TME 02

Chapter 2

2

It took Cain half a day to calm and organize his thoughts to some extent.

During that time, his hot tears had already dried, and cold reason had taken their place, once again making Cain composed.

He was the only person left alive here, but Cain tightly bit his lips with the determination to make sure their deaths would not be in vain.

Flip. Flip.

Cain’s hands quickly turned the pages of the book.

The first thing that caught his eye was the writing on the very first page.

Take the power of others and make it your own?

It cannot be anything other than something extremely dangerous and interesting.

(Excerpt)

……Among the hearts inside the altar, find the one with the strongest vitality and place it in the center of the magic circle.

Then, if you chant the spell written below, the power of the dead will gather there.

Cain’s gaze naturally turned toward the altar.

There, just as if it had been waiting for him, he saw one heart that was still giving off a red aura.

Without hesitation, Cain picked it up.

Then he slowly walked toward the center of the magic circle.

At the center was a mark that Duke Forn had made when drawing the magic circle.

“Phew. I hope your sacrifices will not be in vain…….”

Cain let out a short breath.

Then he carefully placed the heart on the mark.

Flash—!

At that moment, a ray of light flashed.

At the same time, all the corpses inside the magic circle, except Cain, suddenly rose into the air.

Every corpse trembled violently in the air, and black energy continuously flowed out from them and seeped into the heart.

“Ah!”

As Cain watched this, the word sacrifice came to his mind.

Was this their sacrifice for him?

The corpses of his subordinates gradually lost their color and vitality and dried up like mummies.

On the other hand, the heart began to take on a dark red color as intense dark energy poured into it.

Then, a black beam of light shot toward the ceiling.

The surrounding energy that had been wavering became quiet, and the dried corpses turned into dust and scattered.

Shhhhhhh.

The heart at the center of the magic circle began to beat.

Cain’s eyes turned back to the book.

The heart in which all the power has gathered is like one enormous mana hole. However, since the power of different people has gathered together, it will take a great deal of time to use that power completely.

If you place your hand on the heart, all of that power will enter your body.

However, without the training and awakening worthy of that power, you will not even be able to use one-tenth of it.

Therefore, follow the cultivation and training methods written below and diligently cultivate your magic.

“Haa. I will not let your sacrifices be in vain. I swear…….”

Cain’s voice trailed off.

And slowly,

he brought his trembling hand toward the dark red heart.

It was the moment when an unprecedented dark mage was born.

Whoosh!

“……!”

The moment Cain touched the heart, an intense energy burst out from it.

It began flowing rapidly into Cain’s body through his hand.

An energy that was both hot and cold.

An enormous power that could not be described in words began flowing rapidly into his body.

Feeling as if his entire body was being sucked inside, Cain instinctively tried to pull his hand away and twisted his body.

But his hand would not move, as if it had become attached to the heart.

“Grrrrrrgh!”

Soon, that sensation turned into pain.

The pain that began at his fingertips passed through his elbow and shoulder and reached his heart.

It was a pain so intense that it felt as if everything was burning.

Cain squeezed his eyes shut, but he could not overcome the unbearable pain and let out a groan.

“U, u…… Your Majesty, please take this book first……. This is a book I prepared in case something happened. In it…… everything about dark magic is written.”

“Your Majesty!”

“……Simply put, we will become the source of power for you…….”

In the world of emptiness created by the tremendous pain, Cain heard the voices of his subjects calling out to him again and again.

It was not the voice of one person.

It was the voices of the subordinates who had placed their bodies inside the magic circle with him, all speaking as one.

Cain could also see Duke Forn and Duke Aslan looking at him with satisfaction despite their pale faces that had lost all color.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Cain’s heart pounded violently.

As his body accepted the enormous power, the tension throughout his body had reached its limit.

It felt as if his heart would burst if he took even one more breath.

Whoooosh!

Just then,

a huge flame rose around Cain’s body, which had been curled up helplessly from the pain.

It was black energy, but it was definitely fire.

For a moment, Cain thought he was going to be burned to death.

But the flames rose outside his body rather than inside it, while sending another kind of energy into Cain’s body.

As intense heat seeped into him from outside, the deepest part of his chest, on the other hand, was freezing with extreme cold.

He could feel the energies of extreme yang and extreme yin at the same time, both inside and outside his body.

“Haa. Haa.”

A breathless gasp escaped him.

The pain that made his entire body feel as if it would break apart continued.

His lips, which he had bitten tightly because of the pain, had split open, and red blood seeped between them.

Cain continued enduring the pain.

He eventually lay face down on the floor, curling his body up as he endured every bit of it.

If he lost consciousness here and gave up on everything, the deaths of his subordinates would become a meaningless sacrifice.

That could not happen.

“Gaaaaaah!”

Cain shouted.

He gathered all his strength and raised his body to fight against the pain.

Perhaps because of the energies of extreme yang and extreme yin, the clothes he had been wearing had disappeared at some point, leaving only his smooth naked body.

“Haa. Haa. Haa!”

His breathing was still rough, and his heart still hurt as if it would burst.

But at some point, he began to feel a heavy flow of power inside his body.

It seemed to be the power of darkness moving along his mana road.

Thump! Thump!

Whoooosh!

“Ah!”

Flash—!

