I am the Only Son of Nyx-Chapter 37: Securing the Second Requirement

Wolf didn’t die easily, even with a hole in his throat.

His vitality as a Supernal with the bloodline of a Divine Beast is too robust for him to have a quick death. Even as he grew weaker by the second, his body melting into the ground, he was laughing.

It seemed that the fact that he was right overrode the fear of death.

Snake didn’t believe him when he said Matilda couldn’t be trusted, and he was right.

But as the satisfaction gradually passed, the situation settled over him.

Kai, a Lesser Angel with only one Divine Lock, could actually grow so much until he was able to achieve this. Impossible. The sheer point of Divine Locks is the inherent potential a Supernal has in wielding a divine bloodline.

Something like this should be impossible.

It doesn’t make sense for Kai to be this strong.

"W-What are you?" Wolf asked. "You’re not normal."

His eyes were staring at Kai’s abyssal black, searching for an answer behind them.

Kai nodded his head.

For once, he ought to admit that he was really abnormal. Not in a bad way. He had thought the longest that he was barely a Supernal. That he has the lowest talent a Supernal could have. But in reality, it wasn’t like that.

As it turns out, he was unique, to say the least.

"When my sister died, I lost everything," Kai looked down at the palm of his hand, recalling that tragic moment. It’s still fresh in his mind like it happened yesterday. "But something else awakened inside me right after. I don’t... have a divine bloodline."

He raised his gaze to look at Wolf again, "I have a primordial bloodline—the Goddess of the Primordial Night. I don’t exactly know what that meant, but I know one thing for certain," He squatted down. "I am stronger than you."

Rustle...

The cold wind of the night suddenly blew harder.

Even as Wolf was losing warmth and was struck by the coldness of death, he could feel the cold night wind seeping into his bones. And behind Kai, the night seemed to gravitate towards him, turning him into an ink-black silhouette.

Kai’s face blended with the darkness.

Had he come with this appearance already, Wolf would’ve thought that he was not human.

And at that moment, Kai finally saw it.

For the first time, Wolf’s face showed something human: primal fear. He had killed students in cold blood, fed them to his dogs, watched them suffer—but felt nothing. Now, standing on the other side with death right behind, he finally understood what the eyes of his victims had seen in their final moments.

He now felt what it feels like to be the one losing.

A High Angel falls, and a Lesser Angel stands.

Kai didn’t devour the corpse with Deep Slumber. It was a message—a warning. Lion said hi to him, and now he said hi back. Most of the foot soldiers are now dead, leaving Lion with no other choice but to make a move himself.

But he did take something from the corpse.

It was an inkling feeling that the night had urged him to do.

Somehow, the Divine Locks inside the corpse drew his attention. One was full, and the other was almost full. Kai vividly remembers that there’s no mention in Professor Hera’s note about any usage of others’ Divine Locks.

Even so, he decided to follow his instinct.

And surprisingly, he could pull the accumulated mana inside the two Divine Locks.

Kai watched as glowing mana bled from the corpse, coiling around his fingers before rushing into his chest. Into his Primordial Lock. Energy flooded his veins, warm and electrifying. It seemed his Primordial Lock could even absorb mana from others’ Divine Locks.

His source of mana doesn’t only need to come from mana ores.

And frankly, Kai didn’t know how to feel about that.

Just thinking about what he could do unsettled him, but right now, survival seized his mind.

Killing Wolf and a big chunk of Team Coeus isn’t the only goal Kai has in mind from luring the Awakened Monster. He had deliberately let it run rampant and let it eat most of the people it came across, so that he could do one thing.

Saving its egg is what it wanted, yes, but doing so also filled its belly.

Now that it has recovered its egg and is full, there can only be one course of action next.

Kai climbed the hill once more—and found the track he sought. The Awakened Monster had returned to its nest. He didn’t follow immediately. Instead, he waited right outside for more than ten minutes beneath the moonlight, letting the silence settle around him.

Then, he took a long sword that he had hidden nearby.

It was the sword of one of the students from Team Coeus that was almost as long as his body.

Once he got the weapon in hand, he activated the Nigh-Phantom imprint and descended.

Even though the Awakened Monster came from the Blue Void, it’s still a snake.

After feasting, its body would shut down to hibernate.

Kai went down further. His heart was pounding inside his chest as he traversed through the darkness, and when he reached the bottom, he saw the hibernating Awakened Monster. Two bird and one stone.

His light presence made it possible for him to climb the snake without alerting it.

And once he was on its head, he held the long sword with both hands and positioned it properly. Killing a snake, especially this size, is best done by crushing its brain, located at the center-back of the head.

