I am the Only Son of Nyx

Chapter 175: Reckless Ruin (Bonus PS)

Kai fed the carcasses that Bree hunted to the House of Night.

He was surprised to find that there were more than three hundred carcasses inside the white membrane, which was more than half of what he needed. Bree had completely gone all out with her hunting session, even though she wasn’t doing it for herself, but for him.

It was quite unbelievable for her to do this, but not impossible.

After all, Bree had borrowed the Blood-phantom Scimitar.

A slash from the scimitar would cut any Awakened Monster with relative ease.

She possessed no attacking imprints, at least not that Kai knows of—and her divine bloodline wasn’t battle-oriented. But even then, she could still kill a lot of Awakened Monsters since she has trained in sword-wielding.

Kai had seen her move during the sparring session, and she’s most certainly trained.

Must be trained from when she was little, considering her background.

"Just a bit over one hundred usable exp," Kai nodded his head, smiling at the haul.

He thought tonight would be the start of another hazardous grind to gather usable exp—but encountering the Star Beast and Barbara had been a blessing in disguise. And Bree made the night even better by helping him hunt.

It was a better night than he expected. A productive night.

And the next day, Kai immediately returned to the Dead Range to hunt.

But this time—he only came with Dorian as the others were still too exhausted. Bree was still mostly recovering from her exhaustion, and Bryan was still impaired by the Star Beast’s aura, which meant the two would need to rest today.

Rargh—!

An Awakened Monster lunged with a shriek.

It had decayed skin that rolled off its body and emanated an ungodly rotting stench—Zombie.

A flaming fist met the Zombie halfway—and the impact detonated against the skull. Bone and putrid flesh vaporized in a bloom of orange fire, and the headless corpse crumpled where it stood before it could ever lay its hands on Dorian.

From the sides, three more came fast—quicker than the one Dorian had just killed.

Each of their clawed hands reached from three angles to tear him apart, but he was ready.

He dropped low and used his donkey leg to sweep a brutal dragon-tail arc across the stone—scything their legs out from under them. Before they hit the ground, Dorian already rose and spun in full rotation to make a spinning back kick that smashed the first Zombie’s skull.

It exploded gorily; rotten flesh and blood spewed everywhere.

Not stopping at that, he caught the second and third by their heads mid-fall and clapped them together. Their heads burst—like overripe melons. Some of the rotting flesh got onto Dorian’s face, but it didn’t seem to bother him.

Nearby, Kai stood in a slow circle of living shadows.

He was fighting another species of Awakened Monster—a humanoid shadow that was utterly featureless save for two glowing white eyes that tracked his every breath. Shadowlings, or at least that’s what Dorian called them.

Some of them lunged.

And at the same time, the Blood-phantom Scimitar flickered once under the moonlight.

Before the Shadowlings could realize it, their heads already rolled off their shoulders and struck the ground. The scimitar was so sharp that it took a moment for their heads to roll—and their bodies to realize what happened.

Eight more Shadowlings erupted from the dark.

Kai did not turn.

He did not even raise his blade.

Instead, he simply walked toward Dorian with unhurried strides; his scimitar loose at his side.

Just as the Shadowlings were about to reach him, thick black needles descended from above, fired from the black stars that had been hovering above. Each black needle drilled through the top of the skulls and made the Shadowlings’ bodies limp mid-leap.

Kai brandished his scimitar as the bodies hit the ground behind him in a chorus of thuds.

All of the Shadowlings thought they were hidden in the dark—but the dark was Kai’s friend. It showed him every single Awakened Monster in the vicinity—so none of them had a chance to harm him from the start.

Not to mention, at this point, none of these Awakened Monsters is a match for him.

"Can’t believe the Awakened Monsters in the Dead Range are mostly humanoid," Kai uttered.

"After everything that the academy forced us to go through, I must say... I’m not surprised at all," Dorian shrugged as he grabbed a zombie carcass and dug his fangs into it. "Besides, they are probably already dead before the experiment."

Awakened Monsters are man-made.

A necessity that mankind created to prepare Supernals to fight the real monsters.

It was done through experimentation on living subjects, so for the Awakened Monsters in the Dead Range to bear humanoid forms could only mean that the academy, or whoever created them, had used human bodies for the experimentation.

Corpses, to be exact, as the Zombies and Shadowlings can be classified as Undead.

Since Kai and Dorian never knew about this thing before becoming Angels, it also meant that the experimentations are classified. Only Supernals knew and kept this a secret. And it became clear that the experimentations are highly unethical.

But then again, nothing the two of them could do about it right now.

"You’re not disgusted drinking blood from that...?" Kai asked.

He watched Dorian drink the Zombie’s blood and felt his stomach churn; he wanted to vomit.

