Hero of Darkness

Two days later, within a sprawling empire, unrest stirred within the walls of a magnificent golden castle crowned by a towering spire that seemed to reach the heavens.

This majestic structure was none other than the Grand Cathedral of the Church of Vremya, dedicated to the worship of the God of Time, nestled in the heart of the capital city of the Amser Empire.

High atop the central tower, a chamber unlike any other lay concealed from view. Within its confines, a remarkable display of modern technology intertwined with ancient mysticism captivated the senses. Blue-hued energy pulsed through the air, casting an ethereal glow upon the chamber's surroundings, while its very essence seemed to hum with power.

It was within this chamber, resembling a prison of arcane design, appeared a man familiar to Kahn.

Anakin Redfield, known as the Hero of Time and the pivotal figure in the altered timeline that compelled the Martial Emperor, also known as the Future Kahn, to journey back to the past to prevent his own demise, lay suspended within the chamber. His once proud form now hung limp, ensnared by dozens of golden ethereal chains that pierced his flesh.

Each chain bore the weight of his broken body, anchoring him to the walls of the chamber with merciless tenacity. The metallic links embedded themselves deep within his skin, their cruel embrace inflicting untold agony upon the Hero of Time.

Though his physical form lay in a state of torpor, his mind remained alert, a beacon of consciousness amidst the darkness that threatened to consume him.

The Hero of Time, destined to become a powerful saint and even live as chosen hero during the late stages of the Great War against the Demon God... had his entire destiny changed in the new timeline.

"Kill. Life. Love. Revenge. Betrayal. Power. Domination."

At the same time… Multiple specter-like versions of Anakin akin to his soul form tried to leave this chained vessel and were speaking cryptic and inconceivable words.

To anyone listening, these incessant rants and unsynched words would sound nothing more than gibberish. Yet, there were dozens of robed researchers writing manuscripts, recording his every word and trying to make sense of it.

Among them, was the Pope of the church itself.

For some reason, every single person in this facility was clothed head to toe and didn't reveal any physical or facial feature other than their doe-like eyes.

The rank of the Pope was an intermediate 7th-stage saint and exuded a green aura around his visage.

Swoosh!

Flutter!

Suddenly, another powerful entity appeared in this hall, dressed more regally but fully clothed just like everyone else nonetheless.

"You have arrived, your majesty." spoke the pope.

"Yes. My arrival was delayed since things have been hectic." spoke the Emperor in a deep and tired voice.

"Ever since the Conclave, there have been many incidents on the borders of the empire. We are facing small troops from 7 empires altogether, attacking our borders in coalition.

Most of our saints are stationed in all outer provinces and even the capital is filled with melancholic atmosphere because of constant fear among the masses about a possible invasion." he iterated in a grim tone.

"No matter how hard we try, we are unable to retaliate.

For the first time in the history of our empire, we are unable to counterattack or retaliate against our aggressors because of their sheer numbers.

Close to 6 million soldiers have already died. And even the nobles are showing signs of insurgency." he revealed with an incredulous tone.

"All of that bloodshed and chaos… because of this bastard." said the Emperor with his tone filled with fury.

The Pope didn't utter a single word because the same troubles were endured by him, albeit under different circumstances.

"What's his situation?" asked the emperor.

"He has completely lost all his senses. We even tried torturing him.

But his body reacts while his mind doesn't even register that he is being tortured.

If we try to kill him, he probably won't even understand that his life is in danger.

It's like his mind and body are completely disassociated from each other." declared the Pope in a helpless voice.

"What we are speaking in front of him, his brain is registering it so arbitrarily that he might react to our words many days later.

Whatever that's happened to him during the Conclave of Heroes… it's beyond our understanding." he iterated with a displeased tone.

"Thank goodness that he at least had the Apple of Eden in his space ring." said the Emperor.

But right then…

"The Emperor! I will kill that bastard for backstabbing me!

I gave them everything but all I received is betrayal from the Imperial family and even my teammates." shouted Anakin while looking upward as if declaring his oath of vengeance to the skies above.

"What is he talking about? We haven't done anything to him and neither have I betrayed him in any sense." said the emperor, slightly confused.

Shing!

Shing!

The very next second, a four-paneled device placed in front of the pope, turned red.

"Your majesty… I believe he is speaking about some future or timeline that we are unaware of.

This device left by our ancestors turns red whenever he talks about future events or something that doesn't belong in this timeline." explained the Pope.

"So there's a chance that we betrayed him in the future?" asked the Emperor.

"No, more likely you and the imperial family have already betrayed him in the future." said the Pope, his tone filled with certainty as indicated by the device.

"What about Warhorn of Confinement?" asked the Emperor in a tone full of concern.

"I apologize, your majesty. But he doesn't have the Ancient Rank artifact." responded the pope.

"This bastard… he knew about our ancestral heirloom that helped us in hundreds of battles and even subdued many uprisings in the empire.

He stole the Ancient Rank artifact and took it to the Conclave of Heroes without any of us even finding out up until now." said the emperor in a furious tone.

"I believe he either lost it… or the Hero of Darkness has it." spoke the Pope indignantly.

The Emperor was distraught after hearing those words.

"We can't confirm anything… The Hero of Darkness killed all of his party members and must have done something." said the Emperor.

"About that… I want to show you something…" said the Pope and the next moment…

The device turned upside down.

But soon, an unexpected marvel of glyphs spread in the air.

"We found traces of some unknown magic.

Thousands of these incomprehensible runes in an unknown knowledge appear and disappear as if it's a combination of a spell, a curse, a formation, and runic magic."

"What's this?" asked the Emperor, taken aback.

"We have no idea. However, some of the symbols do match one of the most ancient languages in the world." declared the Pope.

"Which one?"

"The Dragon Magic." said the Pope with an irritated tone.

"What?!" Even the Emperor was baffled after hearing this information.

"Yes. But given the complexity of this spell that keeps forever changing and also evolves itself every second so that no one can break this spell placed on the Hero of Time…

We believe that only an Elder Dragon can cast it." declared the Pope, firm in his hypothesis.

"Impossible!

The Dragon Empire has never been involved in the matters of Gods and Heroes. It's pretentious to even assume so." retorted the Emperor, his eyes full of disbelief.

"There must be a way for us to break this spell and make him talk about the events of the future. Otherwise, all those empires will attack us to get him and we won't have anything to bargain our sovereignty for." said the Emperor, completely enraged but helpless at the same time.

"Sadly… there is no way to make him talk. The only way this spell breaks…" spoke the Pope akin to that of a defeated man.

"Is his death."

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