Chapter 386: When Will You Realize?
CLANG CLANG CLANG
Kethran blocked every strike with minimal movement, his swords redirecting each blow with contemptuous ease.
Each impact cracked more of the Obsidian Hide, pieces falling away with every exchange.
"Your magnification is decent for a human. Two times, correct?"
His voice came out almost conversational despite the combat.
"I’ve fought strong humans before. Military Major Generals with three-times magnification. A few exceptional warriors with four-times."
His Aura flared brighter, power exploding around him.
Aura Magnification: 4×
The air shimmered, reality itself seeming to bend under the pressure.
"Let me show you what real magnification looks like."
He moved and Damian’s eyes couldn’t track it.
One moment Kethran was in front of him.
The next, both swords were through his torso.
SSSHHHNK SSSHHHNK
Punched completely through the remaining Obsidian Hide like it was paper, emerging from his back trailing blood and torn organs.
"!!!"
Damian’s mouth opened soundlessly, but only blood poured out instead of words.
The last pieces of Obsidian Hide fell away completely, the skill unable to maintain itself.
Kethran twisted the blades.
"Argh!"
The scream tore from Damian’s throat, as the swords withdrew and Kethran’s boot came up, planted on his chest.
BOOM
He kicked him so hard he flew twenty meters.
Damian crashed through a tree and hit the ground in a crumpled heap.
Blood pooled beneath him, too much blood, his Self-Healing struggling to keep pace.
’Lungs punctured... Liver torn... Ribs broken. Can’t... can’t breathe...’
Through the pain, through the blood loss, one thought crystallized with terrible clarity.
’I can’t... beat him... His stats are probably close to 800... His Body Control is A+... His magnification is four times... He’s a pseudo S-ranker in everything but rank!’
Kethran walked over slowly, casually, like someone taking a stroll through a garden.
’How is a B rank human this strong?’
The thought flickered through his mind with genuine surprise.
He stopped beside Damian’s broken body.
’If he’d been born an elf, with proper training and Body Control to match those stats... he might have become exceptional.’
Damian’s hand moved weakly, fingers scraping at dirt.
His mind raced through options, through skills, through anything that could change this.
’Domain... I have to try the Domain.’
"Despair."
The word left his lips as barely a whisper.
The forest dissolved as pitch-black void swallowed the ground and corpses materialized everywhere.
Dense black fog erupted from his body, spreading outward in heavy waves.
Kethran staggered as the Domain slammed into his mind like a tidal wave.
His eyes widened in shock.
"Will Strengthening! Mental Barrier!"
His defensive skills flared, pushing back against the onslaught. The Domain’s pressure crashed against them like an ocean against rock relentless, heavy and suffocating.
’This Domain again!’
Kethran’s jaw clenched, veins bulging on his forehead as he forced himself to one knee.
’Even though I was ready for it this time... the effect is still this intense?!’
The visions didn’t disappear due to his skills. They were simply pushed to the edges of his consciousness, clawing at the borders of his mind like starving beasts.
His legs trembled and blood trickled from his nose.
’Peak A rank Will... at B rank? What kind of monster is this human?!’
He pushed himself upright, every movement slow and deliberate, fighting through the crushing weight.
His breathing came ragged but controlled.
"I must admit..." Kethran looked at Damian through the black fog and crimson light, a twisted smile forming. "Your Will is monstrous... Your Domain is also impressive."
His defensive skills pulsed again, barely holding.
"But I have fought demons before, human."
He took a step forward, then another, each one steadier than the last.
"Your Domain is raw power. Overwhelming force with no refinement."
Another step.
"It might crush the weak. It might break the unprepared."
His swords rose despite the pressure bearing down on him.
"But against someone of my level?" His smile widened. "We have seen far worse."
Damian’s mind raced.
’He’s right.’
The bitter realization hit hard.
’I never refined it... Never learned to wield it like a true weapon. It was always just raw emotion given form.’
His hand extended as Telekinesis yanked his axe back into his grip.
’Never had the time...’
"Abyssal Slaughter!"
He tried to summon the art, to channel that absolute conviction.
’One strike! This kills! I believe–’
Kethran’s smile turned knowing.
"But this Domain..." His voice carried through the void, soft and venomous. "...is about despair, isn’t it?"
And the black fog responded.
It turned, shifting and moving toward Damian like a living thing.
"You..." Kethran’s eyes locked onto his. "...must be feeling it too."
’What?’
"Despair."
The word landed like a hammer.
"Do you feel it, human? Fighting someone better than you in every way? Stronger! Faster! More experienced! More skilled!"
The fog wrapped around Damian’s legs, his torso and his arms.
"There is no chance for you... You are bound to die here."
The visions related to his current life slammed into him.
Every failure, every person who had died because he wasn’t strong enough and every choice that led to someone’s death.
All of them dead because he was weak.
Because he failed.
Because no matter how hard he tried, it was never enough.
’I... I can’t...’
His axe trembled in his grip.
’Can’t beat him... Can’t save anyone... Can’t even save myself.’
The conviction Abyssal Slaughter required crumbled like sand.
’I... don’t believe I can kill him.’
The weapon art refused to activate. It became just a regular swing, powerless and meaningless.
Kethran’s fist came up.
BAM
It caught Damian across the jaw, sending him sprawling.
"I will see how long you can hold this Domain, human!"
Another kick slammed into his ribs.
CRACK
Damian hit the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.
The Domain remained active... but it had turned against him.
Feeding on his own despair, his own failures.
’Weak.’
The thought came unbidden, cold and heavy.
’Always weak... My real parents’ killers are still walking free... Living their lives... Enjoying power... While I–’
Another blow landed on his spine, his vision went white.
’I’m about to die here.’
Time stretched.
’Alone...’
The word echoed through the void.
’Dying alone in a forest, beaten by an enemy I can’t defeat, failing everyone who ever believed in–’
’ALONE?!’
Kuro’s voice exploded in his mind, raw with fury.
’STUPID HUMAN!’
The bond between them flared like a supernova.
’YOU WERE NEVER ALONE!’
Damian’s breath caught.
’Kuro?’
’You are always like this! Always thinking you have to carry everything alone! Always believing you stand by yourself!’
The raven’s consciousness pressed against his own, fierce and unrelenting.
’YOU HAVE ME! KURO! WE LIVE AND DIE TOGETHER!’
’But Kuro... I’m just not strong enough. And you were already injured–’
’STUPID HUMAN!’
The bond erupted with power.
’WHEN WILL YOU REALIZE?!’
BOOM
Something inside Damian shifted.
Power flooded into his broken body, surging through shattered bones and torn flesh.
’We! Are! One!’
For the first time since they bonded–
They merged.
