Hero of Darkness

Kahn's heart was in turmoil again as Romulus recited his biography and revealed everything important there was to know about him including his identity as chosen Hero and his soul pact with Rathnaar. Where he lived and what identities he previously used were no exceptions either. 

"Surprised?" asked Romulus nonchalantly. 

Kahn's face paled as if life was sucked out of him, turning him into a white sheet of paper. 

Romulus then turned his gaze towards Vildred and spoke in a stoic tone. 

"Stop that teleportation spell. It won't work." he warned the royal dragon whom he had mistaken for a lesser dragon. 

"And where are you two planning to run away anyway? Back to the Zivot Empire?" he asked with a mocking tone. 

"Do you want me to reveal this kid's real identity to the High Elves and my own people? 

Do you think there will be any place safe for him afterwards?" he openly threatened and blackmailed Kahn, Vildred and Rathnaar. 

"What do you want?" asked Kahn who had fully recovered. 

Although Romulus retracted his overpowered domain, the fact remained that they were still surrounded by this isolation barrier that closed all escape routes. 

And usually, the only way out was to kill the user who used the artifact. 

However, given how strong and terrifying Romulus was as he demonstrated earlier… Both of them had no confidence. 

Even Vildred could barely protect himself against the wolfkin given the difference in their rank. If the latter was only a beginner 7th-stage saint, they at least had some confidence. 

But after seeing the Domain of Slaughter… they'd be fools to engage in any confrontation against him. 

"Before I answer, let me ask you something. 

Where are your created monsters?" his deep voice resounded in the nearby region. 

[Dammit! He even knows about my subordinates. 

He probably knows that my monster army is hiding inside the shadow. It's very likely that he came prepared to apprehend me in every possible scenario. 

Any form of resistance is just futile against him.] concluded Kahn. 

"I left them inside the Zivot Empire to grow their levels and abilities." responded Kahn with an indignant countenance. 

"Good Choice." spoke Romulus and nodded in approval. 

"Otherwise, all of them would've been easily detected by the upper echelons and other Heavenly Kings as well as our Empress easily." he iterated with a thoughtful expression as he folded his hands behind his back. 

"Unlike the places you have been so far… We pay a lot of attention to our bloodlines and heritage. 

Bringing them here would've raised too many questions no matter where you went." he said. 

"Stop beating around the bush and tell us the truth already!" bellowed Vildred inside the protection barrier. 

Kahn already continued his query. 

"You still haven't answered any of our questions. 

Who are you? 

How do you know everything about me? 

And what do you want?" 

Romulus Lykaios, the Heavenly King of the Nadur empire, chuckled lightly and replied. 

"Well, you already know my formal identity. But for your case… I have a past that has forced me to come here and intercept you. 

And like I said… you're under my tutelage now." 

"Argghhh! Another cryptic response." even Kahn was exasperated at this point. 

"Ha ha ha! I'm just messing with you. 

Listen carefully…" laughed the wolfkin and his expression turned serious. 

"I'm a former member of the Hero's Party. But unlike what you'd expect… 

I was part of the Hero of Darkness' party." he finally revealed his hidden secret to the trio. 

"What?! You mean…" Kahn was taken aback, completely caught off-guard. 

"Yes. I fought alongside the 8th Hero of Darkness." replied the 7th stage saint without omitting the truth furthermore. 

"I have been living with a disguised identity after what happened 300 years ago. 

And now… The Beast Empire is my home." spoke Romulus in a solemn voice. 

"However… Someone who knew of my past recently asked me to find and intercept you. 

He's the one who told me everything there is to know about you and hence I'm here." he iterated sternly. 

"Who… who is that person?" asked Kahn with a vigilant mind. 

There was someone who knew everything about him while completely hiding in the shadows. And Kahn ran a few possibilities in his mind but nobody he knew beforehand fit the bill. 

However, Romulus only shook his head. 

"I can't tell you for your own safety. His identity is rather special. If others ever found you and figured that it was him… It would do more damage to the world instead. 

That's a risk I can't take." he spoke. 

"But he did tell me to relay his words to you." he iterated and repeated what he was told to say to Kahn once he found the latter. 

Romulus' expression turned serious and he recanted in a grim voice. 

"Time for running and hiding is over. You no longer have a choice. 

I can find you whenever I want from now on. If not for me, you would've been found and killed already.

Don't even bother running away or hiding using a different persona. 

Stay under Romulus' wing and learn from him in the meantime. 

And patiently wait for the day I personally come for you. 

After that… You will find all the answers you've been looking for." 

The 7th stage saint repeated Argos Belmont, the Revenant Sovereign's words. 

"He is doing his best to protect you but he can't come here now. Until then…

I'm your Guardian." revealed Romulus. 

There was no need to lie to Kahn. Hiding the truth would only create problems and distrust later. So he decided to choose the path of honesty from the start. 

After 10 minutes of discussion, Kahn finally came to accept his current predicament. 

Even if he ran inside the True Dimension… He couldn't abandon Vildred because of the Contract of Familiarity and the latter wasn't his subordinate who could jump in his shadow either. 

Besides, he was already aware that Romulus knew about his Divine Abilities as well. So there was no point in any useless struggle. 

As for declining? Not a chance either. 

He could either go with Romulus on his own accords or get taken in as a prisoner and god knows what kind of torture he'd have to suffer if he retaliate.

So, escaping was no longer an option for Kahn. 

"Change your appearance fitting for a new identity.

And choose a main element you are going to prominently use till you're staying under my wing." he ordered in an authoritative tone. 

He then gave Kahn a few instructions and finally, Kahn used the metamorphosis bloodline to create a new persona. 

15 minutes later… 

A 3-meter-tall blue wolfkin with a ripped body and blue glowing eyes came to be. 

In terms of appearance, he was similar to Romulus in many ways as Kahn based the design on the wolfkin. The key difference was Kahn chose to be a Water & Ice elemental warrior for personal reasons and had small frozen icicles coming out of his shoulders and nape. 

His chest glowed blue with rune-like tattoos that spread across his torso. 

Kahn then equipped his Legendary rank Gauntlet, Pauldron and Boots set collectively called Beowulf. 

Next, he used the Draconian Bloodline to repress its rank to Epic Rank so no one would find them suspicious. 

After he was done with everything… 

If one didn't know better, they'd feel like Kahn and Romulus were blood-related, just with different element affinity. 

"Good. It will work perfectly with the identity I have already set up for you. 

And from now on, your name is…" spoke Romulus and declared Kahn's new persona he was to live with inside the Beast Empire. 

"Atreus Bellator."