Hero of Darkness

Kahn stood stupefied as soon as the system informed him about something called a Divine Key after the burst of black aura from the center of his chest. 

[System, what the hell is a divine key? How come you never told me anything about it?] he queried in an aghast tone. 

[Information sealed temporarily as the host hasn't met a hidden prerequisite condition.] responded the system in a lifeless voice. 

[What's the condition? And what does a divine key do?

The keyword is 'key'. So does it open a door or a path to something?] he asked again, his voice filled with curiosity.

[Information sealed temporarily.] replied the system again as if it didn't care about Kahn's query at all. 

[What the fuck?! Why are you hiding something so crucial?! 

I touched and absorbed his core without being able to stop or control the process. It's important for me to know this vital information. 

And if his core is a divine key named Flamescion… What about my core? Is it a divine key as well? What's it called?] Kahn barraged the system with a plethora of questions because he was also shaken by this sudden revelation. 

[The host's divine key hasn't been awakened yet. 

The host must complete the prerequisite condition first.] replied the system again, giving Kahn only unclear answers. 

[Then tell me what's the condition, you dimwit!! 

That damn God of Darkness and Kravel didn't tell me anything and you're withholding this information from me as well. 

How the hell am I supposed to survive like this?] nagged Kahn. 

[Old bastard, do you know something?] asked Kahn to the peak saint in his soul. 

[I don't know about the matters of Heroes and Gods. 

I only killed those heroes who came in my way or tried to attack my empire back then. 

I had no reason to get entangled in these matters because I had different priorities.] responded Rathnaar, his voice sounding as clueless as Kahn. 

Ding! 

Ding! 

Ding! 

But before Kahn could ask any more questions, a system notification resounded in his mind and Kahn's eyes widened in surprise as well as worry. 

"All of you! Get away!" shouted Kahn in a hurry, confusing everyone. 

Venessa and his subordinates quickly retreated in just a few seconds and stopped 12 Kilometers away in the air. 

BOOM!! 

A sudden burst of black and red aura filled with dense and terrifyingly destructive saint pressure suddenly exploded and spread across 10 kilometers in just a dozen seconds. 

All of the stones, boulders, crevices and cracks in this already destroyed battlefield were razed down and turned to smithereens under this condensed and oppressive saint pressure while a 1 kilometer tall and half-a-kilometer wide pillar of darkness and fire element arose at the center of this terrifying saint pressure. 

"Don't tell me…" spoke Venessa with an aghast expression. 

"Master's entire aura is changing. It's as if…" spoke Ceril, the magic expert among the group. 

"Not just his aura… his life force is also transforming." said Armin with an incredulous expression. 

All of them had worried expressions because no one knew what the hell was happening at this moment. 

----------------

Meanwhile, in the capital Arkensan of the Vulcan empire… 

Crack!

Crack! 

Hetrax's massive statue in the main Church headquarters, situated in the capital Arkensan started cracking and a massive volcanic eruption of blood-red fire appeared from the statue and dozens of kilometers of sky was covered by the red light. 

Millions of people from different races and species were taken aback, most of them cowering in fear because the aura released from this statue had spread within 100 kilometers radius and every living being in this range could feel the wrath and vengeful aura on their bodies. 

Even high-ranked beings such as Saints were no exception to this. All of them concluded that something has angered their god Hetrax. 

Something… FORBIDDEN. 

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Unbeknownst to the citizen of the Vulcan empire… At this very moment, all the other Gods had sent their decree to their Empires that served them through the official spokespersons such as Popes and Monks because they sensed a familiar phenomenon that happened 300 years ago. 

All the remaining Gods had declared to the world… 

That the Hero of Fire was dead. And the one to kill him was the Hero of Darkness! 

In their eyes, the new Hero of Darkness… 

Was following the footsteps of his Predecessor. 

----------------

"ARRRGHHHHH!!!" roared Kahn who stood at the center of this massive pillar. 

Crack! 

Crack! 

Every inch of his body felt like it was burning and getting incinerated while his bones felt like they'd crumble and turn into dust any moment. 

Kahn was suffering under immeasurably excruciating pain, far more agonizing than when he sacrificed a part of his soul back in Verlassen. 

BANG!!! 

Another explosion occurred and this time… the previously exuded aura and saint pressure was thrown off and all of it started disappearing at a rapid pace. 

Sizzle!! 

Sizzle!! 

A 500 meters wide crater was formed on the ground, filled with sizzling sand and stones while streams of molten lava appeared here and there. 

[Congratulations to the host!! 

Divine Key : Flamescion has been successfully absorbed and merged with the host's own divine key.

Host's body has been transformed and gained perfect immunity against the Fire element.] reported the system. 

Kahn on the other end, was completely naked in the massive crater as his clothes were burnt to crisp despite having a top-notch defense against many elements including fire. 

All the burn marks were completely healed as if nothing ever happened and he wasn't burnt to cinders just a few minutes ago. 

Kahn took a deep breath while sensing that his body felt a bit different than before. But the system sent another notification. 

[Congratulations to the host!! 

The host now has ownership of the divine weapon Amaterasu! 

The host must awaken his own Divine Key to gain full access to this Divine Weapon.] 

"What the…" before Kahn could even react in disbelief… 

[Congratulations to the host for becoming…] 

The system gave another mind-boggling notification, making Kahn too stunned to speak. 

[Second Stage Saint!!]