It would be hectic. The Awakened Monster would retaliate fiercely. But it would die.

No doubt about it.

Kai charged his arms with mana, enhancing his overall strength, and before the snake could wake up and realize what he was doing, his muscles contracted as he plunged the longsword deep into the back of the snake’s head, all the way until the hilt touched the head’s surface.

HISS—!

Almost instantly, the Awakened Monster woke up and thrashed around.

Its body coiled and lashed out.

Kai tried to hold onto the sword, but his hand slipped, and he was slapped by its tail.

Crash—!

He coughed a mouthful of blood as he was flattened against the wall.

Had he encountered the Awakened Monster and tried doing this before he became a Grade-2 Awakened Supernal, this would’ve crushed him. Fortunately, he was strong enough now to endure it and quickly rolled away to safety before he got hit again.

For almost fifteen minutes straight, the Awakened Monster kept thrashing around.

It tore down the walls and even crushed its own egg.

But eventually, the snake died, and Kai could approach it again.

Everything had gone perfectly. Exactly as planned, minus being squished into the wall. Kai drew the longsword out and spotted the crack running through its center piece. The snake’s muscles must’ve squeezed so hard that the blade couldn’t handle it.

"Shit,’ He cursed silently.

Kai tossed it aside and then looked down at the vertical slit in the snake’s head.

"Fine." He sighed. "Hands it is."

It took a moment as the Awakened Monster’s flesh was tough to carve open with only his bare hands, but he eventually carved out the Blue Gem. Kai stared at the brilliant, glowing blue gem between his fingers, the size of a tennis ball.

Quite heavy for a gemstone, and the energy inside it was denser than Wolf’s Divine Locks.

Mana ores formed naturally where mana concentrated thickest, in the air and underground, which meant only in the clouds like Ixos or underground cities. These minerals offered clean mana to Supernals.

An efficient source of power to grow stronger, and also to mend the cracks on the Fifth Sky.

As for this Blue Gem, Kai knew that they were called Null Gems.

It was written in Professor Hera’s notes.

Each monster from the Blue Void has a Null Gem inside it, which contains much more mana in comparison to mana ores, yet it’s dirty and dangerous to use. However, since it could also be a source of power, mankind developed a way to use it.

Pressure made everything possible.

And the researchers, those who aren’t Supernals but wanted to contribute to mankind, were the sole reason the gems could somewhat be usable now. After going through an extensive process, these Null Gems were processed into Null Crystals.

Despite years of research, the process wasn’t perfect.

Null Crystals still retained some side effects of Null Gems, but they were much more usable.

Kai didn’t know for sure what the side effects were, as Professor Hera’s notes didn’t explain absolutely everything, but he reckoned the side effects were bad since there was a regulation for absorbing Null Crystals.

Because of that, mana ores are much more valuable.

But still, he was itching to absorb the Blue Gem and see how his Primordial Lock fares.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t as the Blue Gem was one of the requirements to pass this rite.

Kai put it away into his pocket and placed his hand on the Awakened Monster. He used the Deep Slumber on it and absorbed the carcass entirely—making use of every part of the snake for his own growth.

[You fed the House of Night with a low rating void blood (Grade 1 Awakened Monster)]

[Gained 55 exp]

Seeing the notification put a smile on Kai’s face.

Now, with the additional fifty-five experience along with his existing fifty-one experience that he had accumulated from devouring students from Team Coeus, he has over one-hundred usable exp.

It should be more than enough to meet with Perion and complete the Ending of Stone.

In one night alone, Kai had taken out many of Team Coeus’ forces, fed his Primordial Lock, and also accumulated over one-hundred useable experience points that would lead him to grow even stronger.

Such a productive night.

And that’s all because he now didn’t restrain himself from doing what must be done.

"Now," Kai looked out of the nest. "Time to win this rite."

...

Inside a cavern system within a hill, a group of about ten students resided.

Seeing how many of them were wounded, dirty, and weak, the situation was clearly not good for them. It doesn’t seem like they had eaten anything in the last few days, which left them weak and malnourished.

Among them, a woman with long, voluminous orange hair was losing it.

She was punching the wall and throwing everything that her hands could reach.

"Heal me!" She roared, pointing at her bloodied knuckles at a weak student who was the sole healer of Team Hyperion. He tried healing her, but he simply doesn’t have enough strength to evoke the power of healing. "Useless!"

Angrily, Layra kicked the student as her chest heaved up and down in anger.

It became apparent now that she was going to lose.

After many students from her team changed sides, everything went downhill.

And now, she understood perfectly that they were done.

"Team Coeus won..."