Chapter 151: Before the Lord of Darkness

Kyros saw himself fall in deep darkness. The endless darkness of an abyss that appeared made him curious.

There was a strange familiarity and even love from the darkness that he could not understand.

Soon, Kyros reached the bottom of the deep darkness. It was as if he was underwater. Kyros stood up and slowly walked towards the source of the darkness that was nearby.

"Hello, Nephilim. Quite a predicament you are in." The dark voice called out.

The darkness continued to beckon, and Kyros felt as if this call was something he had to answer.

Kyros looked to the sound of this voice with a blank expression. And he didn't say anything but stood up and walked.

"Hmp. Lost in the Dark Maddening? How weak. You must be confused about where you are and who I am."

Kyros kept walking.

"There are many forms of darkness in this universe. There are many forms of the abyss. Ever since creation was made, I was there when Hyperion severed the universe and divided all of creation. The expanding universe needed something to fill the void. It needed something to hold all of creation in the emptiness of space. And I am the answer."

A voice spoke as Kyros walked in the endless darkness. Despite having not a single sight to see, Kyros kept on moving.

"Out of my darkness came fort all of the Darkness. The Night was made. And the Night brought in many terrors. Sleep, Dreams, Nightmares came next. But the Darkness never stopped there. It gave birth to Secrecy, and that led to the birth of the Unseen. Through Secrecy and the Unseen, there came fort Wickedness and Evil. And all my children came from them. Desires, Demons and even Death."

Kyros was walking and gazed at the grand distance. At the very far out plane of darkness sat the source of the voice. Like Hyperion, this being stood as a giant. But while he was so huge, the strange dimensions of the place made it so that Kyros was like several millions of kilometers away. The darkness was moving, and each step that Kyros took was throwing him thousands and thousands of kilometers at a time.

"I am Kyriachos. Lord of the Fallen. The True Night. Come and stand before me." Kyriachos called out.

Kyros looked at the giant of a man with a blank expression and continued his march towards the source of the voice.

"Yes! Yes! Come to me! I could be considered your father. Your father and mother conceived you to battle End. And such things are too grand and vast even for Fallen like me. They were bound to lose. But they still tried anyway. They captured me and forced me to give them the truth of the darkness and harness it. Along with others, we gave our fill of power to forge a being that can fight the End. But it's ironic to see that though they sealed me to be your power, I will be your downfall." Kyriachos laughed as he watched Kyros approach.

Back in reality, the Blood Calamity kept running away as she tried to reforge her body. The Chimera's body and the tigers' blood were barely enough for her to create a body. She needed time and kept evading the wild slashes that contained True Cut as these attacks would harm her.

"That was surprising! How did this Nephilim learn True Cut? No one in the times of long ago had managed to tread on Hyperion's Code!" The Blood Calamity cursed. Her soul was still in great pain from the surprise attack, and she had no choice but to merge to kill the boy. She had concluded that her power of charming the Nephilim wouldn't work.

The slashes rang out, and the Blood Calamity focused on her escape. Soon, the form of the tiger or the chimera disappeared, and her new form was now that of a woman. The tiger and the Chimera were now her new body.

"What exactly is this Nephilim thinking? After fighting me with such precise and calculated means, he does this?" The Blood Calamity frowned. She had seen how Kyros was able to kill the orc who served her. She knew that this Nephilim was a man who conserved his aces until the right time. But now, he was reckless.

"Using True Cut will expend his Force, Magic, and Source energy. But why is he doing this?" The Blood Calamity took a closer look at Kyros's blank expression.

"Is he...?" The Blood Calamity thought.

"That's it! He drank my blood! Dark Maddening!" All of a sudden, the Blood Calamity suddenly charged at Kyros.

Kyros swung his sword downwards, but the Blood Calamity intentionally divided her body in half, and the sword slash struck nothing.

The two halves of the Blood Calamity rushed and punched Kyros with their arms that had a sharp point.

BANG!

Kyros flew with great speed at the strike. The stab didn't penetrate deep but threw Kyros far away.

"Tsk. Too soft. It looks like he's wearing some hard armor underneath that Cloak. And here I thought that attack could easily piece through Azerret's Cloak." The Blood Calamity combined her body and had a right arm that looked like a sharp spike.

Kyros stood up, and underneath the dark cloak was the Vermillion Scale Armor, which managed to withstand the full piercing power of the two attacks.

This time, the Blood Calamity rushed forward to make her attacks.

