Nightmare’s Call

Since leaving the Heaven’s Spire, Isaac had been training hard, and his dark energy never stopped growing. So too his career in the army.

The zone he was in now had been cleared by the Darksiders in the army. There should not have been any monsters left. What was more, he was a powerful Oppressor-class Darksider. Who could influence the Oppressor-class monsters?

Isaac felt a little worried. Using Passeu’s mental cycle method, he quickly checked himself if he had a hallucination.

An expert in psychology, Isaac had good control of his emotions. Whenever he faced danger, he had no control over, he would always first analyze the situation before making a move. So he stood stock, waiting to see what would happen next.

Quickly, a second thump came again. This time, Isaac finally made out the sound source. Something amazing was happening in the little cup trinket he was wearing. He could sense pulses of knowledge and information flowing into his head. It was about the mastery of the Blackwater Grail, a Vessel of Destiny.

“The Blackwater Grail? The Vessel of Destiny?” Isaac started to question himself if he had seen it wrongly or if he had a paranoia. But the information rushing into his head seemed legit.

“Mm… Perhaps I should find a way to test them out.” Isaac waited. After a while, nothing bad had happened. He started to believe that the Blackwater Grail did indeed exist.

…

Meanwhile, in Shermanton, Xylond.

Adolf stared at the pure white sword mark on the back of his hand. The sudden appearance of the mark had brought a series of instructions on how to use the healing elements of the Vessel of Destiny. At first, he thought the healing power of the Paragon of Destiny had been incredibly awesome. Now he realized it was only an external manifestation of the healing element of the Vessel of Destiny.

The Vessel of Destiny was the most powerful among all the Paragons of Destiny. Anyone who held the Vessel of Destiny would get an incredible ability. And he had gotten an immortal body. He was unkillable. The healing element of the Vessel of Destiny had gifted him with a super-regenerative ability and resistance. He also had the ability to heal his companions.

“What is this?”

The Paragon of Destiny had turned into the Vessel of Destiny. This came as a bolt from the blue while he was dealing with the daily affairs of the Sanctum.

“There is no accident to this.”

An old and calm voice sounded in Adolf’s ears.

“Who could penetrate the powerful alarm force field of the Sanctum and speak directly into my ear? Who are you?” Adolf’s expression changed.

“We nearly met, but you gave up,” the old voice said. “The Vessel of Destiny has woken up on your body. Perhaps you still have no clue what it means. Let me explain.”

Adolf remained silent, listening to what the voice had to say. Since the voice could bypass everyone and enter his ear, it was apparent that it had some very mysterious ability. So he figured before knowing what the voice was up to, he should first listen to what it had to say.

“You look calm. Not everyone could do that,” the voice said, expressing its admiration. “I am the master of the Astral Mere. You can call me the Sage. Now, let’s cut the cackle and let me tell you, the Vessel of Destiny will bring influence and changes to you.”

“I’m listening,” Adolf said, remaining calm. If the person really came from the Astral Mere, he was not a danger—at least not so much. As powerful as the Astral Mere was, they had rarely forced holders of the Paragon of Destiny to join them. So they had a rather not so bad reputation.

“The Vessel of Destiny is another level up from the Paragon of Destiny in terms of power. It has reached the divine realm, and it is unprecedented. Every holder of the Vessel of Destiny possesses a super ability. I call this super ability the Source Power.”

“Source Power?”

“Right. The Source Power of the world. It surpasses every other type of power. That’s why whoever gains this power will surpass the Transcendent to become the favored child of fate,” the Sage said. “But the power of the Vessel of Destiny is not perfect. Each of you possesses one of the abilities. Only when all the abilities come together, they could become an invincible ability.”

“What does that mean?” Adolf squinted.

“Nothing. There is a balance to everything in the world. The Vessel of Destiny does not exist in isolation but is in response to the disasters in the world,” the Sage said. “Act now, Son. While the dark forces haven’t found you all, gather the other companions. Only when you all stand together, the power will come to perfection. You will all be able to fight the darkness and resist the evil.”

“Did you mean the dark forces are the Sevenlocks Tower?” Adolf asked.

“The Sevenlocks Tower? No. It is a horrible existence that is going to come through their summoning ritual.”

…

Lin Sheng was sitting in a café in Henricqal, sipping on a cup of latte, listening to the beautiful piano music played out by the electronic sound system. He suddenly felt like he had returned to the time before the outbreak of the Black Tide.

However, the Henricqal Daily on the table reminded him that monsters were attacking the cities. All major defensive cities were facing the onslaught of monsters, which had grown to over one hundred types. The highest category that had ever appeared was of Six-winged monsters. The lowest was One-winged Transcendents. In another word, every monster was absolutely lethal.

Looking at the photos and analyzes of monsters on the paper, Lin Sheng took another sip of latte. He then put away the paper and leaned on the chair, waiting for the Great Holy Power Font of the Sanctum to overflow. The last time he checked it, the font would just take a little while to reach its maximum capacity, which meant he would get a whole number, easier to do upgrading later.

All of a sudden, ripples appeared on the coffee. They spread from the center, hitting the cup wall and bounced back in a reverse direction. Lin Sheng was startled. He put down the cup, got to his feet, and looked out of the window. He was not the only person who did this. Every customer in the café had stood up, staring at the sky outside.

Above the horizon in the far distance, where the blue sky was starting to turn red, a massive abyss-like dark energy was rising in the form of black smoke columns into the sky. They then formed into a gigantic twisted hand with nine sharp fingers opening skyward.

“Sigh…”

“Death…”

“Eternity…”

An indescribable loud voice was ringing in the head of those who saw the giant hand. It disregarded distances, races, powers, and everything. The entire city, Miga, and the world were staring at the sky in shock.

Looking at the giant hand, which he estimated to be at least ten thousand meters across, Lin Sheng sneered. “The Ashen World… Hades?”