Chapter 298: A Selfish Request

I need to gain more.

Meeting the Goddess is quite rare—as he had only met her three times in these last few months of being an Angel. Perhaps that was more times than even Demons met their Patron Gods, but regardless, he had met her several times.

But it was rarer for the Goddess to be this complacent towards him.

Her heart was being choked with tender love.

Just having Kai call her mother placed her in a trance that elevated her doting nature.

Kai wouldn’t want to waste this golden opportunity.

Next time, the Goddess won’t be quite as generous, so he has to make use of this moment.

Besides, this is payback.

Recalling how the Goddess pressured him by sulking and not letting him leave, he should be allowed to at least do this. It was only fair that he took advantage of her since she also did the same to him.

"Is there anything you have in mind?" the Goddess’ voice soothed again.

It snapped him back to reality.

"Hm?" Kai turned to look at her. "So—you aren’t planning for a second gift? Your grand gift for me, your precious son, is power from this Nightborn whom you deemed lower spawn? Am I understanding this correctly?"

"Err—" the Goddess smiled self-consciously. "It’s not like that..."

Kai was shoving her own words back at her, making her feel guilty.

"I’m only teasing you, mother."

"Don’t do that to me. My heart can’t take it."

"It’s good for your heart to beat harder sometimes. Let me think for a second."

Kai crossed his arms and fell into contemplation.

The Goddess has absolute authority in the House of Night, so my gift should be limited to that.

I already reached the Aspirant Supernal rank—and could now enter the second floor without a problem. Not to mention, I have accumulated a big chunk of usable exp by now, so going to the second floor and searching for a stronger Nightborn to learn from is my natural next step.

Hm... I feel like something was missing.

Of course, he remembered the next quest that he needed to complete.

A quest that the Goddess gave him to complete.

But since she was asking him to do it—then she probably wouldn’t grant him any information regarding that quest, like where Mallory’s domain was located. Even then, he still felt like he had forgotten something.

Just then, his mind clicked as he remembered one thing he wanted to do.

"Mother!" Kai looked up at the Goddess—with a sparkle in his eyes. "I want the Stone Ending to be stronger! Make him stronger so that his domain exists on the second floor."

"You’ve already grown fond of him, too? Are you going to favour every lower spawn that you meet?" The Goddess let out a weary sigh. She wanted to be furious—but this only proved that her son has a kind heart, and it’s making her feel conflicted. "They are lower spawns. You do not need to bother with—"

She stopped mid-sentence, caught by the plea shining in Kai’s eyes. "Don’t give me that look. Those beautiful black eyes won’t change my mind. I won’t do it."

"But why? He’s really helpful."

"It’s not because I don’t want to do it, but making a lower spawn stronger is a crucial learning part for you to master the night. Ask for something else."

"Then I want to know your name."

"..."

Noxian almost vomited blood at what he heard.

’Has he finally gone crazy? He can’t even learn the names of all Nightborns on the second floor, and he thought he could know the Final Night’s name?!’ He looked at Kai as if he was someone mad—and then closed his ears regardless. ’I do not want to hear any of this. I do not want to be here, but this is my domain...’

Of course, this was a long shot.

Kai knew the odds, but he asked anyway. A shot never taken would fail without question.

A shot taken, however slim its chance, still held the possibility of success.

"You’re such a greedy little boy," the Goddess pinched his cheek and chuckled. "As much as I want to grant that request of yours, you are still far too early to know my name. You need to grow even stronger."

Kai rubbed his cheek and shrugged his shoulders.

It was worth a try.

"How about a good Nightborn on the second floor?" the Goddess suggested. "It will save you the hassle of needing to thread through the constellations and their dangers."

"I don’t mind abo—" Kai stopped mid-sentence—as a thought came to mind. He had already gotten Noxian’s next ending fragment, which was far stronger than any ending fragment that he had. Using his next gift for another power would be too much. "Can you enter a domain of another Goddess?"

"As long as it has ties to the House of Night, then yes." The Goddess nodded.

"In that case," Kai’s lips curled into a sly, deadly grin. "I want help for this one thing..."

Since this was a gift for his success—for once, he wanted to do something selfish. Something purely for himself. Power would likely come with it, but that wasn’t the point he wanted from this; no, it was satisfaction.

A gift meant for him to solely enjoy, and this one would certainly satisfy him.

