Hero of Darkness

Chapter 320: Arc 2 Epilogue

Hello everyone

As part of our tradition, this is an Epilogue chapter after the completion of Arc/Volume 2 which I have done before for Arc 1 and will do the same for the following arcs.

In this chapter, I will be addressing many questions, concerns and plots that many readers are either curious about or didnʼt understand.

Let me remind you again that I do read all the comments on chapters, paragraphs and reviews. So I often remember most of them and wish to elaborate on the ones that I still remember.

BUT BEFORE THAT.

Let me speak something from the heart and be honest with all the regular readers and people who spend their money to buy privileged chapters.

I truly appreciate all your support and the affirmation you guys provide me from time to time while showing faith and patience in me and the story.

Also, please donʼt hesitate to point out grammatical mistakes or spell corrections when needed.

I write too many chapters for this novel daily and sometimes even have to stay awake till 2 to 3 AM just to complete the daily 2-3 chapters quota. So there are some incidents where I end up making small typing mistakes.

Please point those out when you see them. I donʼt mind going back to editing and correcting such mistakes because I too want to provide a good reading experience for all of our fans and people who have been supporting me despite this novel being my very first work.

I know my writing isnʼt top tier and sometimes I fail to properly express the characters, their emotions and reasoning but I am indeed trying on my end as well.

Some readers say I explain a plot behind the actions and intentions too much and drag the story while some think I donʼt explain enough. So Iʼm kinda confused myself about whom to listen to.

Just know that I want to create my own style rather than copying others. So please be patient with me.

And I would like to honestly admit a few things about the Arc/Volume 2 as well. If you have read all the chapters till this point, then you deserve to know the truth behind the scenes as well.

The 2nd arc was stretched to almost 185 chapters despite my original plans being to end it under 150 chapters.

But as the story progressed after Kahnʼs arrival at the Capital and how the world building was finally being expanded on a grand scale, I had to change many things for the plot to progress realistically.

I even wanted to have Kahn learn many other skills and jobs such as Alchemy, Blacksmithing and Space Law in this arc.

But during the business plotline alone, I realized that itʼd be too immature of me as a writer to make the MC rich and powerful so suddenly without suffering the consequences of rising into power while taking the business out of other peopleʼs hands.

I couldʼve easily made him some young genius making ancient-level cultivation pills or some pro-gamer blacksmith who suddenly appears out of nowhere and does miracles after miracles while the opposition and rivals keep watching like an idiot without doing anything.

One manʼs success also spells failure for the others in the real world, so I too wanted to bring that aspect of real life into the novel which eventually ended up in becoming the whole Business Mini-Arc.

I know a lot of people were bored to death during those chapters but I had to take the risk and show how Kahn would approach this issue and learn how to expand his own business empire.

And do know that this was actually a setup for the future. Because now, I wonʼt have to go into details and choices he would have to make as a businessman in the next as well as the upcoming arcs.

The most criticized part was when Kahnʼs foolishness led to over a hundred employees dying because he provoked the top guys.

Although it may sound like Iʼm trying to justify it, but listen… Kahn in both lives has always been a loner. He was someone who didnʼt even have a deep relationship with his own family so there was indeed a need to have a wake-up call for him.

That as a businessman, heʼs not only responsible for himself but also for the safety and lives of all the people who worked for him. And him recklessly messing with the top dogs of the Chamber of Commerce in order to cement his new business had a cost to be paid… with the blood of the innocent people.

Kahn indeed learned from these mistakes as during the competition itself, he made sure that his name wasnʼt allied to anyone from the company or anyone innocent. He also made sure that Albestros would also become an untouchable figure in case he were to earn the ire of some top faction.

As for the whole Emperorʼs Chosen competition itself.. I couldʼve easily made it a standard and cliché competition where the MC goes bitchslapping people like a badass and not even hiding his strength from the beginning while constantly gathering the enmity of the top powers but having absolutely no plan on how to tackle them.

Even in the semifinals and the finale, Kahn chose to reveal his true strength as a means to have the whole empire acknowledge him and become center of attention for everyone from the bottom to the top of the food chain because there was a dire need to do so.

In the majority of such stories.. They never address the politics or the mind game such as rigging the competition or only the elites having the final say. All they show is normal audience doing asslicking of some young master or a prodigy of a sect while everyone keeps harassing, abusing and looking down at the protagonist like braindead morons.

(For example, the fight with Historia Weiss aka the Ara Ara Onee-san. This was me showing how those cliche tropes worked.)

So I just couldnʼt skip that part and felt the need to show the big game that no normal citizens of the nation would see from their standings. And I used Kahnʼs perspective to explain that.

And yes, he indeed failed quite a few times and almost lost his life twice despite planning everything.

To remind our readers that no matter how smartass the Protagonist is.. There are plenty of experienced and truly powerful people who can easily outwit him no matter how cautious or prepared he is.

That without absolute power, no matter how cunning you are, you can easily be trampled upon.

I can make Kahn as the smartest guy in the world and make all the others as just bad and evil folks without having brains of their own but I intend to use these experiences, such as the Vandereich clan leader using Kahn as bait or the Pureblood faction trying to use him to win the fiefdom and rule it using his name; to help the MC grow and have proper and legit reasons for character development.

