Hero of Darkness

Void Realm activation time ended and Axel could freely move again after getting killed for the 5th time. 

"All of you… I'm going to make every single one of you suffer far more than I have." shouted the Hero of Fire and multiple red runes appeared all over his body.

As soon as Venessa informed Kahn about Axel trying to summon a deity, Kahn quickly commanded, "All of you! Get out of the formation!" 

His quick warning saved them all just in time as without wasting another moment, all of them deactivated the Pendragon Formation and created a distance of 15 kilometers. 

"Master… he's sacrificing his entire life force and trying to summon something." informed Armin from his location as he noticed the changes. 

"Venessa… tell me about this quickly so I can form a plan." spoke Kahn. 

Just the word 'Deity' was enough to get Kahn alert because he had fought Valkyrie Brunhilde who too was a summoned deity herself. 

"The condition is that only the Fireborne Imperial clan, the Hero/Heroine of Fire can summon the Fire Deity by sacrificing their entire soul and life force.

There's also an ancient rank class called Deity Summoner where the one who unlocked that class can do it without sacrificing their soul. But there isn't anyone in the entire world in the past 300 years as far as I know." informed Venessa. 

Little did Venessa know that Kassandra had invoked that class but there was no reason for Kahn to reveal that to her. 

[Old man, What kind of deity are we fighting here?] asked Kahn to Rathnaar who was the most knowledgeable amongst them. 

[One of my descendants, the 6th Empress of Rakos Empire, had the Deity Summoner class 600 years ago. She had made a contract with 7 deities at her peak as a 7th stage saint. The Fire Deity wasn't one of them. 

But I have only heard of it once. The fire deity can help the summoner to rise by 1 rank for an hour. 

However, there will be restrictions on the summoned entity's overall strength as the deity's combat power is dependent upon the user. But I don't know what powers it has. 

We're lucky that Axel isn't a 5th stage saint. Otherwise, the deity would be able to use their own domain. And then… all of us be dead for sure.] informed the peak saint with a somber expression.

"Venessa, do you know about the deity's powers?" asked Kahn the next second. 

"Not exactly. But I read once that it can summon a great army for fire creatures that respawn very easily as long as the summoner's body is safe." she revealed. 

"This bastard is cheating big time compared to us. 

He is using someone else's life force and soul to summon a deity. Even if he died, he'd be brought back to life because of the Soul Eater divine ability. 

Although there are few conditions and suitable circumstances to use them… He indeed thought of the best option in the long term while choosing his divine abilities." said Kahn. 

[But there's a limit boy. He is only a 3rd stage saint so the Deity's power is restricted to a 4th stage peak saint.] said Rathnaar in Kahn's mind while Venessa was unaware of a hidden existence in Kahn's body. 

[I can go to a peak 3rd stage saint at best. Omega has also used all of his killer moves twice already and he will need hours to use them again. 

Nobody else is capable enough to fight a being comparable to a 4th stage saint here.] replied Kahn. 

He was quickly lost in thoughts as he tried to form a counter strategy on the spot. 

Meanwhile, the 15 kilometers radius was filled with scalding heat and everything had either incinerated or pulverized instantly. Even all the onlookers could feel the intense heat. 

Finally, when the massive pillar of fire subsided, a 1 kilometer tall being with a massive greatsword, covered in armor from head to toe while having dark red fire being expelled from its body was revealed to everyone. 

"That's the Fire Deity… Kagutsuchi." informed Venessa. 

There was no outrageous burst of aura or an explosion. But the presence of this mighty persona was enough to everyone get a hint of what kind of entity they were facing. 

Compared to the Blood Titan, the Fire Deity was of the same size but looked more domineering as if it was a tyrant king. 

"I guess I have no choice but to fight him myself. 

Because the rest will die just from this heat alone." spoke Kahn. 

"So you summoned me, Axel. You're the first Hero of Fire to do this. 

And here I thought my lord, God Hetrax chose a stronger candidate this time.

What a disappointment." a jarring and authoritative tone filled the 20 kilometers radius instantly. 

"You'd understand why I did it so. See that guy… that's the new Hero of Darkness." spoke Axel who floated inside the chest region of this summoned deity; similar to how Kassandra once occupied a tiara on Valkyrie Brunhilde's head. 

"Oho… what a pleasant news to hear. I guess I can give God of Darkness a payback on behalf of my Master." spoke Kagutsuchi who had two demonic horns coming out of his head. 

"Ha ha ha! He has 3 divine abilities created by 3 different gods. What a fool! 

And he also received the blessings from Kravel." spoke Kagutsuchi just after a glance at Kahn. 

The latter was frozen on the spot because his secret was so easily out. 

"I have a score to settle with the War Deity. I guess I'll get even by killing him. 

The 8th Hero of Darkness screwed us all over. 

Now it's time they lose their last chance and pay us back for the last time." his overbearing voice resounded throughout the burning battlefield. 

Before everyone's eyes, the fire from his body spread across the 20 kilometers radius and in just a dozen seconds, over 5 million armored fire soldiers equipped with weapons, armors while having battle formations appeared and gave off a very strong aura. 

Although lacking in numbers, this army was many times stronger than what Axel summoned using Blood Monarch.

[Master… I'll take care of the army. I can withstand their fire without a problem and I'm better suited for a large group battle.] spoke Jugram. 

Other subordinates were out of question here already because of the fire spread on the battlefield. 

"Good. At least we two can face them head-on." said Kahn. 

Just then, another voice resounded in Kahn's mind. 

[Human… I'm done absorbing Bjormngandur's body, bloodline and increasing my strength.] Rudra spoke after a long time. 

The next moment, he spoke in a voice filled with surging battle intent. 

[And I'm ready for a challenge!]