Chapter 488: The Power Of The Abyss!

Damain walked into the room with an unconscious Loth in his arms. Her head rested softly against his chest, her breathing slow and even after she had spent the entire night beside him, refusing to leave despite the horror unfolding within the garrison. She had watched until the last of the fifty thousand soldiers had died, and somewhere along the way exhaustion had finally overwhelmed her.

Rin followed quietly behind him with the sword clenched between his teeth, while Abel remained wrapped around Damain’s neck in the form of a black scarf. The guards stationed along the corridor tried their best to keep their expressions straight as he passed, but none of them could completely hide the fear in their eyes.

The stench of blood, smoke and death still clung to Damain’s robes, and after everything that had happened that day, nobody dared to make him uncomfortable in any way.

Bam!

The guards quickly opened the doors to his room, and Damain stepped inside without slowing down. He carried Loth directly to the bed and carefully lowered her onto the soft sheets, making sure not to wake her.

Her body shifted slightly as she settled into the mattress, and Damain gently pulled the sheets over her before placing a pillow beneath her head. For several seconds, he simply stared at her sleeping face. She had followed him into the garrison despite knowing what was about to happen and had remained beside him even when the screams became unbearable. She had been terrified, he knew that much, yet she had not tried to stop him.

’You are probably one of the most consistent people in my life right now.’ He muttered inwardly.

Abel suddenly flew from around Damain’s neck, his body stretching through the air as the illusion covering him vanished. In an instant, the pitch black scarf returned to its true form, revealing the small Chinese dragon with glowing crimson eyes and an unnaturally long body. He landed on the nearest couch and curled up comfortably, his gaze never leaving Damain.

Rin, meanwhile, jumped onto the table and dropped the sword there with a heavy clank before hopping onto another chair and stretching his paws.

"Now you literally have two demigod cursed weapons and you sacrificed quite a lot to get them. Are you proud of yourself?" Rin joked, though there was a faint edge beneath his playful tone.

Damain smiled faintly as he adjusted the pillow beneath Loth’s head one final time before turning toward Rin.

"Why wouldn’t I be?" he asked with a mischievous grin as he stretched out his hand toward the sword.

Bam!

The moment Damain’s fingers closed around the weapon, information flooded into his mind and a familiar panel appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Kaiku]

[Type: Cursed Weapon]

[Grade: Demi-god Grade]

[Abilities:]

[Haunting Wail: Unleashes the Wail of tens of thousands of the dead, bursting the eardrums of those who hear it and, if they are weak enough, causing them to pass out instantly. The user is unaffected by this.]

[Tainted Samsara: The blade has been forged in the Samsara white flames and the blood of demons, creating an unusual divine flame fueled by demon blood.]

"Not bad..." Damain muttered as he slowly unsheathed the blade.

The polished metal reflected his pale face, but there was something else within its surface. As the blade caught the light from the room, distorted reflections of screaming faces appeared beneath the metal as though tens of thousands of souls had been trapped inside it. Their mouths were stretched open in silent agony, their expressions twisted by terror, and for some reason, a cold smile slowly tugged at the edge of Damain’s lips.

"If you indulge yourself in evil, you will lose yourself," Rin warned immediately, noticing the expression on Damain’s face.

"There is nothing wrong with that. He is a demon after all, isn’t he?" Abel countered from the couch, his crimson eyes narrowing with amusement.

Rin’s face immediately turned red with anger. He snapped his head toward Abel and shot him a murderous glare.

"I don’t remember asking for the devil’s fucking opinion," he hissed, his tail bristling behind him.

Abel did not even bother looking at him. He simply rested his head against the arm of the couch as though Rin’s words were no more important than the air around him.

"And I do not remember needing permission to speak. You are simply irritated because you know I am right."

"Enough fighting," Damain sighed as he returned the sword to its sheath and placed it on the table. "I have fifty talent points. We should improve my inheritance now."

Rin’s attention immediately shifted back to him. The anger on his face faded slightly as he nodded. Damain had accumulated the fifty points through the constant killing and battles he had been involved since the night of the assaination attempt.

There was a time when killing a demigod would have granted him a massive increase in talent points, but now that he had become stronger, even demigods barely provided anything noteworthy for significant growth.

It was a simple reminder that the further he advanced, the more difficult it would become to improve. If demigods were already beginning to lose their value as a source of talent points, then reaching the realm of Gods would take far longer than he initially expected.

"Why don’t you strengthen your fox talent tree?" Rin suggested. "As long as you can raise the completion rate to ninety percent, you can attain the True God Realm with the Lust inheritance."

"And just a few improvements to my abyssal inheritance will make you capable of fighting Gods. Why waste precious talent points on such a weak inheritance?" Abel countered immediately.

Rin slowly turned toward him again, his face becoming redder by the second.

"Are you mad?!" he growled.

