Dark Lord of Tartarus - Chapter 28

Chapter 28






Xyn Draven Nightfall excitedly watched everything in front of him as the guardians strode closer to the human soldiers.

He is greatly looking forward to this. Having the guardians use their power even for just a little is what Xyn wanted to see.

However, while casually watching, he noticed something unwanted.

Wait, what are they doing? The guardians are closing in, why are they not doing anything?

He thought.

At this moment he started to feel worried. This is not what he expected nor is this what he wanted.

Dammit! Are they going to ruin the fun for me and my guardians?! Unacceptable! At this rate I won't be satisfied by the result I will receive.

He started to feel irritated, also a bit angry. He doesn't want to waste all the efforts he just gave for a result that is unsatisfying and won't be enough to convince him.

They better resist or I will surely shred them to pieces! However, I will make them suffer first for wasting my time and efforts.

Faithful that the current state will change, he patiently waited for a change within the ranks of the humans. However, the guardians have gone even closer and there is still no change.

Damn soldiers! Even when they are afraid they should still fight for there is no other choice.

He said angrily in his mind.

Xyn is really and extremely looking forward to this, and the humans are just going to mess it up. And that is unacceptable, many efforts, and the theatric actions he has done are things that must not go to naught.

After a few moments, he saw the guardians halted their walking. They must have noticed the same thing.

Do these people really intend to protect their lives, their town, and their loved ones? They don't seem like it. Should I do something?

Then he looked at the guardians and continued talking within his mind.

Or the guardians themselves are going to do something about it?

He smiled a little behind the mask looking forward to positive things that might happen.

A few moments have past and suddenly someone shouted and was barely heard by Xyn.

"Aren't you supposed to be soldiers? Then be one, fight the enemy right in front of you, be the warrior that you are, or is it that you people chose to be cowards instead? Then there's no point in you for being soldiers. You have no place to go, no escape, so there's no choice but to fight!"

He instantly knew whose voice that was even from a distance.

Sagremor… Did he just say something about how being a soldier or something like that? Seems like it, anyway, I hope that did at least anything to the soldiers.

After the words of the Sword Master, there was finally some little movements within the ranks of the soldiers, it looks like Sagremor's words have some effects. However, Xyn was not happy, well that is because the humans have still not given any form of resistance but only mostly looking at each other.

Then what happened next after moments have passed caused Xyn to raise an eyebrow.

The soldiers have begun to ready and aim their weapons. This didn't happen after Sagremor spoke the words from his mouth, so Xyn concluded something must have happened within the ranks of the soldiers. However, Xyn doesn't care, what only matter is that the soldiers will resist and fight to the fullest.

Then the soldiers started to shoot.

Countless bullets and magic particles started to light up from the ranks of the human soldiers. Every attack targeted the guardians, but have no effect.

As Xyn watch in the distance, he described the scene before him as something beautiful. The illuminating and dazzling lights from the weapons of the humans are so beautiful to watch, with the darkness caused by the clouds above, the scene before him is like watching the clear and beautiful night sky with stars twinkling and peaceful heavens. In contrast, he thought the night sky is one of the few beautiful things within this world.

The guardians have started to advance once more paying no heed to the pointless attacks by the humans.

Countless attacks have landed to their Dark Protection, but their shields have not even damaged. Then it's assured their protection are working perfectly even with the numerous attacks hitting them.

He nodded after thinking that.

He shifted his sight to the left.

Well, except there. The soldiers looked to be distracted. By Criswell? Haha, I did a good work on designing her I should say, they are captivated and mesmerized by her. But still, being distracted is not a good thing to do within a battlefield, especially being distracted by an enemy.

He said in his mind.

Then he shifted his sight back to the right and looked at Sagremor.

Damn, he's being shot on the face. That must be annoying, but it's a good thing he looked undamaged.

Xyn thought.

Then several blades impaled the tank that was attacking Sagremor and Xyn said within his mind.

Good, the blades easily managed to pierce through the armored vehicle.

Then Sagremor started to shoot some blades towards the soldiers. Satisfied, he moved his sight to the Demon of Purgatorial Flames, Agiel.

Agiel was casually waving his arm around and waves of flames appeared.

As the flames hit the soldiers, judging by their actions they seem to be in an incomprehensible pain.

Sucks to be them right now. They might be in pain and suffering one cannot even begin to describe. Well, I did give those abilities to Agiel, and that ability are perfect for punishment, and also quite fanatically sadistic.

Xyn thought.

Of course, that is not the only way Agiel can use his flames of punishment. Sometimes it might also may be used in a more painful and worse way. Well, painful is not even enough to begin in describing the effects of the flames of purgatory.

Now that I thought about. If they got to suffer unimaginably in the living world with the flames similar to the depiction of the purgatorial flames, then if the purgatory really does exist and souls are sent there after they leave their body, then the soul is being cleansed there through suffering in the flames. So, this could be double suffering! And might be a right off the bat one. That's, that's quite ruthless… all right! Moving on!

He shifted his sight to the person who is next, and the next one is an innocent child.

