novelAlta Chapter 348: The Crimson Lord
Chapter 348: The Crimson Lord
Vale saw only red.
Fury red that blanketed everything. His vision and his mind, everything got clouded and tainted. His body felt warm, then heated, only to get hot and hotter. It felt as if his blood was boiling.
But surprisingly, even with all of this happening, a part of his mind was strangely calm. He appeared in a world he was sure was his subconsciousness.
He was floating in midair, and beneath him was a raging forest of fire that spread as far as the eyes could see. Above him was deep darkness with no end.
"This is my mind? How did I get here? What happened to my main body? What is going on?"
The last thing that Vale remembered was him taking a bite out of the Old Man and then blanking out, his vision consumed by pain and fire.
He was still thinking of all this when something suddenly happened. The dark sky suddenly lit up as light forced its way through in the form of a red moon.
The appearance of the moon cast his mind into a solemn atmosphere immediately.
Vale’s eyes widened as he stared at the moon, his expression surprised and gentle. "The...Crimson Lord."
Instinctively, as if he knew what he was doing, he reached out with his hand toward the moon.
The red moon was impossibly big, and so far away that he shouldn’t even dream of touching it. But surprisingly, as he reached out, a strange thing happened, and the moon that appeared so far away and so big was so easily grasped.
Vale was holding the moon in his hand.
The red moon appeared both solid and weightless, and its warmth spread throughout his whole body. Instinctively, he knew a lot about it. "So you are the Artifact that was stolen."
The red moon changed and turned into a lantern. The lantern appeared old, covered in ancient symbols of power, the glass appearing dim as the red moon shone inside.
Vale tilted his eyes as he looked at it, pondering on the information coming to his mind. "You are not truly an Artifact. Maybe once, but now you carry the remaining shard of the Infernal Dominion power. They’ve been fused together. What a strange thing."
"The Crimson Lantern."
"But now, it’s all mine."
The Artifact had been attached to the Old Man, and when he took a bite, he bit the Artifact with it. The Artifact could be classified as a Named artifact, but it’s honestly even above that in rank. It is an extraordinary thing.
Vale looked at it intently in his hand, the light from the moon shining gently on him, the red a warmth around him as if it was a halo covering him up.
"I need to refine this into my body, to make all the powers of the Infernal Dominion mine. All the fragments."
With the information in his mind, he could quickly deduce some things. For example, he could see all the powers associated with the Infernal Dominion.
Hellfire Mastery: The power to control and summon unquenchable flames that burn both body and soul until it’s put out. Variations of black flame, soulfire, and cursed inferno.
Demonlord’s Command: The ability to summon and control demonic entities or infernal beasts. Mastery allows for commanding legions or fusing with summoned beings.
Soul Corruption: Manipulate, taint, or extract souls.
Infernal Gateways and Imprisonment: Open rifts to the Infernal Realm for summoning, travel, or releasing chaotic energy. And use imprisonment to create fiery chains forged in the depths of the infernal realm. These chains erupt from the ground or air, wrapping around the target and binding them in place. The chains burn with hellfire, searing the target’s flesh and soul. Once the chains are broken, then the Warden can be summoned and then used to deal damage in prison.
Pactbinding: Forge unbreakable pacts with mortals or otherworldly beings, gaining power in exchange for steep prices. It can form pacts with anything, even things without life, and exchange places with them.
Nightmare: Cloak yourself in nightmare energy, causing enemies to perceive horrifying illusions that disorient and weaken them. Adopt the form of absorbed nightmares. Enter the minds of your enemies, turning their fears into physical manifestations that attack them.
Shadowforge Creation is the power and ability to craft weapons, armor, or constructs using shadowy or infernal materials. Creations are imbued with curses or malice, or blessings—the will of the creator. He already gave this to Slya.
Vale blinked slowly as he came out of his silent knowledge gain. He now had all the powers of the Infernal Dominion in his grasp.