Damain rolled his eyes and ignored both of them. He walked toward the doors leading to the balcony and pushed them open. The night air immediately washed over him as he stepped outside. From where he stood, the capital looked strangely peaceful beneath the silver moonlight, yet the silence hanging over Velmora was unnatural. Even from the palace, Damain could still perceive the faint scent of burnt flesh lingering across the city.

It reminded him of roasted pork.

He leaned against the balcony railing and allowed the cool breeze to blow against his face. His eyes remained closed for several minutes as his mind wandered through everything that had happened.

When he finally opened his eyes, the hesitation was gone.

"Show me my abyssal talents," he said calmly.

A panel immediately appeared before him.

[Abyss Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 1.7%]

[Living Arts: 1%]

[Primal Soul: 1%]

[Elder Arts: 1%]

[Living Arts]

[Name: Dark Knight Physiology]

[Type: Passive/Transformation]

[Description: Upon activation of Infernal Transformation Skill, you will automatically gain the traits of a dark knight, gaining complete control over this form.]

[Primal Soul]

[Name: Abyssal Flames]

[Type: Active]

[Description: The most powerful of the seven flames and the only one capable of reducing everything and anything to nothing.]

[Elder Arts]

[Name: Void]

[Type: Active]

[Description: Allows the user to strip anyone of their memories of any event. Not even Gods can resist this power.]

"Just this little and I was able to defeat Kaizer in a few moves. The abyss is truly overpowered, and that’s what makes it so scary," Damain muttered with a cold frown. The talent tree was barely rejuvenated, yet the abilities he had already received were absurd. Even Void alone had the potential to change the outcome of entire wars. A power capable of stripping memories from Gods was not something any ordinary inheritance should possess.

Damain shut his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was seated in the center of the familiar desolate land. The dead world around him stretched endlessly beneath a dark sky, and in front of him stood the massive black tree that appeared to have been charred by an ancient fire. Yet unlike before, the tree seemed more alive than ever. Crimson veins pulsed beneath its blackened bark, moving slowly like blood through a living body.

Behind the tree stood an endless wall of dead trees, their branches twisted together so tightly that it was impossible to see what existed beyond them.

The massive crimson eye slowly opened behind the forest and it stared directly at him.

"I was skeptical if you would follow through with your words, but it seems you are much braver than Majin ever was."

"MAJIN WAS A COWARD FOR A GOOD REASON!" Asmodeus’ desperate voice suddenly boomed from somewhere beyond the darkness, filled with rage and frustration.

"You think giving yourself to that thing will end well? Damian, you don’t understand what you are dealing with!"

Damain did not respond. His face remained expressionless as he stared ahead.

"Silence, demon. If your strength was sufficient, he wouldn’t be here," the Abyss chuckled lightly before returning its attention to Damain.

The crimson eye narrowed slightly, and an unsettling amusement seemed to ripple through the entire dead world.

"Do not be afraid. The power you gain from this will be used to tame that demon and all of his siblings whom you will acquire over time. I am the ultimate ally any being can wish for."

The crimson eye glowed violently.

Damain stared at it for several seconds without speaking.

"You don’t have to tell me," Damain finally said as he slowly reached out. "I have already experienced what it feels like to be helpless enough."

The talent information appeared before him.

"Upgrade Elder Arts."

His fifty talent points immediately began pouring into the tree.

10... 20... 30... 40... 50.

Ding!

[New Skill Unlocked.]

[Name: Realm Zero]

[Type: Domain]

[Description: Allows the user to create an impenetrable realm of darkness that cuts off the target’s access to the outside world. Once summoned, even God souls possessing mortal or immortal bodies cannot escape after defeat, leaving them to your mercy.]

[Abyss Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 3.2%]

[Living Arts: 1%]

[Primal Soul: 1%]

[Elder Arts: 6%]

Damain went completely silent.

For several seconds, he simply stared at the description without moving. His mind slowly processed what the ability actually meant, and the more he understood it, the more absurd it became.

The Abyss began laughing.

Its laughter echoed through the dead world with such force that the black trees trembled. "If you had not been so stubborn and relied on my abilities while on Earth, you would have been able to kill and seize Kaizer’s soul and inheritance for yourself. But it’s not too late. With my powers, it is never too late."

Damain’s expression slowly changed as realization settled into his mind. Kaizer had descended into a weaker vessel. The same was true for many Gods and powerful beings who could not freely bring their true bodies into lower worlds. Normally, defeating their vessel would simply force their souls to retreat.

But Realm Zero changed everything.

If a God dared to descend into a mortal or immortal vessel and Damain defeated them inside the domain, their soul would have nowhere to run.

They would be trapped.

And once trapped, they would be completely at his mercy.

"This is just the first unlocked skill..." Damain muttered, his eyes slowly narrowing as the implications became clear.