Aaaww, look how Xelya go. The soldiers are even having second thoughts on shooting her down, well that's unde-----

BOOOM!!

Suddenly there was a giant explosion.

Woah! I did not expect that. As I recall, didn't I say to hold back, or is it…

Xyn peered closely to Xelya.

Could it be she's having difficulties in using her power? This is exactly one of the reasons why they need to get into the field and use their powers.

Xyn observed more at where Xelya is making a havoc.

How amusing it is to see the humans trying not to shoot the agent of destruction but still ended up being vaporized into nothingness.

Xyn said in his mind.

Satisfied, he moved his sight far to the left and looked at Criswell.

There was already a great damage to the defenses of the soldiers.

Did she just use one of her spells? I can think one spell that could do that kind of damage and it's also one of her not so high-level spells probably about average. She must have used [Searing Divine Light], she probably used that because I said to hold back. Still, it's impressive it did that much damage.

Xyn thought.

Then he continued to observe Criswell.

She was fighting gracefully, and her armor unstained by blood, well that is because she does not want to dirty her set of armor at the moment and the current circumstance and Xyn knows this.

Also, it was a mesmerizing sight. Her amazing armor design with her slender body and majestic wings caused Xyn to gaze at her out of captivation for a moment.

Wow, watching her is somewhat pleasing to the eye. Did I give her an aura of charm? No, I did not, probably that's just how she is. Yes, that's just how she is.

Then Xyn looked at the sword in Criswell's hand.

Oh no, the blade is dirty. Hm, well, one vigorous swing ought to be enough to remove the blood. Besides, one cannot achieve some things without having yourself or something dirty, so having things dirty is alright.

Xyn thought.

Indeed, one cannot hope to reach far without having done something dirty. And beliefs that things can be changed or achieved without having to do something dirty is foolish. Without having to do something dirty would only make things last longer, or even can make it worse than it should be.

Why bother taking a long route when the shortcut is only right next to you. Well, there are people use the long route, people that choose the door with a dangerous and long path behind it instead of the easier, shorter and safer route.

Xyn said in his mind.

After thinking that he moved on to the next person.

He shifted his sight to Adrasteia then he smiled.

The Immortal General was shooting down multiple targets at a time with her weapons floating on her sides then she rushed towards the human soldiers and cleanly and gracefully cutting them down.

Damn, she looks so cool! With the military uniform which is so fitting her, and the floating cannons at her sides vaporizing soldiers, she looks so cool and badass. And the way she moves is impressive, I didn't expect to see that. It's wonderful seeing her fight.

Xyn said in his mind.

Indeed, it was an impressive and amazing sight. Adrasteia was obliterating every enemy with ease as well as killing and slaughtering smoothly. Then the way her clothes sway in the wind as she moves her slender body is somewhat mesmerizing to watch.

If she removes her mask and exposes her beautiful visage, that would be more than amazing. Just imagining a beauty slaughtering her enemies gracefully and in a cool way makes me tremble in excitement, just for a little.

Xyn said in his mind.

Xyn still wants to watch Adrasteia from a distance as he adores her fighting, however, he needs to observe all the guardians so he shifted his sight to the next and last person.

There he saw golems wreaking havoc and Brutus strolling forward pass the defenses.

He summoned Bone Golems huh. The golems seem to be doing just fine.

He looked at a destroyed armored vehicle.

Hmmm, the golems seem to be the ones that destroyed that, well it is quite obvious. The piercing cut looks so clean, so armored vehicles like that tank stands no chance against the cleaving blades of the golems. That's good, very good.

After thinking that, he returned his sight to Brutus when he looked like he just cast a spell.

Then green trails started to appear on the ground where a group of soldiers are standing. Then a few seconds later they turned into zombies and then engaged some soldiers.

So, he used that spell huh. Those zombies may be one of the weakest but they seem to be effective at the moment, perhaps adding their numbers may be enough to exterminate all living beings in this town.

Xyn returned his sight to Brutus and he thought.

He's not attacking? He's letting all the summoned units destroy the enemies? That's being lazy… ah, well that is fine. After all, he is mainly a summoner so he doesn't really have any abilities to use for these weak enemies, so that's fine for me. Also, him using summoned units is giving relevant data, so I should commend him for that. But still, I quite expected him to use an offensive or any kind of damaging spell, but I guess it would be a bit overkill to make him cast a spell. If he does cast a spell, that would no longer be regarded as holding back.

The summoned units should all be enough to be considered holding back. In addition, Brutus casting spells here might accidentally destroy a large part of the town by accident or might decay the land. There might be some spells of the low caliber that cannot damage a large part, but there is no need to use those spells, the summoned units are already more than enough.

Then Xyn looked at the events before him once more.

"This is good, guardians. Use your abilities more, and gain experience."

The guardians may be level 100 beings, however, that only applies to their abilities. If someone lacks experience but is so powerful and they faced an enemy which is weaker, however, has more experience, the latter has a higher chance to triumph. One would always need experience in order to succeed no matter how powerful you are.

