Hero of Darkness

Within the God's Domain, in a different peninsula forged by another God, a figure emerged from the imposing gates of a white castle seated atop a towering mountain. Rumble!

Crackle!

The air crackled with an ominous energy, and thunderous echoes reverberated across the vast open lands surrounding the mountain.

The pristine white castle stood in stark contrast to the dark, foreboding clouds that gathered above, as if nature itself recoiled from the divine presence within. Bang!

Shatter!

Lightning struck repeatedly, illuminating the landscape in brief, eerie flashes. The mountain, its peak obscured by the tempest, bore the scars of the celestial clash, revealing the raw power of the godly forces at play.

In this realm of destruction, the figure from the castle surveyed the surroundings, and the relentless storm seemed to respond to the silent will of the god.

Creak!

The gate swung open, revealing a tall and robust figure. His hair, a striking blend of black and white stripes, framed a weathered face adorned with a brown beard that spoke of both wisdom and battle-hardened experience. This imposing figure stepped forth, his legendary rank armor a testament to his might.

The chest plate, pauldrons, gauntlets, and waistguard composed an ensemble that emanated both power and authority. Despite the exposed upper half of his body, the man exuded a dominating aura that demanded respect from all who laid eyes upon him.

As he moved, a mesmerizing dance of red, green, and blue auras encircled him, akin to streams of translucent water weaving an ethereal tapestry. The armor itself seemed alive, with numerous eyes sporadically placed across its surface, periodically glowing in sync with the divine energies coursing through it.

Simultaneously, the man's yellow eyes, devoid of any iris, radiated an overwhelming presence that left those who awaited outside the door in awe of the force of nature that had exited God's Altar.

"He's finally out!" exclaimed a beastkin with the head of a goat, adorned in resplendent golden garments and shamanic gear.

"Did you succeed, Lord Hero? Have you completed both the objectives?" inquired a peculiar humanoid entity, floating in midair without eyes or ears. Its entire form appeared crafted from white porcelain stone rather than flesh.

Finally, the hero spoke after emerging from God's Altar.

"Yes, I did. I have both met the God of Lightning to Limit Break and secured both the Apples of Eden, as per our main missions." he declared in a deep and resonant voice.

"Good. With this, our part in this Conclave of Heroes is done. We might as well leave now," declared the goat-headed party member.

However...

"No. I still need to find him. I heard he is pretty strong," the warrior-like hero spoke in a firm tone.

"Lord Hero! We shouldn't! Even the Emperor instructed us to directly return instead of looking for him. To the empire, your life is far more precious than just another chance at gaining a Peak Saint. We should return as previously agreed." urged another party member, hidden beneath black mage robes.

"It would be too big of a loss, wouldn't it? I recently became a 6th-stage saint and still haven't fought a worthy opponent in far too long. This is an opportunity too good to pass on. Besides… wouldn't you guys also like to know who is stronger among us?" The hero asked with a confident smile.

"The Hero of Darkness or…" he declared with eyes full of fighting spirit...

"The Hero of Lightning."

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BOOM!!

The battle in the peninsula created by the God of Darkness was now halfway through as the Future Kahn had restrained Neaman, the brawler saint using the Gravity Law skill.

Just a minute ago, he revealed the truth about him and the Hero of Time being from the future and the latter knowing about their true nature.

This made all the other assailants halt their attacks and grasp the predicament they were in.

After Kahn revealed some facts he knew about the future, not a single one of them had doubts and all concluded… That their lives were wasted as mere pawns during the brawl filled with vengeance between the Hero of Darkness and the Hero of Time.

The 1st form of the Dimensional Domain that Kahn created after the culmination of knowledge and training by Romulus and Vildred when he trained in the Hall of Sentience, assimilating the domain with his available abilities and intellect was completely different.

It was no longer just a pitch-black realm, void of life or a single construct.

Now, it created a different world where Mana and World Energy were manipulated at Kahn's will.

Swoosh!

In a mere second, despite his ginormous size, the 1-kilometer-tall Kahn in the monstrous Apostle of War mode teleported so fast that even other saints could not register his movements.

This was one of the functions of the First Form.

In contrast to the base form, Kahn could now teleport anywhere inside the domain, create illusions, and delay the reaction speed of enemies, making them unable to detect his movements even if they were a saint of the same rank as him.

Slash!

BOOM!

Sensing mortal danger, all the saints attacked despite the risk of being sucked by the Black Sun.

However… even after their attacks hit his enormous body made of Darkness, not a single scratch was seen. Kahn could now use any type of spell to lower the strength of enemies and perfectly counter their elemental attacks. Isolation, Debuff, Weapons, and Element switching. Nobody even detected that their attacks were countered by multiple Saint Rank and a few Legendary Rank spells as well as Dimensional Cracks before they even touched the ginormous Kahn.

In a sense, Kahn was akin to a Saint while it was them who were now reduced to the rank of a Grandmaster.

"Infinite Dream."

Kahn's eyes then glowed golden and in mere moments, the surroundings for each of the saints changed.

Lucid Reality now had 2nd form called Infinite Dream when used inside the First Form of Dimensional Domain.

This change occurred after Kahn learned to incorporate Illusion Magic from the Sage mentor aka Vildred. Kahn didn't use it before because this skill could completely derange the target's mind and turn them braindead.

So far, he never needed to use this skill because he wasn't always sure about killing his opponents and wanted to extract information from them most of the time after entering God's Domain.

This was the type of magic Kahn hadn't heard of before. Mainly because even Saint Mages could only perfect it with the help of Legendary Rank artifacts which were extremely rare and also needed decades of practice.

Shiver! All the saint enemies now stood rooted in their spots, each seeing and feeling a different reality of their own.

Things were no longer just illusions but partly real as well. This made the skill more terrifying because one couldn't tell the difference between reality and the illusionary world. Stab!

Stab!

One after another, the saints made their most lethal attacks and stabbed Kahn whom they saw in their vision.

Blergh!

"What the hell are you all doing?!" shouted the Hero of Time.

Shatter!

Crumble!

As the Illusion finally broke, everyone returned to reality and finally saw the truth.

The one they had collectively attacked and stabbed with their weapons and spells to kill wasn't Kahn.

It was the Hero of Time.

Without even letting anyone have a chance to see through his skills…

Kahn pulled the Aizen move on the Hero's Party.