Chapter 338: Not a Pushover

It took a moment for the night to settle.

Once it did, Kai opened his eyes again, but the world he saw was no longer the same.

No—he changed. Not the world.

Seeing past the darkness within the House of Night had been difficult—from the moment Kai first entered the House of Night. But now, his eyes could reach further. He surprisingly could see half the distance a normal pair of eyes could manage.

Compared to how it was before, this was a massive improvement.

Something that he welcomed with open arms.

"It’s a success?" Kai muttered inwardly, and then closed his eyes again.

He probed his main Primordial Lock with his senses, and sensed something inside it. A crystal gem, no longer a marble, and it was as black as obsidian—connected to a nexus of a thousand mana nerves.

A smile crept to his lips.

Kai opened his eyes and called out for the night again.

He watched in surprise as a thick strand of darkness descended from the sky. It was as big as his thigh—and moved at a moderate pace, reaching him faster than it ever had before. And as he commanded the night, he felt a coldness unfurl inside his chest.

It was a sign that the crystal gem was activated.

"Just like reaching the Aspirant Supernal rank, but the House of Night version."

Kai smiled inwardly.

Reaching the Aspirant Supernal rank increased a Supernal’s mana reserve substantially, and also increased mana flow efficiency. Casting Legacy Skill and Imprint would become far easier for Supernals at this rank compared to those at the Awakened Supernal rank.

Now, with the crystal gem, Kai was able to control more of the night and also called for it faster.

It was essentially the same.

But there was one thing that excited Kai even more.

"I can somewhat see them..." Kai looked over to his right. "I can see other Nightborns."

About half a mile away, Kai spotted a roaming Nightborn. It took the shape of a shadow entity, but as he leaned his head forward, he saw its shadowy form shedding away. "It’s not that I’m unable to see it, but because I’m too far away from it. Like any object in the distance—it blurs the further it gets from the eye."

Regardless, he could now see other Nightborns around.

Kai scanned the area and saw more Nightborns.

Seven of them, to be exact.

Even then, there was one thing that Kai cared about the most.

"Find me the Ending of Impersonation."

Swish—!

[It would cost 50,000 usable exp to locate and enter the Ending of Impersonation’s domain.]

[Do you want to find the Ending of Impersonation?]

[Yes] [No]

Kai’s lips curled into a smile.

It had cost one hundred and eighty thousand usable exp before, but now, finding the Ending of Impersonation cost less than a third of that. "As expected," Kai murmured and nodded. "If my mastery over the night increases, the cost of locating that damned Nightborn becomes far cheaper."

Since he was asking the night to locate the Ending of Impersonation, it was natural for the cost to drop. And now, Kai could pay that damned Nightborn a visit. All he needed to do was click yes with his mind.

But he didn’t.

As much as he wanted to, he refrained from doing exactly that.

At least not yet.

"I’m pretty sure the Ending of Impersonation knew—that I’m the First Son of the Primordial Night. Entering my memory should tell him that much." Kai stared into the distance in a trance, recalling that day when he first encountered it. "But even so, he still attacked me. Still tried to devour me without any fear of retribution.

"Must be because he also knew that I’m a new Child of the Primordial Night."

Kai hadn’t really thought about the reason why the Ending of Impersonation attacked him.

He knew that the Night Elevation made many Nightborns angry at him, as the House of Night disliked any progress. He also knew that the Ending of Impersonation might simply have a hostile nature.

Something that liked attacking others.

But there was nothing he could do about those things.

So, there was no need to focus on that.

Instead, Kai focused on something that he could change.

And the only other reason for being targeted like this was simply because he was a new face— in the House of Night, a new Child of the Primordial Night, thus knowing close to nothing about how things worked.

The Ending of Impersonation simply looked down at him, testing him, to see how he reacted.

Kai was being analysed—to see whether he was a pushover or not.

Perhaps in the world of Nightborns, those who could bully—a Child of the Primordial Night, even a new one would be hailed higher than the rest. After all, none of them could grow even stronger, so they must measure something else to establish a hierarchy.

Other than that, he also remembered that Mallory was completely unbothered.

No Nightborns were attacking her, or even getting close to her.

It was most likely that the other Children of the Night had no real trouble dealing with all the Nightborns around them, even when they were supposedly located on the upper floors where the Nightborns were far stronger.

Kai was quite sure of his conclusion because of that.

"How do I show them that I’m no pushover?" He thought aloud while crossing his arms.

For him to ensure that this never happened again, he would need to make a strong statement. One that would ripple across every Nightborn on the First Floor. A clear and absolute warning that he was not someone to be trifled with.

That he was not a pushover. That he was not weak.

Just then, a thought came to mind, but it was interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

It wasn’t another stray Nightborn that stumbled across his structure. It was Kaelmorath.

