Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1170: The Abyss Forest

[[Author : Sorry for the month long break. My dad had Spinal Cord issues (gap in between L3 and L5) and my sister was hospitalized for a week.

It was a jumbling experience for me to keep going back and forth in between these things while staying in hospital for both of them and hence, couldn’t focus on writing at all.]]

The remnants of the once mighty Abyss Empire, now hailed as the Abyss Forest, was a vast land bordering 4 Empires while possessing many rivers and forested areas.

The present-day Abyss Empire was now the home of the Godbeasts. And not just one of these world-class disasters, but all 5 of them.

After the demise of the Abyss Empire over 300 years ago, the reason why no one had invaded or tried to conquer it so far was because of the ferocious entities that even an Elder Dragon or an Archangel wouldn’t dare to provoke casually.

Based on Vantrea’s current power standards, even an Elder Dragon and at least one Archangel will have to collaborate to kill just one of them.

Even so, each Godbeast supposedly possessed unique powers that even a collective coalition of multiple archangels or elder dragons couldn’t overcome, as per the rumors.

Hence, the Abyss Forest was nothing but remnants of a ruined civilization, now home to these ginormous monsters that could topple empires.

Kahn had heard the rumors that Godbeasts were extremely territorial and also despised each other.

As per the history of Vantrea... Every Godbeast had always stayed far away in far different empires. Even the descendant clans in the Nadur Empire who had the bloodlines of these godbeasts couldn’t figure out why, for the first time, all of these terrifying existences suddenly decided to nestle in the same empire right after it was destroyed.

The biggest mystery was which unbelievable phenomenon made it happen. No one knew, and probably no one would be able to find it anymore.

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Swoosh!

Swoosh!

A medium-sized and invisible boat-like construct made of ethereal energy and rare wood, having dozens of sealing as well as stealth artifacts used over the design of the boat, while being surrounded by legendary rank isolations barriers, flew across the sky.

The boat could easily facilitate 6 people and had seats placed in evenly distributed areas.

It was akin to a ferry, just smaller and far well hidden to the point that even the sun rays refracted from the boat and didn’t even leave a shadow on the ground.

The boat itself had only 4 passengers, namely Argos Belmont, Vildred Mortelix, Kahn Salvatore, and Morrigan Morningstar.

Even Kahn, the weakest among them based on rank, was a beginner 7th-stage saint. While the strongest entity among them is none other than the Vampire Sovereign, one of the strongest 4 sovereigns of vantrea.

The 9th-stage saint was an extremely powerful being who could ruin empires by himself. Even the majority of the empires serving gods had to show him courtesy despite having 8th-stage saints in their midst.

Yet even this revered sovereign was using a transporting artifact made in the shape of a boat while hiding their auras, soul signatures, and overall presence from the world while roaming the Abyss Empire.

The reason was obvious. Not a single one of them could afford to mistakenly enter a Godbeast’s territory and get detected.

Besides, no one knew exactly which godbeast was inhibiting which part of the abyss forest since no one had ventured in the innermost areas in the past 300 years.

Thus, their voyage in the sky continued, hiding and hoping to stay hidden with their lives on the line.

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

Woosh!

Although the boat flew at a supersonic speed of Mach 2, crossing a couple of thousand kilometers in an hour.

Although the artifact itself was only a legendary rank, because it was being powered by Argos Belmont, the Revenant Sovereign, the speed had almost doubled. And with Vildred’s concealment magic formations, anyone below a 9th-stage saint couldn’t even detect their existence.

”It has already been a day since we started, yet it feels like months have passed despite us traveling at such a fast pace.” said Kahn, checking out his surroundings as they crossed mountains, valleys, riverbeds, and canyons.

”You call this fast? At my peak, I could travel a thousand kilometers in just 10 minutes. This is barely passable.” complained Rathnaar in Kahn’s head.

”Old man, stop grovelling just because you’re bored. It’s not like we’re trying to break some racing record.

Plus, we have to be as covert as possible. Even though we have the map of the old Abyss Empire and the cathedral of the Cult of Darkborne, a lot of the topography of the empire itself has changed.” replied Kahn.

