Chapter 343: Law of the Jungle

Ever since the initial confrontation—the Ending of Impersonation had been vigorously going around the House of Night and recruiting more Nightborns. Convincing them was not that hard at all, as every single one felt the Son of Night’s ascension through the Night Elevation.

It was clear that the window to attack the Son of Night was closing.

No more time for petty attacks.

Now is the time to launch the main assault.

From about seventy Nightborns, the horde was now more than one hundred strong.

A gathering of this scale was enough to clear the absolute darkness within the House of Night, and the Ending of Impersonation was confident that victory was at hand. No chance of losing against a new Child of the Primordial Night.

Even though the sudden confrontation was startling, it didn’t really matter.

Just a few dozen more Nightborns, and the horde would be ready.

Naturally, the night wouldn’t betray anything about the Children of the Primordial Night.

Its entire existence was to serve those tied to the Final Night, but with enough Nightborns, the night could be coaxed to betray the Children of the Primordial Night. As long as the mastery and raw power of the targeted Child of the Primordial Night wasn’t higher than theirs—then it could be done.

But as the Ending of Impersonation waited for the answer, the darkness swayed.

Abruptly, it snapped its eyes to the side, probing the darkness for an answer.

Before the darkness could answer, its eyes caught something.

Across from the horde—a blood-red mask shaped as a screaming woman poked slightly out of the absolute darkness. It gave off no presence, and the moving darkness didn’t part so that anyone could glimpse it.

But the Ending of Impersonation was alert, and it caught the blood-red mask.

It was the Son of Night.

He had found the Ending of Impersonation once again.

How could it forget about the mask when this moment was precisely like earlier?

In fact, had it not been the short Nightborn and the horde behind, it would have wandered if it has been trapped inside a time-loop. But alas, it wasn’t a time-loop—this was an attempt to intimidate it.

An intimidation trick that the Son of Night was using, but it was not afraid.

But there was one thing that unsettled it.

Considering that the night was now favouring more—toward the horde, it was unsettling for Kai to find its location again. But the Ending of Impersonation remained composed, showing no sign of weakness.

Its mask-like face cracked as a smile sliced up like a crescent moon.

"Son of Night..."

At the mention of the Son of Night, the short Nightborn stiffened while the horde behind fixed its gaze on where the Ending of Impersonation was staring. It took them a moment to see the blood-red mask.

Some of them exuded killing intent. Some growled. And some shot a gaze full of hatred.

Unlike the short Nightborn, the Nightborns composing the horde were even fiercer.

More willing to go against the Son of Night.

Just then, a haunting voice crawled through the air.

"Why...?"

It was a simple question.

And though one might think that the Son of Night was directing the question to every single Nightborn making the horde, the Ending of Impersonation knew the question was directed to it, not the others.

If Kai could read its mind, then he would say that it was correct.

From his field of vision, the horde hated him.

Something that he understood, as they must’ve kept their grudge after the Night Elevation.

But the Ending of Impersonation was different.

Kai wanted to believe that it was hostile in nature, that it hated him exactly like how the other Nightborns hated him—but he could tell that there was something more profound behind the Ending of Impersonation’s eyes.

Another reason that drove it to do this.

"Do we need to have a reason?" the Ending of Impersonation asked and tilted its head a little, taunting him. "But since you asked, then I’ll tell you. You’re not one of us. Do say, Son of the Primordial Night... If there was a stranger in your house—do you let him be? Do you welcome him with open arms? Or do you attack and chase him away?"

"A stranger..." Kai’s eyes narrowed behind the mask, though they were now black pearls; the Nightborns wouldn’t be able to see them as they merged with the darkness provided by the eye sockets. "In that case, what about the other Children of the Primordial Night? I don’t see you rallying against them."

"Little to nothing survives here. Space, time, life, death—none of it exists within the enfold of the Final Night. And yet, the law of the jungle endured. You are simply weak. And the strong will always devour the weak."

"I see..."

Kai closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath through his nose, filling his lungs to the brim.

Outside, in the waking world, power reigned supreme.

Anyone who was weak would be devoured or expendable while the strong soared to the sky, breaking through their limits. He thought it would be different here. More peaceful. But alas, a fair world didn’t exist even here.

He collected his thoughts, and then exhaled though his mouth.

Once he opened his eyes again, the last shred of warmth disappeared from them.

The Ending of Impersonation’s reason for doing this no longer mattered.

Since the House of Night was the same as the waking world, then he would assume the same stance as he did in the waking world. The Ending of Impersonation had harmed Perion, then harmed Kaelmorath mentally.

For those transgressions, Kai could no longer hold back.

