Hero of Darkness

ONE WEEK LATER.

Inside a dark and damp cave, a man sat on top of a stone platform that was carved perfectly horizontally using a sword's slashing attack.

The man had his eyes closed as he was immersed in meditating under blanket of darkness.

Drip!

Drip!

The droplets dripped from the spiky ceiling in a natural basin of water, reverberating in the entire cave as it gave a sense of mystery to this whole scenario.

Swoosh!

A gust of wind entered through the entrance of the cave and in the following moment, a figure rose from the black shadows in front of the meditating man.

"Master… I have returned." said a man with shoulder-length hair and a black mask covering the left half of his face while his green eyes glowed.

The meditating man slowly opened his eyes and asked in a stern voice that resonated in the entire cave.

"What's the situation there?" queried the man in a dark gray longcoat attire with silver patterns on shoulders and sleeves.

One week ago, Kahn and the group had returned…

To No Man's Land.

The reason why he did so was because it was currently the only safe place for him.

"Give me the detailed report." spoke Kahn as he looked at Ronin who emerged from the shadows and knelt in front of him.

"Because of the recording of Celine Armitage killing Ezekiel, the situation took a dire turn.

To avoid a full-scale war, some of the clan members who were vying for the leader's position killed Celine.

Later, her head was offered to the Nabi clan as a form of apology. Yet the Nabi clan's leader, who is also Ezekiel's grandfather, did not accept it.

And since the Neutral Faction thought the Armitage Clan was intentionally hiding Tablet of Arcana, no one came to their aid and some tried to extort them in time of need.

But in the end, a great battle happened and more than 20 million soldiers from both sides died and finally, the clan leader of the Nabi clan killed the Patriarch of Armitage clan.

With the help of other clans from the Pureblood faction, they wiped out the entire Armitage Clan." he said and handed out a written report to Kahn.

"I see. So her entire clan of millions was massacred because of my machinations when I faked my death.

I should be feeling guilty. But for some reason…

I don't." said Kahn with a carefree expression as he shuffled through the pages of the report.

The noble factions and all of their clans were going to kill him to get their hands on Tablet of Arcana anyway. For the past 200 years, more than a billion innocent people of Verlassen fiefdom died because these clans had abandoned it, using the excuse of no Saint being able to enter there.

Thus Kahn faked his death and his last recording screwed over all the noble factions big time.

As for the fate of the Armitage clan and millions of lives lost… It wasn't like Kahn told them to massacre each other instead of peacefully resolving the situation.

So Kahn felt no responsibility since he was no longer much of a good guy with overwhelming moral values and guilty conscience at this point of his life.

"Ever since your supposed death… All the three noble factions have been ruined." he reported in a stoic voice.

"The 3 factions are now only a shadow of their past… all of them took a big hit to the point of no recovery.

Despite their power and connections… they couldn't deal with the consequences of your death that they allegedly caused.

There's a great change in their leadership as well. All the 3 Faction Leaders were forced to give up on their governmental positions as Chief Justice, Head of Ministry and General of the Military.

Majority of the nobles lost their position of authority in the government while many powerful clans fell." spoke Ronin with lifeless eyes as if this change in Rakos Empire didn't affect him in any way.

In the end, it was up to the public to cause a revolution.

Kahn's death greatly impacted the government structure and now it was undergoing a complete reformation that would take at least a decade to completely stabilize.

"What about my fiefdom?" asked Kahn in a serious tone.

"In Verlassen, Every major city has your statue in the main square. You're perceived as the fiefdom's hero even now. Many regions of the Rakos Empire treat you the same." explained Ronin.

"And what about those three?"

"Sir Albestros Winston has broken through to the Saint Rank nearly 4 months ago.

He is now the only Saint Rank Blacksmith of the Rakos Empire." reported Ronin with a pleased expression.

"This… does put a smile on my face."

"Mister Sirius Blake is controlling funds of both the government of Verlassen that was elected through public voting as you willed it in your last recording and he is also the main treasurer of Seven Deadly Sins organization that has expanded even in many parts of the empire now." said Ronin gleefully.

In a way, Kahn, Ronin and Ceril were the biggest masterminds and contributors behind creating the Seven Deadly Sins underworld organization.

And now their fruits of labor were growing up. With the three factions weakened, they had more room to expand and cement their own authority across the Rakos Empire.

"What about him?" asked Kahn curiously.

"Tobias has leveled up and he is now comparable to a 2nd stage saint.

As you ordered, he is protecting sir Albestros who lives just outside the borders of Verlassen fiefdom. But given your relationship and history with him, nobody has dared to make trouble for Sir Winston.

They all know that the moment they touch your former allies, the citizens of the empire would boycott whatever that's left of their clans and respective forces." iterated the Spirit Assassin general.

"In the past 1 and a half year… Tobias killed over 22 semi-saints from the 3 noble factions discreetly. All of them were the spies who infiltrated and tried to take over Verlassen after your death." spoke Ronin, the head of the Intelligence and Scouting department among Kahn's generals.

And finally, Kahn's expression turned solemn.

Ronin understood what this gaze meant and the following second, he took out a cube-shaped artifact.

Soon, the dark cave was filled with multicolored lights as a holographic image of a lean and beautiful figure donning a black and yellow battlemage outfit appeared at the center.

A hologram of a woman going through various documents placed on a wide table while the room around her was filled with books related to summoning magic, war tactics, ancient magic spells and formations came to be.

This woman who looked like she was going through some meticulous research and planning for something significant was none other than…

Kassandra Mikealson.