As soon as he heard those words, Raon's face twisted. In a burst of fury, he drew a dagger with a green blade, reeking of sothing strange and nauseating.
Darian, on the other hand, stayed calm. His hand slid to his chest, subtly touching the group crystal hidden under his clothes. A faint black aura snaked around his fingers and seeped into the crystal.
In just two seconds.
He looked up at Raon, who was only four ters away, and gave a slight smile—like he'd just confird sothing.
"Looks like our karma's ant to be settled right here."
Raon growled coldly. "Yeah. I'll make you regret being born..."
He stopped mid-sentence.
The air grew heavy.
His eyes widened, and his breath got stuck in his chest.
"What the hell..."
Instinctively, he took a step back. Sothing was wrong—seriously wrong.
He saw what looked like an illusion, but his instincts scread otherwise. The figure in front of him wasn't that scrawny, weak support anymore. Sothing monstrous had co out.
Darian's eyes were glowing a cruel red, like sinister beacons. His silhouette was cloaked in a black aura that wrapped around him like a demonic mantle.
Raon felt a chill rip down his spine.
"A... a R-Risen!" His voice cracked with pure terror.
Darian had learned, over ti, how to use his black power in a way that mimicked a Risen. He covered his body with it and started giving off an aura that instinctively repelled anything alive.
His power was... only ant to intimidate the ntally weak. Which made it perfect against this idiot.
Without a second thought, Raon spun on his heel and tried to run.
"Oh? Running?"
Darian chuckled low, raising one hand. Instantly, several flying daggers appeared in the air. In his other hand, an artifact lit up — the very nice gift he got from Raon during their first fight.
Raon felt the deadly threat.
After stepping into the sealed area where Darian was, it felt like he was trapped and couldn't draw on the full power of the core anymore—he had to get out... but there was no way out.
In a panic, he pulled the core of the supre artifact to use everything he could, but... a dark intruder inside his body revealed its claws. His mind went blank—it was the Immortal Potion showing its true effect.
He thought he had everything under control. Two rings, a bunch of prepared artifacts. But just looking at Darian made him feel like it wasn't enough. He never should've entered — if he'd stayed at a distance and attacked, he would've been untouchable.
Darian had led him straight into this. Made Raon feel so much hate and bloodlust that he insisted on taking him out alone. In the end, Raon played right into his hands.
So now, Darian wasn't giving him any chance.
*Pierce!*
The sound of blades slicing into flesh echoed again and again.
*Bang!*
His body slamd into the ground brutally.
"AH!"
A scream of pain and agony filled the air. But at that mont, Darian was the only one there to hear it.
He let go of the artifact, letting it crumble into dust. The sa artifact Raon had once tried to use against him—but that he'd stolen during their first fight.
It had been a super expensive and useful item. Didn't need energy to activate, but had heavy limits: few uses, short range, and it only worked with light stuff like daggers or punches. Now it was nothing but ash.
Darian slowly stepped forward.
"NO! AAAH!"
Raon thrashed, but his body wouldn't respond.
'How pathetic, he's not even trying to use the power from his ring?' Darian thought, surprised by how intimidating the black power really was. For cowards who never fought on the edge and lived thinking they were untouchable, that kind of power felt overwhelming.
Raon struggled. The heat rushing through his veins was unbearable—like hot coals were being poured inside him, burning him from the inside out.
His fists and feet were pinned to the ground by four daggers. And of course, those daggers had black power running through their blades.
He tried to pull them out, but the blades felt like they were fusing with his flesh, a corrosive pain spreading through his body. The black energy oozed out like living tentacles, wrapping around his bones, devouring his vitality.
Darian watched, expressionless. His black power had always been a tool for raw destruction, but now he was exploring other uses. What were its limits?
And now he had a great volunteer to help him practice.
After channeling the black power into the daggers, he didn't make them move or destroy. The brute force ca from the other artifact.
That way, the black power was controlled to create a living poison — one that didn't just kill, but consud. The black energy crawled under Raon's skin, forming twisted, black veins. Every beat of his heart made the corruption spread faster.
His limbs began twitching involuntarily. The horror on his face no longer even looked human.
