Hero of Darkness

Not only Kahn but also all of his subordinates along with Venessa were taken aback after the massive explosion of saint pressure. The system then notified that Kahn had become a 2nd Stage Saint after a one and half year gap. 

Kahn quickly summoned his dark gray longcoat attire again, looking exactly like the way he was when the Hero's Party brought him here. In the following moments, he absorbed this information and recounted the moments that occurred a few minutes ago. 

Kahn was already Level 296 and during the battle when he absorbed the world energy from Kagutsuchi, the Fire Deity by using the Energy Plunderer skill, the system notified him that he met the condition to ascend to a 2nd stage saint already. 

But he purposely delayed his breakthrough because they were in a battle and he'd be vulnerable during the process since it couldn't be abruptly stopped and Kahn couldn't move during the breakthrough. But right after he inadvertently absorbed Axel's core aka the Divine Key : Flamescion, the system forcefully made this breakthrough and now informed him. 

"Tell me my levels." ordered Kahn. 

[The host is currently at level 387.] informed the system. 

"That much already? I guess a 3rd stage saint's core is indeed powerful. 

And I still feel that I haven't absorbed or converted all the world energy from Axel's core and Kagutsuchi yet. Means my levels will rise soon as soon as my body becomes ready for another breakthrough." he said and clenched his fists, making a Mission Accomplished pose. 

At this moment, Kahn could finally tell the difference that he was 5 times stronger than before, unlike the time when his mind was in a hazy state due to the sudden breakthrough. 

In the following moments, Kahn's expression turned curious. 

"If by absorbing another Hero's Divine Key, you could get ownership of their divine weapon… 

Is that why the previous Hero of Darkness killed all the other heroes?" wondered Kahn with a clueless expression. 

Because as per his knowledge, divine abilities were tied to the soul. And divine weapons consumed Soul Essence to attack. 

But binding a divine weapon to the soul would be too much of a burden on it since they were already carrying divine abilities. It'd do more harm than good, especially with Heroes & Heroines with more than 3 divine abilities. 

So that left only their Core as the most suitable conduit to form that link with the owner and the weapon; like Albestros and Throk used the Blood-bind ritual to link their weapon and armors. 

Means as long as a chosen Hero could get a divine key from another hero, he or she could also use their divine weapon. 

"Maybe because he wanted their Divine Keys and gain access to their Divine Weapons as well as rise in ranks rapidly; he killed them one by one because of his greed for power…" hypothesized Kahn. 

This seemed like the only plausible reason to Kahn since he knew nothing about the history of the events that happened 300 years ago. 

But any theories he had based on the little superficial information at hand would often reach a completely different verdict that the actual truth. 

Thus, Kahn didn't want to form an opinion based on just some guesswork. 

SHING!! 

However, Kahn's entire body froze at the very next second as an unbearably tyrannical and horrifying saint pressure dropped on him. His entire body was forced to lay down on the ground under this leaden pressure. 

[Kid, run! A powerful saint is targeting you from 200 hundred kilometers away!!] suddenly, Rathnaar shouted in Kahn's mind. 

[Dammit! This must be the people from the Church of Hetrax! 

I don't have any space force left to escape either.] cursed Kahn in his mind. 

He had already expended all the space force during the fight against Axel and he didn't have any other skill that could work against this mountainous saint pressure that was enough to kill him just with a thought. 

Everyone except Venessa was forced into the same situation under this insurmountable killing intent while the princess was also bamboozled as she could tell who this saint pressure belonged to. 

SKRAAA!!! 

An ear-deafening cry of a monstrous creature resounded in the air, the origin being so loud that all of them could hear from 50 kilometers away. 

Flap!! 

Flap!! 

A massive and unimaginable long bird-like monster suddenly appeared 15 kilometers away high in the sky, its ginormous figure was so big that even they could see it from this far distance. 

[An aura of a 9th stage saint and that double-headed body…] said Rathnaar as he tried to remember something from a distant memory. 

"Impossible… what the hell is that thing?!" clamored Kahn as he still struggled to move an inch of his body. 

[That… so the legend was true. Look carefully boy… 

That's one of the three Primordial Creatures of this world. The beings that came before all the other species of the world and even someone like an Elder Dragon or an Archangel couldn't be compared to when it reaches the peak of its strength.] replied Rathnaar in a grim voice as he stated the name… 

[The Simurgh.] 

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Kahn and the group had an incredulous as well as jarring expression. Because they had no idea who this new arrival was. 

SKRAA!! 

Another wave of bird cry filled the surroundings and right before everyone's eyes… 

The 8 kilometer tall creature started transforming and shrinking. In just a couple of minutes, the massive bird no longer existed. However, he turned into a humanoid figure with two long red horns and fiery red hair that floated in the air. 

"The Emperor!" exclaimed Kahn in disbelief. 

Havi Hos Sigfreed, the emperor of the Vulcan Empire had finally arrived. 

Venessa too had an aghast expression. This was the first time she had seen her father's primordial creature form. But what surprised her even more was the current state of the emperor himself. 

Havi had lost his left eye, his body was riddled with lacerations and deep wounds from head to toe as he bled excessively. 

The mighty emperor who was an 8th stage saint was gravely injured to the point he looked like a man… 

On the verge of Death.