’....but from what I can glean, having all this knowledge and the power isn’t enough unless I have the raw power to back it up. I don’t know the type of power path of the Old Man, but I doubt he’s only a Master Knight or even a Grandmaster. He must be much higher...’
’...it’s like giving a sword to a novice. They are dangerous, yes. But when the same sword touches the hand of a sword master, they become near untouchable...’
’...I must back this power with my own power, but even then, the power I will gain here isn’t small....’
’....out of the seven powers of the Infernal Dominion, I already gave two out. Now I have only five, but even then, it’s still terrifying. The Infernal Dominion isn’t a weak power at all. What if I combine all in a single attack? Using Infernal Dominion as a single thing instead of a scattered thing....’
As Vale was thinking about this, the Infernal Dominion Lantern brightened, and the moon burned with more intensity. He became more familiar with it.
His eyes widened. "So...by understanding more and more about it, I can gain more precise control of it?"
Vale smiled. "Well, then. I need to study all the techniques and immediately start from scratch to perfect these new powers!"
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"Should we just kill him?" Kaelvaris asked, his eyes narrowed. The man was thin, with a narrow mouth, his eyes as black as his lips, a sharp contrast with his pale skin.
His partner, a more robust man named Dravenyx, grunted. "Kill him and start washing your neck for a beheading. We were told by our superior not to touch him. I heard it’s an order directly from the Old One."
Kaelvaris sneered, but even his own insanity wasn’t enough to behave contrary to a direct order.
The two of them belonged to an Order, an organization or church that worshipped the Old One, a deity of the dead and wicked. Although the age of the gods is long gone, and their influence cannot even grip a continent, some still exist and are worshipped by a select few.
The Hollow Grave is their name, and their sigil is the dark scythe. It’s a powerful and strong organization, with numerous sub-organizations under them to carry out different tasks.
But Kaelvaris and Dravenyx are different. They are directly from the Hollow Grave, and they were even sent directly from a portal.
"Do you.....do you think the Old One is here? This is also a gateway to their realm, right?" Kaelvaris asked nervously.
Dravenyx shrugged. "Who knows?"
The two of them are believers of the Old One, and they believe because they’ve felt his powers before. The Old One’s blessing—that’s the power given to every member of the Hollow Grave. The power and strength of each blessing depends on their faith, their contributions, and how they climb the ranks.
"But what we should really be asking is how this person is important. A person from the backward Hinterlands drawing the attention of our leadership....it’s very strange," Dravenyx said.
Between them was a man—an unconscious young man covered in a hurricane of red fire. He was their mission, and they were told to retrieve him alive. But they couldn’t get close to him. Each time they made moves to walk toward the man, they felt the fire burning them—their souls and their power.
It was terrifying.
And they’d been there for four days already.
Kaelvaris shrugged. "I don’t care about all these schemes and conspiracies. I just want to be finished in this boring place so that I can relax."
Dravenyx’s mouth twisted. "Killing people isn’t a way to relax."
"It is!" Kaelvaris argued back. "Their screams make me relax and think. You won’t understand—you’re not as twisted as me."
Dravenyx always marveled at his partner’s ability to accept that he’s mentally fucked. "I know you’re just unhinged, but I’ve kept us alive with all my thinking. Just listen. The higher-ups seem tense for some reason, and I have the feeling that they would have sent a Grandmaster or higher if they could.
"But sending that kind of power would draw attention, especially now that everyone is watching us. So they sent us—two of the strongest Masters..."
"Ehm...Dravenyx?"
Dravenyx nearly rolled his eyes. "Don’t be bored already, just listen. So they sent us. This mission must be either very important...."
"Dravenyx...?"
"....or very dangerous. But how can this young man be dangerous to very powerful Masters like us? He’s only an Errant Knight!"
"Dravenyx!"
"What?" Dravenyx finally snapped.
"He’s awake."