = Xero dispelled the [Gate] spell and it closed behind him. He was now back in the Shadowspire. Glossy white walls adorned with gold carvings in a hallway that seemed to stretch out indefinitely entered his vision. Theplace was large enough tho accompany a family of dragons and still have enough room to house an army, it was nothing short of amazing. And on these walls was an array of countless different doors, all of them leading into a separate pocked dimension that together formed the Shadowspire. "Amazing! I''ve never seen anything like this before." Seira''seyes glowed with curiosity at her first time seeing the convoluted system of spacial magic utilized in the Shadowspire. Beside her was Silith who simply held a neutral expression as she held the hand of her master''s soul contracted weapon in silence, she was ordered to hold onto Seira so she wouldn''t get lost in the near-endless maze known as Silith''shome. Xero walked with the two girls following him with Silith basically having to drag Seira every time she stopped to inspect something she found particularly interesting, the small girl''s voice filled the hall as she asked question upon question. As he moved through the hall of endless doors, another [Gate] opened inside the realm, two familiar mana signatures emerged, one was strong while the other was weak, and the lingering mana signatures of two unfamiliar beings were barely noticeable. A tall man in black robes with a body that partially formed to mist kneeled before him, it was Gabriel, his Shadow Walker. "I greet the Overlord." Gabriel''s eyes remained downcast, not even daring to look at his master''s feet without permission. Xero let out a quiet sigh as he gave the man permission to stand, but remained kneeling, only raising his head to look upon him and the two with him. He could feel the aura coming from the Shadow Walker, silencing Seira as she was probed and searched by Gabriel''s mana. Sweat started to form on Seira''s brow. She gulped nervously as the mana of the kneeling man overpowered hers completely. Somehow she was able to regain control over her frozen limbs and quickly hid behind the grey-haired maid that barely looked taller than her. Gabriel wanted to ask about the little lady that followed his master, but upon feeling his master''s own mana signature implanted deep within her soul, he felt it beyond his standing to ask. His master always knew what was best, and he would trust him eternally, he felt disgust at himself for even thinking to question his master, but now was not the time for self-pity. "Master, this servant would want to speak to you," Gabriel spoke with the utmost respect, the air around him becoming gentle and warm. "I wish to-" "I know you wish to report something to me, but it must wait, I have something to... clean up. Gabriel as one of the Twelve, please bring Silith and Seira with you and report to Lilith." Xero cut-off Gabriel while he was speaking, he needed to do something first before anything else and make sure every last one of his creations was safe. Gabriel didn''t refute or act out as his words were cut short, no emotion of anger or annoyance, only a simple overwhelming desire to act out his master''s will. "Understood, I shallexecute your orders without fail."