At the moment when the flow of power shaking his entire body reached its peak,

Cain’s body bent backward like a bow.

At that moment, a red flash shot out from Cain’s body and then pierced through the ceiling toward the sky.

And Cain lost consciousness.

3

Cain regained consciousness three days later.

When Cain opened his eyes, what appeared before him was an empty room.

Even the corpses that had stayed by his side until death had now turned into a handful of ashes and disappeared.

Grrrrrr.

“Ugh, in a situation like this…….”

It was the sound coming from his stomach.

It was the desire to live.

Even after losing everything, it was sad that he still had to eat something in order to survive.

But he had to live.

To do that, he first needed to leave this place.

Cain was the Emperor of the Magic Empire, so although he was not particularly great, he had basic knowledge and some learning about magic.

Before falling asleep, his magic had only been at the 1st Circle.

In the past, he had needed to borrow the power of an artifact just to cast even a 1st Circle spell.

But things were different now.

Cain’s body was now filled with the power of darkness.

“Light!”

Cain cast the 1st Circle spell Light, which created a white light.

The magic was activated very naturally.

Moreover, he did not feel the emptiness of mana leaving his body.

That meant the mana stored inside his body had become extremely abundant.

However, this power had not completely become Cain’s own.

As the book had said, without the enlightenment and training appropriate for this power, it was no different from possessing power that he could not actually use.

Creeeak—

Cain opened the door, which had been locked with a large wooden bar, and slowly began walking up the stairs.

He did not know what was happening outside, but it seemed that the Imperial Palace itself had not completely burned down.

Since there seemed to be no people around anymore, dust and cobwebs had piled up all over the stairs and passages.

There were not even any footprints.

But traces of the tragedy remained.

Originally, this was a staircase leading to the underground secret room, and the inner walls had been completely decorated in white.

However, Cain continued to notice marks here and there on the white walls that looked like dried blood.

“Duke Radian…….”

Cain bit his lip.

He was a traitor who had leaked the secrets of the Magic Kingdom Jergard and handed his country over to the enemy.

Because of him, the central army of the capital had become useless, and the Imperial Guard had helplessly collapsed.

He was one of the traitors Cain wanted to kill more than anyone.

But there was nothing Cain could do right now.

Cain was now completely alone, with no one left to protect him.

Step. Step.

“……!”

Just then.

Cain, who was trying to go up from the underground passage, heard footsteps coming from above and quickly hid himself in the darkness.

Since he was completely naked, there was nothing to get in his way.

However, he had no weapon with which to deal with an emergency.

The only thing he carried was the book left behind by Forn.

“I really don’t understand why they make us patrol places like this. I’ve told them several times that there’s nothing here…….”

A grumbling voice could be heard.

Since there was no sound of heavy armor clanking, the person did not seem to be heavily armed.

Cain carefully peeked out and looked toward the stairs.

A soldier wearing light armor was coming down.

A lily pattern was clearly engraved on the leather armor he was wearing.

A lily.

It was the emblem of the Lohan Empire, the main country of the Holy Alliance Army.

Cain unconsciously clenched both hands tightly.

The Lohan Empire was not only the enemy of the Magic Kingdom Jergard, but also the country that had taken the lead in brutally massacring the people of Jergard.

The Lohan Empire was the country Cain had sworn to massacre even if he had to become a ghost after death.

Slowly,

Cain lowered his body and hid deeper in the darkness.

The soldier seemed unaware that anyone was there and continued walking inside.

Cain held his breath and watched the situation.

The moment the soldier passed in front of him, Cain attacked him.

“Ah!”

The startled soldier twisted his body, but he could not withstand Cain’s strength.

Shing!

Cain’s hand quickly reached for the dagger hanging from the soldier’s waist.

With an extremely fast movement, he pulled it out and, without the slightest hesitation, plunged the dagger into the soldier’s heart.

“……!”

The soldier’s eyes rolled back, and his breath stopped right there.

It had happened in an instant.

“Haa……. Haa…….”

As the tension left him, Cain breathed heavily and looked at the soldier with murderous eyes.

Then he immediately opened the book he was holding.

The power of darkness requires hot life force.

Therefore, the power of darkness is also the power of demons that calls for blood.

The method of extracting power from the dead is simple.

Place your hand on the left side of the chest of a corpse whose body has not yet cooled, then chant the Spell of Destruction. You will be able to absorb its power.

If this life force is insufficient, a person who possesses the power of darkness will lose his reason and run wild.

“Purify me with your hot blood.”

Whoosh.

Cain naturally chanted the spell and placed his hand on the soldier’s body.

Then, with a sharp flash, dark red energy was sucked rapidly into every part of Cain’s body.

Soon, the soldier’s body turned into dust and disappeared from the spot.

Cain was walking the path of a dark mage, one step at a time.

“I will pay the price for all sins. But I will definitely…… restore the glory of the Empire. I swear.”

Cain muttered as he gently touched his blood-stained right hand.

Now, he had become the Dark Mage of Hell, a man with nowhere left to retreat.

Before long, Cain put on the soldier’s clothes and quickly moved away, disappearing somewhere.

And until that night came to an end, the soldiers of the Lohan Empire did not realize that one of their comrades had disappeared without leaving even a trace.