"What are you doing here?" Kai asked without fully turning around. "I’ll deal with things out here, and you protect the Ending of Stone inside in case the Ending of Impersonation was rash enough to enter the Ending of Slashing’s domain. Wasn’t that our deal?"

"The Ending of Slashing... His power is bottomless. The Ending of Stone would be safe there," Kaelmorath said as he reached the summit—exposing his hulking mass. "How are you going to handle the Ending of Impersonation?"

"All you need to know is that I’m going to make a statement using him."

"A statement?"

"Yes... No Nightborn on the First Floor would dare disturb me again after this."

"In that case," Kaelmorath suddenly dropped to one knee, bowed his head respectfully—and pressed a hand to his chest. It was the etiquette of a knight pledging loyalty. "Make use of me, Son of Night. I want to help you."

"Do you really want to help me?" Kai finally turned. "Or is this because of what the Ending of Impersonation did?"

Kaelmorath is the Ending of Reckless Ruin.

The entire past that led him to the House of Night happened because he lost Princess Diarbara.

And now, the Ending of Impersonation used Princess Diarbara’s form to fight him.

Something like that was unforgivable in Kaelmorath’s book, and Kai knew it. He would never allow any slander against Princess Diarbara’s likeness. So, it was only natural for Kai to doubt his reasoning to help.

Suspect that he now hated the Ending of Impersonation, and sought vengeance

Kai’s lips curled at Kaelmorath’s silence.

He was right.

"Regardless of what I wanted, I’m certain I could help you." Kaelmorath finally said.

"Of course, you can. I never doubted it." Kai replied with a nonchalant shrug—fully aware of how strong Kaelmorath was. "But what I’m concerned about is whether you would get in the way of my plan. I am going to use the Ending of Impersonation to make a statement, and that wouldn’t involve allowing you to needlessly vent your anger. Are you fine with that?"

"I will obey your instructions, Son of Night."

"Good."

Kai turned around again and locked both hands behind his back.

He was collecting his thoughts and finalizing the plan he had in mind.

"How are you going to make the statement—Son of Night?" Kaelmorath stood up and asked. "As far as I see it—the Ending of Impersonation has already gathered an army of Nightborns to go against you. It’ll be difficult to defeat an army, much less make a statement."

"To gather many Nightborns on his side, he is likely spouting nonsense to them." Kai paused to arrange the words inside his mind. "Saying that I’m weak, and if they could defeat me, then they might see growth for the first time in their entire existence here. And since everyone doesn’t like me, convincing them became easy. But am I weak?"

"No... You’re strong, and steadily growing stronger."

"In that case, the words coming from the Ending of Impersonation’s mouth are lies. And lies are much harder to keep alive than the truth. Knowing that, you should understand now what I’m going to do."

"Yes."

Kai glanced at the Nightborns around him, and then a smirk crept to his lips.

He turned away and began descending back down. "Come... Let us hang him."

Meanwhile, somewhere within the House of Night, a domain contained a graveyard.

Countless gravestones poked out from the dark earth, leaning at odd angles which made the entire domain more eerie than it should be. Some bore writings, names or epitaphs—though the script was illegible, twisted into shapes that hurt the eyes to look upon.

And others were blank, silent monuments to the forgotten.

It was a visual mess, a chaotic sprawl of death and memory that would unsettle anyone.

Like the graveyard was designed to break the mind.

Inside, the air was cold—a biting chill that seeped into the bones.

At its center was an ancient tree, and on its thickest branch was a twisted figure.

A hybrid of creatures that belonged to nightmares.

Limbs too long, joints that bent in wrong directions—and a white, porcelain mask-like face. It was something that should not exist, and yet it did, perched motionless on the thickest branch of the dead tree—the Ending of Impersonation.

Its senses stretched outward, encompassing the domain and beyond.

Outside, it sensed several other Nightborns that were now working in service to it.

Nightborns that were patrolling the edges of the domain.

Just then, a pulse of darkness swept across the area.

Swish—!

It brushed past the Ending of Impersonation like a cold wind. And at the stroke, its eerie eyes opened, and its elongated neck raised higher to glimpse into the distance. "Son of the Night... He has gotten stronger."

Out of nowhere, it sensed the Nightborns outside rushing somewhere.

Moving with urgency.

Confused, and also fearful that they might be going into a trap, it crawled down the ancient tree and rushed outside. It stepped out of its domain and looked around, searching for where the other Nightborns went.

But it found nothing—the Nightborns were gone. Vanished into the darkness without a trace.

It paused.

Something was wrong.

And then the Ending of Impersonation saw it.

Something on the edge of the darkness. Something staring at it. A mask.

It was shaped like a screaming woman, frozen in eternal agony.