Chapter 65 - 59

Manus was captured along with his daughter, who was pregnant at that time. Gwyn, knowing that the child inside Marvella isn't his, forcefully aborted the fetus while Manus could only watch helplessly. At the end of that, he was a heaping mess.

His hatred towards Gwyn grew larger.

Gwyn separated him from his daughter and he was transferred to one of the stations where his sorcery was really needed. The research lab.

There were dozens of Silver Knights guarding the place but he knew he could escape it. The only thing keeping him was his daughter being imprisoned by Gwyn.

The lab was quite large, and it made enough space for the researchers, I.e sorcerers, to analyze large objects. Most of the time, the only thing they were researching about was dragon parts. Some parts of the dragons are poisonous, so they would have to inspect it carefully before they craft it into some kind of weapons.

A year later, the war was nearing its conclusion and Lord Gwyn and his companions were winning the war.

But he suddenly got a news that his daughter died birthing the first heir of Lord Gwyn

Manus was devastated.

But now, there was no longer something keeping him from escaping.

But first, he would have to see his grandchild.

With no more restraint, he destroyed the entire lab with his dark sorcery, killing everyone in it. He spared no one, not even his fellow sorcerers.

As he walked through the destruction he had created, he smiled with extreme malice as he said, "Do not go gentle into that good night. Old age should burn and rave at close day; Rage, rage, against the burning of the light."

The last part of the poem implied that he will be the one to unkindle the fire that Gwyn loves so much.

Manus may be some old human but he's a primordial one.

At this moment, his humanity and soul was beginning to lose control. His eyes were showing signs of the abyss. Small horns started protruding from his forehead.

"Ah, my daughter. How much have you suffered? Don't worry, papa shall take his revenge for you. I didn't want to do this since your mother insisted that I don't do it but I have no more choices. I shall wreak havoc throughout his kingdom. No longer shall that worthless king be kneeled upon from now on. With the abyss by my side, he shall stand no chance."

Manus said as he continued walking through the destruction he had created earlier, mesmerized by its beauty while leaving tracks of the corruption of the abyss.

With a single blow of the wind, he vanished. Not a single trace of him could be seen.

He appeared in the first prince's room. The room was quite lovely, full of childish decors.

Holding his catalyst, he went near to the crib of his grandson.

He put his catalyst back to his waist and picked up the baby in the crib. He held his grandchild in his arms while tenderly caressing his face.

His abyss like-eyes warmed as he looked at his grandson.

The baby also raised his hand, trying to touch the face of his grandfather. Yet Manus only turned his head back, as if he was afraid to let his grandchild touch his face.

As he was about to put the baby back to his crib, he saw something he thought he wouldn't be able to see in his life. The pendant he gave to his daughter was resting upon his grandson's crib. He took it and tears came pouring out of his eyes. He looked at his grandson as he broke the pendant in two and said.

"Little one, one day I shall come back for you. I don't have enough power to go toe to toe against the Lord of Sunlight. But when that day comes, hold this pendant near you. I shall know who you are by then. We will forever be intertwined by this pendant, not a soul shall stop me from coming back for you. I promise you that." As he finished saying his words, he heard footsteps coming from outside the door of the room.

He put the baby down along with half of his pendant before he vanished as soon as he appeared.

The only trace he left was the broken in half pendant that he left for his grandson, the inheritor of Gwyn's sunlight, and in the near future, will be nicknamed as The Nameless King.

(In an Unknown underground place, years later)

Manus was close to perfectly controlling the abyss but suddenly, they came. The Lord's Blades.

They were very powerful assassins, and Manus had to run away because of their numbers.

He had grown considerably more powerful than he was years ago but he was nowhere near Gwyn's power.

And the one sent to him right now was Ciaran along with her legion of assassins, one of Gwyn's Four Knights.

He held no chance against them, there were around 35 of them. He had to run.

Since becoming contact with the abyss, his body had transformed into something akin to a demon. His long pitch black hair corresponded with the abyss around him, his lips became paler, his skin turned as dark as his hair. Yet he looked younger than before.

He had his mana armor placed around his skin to protect him from the projectiles that the assassins were throwing at him. They were underground, so he had little to no space to run for.

"Dark Fog!" He casted a spell while running.

But the poisonous fog seems to not have infected them.

'Tch, how did they even know where my location was? This is a very hidden spot, and it's even underground. But that's okay, I still have the location advantage. I've set up countless traps here, maybe if I could just lure them in…'

As he thought about his traps, something suddenly pierced his right leg.

It was a poison dagger! He staggered to the ground but with quick thinking, he used [Remedy] to cure the poison that affected him.

He stood up again but the people following him got closer.

He was not as fast as before because of the wound on his leg.

He saw a hole in the dark cave and went to that human-size hole. When he went inside, he saw that there was a large area covered by nothing but stone. He had gone into the wrong hole!

There was no way out.

He turned around, only to see the assassins coming for him.

So, he had to fight, or die.

He chose his first option.

He killed all of them with his one last futile attempt, but as a result, his mana was drained to its limit. He would perish soon. But at least he killed them all, right?

Well, he was wrong. Ciaran faked her death to fool him so that the other members would fight him to exhaustion and she would be the one to deal the final blow.

He died with her stabbing him in his back.

"You…"

"Die, for the greater good." Ciaran said coldly.

His body fell limp to the ground as Ciaran kicked it away.

Again, he failed.

As he closed his eyes, he saw his daughter waving to him from a place that he could only tell as a paradise. They were telling him to come over there, to that peaceful place.

But he had a promise to keep.

[End of Memory]

Hikaru stood in the cave where Manus died, the monster of the abyss he had just killed. Solaire tried waking him up but he was too grasped on the memories he had just received.

"As always, another tragic memory. Why does this always happen only to Manus? Is the System telling me something? If so, what is it?" Hikaru muttered, trying to think about what he had just seen.

Manus was THE Primeval Man. He was different from others. Was it his extreme emotions that ignited his soul and humanity from going out of control?

"Hmm, no matter. I'll think about it later. Azumi should be done with her Rasengan Training." Hikaru was suddenly bonk by something on his head. He looked up and saw Solaire holding a club.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"You weren't waking up from your daydreaming. I think it's time we leave this place." Solaire said.

"I guess you're right. Oh wait, I still haven't claimed our rewards."

In front of Hikaru was a transparent screen, it listed his rewards that he had just earned.

[Soul of Manus, 50 Million Souls, 40 Humanities]

"So no luck today, huh?" Hikaru said as he saw the rewards.

Right now, his level is 400.

This is his stats.

_____________

Name: Hikaru Hiroaki

Race: Modified Undead

Level - 400

Next Level - ??????????

Attunement - 40

Endurance - 70

Strength - 80

Dexterity - 70

Int - 70

Faith - 70

Resistance - 70

____

Chakra - 89

Chakra Control - 70

_________________

It took him more than 500 Million Souls to reach this level in a single month. It was worth the grind though. Now, no one would be able to be a threat to him in this world anymore. Not even the Akatsuki. And, his fight with the Olden God should be near soon. Once he reaches the max [99] Stat Cap, he will fight her. Chaortos, The Mother Of Darkness.

He hasn't worked on his chakra that much this month. He had to focus his self to grind souls every single day. Since Azumi found herself a teacher, which is Jiraiya. Of course, there was this awkward meeting the pervy sage but it turned out fine in the end.

Jiraiya asked if he could train Azumi, and Hikaru agreed since there seems to be no problem in it. He'll be more likely be a better teacher to her as a shinobi, but Hikaru himself would teach her things from time to time.

Now, it's day of the finals and Hiruzen has a big announcement for the teams.