Hero of Darkness

Ezekiel had an ashen expression as he had a sense of deja vu after he was caught by Ronin and heard Kahn's intention, whom he betrayed for the sake of accomplishing his goal.

"Doesn't feel good, does it?"

Kahn said and their crew tried to enter the door with Ezekiel in chains.

Tuck!

Tuck!

Tuck!

But before he could pass through… their bodies collided against the door with a black aura coming out of it.

"What the hell… why can't I pass through?" questioned Kahn.

Ceril and Ronin tried to inspect it but even after 20 minutes, there was no clue or a loophole.

The door simply prohibited them from entering.

"Omega." spoke Kahn and ordered the Dual Swords Samurai to forcefully open the door for them.

The group then stood 3 kilometers away while Omega turned into his Twilight Armor Form which was his pure destruction mode.

BANG!!

BOOM!!

Even the altar that previously had the statues of the legendary creatures was destroyed by Omega's Black Fang Strike attack but the door didn't budge in the slightest.

And when Omega tried to use the Moonlight Armor form and make a quick slashing attack with Lunar Fang Strike… an invisible force was repelled back from the door instead.

After that, Ronin tried to phase through but he failed and Ceril tried to use magic formations but none of them worked.

"What the hell is this supposed to mean?

We killed the guardian, and we should be able to enter now!" exclaimed Kahn in an irritated tone as he placed both hands on his waist.

The treasure was simply one door away but the door was acting like an impenetrable fortress.

"Master! Someone is coming." said Omega.

"Alright, all of you hide. Ceril, cast an invisibility barrier.

And keep this fucker gagged." spoke Kahn.

And finally after a while, came a young woman with white hair, two red horns coming out of the sides of her head; one of which was short while the other was longer.

She was donned in black and red armor and on her waist, were two blood-red colored twin swords.

She looked at Kahn who had Lucifer in his hand. And looking at the destroyed surroundings as well as the deep crevices in the ground… she had a fearful expression on her face.

If this was what Kahn could do while still being a semi-saint… then she was no match.

"You're here. Looks like I was early." spoke Kahn.

"How come you're here? What about Ezekiel Nabi? Did you meet him?" asked the young woman.

"No. He probably still hasn't found a way to this barrier.

But for some reason, I can't enter it." replied Kahn as he looked at the halfbreed demonkin swordmaiden.

Celine Armitage… the clan heiress of the Armitage Clan and also the 2nd most talented sword user of the young generation after Kahn.

In this mission… She was his supposed ally from the Neutral Faction.

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Both of them stood silently in front of the massive door as Kahn ran out of ideas to open the door with all his available means.

"Let me try." spoke Celine.

The next moment… she placed her hand on the dense layer of the black aura.

Duddmm!

Duddmm!

Suddenly, the door started pulsating like a vein of a massive creature and soon, the black aura that completely covered the door started waning.

The next moment, Celine took out a small dagger from her space ring and made a gash on her right palm.

"I hope it works just like father said." she spoke.

And without explaining her actions, she placed it on the center of the door.

The blood drops were suddenly absorbed by the door and dozens of red patterns slithered like snakes.

Shwooaahh!!

A loud noise of something cranking from the inside resounded in the surroundings and finally… the entire door opened and opened a pathway for Celine.

[What the hell? Why did it open for her?] thought Kahn and then quickly understood the reason.

[Damn… I should've figured.] he said and thought about how Celine activated the door.

Her blood!

Her blood was the main triggering factor.

[After all… she's the only living descendent…] he thought and looked at Celine again.

[Of the Imperial family.]

On the day before the finale of the Emperor's Chosen competition, when Kahn was summoned by Allister Mor Vandereich to the main headquarters of the Pureblood Faction…

He made his secret deal with the faction leader and signed a contract to complete the mission they were going to give him in exchange for his own conditions he set back then.

But on this very day… he also learned a fact about the other possible contenders who were going to enter the forbidden zone.

And one of them included the Dual Sword Saintess aka Celine Armitage.

From the faction leader himself, he found that Celine had a special trait and history behind her lineage.

Her human grandmother was actually one of the concubines of the lecherous and cruel 7th and the previous Emperor who was said to be a very vigorous man.

After the Great War, the Imperial family was massacred and everyone having any blood ties with them were wiped out.

However, her grandmother gave birth to Celine's mother in secret and no one knew about this relation till her mother was of 30 years of age.

But one day, one of the royal attendees who belonged to the Armitage clan after the coup recognized her and with some digging… he found out about Celine's mother being the rightful heir to the throne.

But instead of claiming the throne and causing a civil war in the process… the Armitage clan forcefully wed her human mother to their clan's heir who was now Celine's father.

Only recently did the other two factions had found that she had the bloodline of the Imperial family. But the Armitage Clan and Neutral Faction of now were untouchable.

And given her importance… she was always protected by top saints of her clan and faction.

Thus, Celine was chosen to be one of their representatives to bring the Tablet of Arcana after she became a semi-saint just this year.

They also assumed that Kahn was also a descendant himself and that's why both the factions were after him desperately wanting to recruit him to get a perfect winning chance if they had both of them on their side.

And now that she opened the door… Kahn was certain that the entire forbidden region had a direct connection to the Imperial family as they only allowed their descendants to enter the last barrier.

Kahn then looked at Celine while the subordinates hidden in an invisibility barrier stood behind them. He spoke in a calm and collected manner while thinking about the dangers they might have to face inside.

"Alright then... Let's go!"