Just then, the Goddess pinched his cheek again.

"Stop being expressive with your face. I told you it is a flaw."

"S-Sorry..."

Meanwhile, inside a separate domain, a figure cloaked in a blood cloak stood motionless.

He was standing alone in the straight, endless corridor—flanked by iron bars a good distance away and shadow. The air was thick with a darkness that had no source. A black so absolute it hung above him like a liquid ceiling, or a sea of tar that pressed down without touch.

On the contrary, he didn’t mind the loneliness.

Loneliness wasn’t a burden—it was a birthright.

Unlike mortals, he wasn’t made for companionship or comfort.

He was made for punishment.

The Goddess of Vengeance, also known as the Furies, had shaped him from their own blood. And with that blood came their purpose, their hunger. He carried it inside and was also given a whip of serrated scales at his side, and in the deep, unending thirst for screams that followed wherever he went.

Anyone holding the whip would want nothing more than to punish wrongdoers.

Its desire bled into the wielder.

For the figure, it enhanced his desire to punish others to a maddening degree.

The whip coiled against his palm like a snake dreaming of the hunt, and he dreamed with it.

Wrongdoers. Sinners. The guilty.

They were his only pleasure, and he had been denied that pleasure for far too long.

Not too long ago—he had been hunting a wrongdoer through a dimension unseen by mortal eyes, weaving curses into the air—like threads of grey justice. But then, he had been dragged here, to this prison of stone and silence, and given a new duty.

His creator called it... a divine duty.

A duty to punish someone who was guilty of mass slaughter with a special identity.

One that made this the divine duty it was.

The First Son of the Primordial Night.

Just the title alone had sent a shiver down his spine.

Not of fear—but of pure, electric excitement. To punish such a being who carried the blood of an ancient deity? To hear him squeal like a pig under him? It would be more than a one-in-a-kind pleasure. It would be glorious.

It would be the crowning achievement of his existence.

But the excitement had curdled into boredom.

He didn’t realize the duty was never-ending, and worse, the First Son of the Primordial Night could come and go as he pleased without restriction. It felt like he was the one being punished, not the First Son of the Primordial Night.

As if all of this was only a formality in respect to the Goddess of the Primordial Night.

All the figure could do was wait, idle and restless—his whip growing heavy with maddening desire with each moment that passed. He didn’t mind the isolation, but the inability to deliver punishment is what gets him.

He was trapped.

Just then, the figure looked up again when the air shifted.

Strangely enough, he heard a buzzing sound in his ears. Static that came out of nowhere.

He then turned to his right and saw the portal was now flickering.

It was a sign of someone coming.

’Yes... This is it. He’s finally coming back—for round two!’ The figure’s eyes flashed so bright they emerged from the darkness inside his hood. Anticipation sparkled through his chest that had been hollow before.

He looked down at his whip. ’Get ready, partner. We’re going all out!’

As he was about to ready his whip, something else stepped through the portal.

Something vast, and cold. Something that he couldn’t see its form, only absolute darkness.

It emerged from the portal, and it even needed to duck to enter fully, even though the portal was twelve feet high. Above, the darkness, the thick and liquid black that had hung on the ceiling motionless for so long, began to bleed.

Reacting to the dark entity, it dropped downward like ink through water.

Panic began to settle in as the figure recoiled at the dripping darkness.

Even though he did not exactly understand this straight corridor, only told that he needed to punish the First Son of the Primordial Night every time he tried to go to the next cell—he was sure that it was made by the Furies’ power.

His creator’s power.

And yet, that power was melting away at this dark entity’s presence.

For the longest time, he had been hunting wrongdoers after wrongdoers.

At this point, his senses had developed so much that he could feel fear from any entity. It took the form of a steaming grey aura that one would emit when fear was present. But for the first time in his existence, that grey steam was coming from his own body.

It started as a fizzle at first, coming from his shoulders, and now it came from his entire body.

For the first time in his existence, he was the one who felt fear.

Even the desire to punish others with the whip died, ended, like it didn’t matter at all.

And it was only then that he realized the identity of the dark entity—standing right beside the First Son of the Primordial Night. Someone who could spark this phenomenon inside the pure domain of the Furies could only be the Goddess of the Primordial Night.

Kai’s lips curled into a smug smile as he watched the figure recoil.

"Peek-a-boo, motherfucker. It’s time for your punishment."