I am the Only Son of Chapter 73: Hostile Nightborn

Chapter 73: Hostile Nightborn

Kai paused for a good mont.

He stared at Noxian’s back in utter confusion.

But unease began to creep into his heart.

Noxian was never the type to play around. No playfulness in him. He never even cracked a single joke or anything close to it. Every word was deliberate, ant only to teach or guide Kai. He was akin to a strict professor, and he seed to like teaching Kai a bit.

Of course, Noxian would probably deny it.

But had it not been for that, Kai wouldn’t have learned this much about the House of Night.

Regardless, the Noxian he knew doesn’t talk like this.

Kai clung to the hope that this might only be his paranoia making him feel uneasy right now, after all, he was alone and surrounded by an endless expanse filled with Nightborns. But that changed quickly when a pure white mantilla began to fall from the black steel helt.

And then the black armor fluttered, turning into broken white fabric that reached the toes.

It was see-through.

Kai could see the figure’s body, and it was translucent white. Like a ghost.

And certainly doesn’t belong to Noxian.

The transformation made him recoil backward.

In hindsight, there are many red flags that pointed to the fact that this wasn’t Noxian.

He hadn’t concentrated on Noxian hard enough for him to be looped back. And Noxian had always been sitting on his porch whenever he wandered into the wooden house, not standing on the edge of his domain like a statue.

And the hand that gestured for him to co closer, it moved like water drifting downstream.

Smooth. Too smooth.

Floating in a way that shouldn’t be possible.

Almost like Noxian wasn’t wearing heavy full armor.

Kai swallowed hard. A cold bead of sweat traced down his temple as he realized he had co into the domain of another Nightborn. And he walked in voluntarily. His breath hitched as the ground shifted under him.

He looked down.

It wasn’t shallow water and knee-high mist anymore.

Kai tried moving his toes to make sure what he was seeing was real. It was.

Now, he stood on parched earth.

His heart pounded inside his chest as he swept his gaze across the space, scanning the area, and realized the domain was warping, rippling like heat distortions. The familiar wood house of Noxian dissolved, replaced by a place that was utterly foreign.

A graveyard.

Around him, there are more than a hundred gravestones with one big dead tree at the center.

Each one ca out of the earth at unnatural angles, and there were no nas on them.

Considering the domain he was in right now, he expected the scent of damp earth and death. But it does not sll like anything. There was only coldness that passed through the skin and combed the soul.

How is this possible?

Kai looked ahead at the creature.

A cynical smile could be seen on its face as he looked over his shoulder.

Not only is its appearance exactly the sa as Noxian’s, its voice and aura are also the sa.

Other than the odd behaviour, the creature mimicked Noxian perfectly.

"Your mind... is really loud."

The voice, haunting and cold, froze Kai in place. He barely registered the Nightborn blurring before it was too late. One blink, and the creature’s clawed hand was already reaching out with speed, intending to seize his face.

Clang—!

A massive hand erged from the ground and blocked the claws.

Sensing that Kai was in danger, Perion ca out on his own.

He crawled out and quickly swiped his arm, but the Nightborn avoided it like it was nothing.

Perion’s attack didn’t land the way he’d hoped. Still, it gave Kai a precious second. His mind lurched free of its stupor, and his eyes found the Nightborn at once, perched on the branch of a dead tree, giggling.

Kai could see its form properly now.

It was a terrifying Nightborn.

Its shape was humanoid, but with razor-sharp, elongated fingers. No clear features distinguished its face, only a mask. Or at least, Kai thought it was a mask until the smile widened, and an ink-black tongue, long and wet, slithered out with the slow nace of a serpent.

I made a mistake.

Kai took a step back, still worried even with Perion’s massive body before him.

He realized now that using the night to make short-distance teleports, though it might not be taxing on him, still drew attention towards him. This particular Nightborn had followed the trail straight to him.

And more than that, it also seed to pluck thoughts directly from his mind.

Or else it won’t know about Noxian or what he looked like at all.

At least, that seed to be the case from what it said, and from how it didn’t seem to care that Noxian was close to him. Either way, this Nightborn is clearly not one of the passive or calm ones.

It was hostile.

Extrely so from the bloodlust it was emanating from its hollow white eyes.

I need to run.

Noxian had been right about everything he said. So, when he said to run at the first sign of a hostile Nightborn, Kai ought to listen. And listen he did. Like a feral dog with its tail between its legs, he spun around and sprinted from the domain.

Screech—!

A piercing screech reverberated through the air.

