Hero of Darkness

As the system finally notified about the rise in levels and Kahn finally meeting the condition to become a saint… a dam of happiness was broken inside his heart.

"After so many centuries of wait… I can finally become a saint." said Kahn in an elated voice.

[The host can breakthrough to the saint rank at his will.

The host will need to be in a dormant state for a day and the outbursts of mana and world energy will be noticeable within the 5 kilometers radius.

It is advised that the host chooses a secure and quiet location to initiate the breakthrough.] informed the system.

"Ah… I guess we will have to delay it until I'm done making arrangements.

I'll still die if I become a saint in the forbidden zone or the Verlassen fiefdom. I need to settle a lot of things first and then make my breakthrough." spoke Kahn as he sighed.

He had to contain his excitement for now and complete the mission at hand first.

"Hey Freeloader, do you want the body?" asked Kahn to Rudra.

[No, human. It is not compatible with my body or my current element. It will only cause an imbalance that will adversely affect me in the future.

Kill a fire or magma elemental dragon for me.] replied Rudra in a stoic voice.

"Do dragons grow on trees? Do you not understand that if not for me being the Hero of Darkness, all of us would've certainly died?" asked Kahn as if he was looking at an idiot.

[Tch! Nevermind. I'll let you have this one.

Don't come begging when you need my help next time.] retorted the basilisk.

"Ah, this punk…" said Kahn and then continued his travel towards the main door with the rest.

In 5 minutes, he came close to the main door but unlike the last two times, there was an altar in front of the door.

"Impossible!" spoke Kahn as he saw what lay at the center of the alter.

Six ten-meter-tall statues of beings Kahn was familiar with. Each of which was covered in archaic runes and formations.

"So that's how it was… it was controlling them from here." said Kahn as he looked at the figures.

These statues were the exact replicas of Invimarak, Bjormngandur, Caladrius, Mountain Titan, Ashokvatika and lastly… Vilgax.

"These statues and those runes… I'm certain of it!" spoke Ceril.

"What?" asked Armin who stood beside him.

"I read about it in one of the books master got from that Solomon Elfenheim. This is Puppeteer Formation.

A legendary rank one." revealed Ceril.

"Pup… what?" asked Kahn with a curious expression.

"I think that Ymir sealed that dragon here and used this formation to have it use the Dragon's Sovereignty skill you have on them through this formation.

If my deduction isn't wrong, then the dragon was forced to use his powers and control all those legendary rank monsters we hunted outside the forbidden region." clarified Ceril.

"Then doesn't that mean all of them were intentionally placed in those regions and the annual monster wave that has been happening in the hundred and fifty years is something that was planned by that 8th stage saint?" queried Kahn.

"I believe so. And the Hero of Lightning must have something to do with it as well.

The more I see it, the more it feels like this entire barrier over Verlassen, these legendary rank monsters, and the two mythical rank enemies we faced recently…

All of them are just means to protect something so that people would not come to find what's inside even if it meant millions of people dying." hypothesized Ceril.

"The Tablet of Arcana!" exclaimed Kahn.

This was the only explanation he could find.

The 1st layer was actually the entire Verlassen fiefdom.

2nd layer was protected by Vilgax.

3rd layer had Skoll and Hati, who were defeated and sealed inside the forbidden region 200 years ago.

And finally, the dragon that Kahn killed just now was the last chess piece. Through this Puppeteering Formation, it was forced to use its ability and have the legendary rank monsters to cause annual monster tides in six hotspots so that people would not dare to venture close to the forbidden zone.

Ymir, the 8th stage saint was certainly a magician given how he could use spells and formations to even seal and control mythical rank creatures.

And he was so powerful that the 8000 kilometers long barrier he created was able to prohibit a saint from entering this region.

It was as if other than himself, he did not want anyone else to get their hands on the Tablet of Arcana.

"This is becoming very complicated. Maybe the Hero of Lightning dying here also had something to do with the tablet." spoke Kahn with a serious expression.

"The only way to find the truth…" said Kahn as the looked at the massive 200 meters tall and 50 meters wide construct in front of him.

"Is through that door."

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Kahn and the company finally came close to the door and close to the entrance… there were two figures.

One was clad in pitch-black assassins gear while the latter was a chained man kneeling on the ground. There were multiple wounds over his body and a broken nose became the highlight of his current state.

"Who are these people?! And what were those monsters?!

How did you defeat the dragon?! This shouldn't even be possible!!" exclaimed the man with glasses.

"You don't need to know. But don't worry… I won't kill you now. I might have some use for you." said Kahn with a benign smile.

The man in front of Kahn was none other than his supposed ally from the Pureblood faction who betrayed him at the last moment to lure out the dragon and get inside the door by himself.

"What use?" asked Ezekiel, the traitor semi-saint mage who was caught and beaten to death by Ronin under Kahn's orders before he started his fight with the dragon.

"What if there's another monster?

If that were to be the case… Then I might need someone to…" said Kahn with an evil grin and revealed his reason…

"Make a Sacrifice."