MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin



When Adam entered his soul space— the nascent form of his dream world, he had been constantly wondering in his mind what he would find there, and the result was more than a little interesting.

'The place has transformed.'

In the past, this place was only an immense void with a table and a few chairs aligned against the edges of the table. He had used this place as some kind of conference room to have a little fun with his various minds. However, that was it, there were no additional functions or purposes to the void that was his soul space.

Now though… Now, it wasn't just one table and a few chairs that decorated this white void.

'Hah…'

His dream world was now adorned with a few more elements.

He could see a large shelf seemingly made out of mahogany wood in which two books were neatly arranged.

"This is…"

He approached the books and looked at the name finely printed on the cover in an archaic and eerie font.

Diego Fernandez.

Miguel Fernandez.

Those books looked brand new even though the cover sported a medieval look and the manner this place was arranged made him think of the place where he visited Eve the last time around while using the bronze ticket.

This would mean…

He took out Miguel's book and opened it with a swift motion.

———

The next time Adam opened his eyes, he found himself in a relatively old and dilapidated place— a telltale sign of the poverty and neglect the people living in this area might be going through.

On the side, he could see two boys crouched down on the ground, their bodies shivering violently, one protecting the other as they faced a large man who was clearly too drunk to think of the actions he was about to commit.

The smaller boy was already bleeding a bit after being, supposedly, beaten down by the drunk man and the older one was glaring at the said man— hatred flashing in his wrathful eyes.

In the end, this ended with the older brother stabbing the old man during his sleep repeatedly then fleeing with his little brother.

More pictures flashed, showing their lives, their struggles, and finally— their ambitions.

How they went from poor boys in Mexico, who were abused by their deadbeat father, to standing as the bosses of their very own large-scale organization.

———

Gasp~!

Adam opened his eyes once more, this time them being as large as saucers in shock, when he came back to himself from the reverie he was under due to the effects of the book in his hand.

"This… What the hell?"

[Incredible.]

Even the ever-cold and inorganic voice of Genesis showed subtle notes of surprise at what just transpired. It seemed that he had also witnessed the scene in the reverie.

Adam at first looked at the book with surprise but as his mind started to piece together just what had transpired exactly, he started to chuckle out loud,

"Haha… This… Hahahaha…!"

In the end, a peal of full-blown laughter leaked out of his lips. He laughed and laughed, like a madman or like a pirate who had finally found the greatest treasure in all of existence.

"This is fucking unbelievable! Oh my gosh."

He immediately took Diego's book and opened it as well. This allowed him to get a deeper understanding of what was transpiring as he opened the books of the deceased brothers and while his expression of ecstasy diminished greatly, he was still pretty shaken up by everything.

"This is not exactly what I anticipated but it's not far from it."

[Something close to the True Library.]

The record of all people who could affect the world, those books that Eve had warned him against even so far as to touch as he might lose himself in them.

He had managed to recreate something like that. Albeit, an inferior version of it.

The more he immersed himself in the book, the more he understood the two brothers.

Their lives, their emotions, their needs, and their fears. He understood every aspect of their existence.

He was slowly learning everything about them— from their time as mere babies to the moment they died recently and if he so decided he could accurately and completely pass as them without the slightest hints of a problem.

But more than anything, what truly made his chest beat in excitement was that he could absorb their knowledge.

This was groundbreaking.

What if he went ahead and killed a surgeon? What about a recognized biologist? A physician?

What if he killed people who learned secret skills and absorbed their souls?

Thump~! Thump~! Thump~!

'This is too dangerous.'

Adam immediately recognized the inherent danger that lurked beneath those incredible powers. He couldn't learn everything in one go.

He needed to assimilate everything slowly, very slowly and extremely meticulously, and then sympathize and understand the beings that had been added to his library.

"I might really become crazy if I am not careful."

What would happen if he killed something like a demon that most likely lived for centuries or millennia? Would he even be able to stay as himself?

'The stronger my soul is, the less chances there would be of me losing myself inside the books I collect.'

This made his growth inside the Dreamscape all the more important. The stronger his soul became, the more knowledge he could absorb from those he killed from now on.

"Well, not like I am just going to kill someone innocent for knowledge."

[But… Do you actually need to kill?]

"Oh? Ohhh!"

Adam immediately understood the meaning behind Genesis' question.

He could summon souls from the beyond.

Who said he actually needed to kill people, couldn't he just summon the souls of the people who were already dead? The souls of history's greatest people that were wandering in the plane of the deceased souls?

'Hum… Need to think about it in-depth.'

Up until now, he only brought back souls who had not reached beyond the plane of mortals yet.

Taking souls from the 'Beyond' would mean intruding into the domain of the gods of death and he didn't want to mess with those freaks right now.

Perhaps they would say nothing but… Why provoke a sleeping tiger?

"The possibilities are endless."

No matter whether he decided to test the gods of death or not, the possibility of enacting something similar still remained and this was more than enough for him for now.

'I am slowly shedding my dependence on Genesis.'

He would have less and less need to actually buy any skills from Genesis. He could simply accumulate karma and unlock the major Chakra pathways as needed.

"From now on, I will call this place the Library of the Dead."

This would without a doubt become one of the cornerstones of his growth.

Adam felt the desire to laugh like a madman or a raving lunatic build inside of him again but he fought to keep that desire in check.

"So, the two souls were converted into books?"

[Not exactly.]

Genesis appeared in his fully white chalk humanoid appearance without any features— as creepy as always.

"You know you look creepy, right?"

[Appearance has no importance to me.]

"Huh… I guess so. Well, what do you want to show me?"

[Follow me.]

The two of them walked for a few moments before reaching a deeper part of his dream world and there— Adam could see it.

Two white husks floating in the air.

They had a rather humanoid form but outside of that, it was hard to see them as humans or anything of the sort.

"Their souls."

He muttered slowly and walked around them, inspecting them from high to low.

The souls of the two he killed were floating inside his dream world.

Adam mused slightly before gently moving his finger.

He acted as if he was trying to induce someone in a long dream and realized that it worked.

"This is great…"

He could indeed put them in a dream.

In fact, for as long as he existed, those two could forever be in a dream if he so wished.

"In a way… Isn't this just heaven?"

He could also bring them into an eternal nightmare, torturing their souls forever without any hope of ever escaping from his clutches.

He could give them Heaven and he could also give them Hell. To them, he could become God, if he so wished.

Not only to them…

To all those he killed.

To all those who died close to him.

He could keep them eternally happy or eternally mournful.

Adam stopped.

His mind moving at light speed at the implication of what this would mean.

"Genesis."

[Yes?]

"I think now, I know what will be the theme of my dream world."

He remembered an idea he had visualized in his mind in the not-so-distant past.

When he told Aleksandra that he served a god.

Perhaps in the future, this wouldn't just be a lie.