Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1142: The Stigmata

The entirety of the Rakos Empire was shaken to its core. The battle between powerful beings, such as Saints, was no different than witnessing the war between gods for the common people who couldn’t use mana or had any fighting class, such as warriors or magicians.

But not only did such godly beings show up in times of peril... the man whom they thought was dead, someone who could be considered their last bastion of hope, reappeared when they least expected it.

This man not only took a stand for them with his allies... he faced one of the three most powerful beings of the Rakos Empire.

But instead of being overwhelmed or putting a grand display of skills or nigh destruction... the battle was more akin to a war of attrition.

The Domain of Impartiality was indeed a terrifying power that even those who couldn’t use mana, were able to discern how it would mean certain death if they ever faced it themselves.

However... Kahn Salvatore, the one they now all hailed as their Emperor; faced that power head-on and went as far as even gravely injuring himself for an entire hour.

Billions of people who had joined the protest witnessed how he basically mutilated his own body again and again to the point that some wondered if he was a crazy psychopath.

Yet many admired his decisiveness and indomitable will to do whatever must be done in order to defeat this titan of an opponent in front of him.

And not only did Kahn win as they watched through the holographic screen... he even made a contract with the enemy, making this historic entity that had been undefeated in the past 100 years, into his personal slave.

But what broke their sense of rationality was how diabolical and merciless their supposed savior was.

Because the Stigmata of Bloodlines had a terrifying power that not only bound the owner and the target of the contract... but also their existing and future bloodlines together.

Basically making the owner and his future lineage into masters of the loser and his existing as well as upcoming descendants.

This was in every sense... peak level of slavery as the fate of thousands of people was now to be slaves of a handful of people for god knows how long.

The condition to break the contract in itself seemed nigh impossible from their perspective, as an 8th-stage saint would be an existence that appeared rarely among a few centuries.

The deal with the devil took place as the entire Rakos Empire watched with their eyes and mouths wide open.

******************

Jeremiah Themis, the elf who had lived for more than half a millennium, now flew in the sky, unable to recover from the shock.

His action to keep his own life in the dire circumstances led to his biggest mistake in life.

Elves were a prideful race, and a lot of them had a high affinity with nature and mana if compared to other species, such as humans or demi-humans.

And now, he ended up turning his clan, his people, and the entire faction into Kahn’s slaves.

Soon, Jeremiah would be forced to keep his word and personally enact the rules of the contract.

And even if he did something as killing himself... the contract would still not become void.

[All I wanted was to survive and break through to the next saint rank... but can I even afford to do that anymore?

It took me 500 years to be where I am. Who else from my bloodline will ever have the chance to achieve even that?

No! I can’t even look in their eyes after what I’ve done.] thought Jeremiah, regretting his decision instantly.

"Now... since the people of the empire are watching, here is your first job." spoke Kahn sternly.

"You will get the entire Department of Justice, all the branches of the Court of Law, and all the kinds of cases under the jurisdiction of these institutions to reopen all the cases that concern only the commoner classes of the empire.

Every trial that has traces of an unlawful verdict or chances of manipulation that stopped the real victim from getting the justice they deserved... shall see another trial.

And this time... not only your clan, but your entire faction of over 75 million people would help you achieve this feat within a month." decreed Kahn.

"What?! That’s impossible! It takes years to just get the verdict of a complex case. There are millions of cases already pending trial.

How can anyone get it done in a month? Even if the manpower is increased... it will take at least a year!" complained Jeremiah.

"Let me give you a little motivation. If you do it... You and your entire bloodline get to live.

If you don’t... then using the stigmata, your entire bloodline will die by this time next month.

Is that good enough for you?" asked Kahn with a threatening glare.

This was the power of Stigmata of Bloodlines. An unimaginably powerful artifact that suddenly showed up on the scene.

But how did Kahn, who barely managed to create an ancient rank katana, Muramasa, get his hands on such a powerful tool?

Even as a Saint Rank Artificer with the unique class... Kahn did not have enough experience or time to create such an invaluable object.

As for Vildred, the Sage of Preservation... he was a Magiacian Class royal dragon.

His expertise was spells, magic skills, and formations. Making an artifact of this caliber was beyond his capabilities as well.

In reality... Kahn got his hands on this overpowered artifact just this morning before he went to visit the local tavern, where he talked with the bald old man while disguised as a thrall.

The powerful being who created this overpowered ancient rank artifact called Stigmata of Bloodlines was none other than...

Argos Belmont, the Revenant Sovereign.

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"People of the Rakos Empire..." spoke Kahn in a majestic tone, his voice echoing through the whole empire.

"The injustice you’ve faced till now shall exist no more.

This is just one branch of society and government that has treated your lives unjustly.

And I will keep working and fighting to make your lives better.

My commands that you just witnessed... are my first steps to change your lives and give you true equality.

Together, we will redefine our truth. Together, we will change our destiny." said Kahn as he declared domineeringly while gazing at the projection artifacts.

"This is my first decree... as your Emperor!"