The southern deserts of the Endler World were a desolate, unforgiving wasteland.
Colossal dunes of pale, ash-colored sand stretched across the horizon, constantly shifting under the howling winds.
There was no life here—no vegetation, no beasts, only the crushing silence of an empty realm.
Master Brados led the Tri-Warriors through the blinding dust, his heavy, dark green cloak billowing behind him.
In his right hand, the golden dragon head of his legendary Guandao parted the fierce winds, clearing a path for Asami, Horuto, and Kenshin.
Eventually, a massive shadow loomed through the dust storm.
It was an abandoned fortress, built from dark, jagged obsidian that seemed to absorb the minimal sunlight.
Its towering spires were broken, and its heavy iron gates had long since rusted away.
“This place feels… wrong,” Kenshin muttered, keeping his hands near the hilts of his weapons.
A strange, suffocating pressure radiated from the ruins, making the air feel incredibly heavy in his lungs.
“It is a relic of an ancient era,” Brados explained, stepping through the ruined archway of the main gate.
“This fortress was built over a convergence of dark leylines. The energy here is volatile. It is the birthplace of the Blandcourus.”
They navigated the labyrinth of ruined corridors until they reached the deepest subterranean level of the keep.
The massive underground chamber was entirely circular, its walls etched with glowing, ancient runes.
In the dead center of the room sat a massive, circular pedestal of wavy black stone.
Hovering just an inch above the pedestal was a smaller, perfectly smooth black gem.
It pulsed with a dark, terrifying miasma, releasing tendrils of black smoke that curled through the air like living serpents.
“Wow,” Kenshin breathed, stepping forward.
“The aura… it feels exactly like the depths of my own mind.”
“Because it aligns with your innate affinity,” Brados said, halting at the edge of the room.
He gestured toward the pedestal with a nod.
“Go, Kenshin. Place your katana upon the stone.”
Kenshin took a deep breath.
His heart hammered against his ribs.
He unclasped the dark, purple-edged katana from his waist and slowly walked up the stone steps.
The closer he got, the heavier the magical pressure became, pressing down on his shoulders like a physical weight.
He stopped before the pedestal.
With trembling hands, he laid the dark blade of his katana flat across the smooth, hovering gem.
Instantly, the black stone reacted.
A violent surge of black and dark-purple energy erupted from the gem, wrapping around the katana.
The dark miasma coiled around the steel, sinking into the metal.
The deep purple gem embedded in the crossguard began to glow with a blinding, terrifying brilliance.
“Place your dagger on it as well,” Brados commanded, his voice echoing over the roaring sound of the magical wind.
Kenshin drew his parrying dagger with his right hand and placed it directly beside the katana.
The moment the dagger touched the stone, the dark aura exploded outward in a shockwave.
The black clouds of the Blandcourus power spiraled violently, completely engulfing the weapons.
For a terrifying heartbeat, the entire room fell dead silent.
The dark stone stopped glowing.
The weapons rested perfectly still on the pedestal, appearing entirely normal.
Kenshin blinked.
He reached out with both hands, grabbing the leather hilts of his katana and dagger.
“Is it done? I feel—”
A sound like shattering glass ripped through his mind.
“Aaaaaagghh!” Kenshin screamed, falling to his knees.
An agonizing, sharp pain shot up his arms.
He looked down in absolute horror as his pale skin began to turn pitch black, the dark veins spreading up past his elbows.
The pure, unadulterated magical power of the Blandcourus was forcefully tearing through his mortal pathways, carving a magical core directly into his soul.
The pain rivaled the worst of Null’s alchemical bone needles.
Kenshin thrashed on the stone floor, his screams echoing through the abandoned fortress, but he refused to let go of his weapons.
“Pathetic,” the dark voice of the Shadow entity hissed in his mind.
“You cry over a mere spark of power? Assimilate it, boy. Let the dark in.”
Kenshin ground his teeth together, forcing himself to breathe.
He pushed his own willpower against the raging magical current.
Slowly, agonizingly, the dark, burning aura retreated from his skin, sinking deep into his chest.
The black discoloration on his arms faded, returning to his normal, pale tone.
Kenshin collapsed onto his back, panting heavily.
The katana and dagger in his hands were now constantly radiating a faint, dark-purple and black wavy aura.
“I feel it,” Kenshin whispered, a triumphant smile breaking across his exhausted face.
“The power. It is really inside me.”
“It is a natural reaction to the infusion,” Asami said, leaning on her double-bladed polearm.
“Horuto and I experienced the exact same pain when we received our cores. But the process is complete.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Suddenly, Asami stiffened.
Her icy blue eyes narrowed, her combat instincts flaring instantly.
