Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1173: Predestined Grudge

[[CrimsonWolfAuthor: I apologize to all the readers for another monthly hiatus. My sister’s condition had worsened from the Lung Infection. She spent almost 27 days of October 2025 in 3 different hospitals.

The whole family was taking turns again and again as we looked after her for weeks without end. Her body is still unable to gather Oxygen on its own, and we are using an Oxygen Concentrator even after all the treatment was done, and she is still suffering from consistent joint pain due to Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Everyone in the family has been physically and mentally exhausted, and due to the intensity of the situation, I wasn’t able to focus or find any peace of mind to even come up with new plots or have anything in mind to write in the novel. Hence, the prolonged break.

I will try to post at least 1 Chapter daily this November. I hope that things get better for once.

So take care of your health and your loved ones. Because a healthy body and mind would always win over everything else.]]

Chapter :

Although the unfortunate encounter came to them, the group was still unlucky to avoid the eyes of the protector of this region, the Rainbow Serpent. The foreshadowing detected by some readers had become reality.

Rainbow Serpent, now releasing its peerless and dreary aura, focused intently on Vildred, the Lightning Dragon Emperor.

"I shall spare your lives. The vampire, the human, and the sucubus... You three can leave.

But the dragon will stay," iterated the monster in a stern and commanding voice, giving them a final ultimatum.

However, a hidden objective lay beneath this sudden display of benevolence.

Rainbow Serpent was no idiot. Although it proclaimed to kill them all at first, the monster did it intentionally.

To scare the other members of the group first.

Because a royal dragon could even fight someone above 3 ranks than themselves. So even if he, a descendant of the godbeast basilisk, was strong at the moment, there was no reason to be ignorant, even if the clash had chances of victory in his favor for the most part.

Although Vildred appeared to be a 7th-stage saint to him, the problem was the other saints, like Kahn and Morrigan.

Even if he could kill them easily, he didn’t survive so long being an oblivious monster. He was just as sentient as everyone else here. So the difference in numbers was evidently clear.

Who knew if they came to help Vildred mid-battle, or if he and the dragon were heavily wounded, and then the others tried to land a killing blow out of nowhere?

Plus, there was the vampire whose strength he hadn’t clearly grasped.

So he suspected that the vampire steering the ship could be as strong as him.

Getting drunk on his power would only spell doom, so he too, had to be cunning and resort to threats to minimize the possible resistance.

Thus, to fight Vildred uninterrupted, the rainbow serpent threatened them outright and then said he’d spare the rest if they abandoned the dragon.

What it didn’t know...

That Vildred’s life was tied to Kahn through the Contract of Familiarity. If either of them died, the other one would die as well.

And the contract could only be broken after Kahn became a Peak 8th-stage saint.

After 20 seconds, as if having a natural reaction to this threat...

"What do you say, my disciple? Looks like I have no choice but to fight." said Vildred with a playful smirk.

Yawn!

"Master, I’ve never had roasted snake. I wonder how the taste is." said Kahn in a laidback tone.

Clang!

"Well, there’s a first time for everything. Let’s finish it quickly." responded Vildred as he summoned his scepter, the pommel banging against the wooden floor.

"Are you going to interfere too, cult leader?" asked Morrigan with a hesitant expression.

She had her own role as the devotee of the God of Darkness and by default, Kahn as the Hero of Darkness.

The fact that Kahn was ready to face such a powerful being... even she had asked for certainty.

"Yes, I am." replied Kahn as he got up from his seat.

"Then I shall fight alongside you and Sir Dragon." said the high priestess.

Morrigan Morningstar, the high priestess, instantly resolved herself.

Swoosh!

"Suit yourself. The more the merrier." responded Kahn and summoned Muramasa.

Yet, as if these 3 were not enough...

"Since I can’t have you risk your lives in front of me as your guardian... I shall join in too." declared Argos.

His smooth but also domineering voice had weight behind those words.

Crank!

Woosh!

Argos put the ship artifact back in his space ring, and all of them hovered in the sky, their cold eyes staring at the Rainbow Serpent as if they were locking on their prey.

"We’ll have to be extremely fast and also precise. Let’s not let his boss find out what happened here." said the vampire sovereign with a grin.

On the other side, the rainbow serpent’s eyes widened, his gaze shifting between all four of them.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" it shouted in disbelief.

"Do you not have any self-respect as saints? Are you really going to gang up on a single opponent?" asked the serpent, taken aback.

"Aniya! (Korean word for ’No’).

What can we even do in the presence of such an illustrious being like you?