"Come. Only the strong will survive."

Hearing this, the Ending of Impersonation’s eyes flickered with malice as it raised its arm.

Behind, the horde unleashed a collective roar.

A single strand of darkness seethed out every Nightborn composing the horde.

Just a raise of an arm, and all of them answered without question. Hatred burned in them like a wildfire, and that was enough to make them obedient to the cause. One hundred Nightborns gave away their innate control over the night.

Siphoning their powers to the Ending of Impersonation, handing over absolute control.

Each strand rose like smoke.

It curled upward and converged above the twisted creature’s raised arm.

A dark sphere began to manifest.

Swirling so slowly that it almost looked like it was made of sink and it was also as dark as the absolute darkness surrounding the area. But contained within its core was a faint trace of pale white almost like there was a flicker of moonlight in it.

A single power of light, swallowed but not extinguished.

It grew rapidly.

From the size of a fist to the size of a head, then larger, until it reached the size of an oversized melon. The darkness around the area—began to waver, reacting to the pulling force. One that the Ending of Impersonation now wielded.

And then, the air trembled as the Ending of Impersonation laughed.

A gathering of more than one hundred Nightborns’ strength, concentrated into a single black sphere, was now under its control. It balled its unnerving hand, curling its elongated fingers, and shattered the sphere.

Splash—!

Darkness swirled around it.

Its presence grew heavier, more suffocating—a weight that pressed against the very fabric of the House of Night. Its long tongue slipped free, slick with saliva, driven by sheer excitement at this amount of power it now holds.

And overhead, a storm of darkness began to form.

A swirl of darkness made up by four thick streams pulled from the House of Night’s belly.

"Behold!" the Ending of Impersonation’s laugh escalated, eyes widening with a deadly light and voice dripping with arrogance. "My power. My control over the night. Even a Son of the Night like you can’t compare to it! Do you understand how weak you are now?!"

Slowly, the red screaming woman mask tilted up.

Kai stared at the menacing spectacle before him, stared at the storm of darkness.

It was a display of power that would’ve awed any other Nightborn.

Even the horde was cheering and growling at the amount of strength they now possessed.

For Kai, the spectacle was mildly surprising.

It wasn’t as grand and world-shaping as what Mallory had shown him during their very first encounter. Not even close. Couldn’t hold a candle to how much control she had over the night. But even so, Kai had never seen a Nightborn show this much control.

And he understood why the horde was cheering.

Understood why the Ending of Impersonation was confident.

However, his abyssal black eyes gave away nothing.

No surprise, fear, and awe.

His eyes drank the spectacle and converted it into absolute indifference.

Seeing the composure in his eyes, the Ending of Impersonation frowned. It hesitated hard for a second, reconsidering whether this was still not enough to beat Kai. Then it shook its head. ’He’s a new Son of the Night. His raw power was pitiful earlier, and I’m stronger now. Exactly like our first confrontation, I’m going to win!’

Once it snapped from its trance, it made its move.

It floated skyward like a monster of the sky and hurled the darkness toward Kai with both of its hands. The darkness obeyed its command and shot forward, circling around Kai like a dark vortex, spinning faster and faster.

And with a twist from the Ending of Impersonation’s hand, it tightened hard.

A swirling cocoon of darkness entrapped Kai, leaving only his mask poking out from above.

He could feel how immense the pressure was—but the darkness didn’t stop there as it began to tear at his flesh, crushing his bones, and squeezing the breath from his lungs. Excruciating pain shot into his nerves.

No ordinary person would be able to endure this.

"How does it feel, Son of the Night?!" the Ending of Impersonation cackled sinisterly. "How does it feel to have the night, the very entity—that was supposed to stand by your side, attack you like this?! Feel how weak you are before our might!"

Kai remained composed. No scream came out of his mouth.

His abyssal eyes simply stared at the Ending of Impersonation without a single emotion.

Such an absence of pain was worrying.

Gritting its teeth—the Ending of Impersonation clapped its hands together, channelling every ounce of its control, and the cocoon tightened even further. At this point, the vortex had turned into a tornado, creating a howling sound as the darkness moved even faster.

It wanted to hear Kai scream.

It wanted to hear Kai beg.

It wanted to hear the sound of a Child of the Primordial Night breaking.

But it was given no such pleasure.

SPLASH—!

Out of nowhere, the tornado of darkness exploded and Kai’s body blurred.

In the blink of an eye, his hand clamped around the Ending of Impersonation’s face, squeezing tight. He leaned in closer, his grip tightening with every inch, until his face was near enough to whisper. "Do you still believe I’m weak... now?"