Ascension of the Nephilim

Chapter 173: Darkness Source

Martha began to recall bits and pieces of her memory.

"Martha. That's my name!" She realized.

"Who are you?! No! What are you?! This is not possible! You have the faint bloodline of several gods and fallen in you!"

"I don't know. All my life, I know that I'm human!"

"Who is your master? How can you be alive and yet undead at the same time?!" The dragon questioned.

"I... I don't know! I can't remember! But in my memory that I have right now, I haven't met any vampires yet!" Martha frowned.

"How can you not remember? Being turned into a vampire is something that is very traumatic and memorable!" The dragon cursed.

"I don't know! Maybe I turned into a vampire just recently! All I remember is my sister! I don't remember being in Coven, but I think I am!"

"Just recently? That's impossible! If you are to have even a single bloodline from these fallen, you have to at least be at the level of a Vampire Ancient! And from human to that level, i will already take hundreds of years at the very least! So it's even very difficult for a Vampire Ancient to acquire the blood of a Fallen!" The dragon explained.

"Well, I don't know what to say! All I remember now is that I have to save my sister who was kidnapped by the orcs and brought to Airom Logat!"

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"Airom? That's where we were!" The dragon got confused. The impossible answer that Martha was just recently converted was something he could not accept. The laws of how dark-dependent creatures consume and grow stronger are fixed. Even when he ate his father, it took him decades to get the power his father had as he had to assimilate the power and nourish the cells that he acquired.

But the truth was, Martha, did turn into a vampire just recently. And because of that, her memory about Lord Kyros did not even consist of one percent of her entire life's memory. So it was naturally difficult for her to regain memories of that.

"You are in Airom, in your memories."

"Yes. It's slowly coming back. My family assigned me to cast me out of the light, considering my sensitive identity. I was stationed in Airom Vagat and had been trying to figure out how to save my sister. I don't have any memory of being a vampire..."

"Your greatest bond is your sister, so you remembered that. This means that your bond with whoever your master is is still light... But that's impossible. Vampires who create Coven bind the soul of those they turn with a very powerful curse in the soul. They become your greatest priority or bond!"

"Maybe my master didn't do that!"

"Vampires do that! I've never heard of a vampire that gave such weak vows. They will value their life."

"Maybe my master is eccentric."

The dragon and Martha continued to argue.

"Found you!" A laughing, happy voice echoed. But this voice brought shivers to Martha and the dragon.

A hole tore up in the darkness. And a large head emerged.

"Kyros! " Kyriachos appeared.

Kyriachos, Lord of the Fallen, who was believed to have died in the long-forgotten era, appeared out of the darkness.

The Separated Realm was a mysterious Realm. Kyros fell into the Separated Realm because there was a gateway of being separated deep inside his soul.

The area where Martha was was a Separated Realm in Airom Logat. And since Kyros was only a certain distance from where Martha physically was, it allowed Kyriachos to easily use his powers and create a void to communicate to the other side.

When the dragon harnessed Martha's soul and drew out the divinities, Kyriachos sensed the ripples and thought that Kyros had somehow fallen into this strange world again. But, what was strange, was the location where Kyros appeared. Kyros should appear near him as the gateway to the Separated Realm was within Kyros himself. But instead, he sensed Kyros appearing several millions of kilometers away. And there was an uncrossable gap that divided the two Separated Realms that his voice alone would not reach Kyros.

Kyriachos peaked out of the small window.

"Oh. Damn it! You're not Kyros! You made me exert such power for nothing!" Kyriachos frowned.

The dragon was shivering. This was the Lord of the Fallen! He was alive! And now, he was looking at them.

"Lo-Lord Kyriachos!" The dragon trembled.

"Kyros? That's right! Kyros! My Master!" Martha, on the other hand, was jolted awake from Kyriachos's words.

"Hrm? Oh! So that's why! You're his Coven! No wonder I thought you were Kyros!"

Martha didn't hear his words but felt the sharp pain in her soul as the last bits of her memory returned.

"Kyros... Lord Kyros! My Knights! They are in trouble! You! Great Fallen guy! Please help me get back to my body!"

The dragon felt as if he had become a chameleon and felt his body change to yellow in fear. This was the Lord of the Fallen! And this girl addressed her as 'great fallen guy!'