”It is true, lord Peak Saint. Even with the old map, we can’t be certain if the cathedral or even the capital itself is still in the same place since Godbeasts often change the environment of their territories to fit their liking.” said Argos as he sat at the front, pouring his world energy into an orb that was steering the boat.

”It won’t happen, great guardian. All godbeasts hate and avoid altars of the gods because for some reason, they can’t stand the divine essence of the gods exuded by them.” said Morrigan Morningstar, the high priestess of the Cult of Darkborne.

”Even in the empires that were once in the service of gods and goddesses, were left unhabited by Godbeasts after the said empire’s civilization got taken over or went extinct.

Although this is the first time all the Godbeasts have chosen to live in the same empire, I am certain none of them would be interested in the capital or the altars.

They would at least keep a hundred kilometers distance.” elaborated the succubus saintess.

”Hmm... that means as long as we don’t come across their way and find the dilapidated capital, finish the Divine Key Awakening ritual and leave quietly... we don’t have to worry about anything, right?” asked Kahn.

”It is not that simple.” spoke Vildred with a concerned tone.

”Although Godbeasts are typically just ginormous monsters like us Royal Dragons... they are no less sentient than any other prominent species.

To avoid their peace being disturbed and also have territory managed in their stead... they do recruit other powerful monsters within their domains or even find their descendant species, tasking them with protecting the outer areas.

So we need to be mindful of that as well.” explained the former Lightning Dragon Emperor.

”He is correct. I have come across the one they called Godbeast Baihu during my time.

Even I had to be on guard, although it had just become the Godbeast after the previous one passed away from old age.

And even the one I faced was at least 40 thousand years old. Their powers are indeed worthy to be compared with that of Demi-Gods.” said Rathnaar.

”And that one too had a descendant species, one of mythical rank as one of the guards whom I killed, thinking it was going to attack the western border of the Rakos Empire.

Afterwards, I never intentionally provoked it, and neither did the Godbeast care enough to revolt as long as I didn’t enter its territory.

For some reason, they all seek solitude and don’t even bother if their underlings are killed.

To them, we’re no different than what a mortal is to a saint... simply insignificant.” reiterated the Peak Saint.

While all of them shared their knowledge and experience with these godly monsters... Kahn had few questions of his own.

If Godbeasts were already that powerful, what about the First Walkers, the descendants of the Primordial Titans?

And what about the 3 Species that even came before the Godbeasts during the same era as the Primordial Titans themselves?

Could those beings be considered on par with Deities at least?

After reaching the Peak Saint rank... There were conditions to become a Demi-God. Then, after reaching the Demi-God rank, there was the Ascension procedure that one needed to pass and finally become a Deity.

Yet the future Kahn, aka the Martial Emperor, warned Kahn not to even dare to fight the Demon God unless he reached the Demi-God rank first.

The power scaling in Vantrea had become more obscure as time went on, despite having some of the most experienced minds on the planet sitting beside him.

Maybe that information had gone missing due to the annals of time, or maybe it was all hidden well for important reasons.

Whatever the cause may be, Kahn had an inkling that even becoming a Peak Saint would not make him significantly powerful as compared to these ancient figures who stood at the pinnacle of strength.

Kahn was currently a beginner 7th-stage saint only, a grand accomplishment achieved by him in just 6 years after his arrival.

Even among the other heroes, Kahn could possibly be one of the only few who had achieved this rank in the history of summoned heroes, both present and past.

But now, even that tremendous growth speed felt lacking. Thus, using the Divine Key Awakening ritual, absorbing the Apple of Eden, and finally getting his hands on his Divine Weapon was an absolute necessity for his future and his goals.

He could not afford to be complacent and think that he was some hot stuff in the town because he was stronger than his peers.

Technically, he wasn’t even the strongest among the group he was traveling with.

There was a sea beyond his sight and a sky above the heavens.

So Kahn needed to risk everything, including his life, to do whatever the world, his people, and his own identity as Hero of Darkness needed to be done.

The Abyss Forest... was just the first step towards those grand challenges.