Because reading such stories in novels, mangas or watching them in TV shows or Anime is completely different from actually living such a life.

Kahn isnʼt an Omniscient Reader who knows whatʼs going to happen in the future, the true nature of other people or how his actions and plans will play out. So using these incidents to actually make him a proper Anti-Hero character is the approach I seek.

Some feel that the Capital arc was stretched unnecessarily but I honestly feel like it has saved me a ton of effort I wouldʼve had to put otherwise in the future arcs. Because now I donʼt have to go through the same process again and again and the readers will easily understand how Kahn achieved those tasks.

As for the character development for the subordinates, you have seen only Ceril as a character and his personality in this arc. Other Generals will also get their time to shine in the future. I wish to take one step at a time instead of mashing them all together in a single arc.

All of them will have a vital impact on the endgame so Iʼm not gonna skip on their character personalities and how they become Kahnʼs most reliable allies.

I already have stories and plans ready for every single one of them. Just that it will be done for a selective few in every arc and at a proper time.

As for why I stretched the competition plotline and introduced so many characters?..

Well, by the end of Arc 2… you already know that no Saint can enter Kahnʼs fiefdom and one of the reasons why he chose it. So who do you think will have an important part to play in the next arc?

Everything was planned from nearly 4 months ago, the story itself expanded because I wanted a more logical and realistic approach than just following the standard patterns of gradual progression with levels and stuff where everything happens conveniently without the protagonist facing actual challenges and threats.

And yes, Kahn doesnʼt play with the street thugs but he always aims for the top guns. His goals are bigger and on a completely different level rather than playing it safe where he can only lord over the weaklings.

And trust me, the next arc will be extremely important for the setup of the future arcs of the novel in many ways.

Based on the story and arc plotlines I already have.. The novel will easily have at least 1500+ chapters. At the same time, Iʼm afraid that Iʼll not be able to live that long to complete the story given how hard it is to please everyone these days.

Half of the people complain about the novel not having a romance candidate or a female subordinate while the others tear down the Protagonist for being a man who was mesmerized by a charming woman as soon as I introduced Kassandra without even waiting to see what happens in the .

And like I said before, thereʼs no hurry. I wonʼt force down romance or annoying female characters but I wonʼt shy away from a potential candidate either because the females in my novel wonʼt be some one-dimensional and annoying damsels in distress.

They will have their own lives, dreams, ambitions, character traits and personalities which do not revolve around the protagonist.

So please donʼt expect me to write half-ass female characters for the sake of romance or fanservice. If they are important, then theyʼll get enough exposure. The story canʼt always be from the MCʼs perspective. A shift in narrative is needed once in a while.

A self-made King needs a self-made Queen.

And it takes time to reach that stage. So be patient.

Now the next issue.. Some readers have problems with all the references I make in the novel these days.

Remember, I did not write this novel for only one part of the fan community. Mine includes many fanbases such as novel readers, anime, tv shows, superhero movies, video games and even cultural mythology fans (if one is versatile and educated enough… like me).

So I donʼt cater to only one but a vast majority. So in case you donʼt like a reference and find it forced or cringy.. Thatʼs all up to you. I only try to add them as the natural flow of the story demands it.

In case youʼre not knowledgeable or get these references, just Google it all youʼll easily understand them.

One more thing. Some people have problems understanding the measurement system and think Iʼm using ʼmetersʼ instead of ʼfeetʼ metric system. So let me clarify.. Apart from a humanoid characterʼs height, I havenʼt used the latter for anything else.

If I say a monster or a subordinate is 10 meters in height... Then they are 10 meters. This world is much bigger and many creatures, buildings and even species living in this world are many times bigger in build and physical appearance. So please donʼt make assumptions about their heights and size by comparing them to Earth standards.

All the Generals and Omega themselves are massive. The shortest one is Ronin who is only 4 meters tall in his original monster appearance. And a 3 to 4 meter tall human is also a normal thing in the world of Vantrea.

I hope it helps when you depict the characters and monsters in your mind during upcoming chapters and arcs.

And finally time for a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT.

After this arc, the reference arts I share in the chapter comments will only be available on the official site and my P.a.t.r.e.o.n.

Because I have spent months collecting them on various apps and websites and finding suitable reference arts sometimes takes hours.

Because I think those who truly support this novel through reading it on the official website deserve the best as they are the ones actually taking their time and putting in the effort to support the author.

I neither care nor appreciate the support or criticism of the pirate readers at all. Because if you canʼt even take a minute to use fast passes or coins and read on the official site, then all that verbal support amounts to nothing.

I have even halved the prices for privileged chapters which is basically me cutting out 25 to 30% of what I earn through this novel for the sake of our regular readers. So I think Iʼm justified in being a little selfish.

Hence, I will only care about the readers here and not a group of angry, entitled crybabies who read on pirate sites and act as if I owe them some money.

This is my ID in case you want to see all the references arts for the characters :

CrimsonWolfAuthor (just search on p.a.t.r.e.o.n and youʼll find all the reference arts there.)

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT. HOPE TO SEE YOU ALONG THE RIDE.

- CrimsonWolfAuthor