"I need to get back! Please! My Lord is quite strong! He should be able to give you anything of value soon!" Martha pleaded in desperation.

"Who are you, anyway?" Kyriachos asked.

"Lord Kyriachos! Please forgive this pitiful human! She is of curious origin! She must belong to one of the lowly fallen that follow your great name!" The dragon bowed.

"Quiet! I am talking!" Kyriachos howled irritably.

If souls could pee, this dragon would have. Kyriachos was one of the beings that everyone feared. If Kyriachos were alive during the Age of the Heretics, then it was believed that the great and prideful dragon race would not have risen to prominence. The Kyriachos power was one of their greatest weakness.

"Tell me your name."

"I am Martha Steele!" Martha declared.

"Steel?" Kyriachos frowned.

The dragon became even more afraid.

"St-Steel?!" He thought he heard Steel, which was one of the known rivals that Kyriachos had during the ages long forgotten.

"Are you related to Hyperion Steel?" Kyriachos asked.

"That... I'm not sure. Probably?" Martha guessed.

"Hyperion Steel is one of my greatest enemies." Kyriachos declared.

"I hate him!" The shout was full of hatred that Martha and the dragon felt as if they were being crushed.

"Me-mercy!"

"I'm sorry! But I don't know Hyperion personally! I thought you were talking about a descendant of my family! But if he is your enemy, he shouldn't be related to us!" Martha panicked.

"No! You definitely have it! I can feel it. That wretched creature, Kyros, has it, and you, his Coven, will naturally have the means to awaken it!" Kyriachos growled as his head peered out of the dimensional portal and moved closer.

His size grew into a million size, more than made Martha and the dragon smaller than dust.

The dragon sighed and awaited death.

"It's been... a hard life. My Fate... was just to be this?" The dragon reminisced. He looked back and saw that his life was full of regrets.

"How dare you, a being of Darkness, walk in the same path of your stupid master! How dare you have Steel's Code!"

Martha felt that her death was also coming. But as she regained her memory, her loyalty also returned.

"I am a Martha Bowheart Steele. My bow can only bend and break! And even if I will break, I will not have you taint the honor of my master!" Martha shouted defiantly.

"You know what I'm going to do to you?" Kyriachos sneered.

"Hit me with your best shot!" Martha shouted.

"Since both of you are related to Kyros, I shall give you this..."

"Lord Kyriachos! Wait! I am not related to Kyros!"

"Oh... You're not?" Kyriachos frowned.

"Ye-yes! I'm not!"

"Oh. Alright. I thought Kyros has a dragon Coven member. But now that I think about it, I only sense a bit of my own power in you. You must have slain a Saint who has taken my name, right?"

"Ye-Yes!"

"I see.... If that's the case... I'll just..." Kyriachos turned to Martha.

Martha didn't falter as she stared back at Kyriachos with defiance.

"I'll just bless you with my Code. How about that? I'll give you my powers."

"Then go ahead and kill- wait... what?" Martha was confused.

"Since the dragon's not related, I'll just give you my power. How's that?"

"..."

"Why?" Martha asked.

"Because you lord Kyros's Coven. Tell me. Did he manage to return normally?"

"Return? Return from where?"

"From here, of course. Or is he...? Is he still in a Dark Maddening state?" Kyriachos realized this possibility and urgently asked.

The dragon was so confused. Why was Kyriachos worried about this man called Kyros, who has Hyperion's Code?

"Dark Maddening? Last I heard of him... He was alright. Did he fell into a Dark Maddening state? Was it during his battle with the Blood Calamity?"

"Yes! That's right! The Blood Calamity!"

"Oh! If that's the case, he's alright. He managed to escape the Blood Calamity."

"That's a relief." Kyriachos sighed.

"I was worried. I thought he came back here somehow, and that's why I tore a way into this place."

"I'm confused... You're worried about Kyros? I thought you hate Kyros."

"Yeah, I do! That freak! I hate his parents too! But... I am bound to serve him. Besides, he's my only hope in ever being free from my seal. So I'll figure out a way to send you back. But of course, I won't let Hyperion's Code overtake me. That old bastard won't have freaks with great potential as his disciples! Kyros's Coven, huh? You even have greater potential compared to a direct bloodline to Kyros since your blood is linked to him! So I will bestow to you, my Darkness Source!"

"A Darkness Source?"