I am the Only Son of Nyx-Chapter 38: East Keeper

No food. And barely any water.

Team Hyperion was being bled dry from the siege.

Inside the body of the hill was the mine that they found early into the rite, and Layra decided to fortify the hill in order to unlock everyone’s second Divine Lock before expanding outward to beat the other teams or take out the Awakened Monster.

But though they were lucky with the mine, they weren’t lucky with the food source.

Before being besieged, there are always teams sent out to hunt down animals.

In the early days, their system worked. The cavern near the hilltop stayed cool—cool enough that hunted meat lasted two, sometimes three days before turning bad. And with animals abundant within a five-mile radius, they never went hungry.

Things were good. Stable. Sustainable.

Not to mention, there’s a water source inside the cave.

It’s not enough for all of them to satiate their thirst, but that limited the need to go to the river and stock up on water. Everything was looking well for them. Once they were ready, they would dominate Ixos.

However, the weakness of their dynamic became apparent when the siege happened.

Once Team Coeus surrounded the hill, food became scarce.

And with time, Team Coeus also found their secret passages for some of them to go hunt and bring back food. It was easy for them to get isolated as every corner of the hill was guarded by enemies.

Coupled with Lion’s fearmongering, Layra was too late to notice that her team was breaking.

It didn’t take long for the first traitor to appear.

And once that happened, it snowballed for the worse.

Now, with the additional manpower, there was no longer any gap for them to restock food.

Anyone sent down the hill never came back.

Surviving without food for a week is possible for Supernals like them, but the mental damage was too much for them, who, not too long ago, were living in comfort on the surface. Now, the entire team was starving, weak, and had no more will to fight back.

Most have already opened their second Divine Lock.

But without any food, even that proved to be meaningless.

"I can’t lose like this..." Layra leaned against the wall. "I can’t. Becoming an Angel is already bad enough, and now I’m going to die in a place like this? Me? I’m supposed to be a Demon. Now that I’m a High Angel, I should at least survive, right?"

She grabbed her face, eyes wide with maddening light.

Her shoulders rose up and down as she started to chuckle, a self-ridiculing deed.

In her mind, the attempt that she tried not too long ago replayed over and over again. Despite most of them managing to open their second Divine Lock, including herself, when they were faced against that man, against Lion, they were slaughtered like pigs.

Even Layra, who was also a High Angel, could barely keep up with Lion.

Just like them, he had also opened his second Divine Lock, which made him monstrous.

’Lion hasn’t been seen the last couple of days,’ Layra thought as she turned to look at her team once again. Her eyes glistened with reckless intent. ’No matter what, tonight, we’re going to get food. And then tomorrow, I’ll ditch them. I’m sorry.

’Better be a whore for Lion than dying in this stupid place.’

...

Several miles east of the hill, far from the chaos, a figure stood motionlessly.

He stood at the center of a flat stone platform that looked like an arena, and is certainly man-made. His arms were crossed beneath the weight of a loose black robe. The fabric draped over him heavily with clear crimson accents and linings that seemed to pulse against the dark.

A half-mask covered the upper portion of his face, leaving only his mouth exposed.

And his eyes were closed, relaxed, as if the world held no urgency worth acknowledging.

From his head rose long ear tufts, dark and feathered, unmistakably reminiscent of an owl.

It looked like the ear tufts were a part of the mask, but they were a part of him instead.

Soon enough, as the sun was setting, the air shifted unnaturally. Disturbed by the abrupt shift, his eyes lifted, revealing a pair of bright amber eyes. "Welcome." The word hung in the cooling air as he lowered his arms. "You’re the first challenger of this rite."

Unnaturally, the figure’s head turned all the way until the very back.

His neck didn’t break as if he were an owl.

In hindsight, there was nobody there, but the figure knew better than to trust the shadows.

"Please, come out and let us have a proper introduction," He urged.

Eventually, two figures emerged. A student with abyssal black eyes and black hair, holding a knife against the throat of another person in a similar black and red robe. "May I know your name, student?"

"Kai," Kai answered without hesitation. "I’m here for the Grade 1 enchanted gear."

Just a bit earlier, Kai managed to locate the East Keeper.

To challenge Lion and actually win, he needed Grade 1 enchanted gear from the East Keeper.

He’d known the keeper would be strong—but he wasn’t expecting the keeper to be this strong. Kai lurked a hundred yards away, buried in shadow, barely breathing. And still. The keeper’s gaze found him unerringly.

Like he’d known all along.

Not to mention, the way the East Keeper could turn his head around like that was horrifying.

Even Kai was startled by the sight.

It was worth noting that his Nigh-Phantom imprint was active.

So, it’s either that the keeper is that strong, or the imprint couldn’t affect those stronger than him properly.

