Chapter 344: A Domineering Declaration

It happened in the blink of an eye.

At one moment, the Ending of Impersonation was overwhelming Kai, using the night itself to crush him; the tornado of darkness tightened around him as it laughed—a twisted, victorious sound that echoed through the abyssal expanse.

And in the next moment, Kai’s body exploded with a black pulse.

Under its immense power, the tornado dispersed instantly.

Strands of darkness scattered in every direction, torn apart from the inside out, and before the Ending of Impersonation could even wrap its head around what had happened—Kai already made his move.

He devoured the distance between them in less time than it took to blink.

Faster than the Ending of Impersonation’s eyes could perceive, faster than even its thought.

And the next thing it knew, an iron grip closed around its face, fingers digging into its mask-like face. Feeling the unyielding tightness around its face—the Ending of Impersonation froze like a statue.

Inside its mind, it questioned everything.

’What happened?’

It blinked and met Kai’s black eyes that were profoundly deep but empty at the same time.

And the sight sent its thoughts into a spiralling chaos.

’How...? Where did he get this much power from?!’

Not too long ago, with only a few Nightborns to bolster its raw power over the night, Kai was unable to stop it from escaping. Not even close. Now, with more than a hundred Nightborns feeding its power, it should have been far stronger.

It should have crushed Kai without effort.

And yet, somehow, it was now under Kai’s mercy.

Unbelievable as it was, reality proved that it was still no match for Kai.

Kai leaned closer, "Do you still believe I’m weak... now?"

Such a question struck the Ending of Impersonation to its very core. It snapped from its daze and stared at Kai in absolute horror; no more arrogance on its face. "How... How did you do this? How is this possible?"

His voice was muffled by the iron hand, but Kai could hear what it said loud and clear.

And then, a smirk crept to Kai’s face before he snapped his fingers.

Snap—!

A pulse of darkness expanded from the snap, spreading across the entire area—like a rapidly expanding bubble. It rippled through the void like a stone dropped in still water. The Ending of Impersonation and the horde that was starting to regret being here stared at Kai with clear confusion in their eyes.

None of them knew what Kai’s snap meant.

But that confusion lasted only a few seconds.

Soon, the Ending of Impersonation slowly looked to the right, and its face turned even paler.

From the darkness beyond, pairs of eyes began to appear. Just one at first—but then climbed to a dozen pairs. Fifty pairs. One hundred pairs. And they kept on climbing and climbing like an endless horde.

Hundreds of Nightborns emerged from the shadows.

Slowly, as they got closer—their forms became clearer, and their gazes fixed on the horde that the Ending of Impersonation had gathered. They surrounded the horde completely, blocking any escape route.

It was only then that the Ending of Impersonation realized how Kai wasn’t disturbed.

He had already coaxed hundreds of Nightborns to his side, surrounding the horde from every direction. Seeing so many Nightborns around, glaring daggers—the Ending of Impersonation could only smile helplessly.

Seemed like it never had a chance from the start.

Of course, it had already accounted for the possibility that Kai might also gather other Nightborns to his side.

And it had made haste to gather a bit more before assaulting Kai while he was still preparing.

But alas, Kai’s speed of gathering Nightborns far surpassed it.

Unlike the Ending of Impersonation, which had scoured the dark expanse for Nightborns who hated Kai enough to act against him, Kai gathered every Nightborn he could find. He had no conditions or specifications.

If it was a Nightborn, then he could recruit it.

Naturally, Kai gathered Nightborns much faster than the Ending of Impersonation ever could.

From the darkness behind, a hulking barbarian walked out of the darkness. Kaelmorath came out and crossed his arms. His massive frame towered over the other Nightborns, and he glared at the Ending of Impersonation with undisguised hatred.

On the other hand, the one hundred-strong horde looked around in horror.

Before they realized it, they were already surrounded.

Not only that, but they were also outnumbered.

And Kai was floating at the center of it all like the Ruler of Darkness.

Seeing the shock in every gaze staring at him, Kai allowed himself to smirk—at the Ending of Impersonation. He didn’t need to speak. His eyes alone were enough to question—whether it understood now how strong he was.

Kai took the silence as the confirmation he needed.

And then, he turned his attention to the horrified horde.

Every Nightborn among them was drowning in regret—regret that they had ever believed they could defeat the Son of the Night, all because of their hatred and bias. Moments ago, they had been so confident, so certain their numbers would be more than sufficient, so sure that the Ending of Impersonation’s control and their combined strength would be enough to bring Kai down.

Now, they realized it was far from enough, and they were scared.

