Hero of Darkness

Throughout this entire exchange, Kahn aka Atreus was evenly matched against Hodag, a mythical beast who was on the same level as him. But due to it being a descendant of a godbeast, it was as strong as a 6th stage saint based on physical stats alone.

To others, it would appear like Atreus was handling it easily but no one could imagine that just bearing the brunt of psychic attacks that would instantly drive even a 5th stage saint mad was no easy matter.

Kahn was using multiple defensive abilities to withstand the opponent's pressure and also used some of his unique skills while attacking the opponent that wouldn't expose his identity.

All the skills he absorbed from Cthulhu were just on the surface. He also used Defense Breaker, Royalguard, Wrath of Vajra, Lycan Tyrant's Roar, Lucid Reality and the new abilities he gained after becoming a saint Brawler warrior.

Secretly, he was also using Rathnaar's core as a source for constant attacks while acting like he was running out of world energy reserves so the opponent would feel that he could kill Atreus as soon as the wolfkin ran out of his strength.

However… Even with all these skills that decimated the region during their battle as they moved around, the descendant of the Godbeast couldn't be injured in any sense.

The defensive abilities were already better than what Cthulhu had. Alas, Kahn had to limit himself to not use his useful skills to kill the opponent and all he could do was play the part of the front attacker.

Also, this was a completely different situation compared to when he usually fought mythical rank monsters with his subordinates.

Normally, they took care of such monsters easily with teamwork but now, Kahn was doing everything on his own while withholding his real strength.

[Now!] commanded Atreus.

Finally, after opening Hodag's mouth by catching it off guard…

Whoosh!

Before Hodag could even react or sense anything, a bright white light suddenly emerged from those high tides of this artificial sea created by Atreus and entered the mythical rank beast's mouth in a flash.

Even till this point, Dorian hadn't engaged in a fight with Hodag in the slightest since the beginning.

And this was exactly the opportunity Kahn was creating all this time. To forcefully make the enemy unable to move and make this surprise attack, catching this monster off guard as he created a safe passage for his comrade to make the last move when the enemy was taken by surprise and couldn't use its mind and sense-altering skills.

Now, it was time for the intermediate 4th stage saint to utilize this opportunity created by Atreus.

Stab!

Slash!

BOOM!!

Suddenly, a 500 meter long light elemental sword emerged from inside Hodag's skull like a divine strike made by a deity, instantly killing this mythical rank monster while the latter's black brain matter erupted and spread across a 300 meter radius within the battlefield.

Dorian used his biggest and most powerful killing to puncture the monster's brains out from the inside, finishing it without much effort.

The result was exactly what Atreus anticipated.

Kahn remembered that the system said that Hodag was weak against only Darkness and Light elemental attacks and the only fragile body parts it had was from inside the figure while the outer body was comparable to an impregnable fortress.

And since Kahn couldn't afford to reveal his origins or raise any suspicion, he decided to let Dorian, who had the Light elemental affinity land the killing strike.

Unlike how Kahn usually did things… This was the very first time he fought alongside someone else other than his subordinates and cooperated to get the job done.

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

Dorian emerged from the fountain of gray blood and black brain matter, nodding at Atreus and giving an understanding nod.

He too acknowledged the fact that this single opportunity wouldn't even be possible if the former hadn't given his all and fought tirelessly for the past hour against himself.

[Perhaps he isn't that bad. He was clearly stronger than he revealed back then but still went easy on her.

Maybe I need to stop being so immature and picking fights with him.

Master was indeed right… I have become complacent and ignorant.] thought Dorian.

Although he had his pride as a warrior, he wasn't ignorant in judging people.

He felt no shame in admitting his immature behavior that stemmed from his inferiority that recently affected his perception of Atreus.

Right then, 3 rectangular warships colored in green and golden yellow patterns arrived in their range of sight.

"Let's go. Our job here is done." spoke Dorian.

Although Kahn wanted to absorb Hodag's abilities… Luck wasn't on his side as thousands of soldiers arrived here and Dorian himself was with him.

1 Hour Later.

They arrived back in the city but Atreus had a grim countenance.

The reason being…

There was another massacre.

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

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

"What the fuck happened here when we were away?!" clamored Atreus as he saw thousands of corpses spread over a widespread ground.

The blood and detached body parts of all the victims of the previous massacre by Hodag lay on the ground.

In addition, along with all the rescued victims… were the corpses of the native soldiers.

The newly arrived soldiers in green and golden armor were gathering the corpses while mages prepared powerful spells to incinerate the remaining 20 thousand victims.

Kahn himself was unable to grasp the situation and couldn't find a reason why all these people and the soldiers who previously helped rescue the victims were slaughtered.

Whoosh!

The next second, a group of saints clad in epic rank armors appeared in the sky along with Conan Doykle, the white tigerkin saint.

"Unlucky bastards." he spoke casually, without sparing a glance at the terrified expressions of the commoners that were slaughtered wantonly.

BOOM!!

At this moment, a dark blue aura erupted from the other end of the city.

Atreus quickly appeared in front of this group of saints, his eyes filled with fury.

"You… Did you have them all killed to get rid of the witnesses of your failure?!" he questioned while tightly clenching his fists, barely able to control his rage.

Kahn concluded that unlike how he thought before… they literally wanted to bury this entire matter about how a member of the Hero's Party fucked up big time and caused the deaths of more than a million innocent citizens.

"Tch! Why do you care?" asked Conan, his countenance unfazed.

"You fucking bastard!!" shouted Kahn and summoned the Azure Dragon Fist in the sky, ready to attack the 4th stage saint tigerkin as he lost his control.

Instead of protecting the people they vowed to serve… Everyone was doing exactly the opposite.

But due to his moral compass dictating his mind, Kahn just lost his calm even though none of these people were his responsibility or meant anything to him.

"Stop!"

Just then, Dorian spoke in a grim voice before Atreus attacked Conan.

"Atreus! Let him go!

It wasn't him who ordered their deaths." he said with an incredulous expression.

"Then who the fuck did?!" clamored Atreus as he glanced back at his comrade.

Dorian's expression turned heavy and with great indignation, he finally revealed the truth.

"The Empress."