"In order for you to get the enchanted gear, you would need to defeat me," the keeper said, spreading his arms, almost like he was beholding himself. "Let me introduce myself. I’m the East Keeper, and I’m a Grade 4 Awakened Supernal of Ascalaphus."

Grade four? Doesn’t the Awakened Supernal rank only reach grade three?

Kai frowned at the introduction.

He was certain that the rank of an Awakened Supernal only reaches grade three.

But the East Keeper doesn’t seem to be lying.

"Rest assured. I will be holding myself back," the East Keeper assured. "Defeating me is not impossible."

"Can’t you see who I’m holding?" Kai pressed the knife harder against the woman’s throat—enough to dimple her skin, not yet enough to spill blood. "I’m not here to fight. Give me the enchanted gear, and she walks. If you don’t..." He let the silence finish the sentence.

The East Keeper’s eyes narrowed behind the mask.

He doesn’t look furious. Just curious.

"Tell me, Student Kai," the East Keeper tilted his head. "How do you know there’s someone else with me? Did your professor help you?"

"If you’re tasked to be a keeper, I assumed you can’t leave this arena in case a student came to challenge you," Kai glanced at the woman in his grip. She’s around his strength. No, maybe weaker, which made her far weaker than the East Keeper. "Someone else must bring you food. Water. Supplies."

His eyes lifted to the keeper, "And I was right."

"I see," the East Keeper nodded in acknowledgment. "But how do you know that I can’t leave this arena for certain? Maybe there’s a rule that when a student tries to play dirty, I could leave this arena and even kill that student."

"There’s no such rule," Kai answered. He was confident with that answer. "This rite exists to see which among us new Angels can survive. And to survive meant any means necessary. That’s the point. Because when we finally faced the Star Beasts from the Blue Void, I assumed the academy wanted us to understand that mankind’s survival is paramount over everything."

"Fascinating," the East Keeper clapped his hands. "You’re one promising Angel."

Seems like Kai’s answer managed to convince him.

From within his loose sleeves, the East Keeper produced a pair of deep-blue gloves.

He tossed them toward the edge of the arena, close enough for Kai to reach, and far enough to show that he wouldn’t come closer. "Take them." A gesture invited Kai forward. "Permafrost Gloves. They’ll let you infuse anything with cryo power. Take them and go."

Kai approached slowly. Carefully.

Even as he neared the arena, he kept the woman right in front of him just in case.

"Take the gloves," He whispered to the woman.

She glanced at Kai a little and then back to the East Keeper. Only when he gave her a nod did she finally move. Slowly. She bent down to grab the gloves at the edge, while Kai kept his eyes locked on the East Keeper.

Kai was extremely alert.

But the moment his gaze slipped ever so slightly for even a second, the wind shifted.

Swoosh—!

In an instant, the East Keeper grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him into the arena.

Kai kept his hand firm on the woman, bringing her along with him as he was hurled to the other side. His free hand grabbed the East Keeper’s wrist and immediately used the Deep Slumber without a second thought.

His mana was sucked immensely in order for the Deep Slumber to work on the East Keeper.

But work it did.

As he landed on the other side with the woman, he saw the East Keeper lag for a second.

Disoriented from the Deep Slumber.

Kai didn’t waste this opportunity. No mercy. No hesitation. He kept the woman at the perfect arm’s length and kicked her legs with a perfect roundhouse kick. Her right knee snapped with a sound like breaking ice.

The shriek that followed was muffled by her mask, but not enough to suppress the pain in her voice.

Not nearly enough.

She fell to the arena floor, holding her broken leg.

Decisively, Kai changed the grip on his knife into a reverse grip, cocked the woman’s head back by pulling on her hair, and then swung.

He hacked the knife straight at the woman’s neck.

It all happened in a few seconds. Too fast for even the East Keeper to intercept.

"STOP!" the East Keeper shouted.

Even though he started it, he wasn’t expecting Kai to be ready to retaliate.

The speed at which he used his Legacy Skill was incredibly fast, which could only mean one thing.

He’s a Grade 1 Awakened Supernal, at least.

Most students would be opening their second Divine Lock first, but Kai was different.

Kai stopped the knife right when it was an inch away from plunging into his neck and killing her on the spot. He didn’t come for a fight. Only to get the enchanted gear. But since the East Keeper was going to test him, he had no other choice but to see it through.

"What?" He asked, still holding the knife against her skin. "Let’s get on with this. We’ll fight after I kill her."

"Take the gloves," the East Keeper kicked the gloves out of the arena. "Don’t kill her."

Seeing this, Kai frowned as he wasn’t expecting this response.

Regardless, he didn’t mind the turn of events.

He went around the arena, still dragging the woman, and took the Permafrost Gloves. Once he got the enchanted gear, he went back into the shadow, kicking the woman forward before he left the area.