Kai covered his ears that were now bleeding as he ran, not daring to look back.

An astral hand shot out from a grave to the right.

It caught him off guard, but he threw his body aside just in ti. Another attack ca, only for a burst of rock to erupt from the ground and block it. Perion was guarding him well. As Kai neared the edge of the domain, a thunderous collision shook the air behind him.

Pain stabbed his forehead.

And Perion’s presence disappeared.

Perion got obliterated?!

Kai gritted his teeth and leaped forward.

He rolled across the ground and felt relieved washing over him when he felt the shallow water splashing beneath him again. He was out of that cursed domain. As he lifted his gaze, both his pupils dilated in fright.

Despite being outside, he wasn’t safe.

The Nightborn already burst from its domain with blinding speed.

Splash—!

All the air inside his lungs was forced out as the Nightborn tackled him.

Kai groaned in pain.

Adrenaline surged through his bloodstream as he quickly recovered.

But he paused when he saw Bella was on top of him.

"Brother..." She whispered with tender eyes. Her petite hand wrapped around his neck with gentleness as her glassy eyes stared at him with love. "It’s , brother. You’ve done well. You have done really well to get this far."

For a single second, her tender, loving eyes made him drop his guard.

His mind was jolted back to reality when Bella suddenly lunged, trying to bite him in the neck.

Kai placed a hand against her face and neck, stopping her from getting closer.

"You piece of shit! You dare use my sister?!"

A peculiar darkness flashed inside Kai’s eyes as he roared.

But even then, the Nightborn only laughed at him, finding amusent in Kai’s struggle.

Like a starving feral animal—it kept lunging for Kai’s throat, relentless in its attempts to sink teeth into his neck. With each passing second, it grew stronger, as if rely being near him was enough to drink in his power.

I can’t summon Perion again.

Kai thought amidst the struggle, and then his eyes looked down.

And I’m pinned to the ground.

Since it has co to this, Kai had no other choice but to fight back.

Considering he has authority within the House of Night, his attacks should be much stronger than in the real world, and he decided to try it out. Kai gathered mana into his right fist—and then threw a palm strike at the Nightborn’s neck.

A blast of dark energy erupted from the other side, spiraling skyward.

His attack was backed by the Dark Discharge imprint.

The Nightborn staggered back, pausing for a split second. Kai felt a flicker of hope that there would be his chance to free himself from this position. But then, it grinned. Kai had never seen his own sister make a face like that, and it was utterly terrifying.

"Is that all you have...?"

Splash—!

"Raarghk!"

Kai roared in pain when the Nightborn bit into his neck.

Blood sprayed even harder as he tried to resist.

I’m losing too much blood! What can I do?!

He wanted to scream and curse. Everyone seed to really like bringing his sister into this, but he simply couldn’t. Rapidly, he was starting to lose consciousness from the loss of blood. It would be impossible for him to remain conscious for longer.

Kai shook his head and called the night.

In a desperate attempt, he tried using the night to leave the House of Night and wake up.

But the night dispersed at his command.

It refused, or perhaps was unable to wake him up.

This... Nightborn. It’s grounding

to the House of Night! I can’t leave!

Kai bit his tongue until he tasted copper. The pain wrenched his mind back to the mont. He summoned the night again, not to wake him up, but to move. A short teleport. It was the only thing left, and he poured everything into making it work.

Swish—!

His body was swallowed by the night and reappeared a short distance away.

Gasping for breath, he quickly called the night once again to heal his wounds. As the tear on his neck was healed, he sat up and saw that the Nightborn was looking around, searching for him. It seed it couldn’t sense him properly.

Is it because that thing is outside its territory?

Kai shook his head and stood up, deciding to get away as far as possible.

His movent was caught by the Nightborn, and it chased after him, persistent in its hunt.

Along the way, Kai tried to wake himself and escape the House of Night several tis—but the attempts failed. He was stranded, and his best guess was that he would remain so until he lost the Nightborn.

Since it had already co to this, he kept using the short-distance teleport to stay ahead.

It would attract other Nightborns, but he had no other choice.

Just running as fast as he could is not enough.

He was slower than the Nightborn.

A swipe ca from behind, but Kai ducked down in ti to avoid it and disappeared again.

His thod was working. It kept him alive, but it’s not well enough; he could not shake the Nightborn. And worse, it was starting to adapt, striking at where he would appear before he even teleported there, rather than waiting to chase him down.

Soon, very soon, Kai would make a mistake.

It was a ga of cat and mouse.