Without a word, she spun her Guandao, the purple lightning erupting across the jagged blades as she leveled the weapon toward the shadows of a massive stone pillar behind them.
“Who is hiding there?!” Asami demanded, her voice ringing with lethal intent.
Horuto instantly drew his thick jade broadswords, the spectral chains clinking against his back.
Brados turned, his expression darkening into a hard, serious scowl.
From the pitch-black shadows of the pillar, a figure stepped out into the dim light.
He wore a dark, structured mantle that reached his shins.
A high collar concealed the lower half of his flawless, doll-like face.
His dark brown hair fell loosely around his glowing, turquoise eyes.
Resting easily in his right hand was a dark, jagged broadsword that crackled with a terrifying, intense cyan-blue lightning.
Kenshin’s breath caught in his throat.
The world seemed to stop spinning.
The dark trails of the Blandcourus aura instantly flared wildly around his weapons.
His dark green eyes dilated with a pure, unbridled rage that completely consumed his sanity.
It was Null.
The silent assassin.
The monster who had broken his fingers, sliced his flesh, injected him with horrific venoms, and tortured him in that subterranean vault for ten agonizing years.
“You…” Kenshin growled, his voice vibrating with a demonic, feral anger.
“This servant deserves absolute death!”
Kenshin vanished.
Using his newly acquired Dark Trail Step, Kenshin became a blur of black smoke, launching himself at the assassin with blinding, flash-step speed.
He brought both the katana and dagger up, aiming to cleanly decapitate the torturer in a single, wrathful strike.
-Break-
CLANG!
Sparks erupted through the chamber.
Kenshin’s blades never reached Null’s neck.
Horuto had intercepted him, crossing his thick jade broadswords to form an impenetrable wall between Kenshin and the assassin.
At the exact same moment, Asami hooked the lower blade of her polearm around Kenshin’s wrists, pinning his arms in place with her purple lightning.
“Stop!” Horuto commanded, straining against Kenshin’s immense physical strength.
“The Master did not give the order to attack!”
“So what?!” Kenshin roared, thrashing wildly against the blockade.
Tears of pure, traumatic rage spilled from his eyes.
“He tortured me! Ten years in the dark! I will slaughter him!”
“I said stop right there, Kenshin!” Brados’s voice thundered through the chamber, carrying the immense, crushing atmospheric pressure of a Strong Holder.
The sheer weight of the command forced Kenshin to freeze.
He trembled violently, his breath coming in ragged, furious gasps.
He slowly stepped back, lowering his weapons, though his eyes never left the silent assassin.
Null had not moved a single muscle.
The assassin stood perfectly still, his glowing turquoise eyes reflecting no emotion, no fear, and no remorse.
“Do not forget the truth of your survival,” Brados said, his tone softening just a fraction, though his gaze remained strict as he looked at Kenshin.
“He is the one who forced your regeneration to awaken. Every cut, every poison, every shattered bone was a calculated move to ensure your soul adapted. If he had not done it, Bellod would have had you executed in your crib.”
Kenshin’s hands shook.
“You will never understand. What he did to me was far worse than mere pain. It broke my mind!”
“And yet, you are standing here today, holding the power to protect your family,” Brados replied firmly.
He turned his back on Kenshin, looking directly at the assassin.
“Tell me, Null. Why have you come here? You risk much by walking into my sanctuary.”
Null slowly raised his left hand.
Pinched between his fingers was a folded piece of parchment.
Brados stepped forward, taking the note from the assassin.
He broke the wax seal and unfurled the paper, his dark, sunken eyes scanning the meticulous handwriting.
As he read, the temperature in the chamber seemed to plummet.
“Listen closely,” Brados said, reading the words aloud so his disciples could hear.
“‘Bellod is sending Amator secretly. He will arrive in exactly one year. With him, he brings his entire horde—fifty million goblin soldiers. His absolute objective is to kill Brados and Kenshin.'”
Horuto tightened his grip on his jade swords.
“Fifty million? A secret invasion of that scale?”
Brados held up a hand, continuing to read from Zenjiro’s letter.
“‘Amator will try to strike you with overwhelming force. King Bellod’s true strategy is to force you to open the Dragon Gate to defend yourself. Once the Gate shuts, it cannot be reopened for three years, leaving you entirely defenseless against Bellod’s main assault. Save Kenshin, and protect yourself, my friend. From Zenjiro.'”
“Zenjiro…” Kenshin whispered, the sheer strategic depth of his father’s warning momentarily piercing through his rage.
Brados lowered the paper, staring deeply at the silent assassin.
“A warning of war. But I must know… what of Takashi?”
