The Villain's Story

Chapter 832: Dark World.

A planet swallowed by the night itself, a world whose surfaced was encircled by an endless sea of black. It wasn’t water, but the purest darkness mana that existed in the entire universe, the sea of darkness was as thick as magma and only special vessels could traverse it.

It did not reflect any sort of light, for many scholars believed that no actual light had touched it, and in the center of this planet lay the only land above the sea, a solitary island rising like a wound in the rock.

The island was vast, yet finite, its jagged shores gnawed endlessly by the Black Sea that never recedes. The ground is obsidian-veined stone and ash-soaked earth, warm beneath the feet. No grass grows here. What vegetation exists has adapted to darkness, pale fungi, trees with bark like burned bone, and flowering growths that bloom only when the city’s torches dim, becoming a source of unnatural but calming light.

And upon this island lay a city built by the very First Kings of the Dark races, the home of one of the most powerful organizations in the Empire of the Dragons, and in the Alliance as well.

The church of darkness, a few decades back it was simply known as a religious organization, however, when the House of Death declared war against some clans of the God beasts, the organization had risen to prominence.

The church of darkness was present in all the worlds owned by the House of Death, mining planets, urban planets, agricultural growth, fully devoting their entire efforts to make sure that the house of death could function without relying on outside resources and the help of the dragons.

All of that was easily achievable if they asked a few dragons to help... but they were surprisingly stubborn in that regard. They were a powerful organization that even offered help to invading demons.

It was one of the few organizations that tolerated, and even offered assistance to, the forces of the Abyss, and offered demons official identification and everything a normal citizen of the alliance had. However, earning their trust was a bit... difficult.

Alan and the rest exited the portal and found themselves in a bustling town square, people of all sizes and races were walking in and about, all covered with a cloak, all walking silently. Some were even taller than Alan, which was a shock to the boy.

Were there dragons walking among him right now? He had no way to know, the cloaks disabled all forms of identifying anything in the world of darkness, even Alan wouldn’t be able to use his Dragon Eyes here.

The group stood still, taking in the world, perhaps the first sign of an actual civilization they had seen ever since they left Earth, it was refreshing.

They had heard of the bustling cities in Lanekia, but they had never gotten the chance to visit these so-called metropolises, and in the Realm of Shadows was as barren as it could be. They sometimes encountered a wandering shadow, but that was it.

An encounter with races other than humans hadn’t happened yet, even though they were on their planets. They had met dragons, but each one of them had been yearning to see a city.

Their wishes had been answered, but not in the way they had expected. It wasn’t exactly a bustling metropolis, but rather a quiet town one would find on the edges of their country. Where nothing big usually happened, and every event that made them be on the news was to be rejoiced, even if it was bad.

They silently took in the sights from the middle of the town square, a few of the people turned to look at them, but minded their own business afterward. They were cautious to react to anyone here, after all.

Each one of them was definitely stronger than Alan, only certain people were allowed access to this island, and almost all of them had gained a name for themselves in the universe. Finding someone weaker than Alan here would be harder than finding Valus.

’It’s like I’m a noob in the final stages of a game.’

Alan scratched his chin. When he was done looking at other people, especially the ones taller than him, he turned to the group, occupied with the same thing. His eyes caught hold of the statue in the middle of the town square.

"..."

A statue of a coiling dragon rising into the skies, made of black glass, that depicted Valus and the First Kings. Valus gazed at them from high as they climbed his body.

The highest was the king of the Dark Elves, Lacimu, followed by the king of the Duerger, Darki, the king of the Gnomes, Akur, and the others. To the side, Alan found someone cleaning the statue. They noticed him too, but kept on with their work.

And when they were finished, they offered a polite bow and went on their way. A while later, another person from the crowd with a short stature emerged to clean the statue.

’Isn’t it already clean, though?

After they were done, someone else appeared... so Alan just assumed it was a ritual or tradition of sorts. Sabrina and Maxwell were focused on the statue as well, and Maxwell even took out a notebook and pen.

’...’

Alan sighed, and turned to the crowd once more. Azmakul had told them that someone would come for them, so all they needed to do was wait. Alexander and Edward almost wandered into the crowd, taken by the excitement. Alice and Olivia were the same, and Alan barely managed to stop them.

Kazikato was on the ground, and even though Alan couldn’t see his face through the veil, he somehow knew he was already fast asleep with a face full of bliss.

Thankfully, Emma was keeping herself still. Maxwell and Sabrina were both busy scribbling down on their notebooks...

’... Why are you all so weird?’

Or perhaps it was him, who barely showed any reaction at all, coming here.

’...’

It was probably him.