Hero of Darkness

Kahn agreed to follow Vildred's suggestion and let go of all the defensive mechanism 

or the aid from the system to yield the perfect result from Elemental Fusion as he didn't want to waste this opportunity by using his body's resistance to the fire element granted by his various passive abilities, the bloodlines or the Divine Key Flamescion. 

Soon, the wormhole-like formations suddenly glowed and formed thin needles of fire, each carrying the strength of an unimaginable amount of blistering and blazing flames that could burn down cities instantly. 

Even Kahn's temple region of the head was pierced by it. 

Those needles then pierced Kahn's body in all the places the wormholes appeared and injected all the amassed fire by Vildred. 

"Arrrhghhhh!!" 

Wailed Kahn in agonizing pain as if someone was drilling a metal rod in his head, flesh and bones in all these points. 

Swoom! 

This pain was so intense that he felt his entire body shuddering and vibrating like hot magma was running through it while destroying him from within. 

Crack! 

Shatter! 

Every bone in his body started crumbling and shattering. 

Sizzle!

Sizzle! 

In upcoming moments, Kahn's flesh started burning from the inside as the orifices also started bleeding including his eyes. 

Scorching heat appeared throughout the point of piercing and in a matter of seconds, Kahn was completely coated by a thin film of pure and potent fire as if being engulfed by flames. 

"Arrrrrregggggg!!" groaned Kahn and screamed despite trying his best to endure the pain. 

Soon, the damaged nervous system lost connection with his mind and the pain receptors turned useless. 

But as an aftereffect, Kahn started having seizures in succession as his body was no longer in his control. 

At this moment… 

Kahn was burning as if he was bathed in magma inside an active volcano. 

However, this immense and terrifying pain Kahn was enduring… Was just the beginning. 

Minutes passed. 

But in the meantime… Kahn was dying, scorched and burned to cinders alive every waking second. 

Unlike how God of Darkness killed him thousands of times when he met them before being thrown into Vantrea… 

This wasn't only momentary death which also reincarnated him in picoseconds. 

Because here… he could feel every bit of pain and agony in his body and consciousness amplified by a thousand times. 

His fate… was Worse than Death. 

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

Hours passed and Kahn kept enduring the horrifying pain as his Instant Regeneration skill and his various bloodlines activated on their own and kept bringing him back to life. 

But each time, he kept feeling like his body was churned and turned into ashes as his charred skin kept dropping on the ground, forming large heaps of ash around it. 

This pain was many times more terrifying and mortifying than anything he had experienced before. 

And for the first time even after mastering Harnessing and Conceptualization, Kahn felt like he no longer had the will to live. 

At this point, whether it was his body or his mind… Both of them had broken. 

The light in his eyes… was of a dead man. 

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

Another hour passed as Kahn kept living through torment and was no different than burnt coal as his hair and skin had completely charred beyond the point of recognition.

Right then… The system sent a notification. 

[Elemental Transfusion for Fire Element complete! 

Congratulations to the host! 

The host has achieved 100% Natural Affinity with the Fire Elemental.

The host can now achieve instant transformation of World Energy into Fire Element at will.] the system notified. 

But Kahn on the other side had completely lost his mind. 

Soon, his regeneration skills started recovering his body and in minutes, the outer layer of charred skin cracked, revealing the perfectly healed and rejuvenated skin and all fleshly organs. 

BOOM! 

A massive aura erupted as the ash and dust from the burnt skin were shoved away with a gust. 

A scorching red aura suddenly revealed itself, full of violent and terrifying might. 

This was the aura full of the Fire Element of Vantrea in its peak form. 

Just like the one present at Convergence of Reality, Kahn now emitted the same fire that previously entered his body via the formation created by Vildred. 

Huff! 

Huff! 

The dragon emperor also revealed an expression of victory and contentment.

[If I was at my peak… This process wouldn't have taken so long. 

And he wouldn't have experienced death for so many hours.] thought the Sage, clenching his fist in self-hatred as he blamed his current weakness. 

He had seen what Kahn went through and could understand how it felt being turned into cinders and then recovering just the next second to live through that horrifying pain again and again for so long. 

During the Elemental Transfusion procedure that took more than 5 hours and by his estimation… 

Kahn had died and returned from the dead more than 18,000 times. 

Something that was not even the top powerhouse such as 8th stage saints in the world could easily go through. 

"Kahn… wake up!" he exclaimed. 

But Kahn didn't move as if he was in some sort of trance. 

His eyes were open but his mind was blank. 

The air permeated through his skin but he couldn't feel anything. 

His body completely regenerated, revealing even more monstrous strength and fiery aura. But his countenance revealed lifelessness. 

To outsiders, Kahn would look completely fine under this domineering aura, akin to a King. 

But inside… He was completely a dried husk of his former self. 

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

A few more hours passed but Kahn still didn't move or respond. 

Rathnaar also used his core and provided Kahn's body with an abundance of World Energy to pull him out of this state. 

Yet there seemed to be no life as if his soul had left his body. 

However, at this very moment… 

Whoosh!! 

Kahn appeared in an astral soul form inside a space unknown. His ethereal body floated in the air. 

In this space, everything was made of fire. 

Black, white, blue, green, red and yellow colored flames encompassed basically everything in this dimension with no sky or ground. 

However, a 1 kilometer tall entity stood atop a throne made of liquified fire and gazed at Kahn with glowing eyes full of discerning countenance. 

Kahn also gazed at this entity with whom he felt an indescribable connection. 

"Who are you?" asked Kahn with a vigilant expression. 

"Ah… Didn't think I would see you like this one day. 

Especially not after you killed my previous contractor." spoke this massive being made of multicolored flames that didn't have a fixed position or direction. 

"Who are you? Do you know me? 

Have we met before?" queried Kahn again, revealing no fear in his demeanor either. 

"Of course I do… Hero of Darkness. 

Didn't they tell you that 'we' have a sentience of our own?" spoke this ginormous being with a tyrannical, terrifying and ghastly voice. 

"My name is…" revealed the being in a majestic voice as if it was an Overlord of all the Fire in the world. 

"Amaterasu."