"Oh? You had your fun with my mom before, didn't you?" Darian's voice was cold, almost indifferent. "I rember you bragging about how useless her death was. She was pretty tough, wasn't she?"
Raon's eyes shook.
Darian gave a slight smile.
"Let's see how much you can take."
He gestured with his hand.
The other daggers shot into the air, slamming rcilessly into that fallen body.
*CRACK!*
All twelve blades pierced Raon's body at once. The sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing mixed with a heavy thud.
Raon tried to scream but couldn't. His throat locked up. His eyes rolled back. His body twitched purely by reflex. His life looked like it was slipping away...
Then suddenly, sothing pulled him back.
Heat surged inside him again.
His vision returned—and the first thing he saw was Darian's sarcastic smile.
"What? Giving up already?" Darian's voice had a mocking tone. "Co on. Be tougher."
He was channeling the white power now, healing Raon just enough to keep him awake. Just enough so he'd feel every damn second of what was still coming.
Raon's body was unrecognizable. His charred skin looked cracked, leaking blood that had turned into thick black goo. His eyes, his mouth—every opening was oozing darkness.
But he was still alive.
And Darian wasn't done with his training.
"Argh!... My father will... everyone you know will die..."
Raon spat the words between broken groans, his body trembling as black blood dripped from his mouth.
Darian tilted his head, watching him with a cruel glint in his eyes.
"Yeah?" His voice dripped with irony. "Then I guess I better make this last day... the best one of my life."
He raised his hand, and the black energy pulsed, expanding like invisible roots through Raon's body.
"Let's take it slow\..." Darian whispered, clearly satisfied. "We don't have much ti, but we should enjoy it properly."
The energy slowed down, dragging Raon's agony to its absolute limit.
Not far from there, Raon's four allies waited in silence in a sealed space. No sound escaped, no presence could be sensed through the group crystal.
They knew Raon liked to toy with his prey before killing it. He'd said it himself—he'd take his ti with Darian.
But the hunter had beco the prey.
Half an hour passed.
Raon's body stopped moving. His groans faded.
But he was still alive.
Or at least, what was left of him. His skin was withered, dry like a corpse that had been rotting for days. His vitality had been drained to the edge, leaving nothing but a hollow shell.
Darian looked up and sighed.
He wanted more ti. Days, maybe. But his mother would never have wanted him to beco this kind of person.
He wasn't torturing Raon just for revenge. He was doing it with purpose—experinting, testing the limits of his black power. Refining his control to the edge.
And now, only the main course remained.
Darian snapped his fingers.
The leftover black energy condensed in front of him, swirling slowly in the air. A black rune ford—small, but dense, pulsing with sothing that felt alive.
He watched the rune with curiosity. It gave off a power similar to the ring embedded in his soul.
If he was right, this rune wouldn't connect to just anyone.
Only those soaked in the thickest black karma.
Darian smirked and waved his hand.
The rune floated slowly through the air, dancing like a predator circling its prey. But when it neared Raon...
It trembled.
The next second, it shot forward like lightning, sucked straight into him.
Darian narrowed his eyes.
Raon was on the brink of death. His black karma still clung to him, like a thick, invisible miasma surrounding his body. But sothing strange started happening.
The black energy that had eaten away at his body began to retreat.
His dry, ashen skin started regaining so color.
But his dark aura...
Started to grow.
*Whooosh!*
"AHHHHHHH!"
The scream tore through the silence like a blade.
Raon found strength where there was none to howl, his voice full of raw desperation. His whole body began convulsing violently.
To normal eyes, it looked like he was just seizing. But Darian could see everything clearly.
Raon's black karma was flickering like a living fla.
And then Darian understood.
"It's burning his soul... refining it?"
His eyes lit up with genuine interest.
Darian had felt his soul being torn apart before. That pain was nothing like anything in the flesh. But refining it... that felt like a whole new level. And that couldn't make Darian any happier.
This was just his soul. His body was still relatively intact. The black power that had invaded him before now seed to rge with the black rune.
Darian could barely wait to see what happened next—until a thought crossed his mind, and his eyes lit up.
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