Chapter 307: A Piece Left Behind

Shadows flooded out from beneath him and spread all over the area.

They climbed the tents, the barrier, and wrapped around the soldiers, freezing them in place.

The commanders and the chief commanders tried to fight against it, but it was too fast for them to do anything, and they too were consumed by the shadows.

The whole camp turned into a canvas of black and gray, and Rion stood at its edge.

His expression was solemn as he tried to sense the entrapped area; however, his Zone wasn’t responding to him. It was as if he was trying to touch something that wasn’t there and hear what wasn’t said.

The place felt cold and lifeless, even though he could see the dark sculptures of the soldiers, frozen in horrified poses.

The commanders and chief commanders were frozen with their weapons ready and grave expressions.

"What is this thing?"

A shaky breath escaped his lips, and he turned to Vicente.

However, even Vicente himself didn’t know anything about it.

He shook his head and whispered in a grim tone, "I... do not know."

Fury covered Rion’s face, and he spat, "What the fuck do you mean you do not know? You are the cause of it, so tell me what that lantern was?!"

Vicente’s face mirrored Rion’s irritation. He didn’t explode on him because he knew that Rion was his only way out of this place.

"After the king had returned from the cursed mountains, he notified us of the marriage agreement that he had made with your father."

Rion fell silent, and Vicente continued. He had to make sure that he gave enough for Rion to keep him safe.

"Three years later, the barbarians were attacked, so we went to help them. But there was no great army, just a group of thirty people, and they were enough for all of us."

’Just thirty people...?’ Rion blinked in disbelief.

Vicente’s voice trembled occasionally, yet he didn’t stop.

"We threw everything at them and still only wounded a handful, while three-quarters of our men fell. Then we found out that your father had been fighting their three leaders and had managed to wound them.

Those three then killed the king and erased everyone’s memories. However, a few still remembered, and I was one of them."

"Afterwards, one of them gave you that lantern, right?" Rion asked.

Vicente nodded.

Rion shook his head and let out an amused chuckle.

"What did you find amusing in that?" Vicente asked sharply.

"Think about it. Instead of erasing everyone’s memories, why didn’t they just kill everyone?"

Vicente frowned.

Rion’s questions had pressed a nerve that he had long since been ignoring. He, too, had the same questions, but there was no way for him to find the answers; he didn’t know where they came from or who they were. The only thing he knew was that they were once called gods.

"If I have to guess, something forced them to stop, and when they were leaving, they thought about creating a dog that would kill their enemies for them," Rion concluded.

Vicente’s expression hardened.

Rion met his gaze and declared, "Yes. You, Vicente Clifford, are that dog."

Vicente clenched his hand at the side and muttered under his breath, "Shut up..."

"What had you said? Blessed? Haha! You are cursed to kill and die for them," Rion laughed.

"Shut up," Vicente’s voice turned louder.

’Is this not enough?’ Rion thought and decided to hit the nail on the head.

"You betrayed your duty, your people, and your king for what? Just to be the dog of people who took your brethren from you! To think you would fall so low."

Vicente glared at him and shouted, "SHUT UP!"

Suddenly, the pitch-black beneath Vicente’s feet rippled, and shadowy tendrils lashed out at him.

They coiled around his limbs, and unlike before, they dug deep into him.

His face turned horrified, and his mouth snapped open as a harrowing scream escaped him.

More and more tendrils shot out of the ground and stabbed him before wiggling inside him.

A few moments later, Vicente’s body turned pitch black, his eyes became pale white, and the shadows covered him like a robe and hood.

His lips parted, and an unfamiliar voice came out of them, "We finally meet, child of prophecy."

Rion’s expression hardened, and he asked, "Who are you?"

The figure looked around and answered, "I am a piece of the true god of shadow that had been left behind as a measure to take care of you."

’A piece of a true god...? What is a true god?’ Rion frowned.

"Why are you answering me so easily?" he asked.

The shadow chuckled in a chilling tone. "It does not matter, for you will die soon."

"That we have yet to see," Rion stated and used Zone Relocation to appear right before him.

He swung his aura-cloaked fist at the shadow.

The shadow vanished from its spot and appeared behind him. "How are you this strong already?"

Rion spun and threw a kick at it.

The shadow moved again and shouted, "Answer me!"

Instead of answering, Rion jumped back and stared at the shadow with a somber expression.

’I can’t even attack it because it moves too fast... What do I do?’

"Answer me," the shadow whispered with its head right beside Rion’s.

Horrified, Rion staggered to the side, and the shadow grabbed his waist. "Tell me, child of prophecy, how are you..."

It suddenly turned its gaze to Rion’s heart and muttered in a voice that sounded terrified, "You... how do you have that flame in you? Wait, it is not just the flame, you also have the Absolute Spark."

It loomed inches from his face and demanded, "How is this possible?"

Hearing those words, Rion remembered the most absurd ability that he had and called out to it.

For a moment, he felt like he could do anything, and he spoke, "Die!"

As that word left his lips, it transformed into the conceptual firmament of death and speared towards the shadow that stayed still in place.