The Villain's Story

Chapter 861: Nothingness.

Dominatus is a unique skill even among unique skills. It is something entirely different than the standard. Due to the special circumstances of its birth and its identity, it is not limited by the laws of the natural world.

However, also due to its birth and sense of identity, it is limited in its process of thought, and the current tasks it is overwhelmed with make it sluggish, or rather, dormant.

But, there is exactly one moment, one singular event that triggers [Dominatus] to act, to become an active, unique skill, and that is when the ’existence’ of Alan Peccator, or rather, it itself, is in danger.

At its core, the skill is defensive because the exact circumstances of its birth forced it to be so; however, after it surpassed such tribulations, it knew nothing but to stay that way. It acts only when Alan truly feels threatened.

It does not act when Alan Peccator suffers a fatal wound, for it is aware that Liorathen’s regeneration is present. Neither does it act in other worse scenarios. It will not act until it truly feels Alan’s existence is in danger.

Not his body, not his mind, and sometimes not even his soul, but his existence.

It prioritizes that above all else, and because of that, it acted.

The eyes of a being are the gateway to their soul, but the shadow is far more important. Not only is a shadow a reflection of the soul, but it is also a record. It is a record of a being; it is their connection to the world. The truest version of a being is their shadow.

It is a record of their existence, and thus, it falls under the category that forces [Dominatus] to act. There exist many ways to attack a shadow and affect its master through it.

But there are very, very few days to destroy a shadow, most of them involving true death. Had Alan’s shadow not covered his body to protect it, the Black Sea would have ignored it. However, it chose to risk itself and cover Alan’s body in a desperate attempt to protect its master.

Therefore, it left the Black Sea no choice but to destroy, and because of that, it also left Dominatus with no choice but to act. Alan’s shadow is an important part of his being, and thus, it is an important part of [Dominatus] as well.

The Black Sea roared, rushing with great intensity at the living corpse in its midst; a mere shadow was all that was in its way, or so it thought. But a light soon shone from within the shadow.

A bright blue light, a brilliant light that had no equal.

[Skill: Dominatus, has been activated.]

And when it happened, only one question remained: who would win?

Who would emerge victorious in this clash? A Sea that had existed since the beginning, composed of nothing but the purest darkness, a sea that had a Supreme being as its guardian, and was the home of the entire race of Darkness Dragons?

Or a single unique skill?

The brightest light emerged to fight against the darkest darkness. A force of pure black against a rising tide of pure light.

====

Lirkis was a legendary being, one of the most important personnel of the church of darkness and a force to be reckoned with. He was a war hero, decorated with hundreds of medals won in the campaign against the God Beasts. He is a living legend and a close relative of the king of the Dark Elves. A commander in the Church of Darkness with the authority to lead a dozen or more legions. Alone, he could conquer worlds. His name was renowned throughout the Universe, even among the Abyss and the Celestial layers.

However, this was decades ago. Right now, Lirkis was merely an elf who was retired from the War. The Universe was fairly peaceful these days, and veterans like him were assigned to simple jobs on beautiful or spiritually meaningful planets to rest. His post was relatively simple.

He simply had to watch the port and transport anyone who had failed the trial back to the medical ward. That was it, and what was more, he rarely ever had to do it. Not a lot of people attempted the trial, even those who were eligible for it. Everyone decided to focus on themselves first.

Lirkis was the same, although he qualified for the trial when he was SS-rank, he followed the advice of his elders and waited until he was late Epic to attempt the trial. Once he had passed, he had become Legendary, achieving mental reformation.

Lirkis was a simple man; he liked to drink and liked to fool around, but could also be serious. He was an old elf, an incredibly old elf. Even though Elves aged much more slowly than other species, he still had his baby fat stuck on his face.

However, his age may not have brought him wise looks like that of a sage, but it did bring enormous amounts of experience. Lirkis was confident there existed very few things in the universe that he did not know of yet.

Little did he know, one of these few things would present itself before him right this very instant. As Lirkis finished his last bottle of wine, he lay on the black sand at the beach and closed his eyes.

He tried to sleep, but his super-enhanced ears picked up something that should never have occurred. His elongated ears twitched, and a frown appeared on his face as he questioned what it was.

It was a weird sound he had heard before, but a long, long time ago. However, he was certain he had never heard it on this planet before. Suddenly, Lirkis opened his eyes and stood up.

”...Impossible.”

He saw it, for the very first time in his life, and perhaps the very first time in the entire universe. He couldn’t believe it and punched himself with enough force to crush a mountain to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

But he wasn’t; it was all reality.

The Black Sea was receding.

Why?

He questioned, why was it receding? Why was the sea that was always calm at the surface chaotic? Why was it receding?

He found out instantly afterwards.