Hero of Darkness

After Venessa cried her heart out while cursing her father, the emperor… she eventually exhausted herself. And because of the immense psychological blow she received… it became hard for her to maintain consciousness and thus, Venessa ended up fainting. 

But despite all of her curses and badmouthing… Havi's temperament was also so strong that he did not give to her profanities or made a wrong move. 

Before Venessa fainted, her willpower was drained to the bottom and Havi placed a seal on her body just by raising his palm. 

Venessa had studied about this seal while she was educating herself about warfare. 

This seal placed a restriction on the target's body… prohibiting them from taking their own lives or physically harming themselves to the point of no return. 

In the Vulcan empire, this seal was often used on prisoners of high value or spies from the other empires during investigations. But only a fifth stage saint or above could use this because leaving an imprint on someone's soul needed a lot of word energy and precise handling. 

But still, it was a very effective method to get useful intel from enemies of the empire. 

And now… she, the princess herself was treated like one. 

After Venessa fainted, their image flickered and the next moment, she was lying on her bed while a wave of burgundy-colored aura encapsulated her body. 

"Heal well. And…" spoke Havi before and left only two words behind before he disappeared into thin air. 

"I'm sorry." 

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A few minutes later… the emperor arrived on a secretly guarded floor that was under the protection of 2 imperial guards. 

"Your majesty!" said the guards loudly and instantly kneeled. 

"Leave the chamber and let no one inside till I'm done." said the emperor and entered through the door without sparing a glance at the guards. 

Both the guards quickly disappeared from the room while leaving the aura of first stage saints themselves. 

As soon as the door closed, Havi ordered his armor to disappear and the following second, he was wearing tight black clothes.

Soon, hundreds of archaic runes and magic formations appeared and layers after layers covered the entire hall. 

In truth, this was the last protection hall of the imperial family in case there was a coup or someone tried to kill them. A hall made by the best dwarven blacksmiths hundreds of years ago that could even withstand an attack from a 9th stage saint. 

This was the last resort to protect the imperial family members and only the reigning emperor or empress had the right to open or close this hall. 

However… the expression on his face went from calm to that of an enraged man real quick. 

"Even now… I'm still failing to keep my promise." he spoke to himself as his voice reverberated in this quiet hall.

Howl! 

Howl! 

Strong winds suddenly appeared from his body and howled in the surrounding atmosphere. 

BOOM!! 

The very next moment, Havi released all of his saint pressure to the full extent and even the small dust particles in the air completely froze. 

If he had revealed this aura before… forget being unable to move; Venessa would've been reduced to small atoms as this pressure was thousands of times higher and stronger than what she experienced in the throne hall. 

But unlike his domineering aura… a teardrop suddenly dropped from his left cheek and the cruel and emotionless emperor who didn't even bother comforting his crying daughter was nowhere to be seen. 

Instead… a face of a lost and helpless man came into sight. 

BOOM!! 

BOOM!! 

Like an active volcano, one after another… massive explosions and bursts of saint pressure filled this vast hall.

Hundreds of defensive barriers, runes and magic formations that were placed to protect this place activated all at once and tried to subdue this insurmountable and unbearable saint pressure. 

If Rathnaar was present here… he would be able to quantify how destructive this saint pressure was. Because he too had been on this level of strength once. 

Even someone like Kahn could guess that this terrifying aura was enough to destroy over 500 kilometers of area and incinerate everything in that radius. 

The temperature of the room itself was no less than that of sizzling molten lava and even with the Magma Drake's abilities… Kahn would be turned into ash in just a couple of seconds. 

"Aaaaaaeeeeerrrrrgggghhhh!!!!" screamed Havi as if he was suffering from excruciating pain. 

His screams consistently created shockwaves and sent ripples that barged against the runes and protection barriers inside the hall. 

This walking-talking nuclear warhead called Havi Hos Sigfreed was letting out all of the anger and bloodlust he had held inside of him. 

This rage and killing intent wasn't directed at anyone else but himself! 

"What's the point of being the emperor if I have to sell my daughter just to maintain peace?" he asked himself as both of his eyes let out more tears of regret. 

But they instantly evaporated because of the temperature of the room. 

"Father… Brother… I wish you two were here. 

I don't know how long can I carry this on…" said Havi as he curled down and started bawling in sorrow. 

No one would be able to believe that the strongest person of the entire Vulcan empire… the emperor who ruled over billions with an iron will was now crying like a helpless child. 

This was a face completely opposite of the cruel, merciless and indifferent emperor that everyone including his own children had never seen. 

Havi pulled back his saint pressure and in just a minute, the room returned to its original temperature as the runes and formations splendidly did their job. 

Havi summoned a photo frame from his space as his tears appeared again and started rolling down like a river. 

He sniffed and wiped off his tears… a futile attempt that didn't stop his grief in any way. 

As he stared at the image in the frame… his countenance turned unsightly because another wave of regret and sense of loss hit the emperor. 

The most prestigious and powerful person in this empire now looked like a beggar cursing the world for his fate. 

His crimson and floating hair that were ablaze like a violent fire dimmed and stopped moving. 

Havi then looked at the person inside the photo frame. 

A human woman in her mid-30s. Long black hair and a refreshing expression on her face. 

Her eyes had green iris and her overall appearance gave a feeling of kindness and compassion. 

The resemblance between this woman and Venessa was uncanny. Even Havi looked at her photo with a sense of unending yearning as he spoke in a defeated voice… 

"I have failed our daughter again… Freyja."