Life and death didn’t exist within the House of Night.

However, they could still be erased, as if they never existed at all.

Seeing how domineering Kai was, they were scared at that he would not hesitate to do that.

Silence seized the moment.

It lasted only a few seconds, but for the horde, it felt like an eternity.

Especially when the Nightborns from Kai’s side looked at them like they were snacks.

And then finally, Kai opened his mouth while still holding the Ending of Impersonation in his hand. No matter how much it thrashed, there was no chance of escaping his grip. It felt like a giant had seized its face.

"Most of you already know who I am by now." He said in a calm voice, unhurried, carrying across the dark expanse with effortless authority. "But I’ll remind all of you once again. I am the First Son of the Primordial Night. Someone beloved by the night. A ruler of the House of Night."

He paused deliberately, letting the words echo, letting the words sink into their minds.

Not only into the horde, but into the Nightborns who now stood under him.

"And with that authority," Kai continued and raised his other hand—siphoning the night into it in a spiralling darkness. "I have the power to erase any entity from the House of Night. Any Nightborn. It is my birthright."

Just the words alone made the horde tremble.

Some of them took a step back, and some looked at each other nervously.

Considering that they were surrounded, there was no escaping this.

Seeing their worry, Kai lowered his hand. "But I am not cruel, nor hateful, nor merciless."

Swish—!

Kai threw the Ending of Impersonation to the side with a swing of his arm.

Before it could reach far, the night seized it mid-air. A tornado of darkness swirled around its grotesque body, leaving only its mask-like face visible, and then the tornado squeezed. Hard. It was exactly what the Ending of Impersonation did to him earlier.

A painful shriek escaped the Ending of Impersonation’s mouth.

It rang across the House of Night like a dying bell.

Its tongue slapped left and right from the excruciating pain as its body was being shredded.

Kai didn’t spare it a glance. He kept his gaze focused entirely on the horde.

"Any Nightborn who agrees to be under me will prosper—I will help your domains be better, to make sure it always reminds you of your roots. Any Nightborn who refuses and stays out of my way will not be harmed. I will respect their decisions and leave them be."

Hearing this, there was a change in the horde’s eyes.

Surprise flickered across their faces.

All of them had expected that Kai would demand total obedience, turning them into slaves to bolster his power without anything given in return. None of them had expected that he would show mercy like this.

But their surprise didn’t last long.

Kai’s voice dropped an octave. It became ice-cold.

"But anyone who goes against me..." He waved his hand toward the Ending of Impersonation that was still screaming and thrashing in excruciating pain as the darkness devoured it. "I will show no mercy."

Following his words was absolute silence.

Every single Nightborn within the horde stood frozen in contemplation.

All of them had thought that the First Son of the Primordial Son was weak, gullible, an easy target, but he had proven that he was beyond that. Kai wasn’t weak, and he was certainly not someone to be trifled with.

Once he gave his declaration, Kai turned to handle the Ending of Impersonation.

But before he could move, he heard a splashing sound.

He turned towards the horde again and saw one Nightborn falling to its knees.

It bowed its head deeply until Kai couldn’t even see its face.

"Son of Night," Its rough voice resounded as it bowed even deeper. "I will be of service."

Like a domino effect, the Nightborns fell. One by one, then in waves—dropping to their knees and swearing their loyalty to him. Once the first buckled, the rest followed, until the entirety of the horde and every Nightborn surrounding them had knelt, all bowing before him.

Kai wasn’t expecting this.

He was simply trying to send a message that he wasn’t someone to be messed with.

Even through the mask, Kaelmorath could tell that Kai was surprised.

A chuckle slipped out of his mouth as he couldn’t believe that Kai didn’t anticipate this.

Kai scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Thankfully, none of the Nightborns could see him floating there in total confusion. What am I supposed to do? I should say something—or tell them to rise? Shit, I don’t know. My plan ended at making myself clear.

Clearing his throat, he decided to handle the Ending of Impersonation first.

He swore to himself that he would track down a historical film—something to study how the royals of old carried themselves before their subjects. Then he shook his head, clearing the meaningless thought, and fixed his full attention on the Ending of Impersonation.

At this point, it wasn’t fighting back anymore.

Half of its body was already shredded, devoured by the night.

"I’m going to ask you one last time..." Kai whispered, drawing its eyes towards him. "Why?"

A weak, helpless smile curled on the Ending of Impersonation’s lips.

And then a whisper slipped out of its mouth.

Kai couldn’t hear what it was saying as its voice was too light, so he leaned closer.

Once the words slipped into his ears, his entire body froze as a shiver ran down his spine.