Kyros rushed forward, and the two began to fight.

With Kyros madly making wide attacks and using his True Cut ability, the Blood Calamity could only wait for the right moment to lunge in and make her attack.

All of a sudden, Kyros fell on the floor and began to pant.

"He used it all!" The Blood Calamity laughed and rushed forward and stabbed Kyros.

The arm of the Blood Calamity dug deep in Kyros's chest.

Kyros fell unconscious at the attack.

"What a treasure. Azarett's Sword and Cloak are mine now!" The Blood Calamity laughed.

"Now to devour your soul, Nephilim. With this, End has won!"

But as her blood started to rage within Kyros's body, the Blood Calamity realized that terrifying darkness was protecting Kyros.

The truth was, Kyros was using up all his Force energy, his Magic, and his Ancient Source. All that remained was his Fallen Source. 

The darkness began to pull the Blood Calamity's arm inside.

"What?! No?! This Darkness! Lord Kyriachos!" The Blood Calamity felt fear. 

Unaffected by the large wound in his chest, Kyros saw himself continuously walking towards the darkness until he finally stood before the giant creature that was chained by many strange things.

Finally, he was standing before the massive being and was within reach of Kyriachos.

"You stand before the Lord of Darkness. Kyriachos. First of my name. All who tread after me assume my name. Do not be worried, Nephilim. I hate End as much as your parents did. I will win this battle in your stead, Nephilim. Though I was never a loyal servant to your parents, I still want Beginning to win. Relax." Kyriachos began to reach out and take Kyros.

"With this, and the sacrifice of the Blood Calamity, I will return, and I will begin my fight to the End!" Kyriachos laughed as his massive fingers were about to reach Kyros.

"Ugh. You didn't give me anything, Kyriachos. While your monologue explained a lot, you didn't tell me anything about my parents!" Kyros complained.

The large fingers froze, and Kyriachos was startled.

"You...! You're awake."

"Always had been. When the Dark Maddening began, I sensed a new form of darkness. It took control over my body, and I immediately made my Soul Console protect the consciousness of my soul. I knew from the beginning that you had poor relations with my real parents and might be less informative about who I am. But you never mentioned my parents."

"Oh? You have your father's bravery and your mother's wisdom. I'll give you that. It's true. But why aren't you scared?"

"Why would I be?" Kyros asked.

Kyriachos had a dumbfounded expression.

"...Because a gigantic being of True Darkness stands before you? You stand before the Lord of the Darkness. I am about to take your soul?"

"... Can you?" Kyros frowned.

"... Of course I can! What makes you think that I can't?"

"Hello? Divinity of Mysterion?"

"Isn't he the 6-1-9 guy that Calaminus talked about when he was young?"

"Erm... I'm not sure. But I think I get it! You are imprisoned, so you don't know what's been going on in my soul or body!. No wonder you're so arrogant. I have the Divinity of Mysterion. Although I don't fully grasp what it is, I know that it's enough to repel you."

"What are you talking about?"

"You commended my mother for being smart. You never thought that she wouldn't have placed in a dangerous Fallen in my soul without giving me some contingencies to fight back or possibly kill you?"

"..." Kyriachos was silent. That did make sense.

Kyriachos suddenly made some grabbing motions.

"I'm gonna getcha!" Kyriachos charged his arms but withdrew it at the last second.

"...What are you doing?"

"Die!"

"..."

"Here comes my hand!"

Kyros realized that these large Fallen was trying to lure Kyros into a feint attack and would grab him as soon as he made his move.

"Why are all gods and fallen so eccentric?" Kyros shook his head.

"I'm gonna getcha for real!"

"You are so huge that I can easily tell if you plan to do a feint swipe or not. See? I can see every twitch of your hand."

"Liar. How can you see in the dark?"

"I'm a Nephilim."

"So? What explanations are there that grant the Nephilim the ability to see through True Darkness?" Kyriachos challenged.

"Plot armor."

"..." Kyriachos was silent for a few seconds. 

"You sound like Calaminus. You keep talking of strange things. But can you really see me?"

He made another swiping motion, but his first hand rushed close in this time, and another came sweeping from the far left.

"..." Kyros turned his head to see the massive incoming swipe. 

"I can still see your two hands, you know..."

Kyriachos immediately retreated his arms and began to grumble.

"Are you done?" Kyros frowned. He began to wonder if this massive creature really was the Lord of Darkness.