Didn’t you say we’re but vermin? I guess vermins should stick together.

Haven’t you heard the popular saying?...

’Apes. Together. Strong.’" replied Kahn.

BOOM!!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Massive auras erupted one after another. 3 of them had pure and annihilating darkness element imbued withing.

The last one was filled with voracious and nigh destructive lightning element.

No one chose to hide their true strength. Their auras were surging to the max of their strength.

BOOM!

In return, the Rainbow Serpent also released its maximum aura, reaching that of an intermediate 9th-stage saint after it used all of its powerful bloodline abilities.

"Huh?! Why aren’t those 3 even slightly affected?" it asked itself.

Just based on the aura, Kahn, Vildred, and Morrigan should be counting their last breaths... but instead, they stood unaffected.

"Hey, don’t stall for time. Let’s fight to the death from the start." said Kahn, his eyes quickly darting around the colossal creature’s body, looking for the weak points.

Vildred quickly summoned over 300 magical formations, carrying multiple elements of nature.

Shoot!

Bang!

Rumble!

Crackle!

One after another, a volley of elemental projectiles that could raze down cities launched and landed on the titanic being’s body.

Sizzle!

Sizzle!

"Just as expected." said Kahn.

Because of its affinity... Vildred’s magical formations that launched the elemental attacks, were countered and left no noteworthy injuries.

Squirm!

The minor slashes and cuts quickly regenerated as they expected.

[His regeneration is many times faster than Rudra or Bjormungandr.] thought Kahn.

Although it wasn’t on par with Cthullu, the regeneration speed lagged only by a couple of seconds.

"We’re wasting time." said Kahn and launched himself towards the head of the snake.

[Dimensional Breaker!]

Kahn outright used Muramasa’s strongest attack infused with his cosmic aether.

Rupture!

The reality itself shattered, destroying the boundary between worlds, and in mere moments, it reached the Rainbow Serpent.

Clang!

However, as if hitting an invisible wall, the attack stopped midair and disappeared.

"Space Law? I see that you’re a different kind of vermin, but a vermin nonetheless.

It would’ve worked against any other mythical monsters. Unlucky for you, thine enemy was me." replied the serpent, its tone filled with pride.

[So there are indeed beings in this world who can overcome and counterattack even the Space Law, huh?] thought Kahn.

Although he was shocked, he quickly regained his composure because he kind of suspected it himself.

The attack didn’t just disperse from the real world, but also the true dimension.

Swoosh!

From behind Kahn, hundreds of ghostly beings, covered in black hoods, launched themselves at the Rainbow Serpent.

’Come to us. Let us embrace you.’

An eerie and mortifying shout echoed from these ghosts.

Stab!

These grim reaper-looking ghosts bypassed the world energy restrictions and the aura of the mythical beast with no problem and latched onto the monster’s body.

And the very next moment...

BOOM!!

Like TNT, they started blowing themselves up one after another.

In just 5 seconds, at least 2000 explosions shook the surroundings, creating a massive wildfire and decimating over 5-kilometer radius around the rainbow serpent.

Sizzle!

What remained was a dark violet miasma of unknown origin.

This was Morrigans’ darkness miasma that can corrode even the stones, and also got absorbed into the skin of the mythical beast.

If faced by a normal saint, not even their bones would be left after being touched by that miasma.

"So juvenile. So primitive." said the Rainbow Serpent, unbothered by the collective bombardment.

"There is definitely something happening behind the scenes. Corruption is not a natural element.

It’s more like the Chaos Element. And it’s rare even in the Abyss Empire.

Yet, how can its body remove the effects so effortlessly?" said Argos.

"Let me try something." spoke the vampire sovereign and summoned his dark greatsword.

"Path of Oblivion!" he shouted and held the greatsword in between his eyes.

Slash!

Argos made a simple but swift vertical slash attack to the point that even Kahn barely registered it moving.

BOOM!!

The entire 10-kilometer area was simply pulverized instantly; there was not even a second for the Rainbow Serpent to move or dodge the attack, given its humongous body.

Sizzle!

Yet to their surprise, the Rainbow Serpent emerged from the clouds of dust.

"Are you done with your cheap parlor tricks?" it asked with a condescending tone.

"Ah, I hate these kinds of enemies the most. There’s always some kind of hidden secret, and even my most destructive attacks barely make a difference." said Kahn with an indignant countenance.

"What kind of enemy is it?" asked Morrigan.

To her question, Kahn’s voice turned cold as he clenched his grip over his katana...

"The unkillable kind."