Not to mention, these Zombies were people before.

"I was also disgusted by it before, but then a drop of their blood got into my mouth," Dorian said as he pulled back, licking his brownish blood-smeared lips. "Blood for me tastes sweet or bitter depending on the age, but this... the Zombies’ blood tasted like coffee. And I like coffee."

"You sure it’s not like poison?" Kai smiled helplessly at his defective friend.

"Don’t fret about me," Dorian waved his hand dismissively. "Just focus on your things. And also, I don’t know if you have already noticed, but these Awakened Monsters are avoiding you. It’s the reason why I told you to leave the luring to me."

"Hmm?" Kai frowned.

Just earlier, before starting the hunt, Dorian had told him to stay mostly back.

Only come out when the Awakened Monsters are already out in the open.

He’d assumed Dorian had a method of luring the monsters; one that wouldn’t work with him nearby. But it turns out Dorian told him that because the Awakened Monsters, oddly enough, were avoiding him.

Avoiding me, why? It’s most certainly not because I’m too strong.

Since, from their lens, Dorian was also too strong, it doesn’t make sense for them to avoid him because they sensed that he was dangerous. It must be because of something else, but he didn’t know what.

Didn’t even have a guess as to why that is

"Whatever," Kai put that on the back of his mind. "I’m sure I’ll get more clues soon."

Kai came to the Dead Range to gather usable exp—not think about whatever was happening with the Awakened Monsters. He returned his focus to the Shadowlings—and used the Deep Slumber Legacy Skill on them.

He only needed a few more.

And as expected, these Shadowlings pushed him past three thousand usable exp.

[Usable Exp: 3,107]

Kai smiled inwardly and wasted no time in paying the three thousand usable exp price for the second Ending Fragment from Kaelmorath—the Reckless Ruin. Just the fact that it cost him a hefty price made it clear that it was a powerful Ending Fragment.

And from the name, it’s most likely not a simple Ending Fragment.

A pulse of energy expanded outward from his Primordial Locks, which caused him to shiver.

Following that was a notification appearing in his vision.

...

[Ending Fragment: Reckless Ruin (Incomplete)]

You have comprehended—the double-edged sword of recklessness. In a situation where you surrendered to recklessness, your body would grow stronger the more damage you suffer. It would continue until your body reached its limit. Complete this Ending Fragment to develop Night Mutation.

...

"Hmm," Kai read the description while rubbing his chin. "It’s rather simple. I thought it’d be a lot more complicated than that since it cost three thousand usable exp. But I reckoned I needed to complete it to really feel the power."

His eyes were fixated on the last part of the description.

If he wanted to feel the full power of the Reckless Ruin, he needed to develop Night Mutation.

And to do that, he would need to meet with Kaelmorath again.

Kai was planning to do that anyway, which was why he saved up one hundred usable exp to enter Kaelmorath’s domain, as even the Retribution, Kaelmorath’s first Ending Fragment, was still incomplete.

Best for him to tackle both Ending Fragments in a single visit.

After all, he remembered entering Kaelmorath’s domain.

He could tell instantly that, unlike Noxian and Perion, Kaelmorath didn’t want to be bothered.

Or to be precise, he didn’t want anyone inside his domain.

Either way, the Reckless Ruin Ending Fragment is an incredible addition to his kit. He was in a constant state of survival, and he wouldn’t run out of situations where he would need to take a risk to survive.

And taking a risk most of the time involved being reckless.

Kai didn’t know for sure, but as long as he believed what he was doing was reckless, then the Reckless Ruin Ending Fragment should be activated. It was far easier to activate in comparison to the Retribution Ending Fragment.

Later that midnight, he returned to the dormitory and went straight to his room.

Talitha was still awake, waiting for him dutifully.

She learned that Kai was always dirty whenever he returned, so he would take a shower. So, she prepared everything beforehand and waited for him to return. It was a really nice feeling to come back to this after a hazardous day.

Felt good to know that someone cared for him in a way.

Once he finished showering, Kai lay on the bed and immediately used Deep Slumber.

He was excited to meet with Kaelmorath again, but he knew better than to hope too much.

Entering the House of Night had always been a matter of luck; he knew he might have to wait days before the path opened. He’d long since learned not to let excitement take root before he actually crossed the threshold.

But tonight, it seemed fortune had chosen to smile on him.

Kai opened his eyes and saw the familiar endless expanse.

Inside, his chest was burning from anticipation.

Not only because he would get stronger with this—but also because he wanted to know more about Kaelmorath. Learning about how Perion came to be was quite thrilling, so now, he was curious as to how Kaelmorath became a Nightborn.

"Kaelmorath..." Kai called, and the path to his domain opened.