Hero of Darkness

The Grayborne tribe of Lukania was overwhelmingly grateful towards Blackwall and after seeing how he easily defended their lands and swept away the entire battlefield as well as provided long-term security to their terrain from the ground level attacks and enemy breaches… the entire populace titled him as Lord of Battlefield. 

As expected, the higher-ups paid 3 times the promised payment as well as SS Rank cores according to their word and also requested Blackwall to open several entrances in the wall that they'd use for the population to enter and exit. 

Given their specialty in crafting and smithing trade, they planned to invest in making ginormous gates that would be unreachable in the future. 

Blackwall in his Sigurd form showed a humble expression and used a respectful tone towards the council members, sometimes praising Legolas aka their guild leader who instructed him to protect the innocent inhabitants of these lands even if it meant working more than what was expected of them. 

Because of this generosity, a form of verbal pact was formed with them and the entire tribe of 400 thousand Lukions who specialized in weaponry and making flying ships in the entire Alfheim were now strongly allied with the Misthios guild and also promised to give them preferential treatment in the future. 

What none of them knew that Kahn had already predicted this to be the case when he accepted the job in the first place. 

Lukion species had their position as 4th superior species in the empire because of their innate abilities and bodies. Some saints of their kind even worked as forefront warriors in the military. But the case was that their numbers were very few and the reproduction rate was also low. 

Thus, they greatly emphasized the preservation of the lives of their people even though they had enormously strong bodies and couldn't be killed easily. This was something ingrained in their minds because of their customs. Thus, Kahn specifically told Blackwall to go all out because sooner or later… he was going to need their help in upcoming plans. 

A grand celebration was held by the tribe and Sigurd was their honorary guest for the night. 

The next day, Blackwall told everything about what happened and how he tripled their gains in a triumphant tone. 

"Good. As expected of you. So did you bring them as well?" asked Kahn with an anticipating voice. 

"Yes, of course." spoke Blackwall and Kahn activated his Dimensional Domain. 

As both entered inside the separate plane of dimension exclusive to Kahn that now spanned for 10 kilometers in radius after Kahn broke through to 2nd stage saint rank… he took out over 30 space rings and unloaded their contents. 

Whoosh! 

Clatter! 

Thud! 

One after another… thousands of bodies of dead monster corpses varying from species to species and sizes spread and formed hundreds of small mountains in the entirety of the domain. 

Kahn used Hunter Domain and sensed the total numbers. 

"Great. Close to 700 thousand corpses, most of them in good condition. 

This shall do." said Kahn in an applauding voice and revealing an excited expression. 

All of these monsters were Blackwall's kills during the monster tide. 

What others didn't know was that when he dropped those massive boulders created from nearby mountains; he butchered only the ones on the surface and suspended them at a level in the air before using the ground and soil to bury them alive. 

After all the monsters died, he used those pointy and sharp stone pikes and turned them into pillars that supported the now hollow ground. 

This way, he had preserved many bodies while everyone thought that he turned them all into flat meat using his skills. Later, the Assassins that Kahn left in Blackwall's shadow secretly went into the hollowed ground when everyone was celebrating their victory against the monster tide. 

They all collected their corpses and came back to Blackwall without anyone noticing anything. 

The monster tide was also a great opportunity for harvesting monster corpses if one could successfully subdue them. 

And no way someone as shrewd and greedy as Kahn would let this opportunity go. 

"With this… we can sell most of their bodies and parts in the Adventurer Association or Black Market. 

As for the fully intact ones… they should serve the main purpose." he revealed as a grin formed on his face. 

"System, get to work." he ordered. 

In response, the system replied after a long time. 

[Ability Absorption activated!] 

In just one hour, the absorption was done and then when Kahn moved to Synthesis… he was sadly left disappointed. 

Although the numbers and abilities varied greatly… he couldn't create any Saint Rank or Legendary Rank skills and abilities. At the end of the day, these were only small mob monsters and not the dungeon bosses. 

"Alright then… I guess I'll have to focus on the main objective at hand." spoke Kahn and then continued in a stern voice… 

"Awaken." 

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10 hours later, the Synthesis divine ability finished its work and now… other than the bodies Kahn planned to sell, there stood an army of massive and ferocious monsters from different species, many being amalgamations of two to three different monsters. 

200 Thousand. 

These were the new members of the Legion. 

During the battle against Axel and his Blood Monster army… Kahn understood one of his drawbacks. 

That unlike Axel, who could recreate and increase a massive army of millions of fodder monsters… Kahn severely lacked in that sector. 

Although he had powerful subordinates but sometimes… the advantage of numbers, especially against a large enemy force could not be overlooked. 

A powerful attack from a saint could easily raze the battlefield and turn it into a pool of blood but most of those bodies would be beyond recognition, destroyed into small pieces. 

Thus, Kahn had an inspiration from that incident. From now on, he'd target these monsters to keep increasing the numbers of the Legion army. 

Who knew if one day, he'd have to face an unending army or millions of monsters all at once and even his Legendary Rank abilities didn't help during the battle of this scale? 

Then, he'd have to fight numbers with numbers. So it'd be a good thing if he had a bigger force. 

"Added with the 150 thousand legion monsters I created in Verlassen during my time as the Sovereign… now I have 350 thousand subordinates in my own army who can always fight for me at a moment's notice. 

Out of them, 230 thousand are pure monsters while the rest are fighting class subordinates with weapons and armors. 

Among them… I have 30 thousand Elite Rank monsters. 

Close to 10 thousand Lord Rank monsters and only 2 thousand High Lords. 

Man… Only if I had some suitable monsters such as dungeon bosses, I could've created at least a dozen Legendary Rank monsters with the amount of SS Rank cores and ores I have on hand." spoke Kahn with a dejected face. 

However, if any other Saints of the empire heard Kahn… they'd choke on their saliva. 

What were Legendary Rank monsters? 

Those were the creatures that stood on par with saints and could easily kill an army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers on their own if a saint didn't interfere during the battle. 

Even the entire Zivot Empire barely had 80 legendary rank creatures spread in various sections and regions. Each one being no different than a world calamity. 

Yet Kahn was complaining that he didn't get a chance to create a dozen of them as if they were sold in the farmer's market. 

Forget Legendary rank monsters… even 1 High Lord rank monster required at least 5 to 10 thousand well-geared troops. In many middle-tier dungeons, High Lord monsters were often the Dungeon Bosses themselves. 

But Kahn already had 2 thousand High Lords in Legion. This was a feat that even a Necromancer like Ceril hadn't accomplished yet despite having more than 10 million undeads in his army. 

"Tch! I guess I'll have to kill a few dungeon bosses in the future and maybe I can create a few more reliable subordinates." he expressed with a countenance full of loss. 

"Alright then… I hope the last phase of the plans goes perfectly. After that… I will be completely set up in this empire." spoke Kahn. 

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At midnight, inside a deep and forested mountainous range a few thousand kilometers away… a mysterious figure under green robes came out of a dark and humid cave that was protected by various barriers and formations. 

This tall humanoid being looked at the bright stars and two dazzling moons in the sky, basking in the tranquility of nature while taking a deep breath. 

"I am finally awake after over 100 years." spoke this person in a hoarse and grim voice. 

"My rank has fallen to 5th stage saint now. Being a High Elf surely takes a toll on one's mana and world energy. 

Still… I guess it's time for me to start making my move. 

That place… and that 'thing'... It's about time everyone starts putting their chess pieces together." he spoke, his voice being icy cold and his eyes brimming with evil intentions.

"I shall depart… for Alfheim."