Null did not speak.
He reached into his dark mantle and produced a second, smaller note, handing it to the Master.
The assassin then took a single step backward, his body instantly dissolving into a plume of cyan-blue lightning and black smoke, vanishing from the subterranean fortress without a sound. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Brados unfolded the second note.
“‘Takashi attacked me when he betrayed you two years ago,'” Brados read softly.
“‘I was vastly stronger than him. I struck him down and left him for dead. But as his life faded, a blonde-haired lady appeared out of nowhere and took him away with her.'”
Brados’s hands trembled slightly.
A heavy, complicated sigh escaped his lips.
Asami leaned over to look at the paper.
“Master… was that lady… Queen Hikari?”
A faint, melancholic smile touched the corners of Brados’s weathered face.
“Yes, Asami. It was Hikari.” He carefully folded the note and tucked it into the inner pocket of his cloak.
“Let us return to the surface. We have a massive calamity rapidly approaching.”
-Break-
The journey back to the Underward stronghold was tense.
The knowledge that an army of fifty million mutated, bloodthirsty goblins would arrive in exactly one year hung over the Tri-Warriors like a dark cloud.
The moment they crossed the gates of their fortress, Brados immediately shifted into the role of a supreme commander.
“Horuto,” Brados ordered, stopping in the center of the grand courtyard.
“Travel to the borders of the Sword Realm. Inform your father, Zold, of the impending invasion. Then, seek out Livad and our other allies. Tell them to prepare their armies for absolute war.”
“It will be done, Master,” Horuto said, bowing deeply before hurrying toward the stables to secure a mount.
Brados turned to Asami.
“Asami, Kenshin now possesses his magical core. He knows the basic forms of the sword, but he does not know how to fight with an aura. You will train him. Break him if you must, but forge him into a weapon capable of surviving a Strong Holder.”
“Understood,” Asami replied, her icy blue eyes flashing with strict determination.
“And Kenshin,” Brados said, turning his piercing gaze to the young warrior.
“Tonight, you must meditate. Try to communicate with the Shadow again. We will need every fraction of power hiding within your soul.”
Kenshin nodded, the dark trails of his new Blandcourus aura pulsing faintly around his wrists.
-Break-
Later that afternoon, the sparring yard was entirely empty, save for Asami and Kenshin.
The sky above was overcast, casting a grey, somber light over the obsidian stones.
Asami stood in the center of the ring.
She murmured a quiet incantation, and in a flash of brilliant purple lightning, her double-bladed Guandao materialized in her hands.
She spun the long shaft effortlessly, pointing the jagged upper blade directly at Kenshin.
“Come,” Asami commanded.
Kenshin drew his katana and dagger.
The dark, black wavy aura instantly ignited around the blades, his new magical core funneling raw energy into the steel.
He felt lighter, faster, entirely unbound by the physical limits he had experienced yesterday.
He lunged.
With a burst of dark speed, Kenshin swung the katana in a downward arc.
In a fraction of a second, Asami sidestepped the strike with a blurry, hyper-speed movement.
She effortlessly slipped past his guard, sweeping the bottom blade of her polearm in a shallow, horizontal arc.
Slice.
The jagged blade carved a deep, clean cut right across Kenshin’s thigh.
Kenshin yelled, his leg buckling as he hit the stone floor.
He clutched his thigh, looking up at her in sheer disbelief.
“Hey! Are you trying to cut me into pieces?!”
“Yes, I am,” Asami replied coldly, her icy blue eyes entirely devoid of mercy.
“Come. Strike me again.”
Kenshin swallowed hard, watching his Absolute Regeneration seal the wound in a matter of seconds.
He pushed himself back to his feet, a spark of genuine anger flaring in his chest.
“Are you crazy?! I am not going to fight like this! You are literally trying to kill me!”
“Then how incredibly weak are you to think you can die from a simple scratch?!” Asami yelled, raising her crackling polearm.
“Horuto taught you the basic motions of a mortal. I am the one you have to survive against. From this moment forward, see me as your sworn enemy!”
Kenshin froze.
He looked at the crackling purple lightning, at the fierce, unyielding look in her sapphire eyes.
She wasn’t holding back to protect his ego.
She was trying to save his life.
“You are right,” Kenshin muttered, tightening his grip on his weapons.
He pushed the trauma of the bunker to the very back of his mind.
“I thought too little of myself.”
The dark, wavy aura of the Blandcourus erupted around him, turning the air black.
He bent his knees and launched himself into the air, reaching a height equal to Asami’s head.
With a ferocious roar, he swung the katana, aiming a lethal, dark slash directly at her cheek.
The real training had finally begun.