There are many benefits to gaining experience. For example, like what happened to Xelya, she had difficulty in controlling her power, however, if she uses it and already had a bit of experience, in the future, she might be able to manage and to fully control her power. Another example is one can gain ideas on what abilities could be used in a situation, and won't cause any accident, or able to calculate the appropriate level of power to use in a situation.

"Believing you are powerful enough to defeat anyone without any apparent evidence is being foolish and stupid. This is necessary to give them at least a few experiences in the field and what is within a battle. Also, for me to assure they are strong basing on the standards of this world."

Xyn wanted the guardians to gain experience in the field, and also for their safety. If the guardians, as well as the other created ones, gain experience and control their powers, they will be able to apply it to possible future enemies. Xyn doesn't want his creations in harm's way and unable to fight back, especially in a life-threatening scenario.

Deep within Xyn's heart there's another reason. He has lost someone very important to him. So he doesn't want to experience that again, and doesn't want the same thing to happen to his creations.

"Hmmm, them going in battle and gain experience might help them reach a higher level. Yes, that is possible, this battlefield may not be enough, but if they go out on the field sometimes they might reach level 101. As well as my other creations."

The created ones may be only created but they are still they are living beings and have souls. They can reach a higher level than they are now.

At this moment, nervousness struck Xyn that only lasted for a second.

Now that I think about it. What if the guardians… betray me… scary! I so don't want that to happen! The gap of level between me and the guardians are only a few, if they tried to strike me down I'm at an advantage in level, however, strategies and abilities always have great roles in achieving victory.

He thought.

Xyn is level 112 and the guardians are level 100, that level gap is already enough to give the guardians chance to defeat Xyn himself. However, it only depends on the strategies and abilities one use to defeat the other. In magical knowledge and level, Xyn has an advantage, but that doesn't mean he would be ignorant.

"I guess I have to prepare for the worst."

Indeed, after all, the created sometimes do rebel against their creator.

However, Xyn has faith in the loyalty of the created ones, so he is not greatly worried about betrayal.

Still, somethings just don't last forever, and everything changes.

In contrast, Xyn can indeed create a being that is more powerful than him, but that is a stupid thing to do. Everything must have limitations, he can't just give a subordinate more power than its superior. One must have power according to their position, and position according to their power.

That is why Xyn made the guardians level 100. As for the maids, he could have just made them level 100 the same as the guardians, but what authority and superiority can the guardians have when the maids are of the same level. That is why the maids must have a lower level than the guardians.

Still, it still depends on what authority and superiority one can have. If one has the intelligence or is sentient, he or she can gain authority and superiority over someone of a higher level. Ultimately, it still depends on Xyn on what authority he would give to someone.

Xyn looked at the town and its surroundings.

"The surroundings are indeed beautiful, a rare sight to have. This is one of the very few places to have a beautiful and clean sight, well this place is really not that great. But it still passes for me judging by the standards of this world."

Xyn had many goals and dreams in his life. One of them is to explore this world. Discover what needed to be discovered, adore the beautiful sight he might see. That is what he expected to reach, however, it was a disappointment.

What he mostly sees within the world is nothing but ugliness. In the end, this world turned out to be uninteresting.

A world full of pollution, broken natural settings, humans keeping on messing up the world when there is another way but still chose to damage it more, and countless malevolent and wicked people. The wicked and malevolent people are fine with Xyn because that's just how the world is, but it has already gone too far and too much to the point of annoyance, so Xyn hated it. Hell, the kids even began to be an annoyance because of their evil manners.

As for the beauty of the world, Xyn expected he would see things that are memorable and filled with wonder, however, there is only too few. Most of nature has already been polluted and destroyed, for instance, rivers have become so dirty one would not recognize it to be rivers. Also, the air itself is to be hated, in where people live, the air he inhales cannot even be described as fresh air, or air for that matter, but rather gas of god knows what. It would be alright if the world is polluted and ugly, but it has gone too far. In contrast, the place where he formerly lived is only a town, but almost to the point of becoming a city, that is why his former town is not that bad.

This world has become uninteresting that made Xyn halt his expectations to discover something new that is good. One of the things that gave Xyn leisure is the night sky. When he lays on the grass and stares at the beautiful night sky with stars twinkling in the far distance brings peace within him.

Then Xyn said in his mind.

Do I even want to make my creations live in this not so good world? Well, at least where we live is nice. But still… hmmm… should I make the world a bett— no, that would be a waste of time, I don't care what kind of place the people of this word lives in. I will only focus on the well being of my creations, so I will make our home better.

Xyn has wondered what it's like to be a ruler or a king. Xyn was curious and later on, he realized he at least wants to be a master or something, so he did. As he learned and made the spell of creation, he sought to make his own living beings.

In actuality, wanting to be a king or master is not the only reason why he sought to create living beings. For a long time, he was always been all alone, with no one to care for him, no one at his side always, for him it felt like he's walking all alone under the rain and feeling cold with no one to warm him up. So, he sought to create beings to be always at his side, beings that will care for him, and beings that he will care. And now he has achieved it, and Xyn was so happy of this, he felt like the sun has finally shined before him once again.

There is indeed some other way he cannot feel lonely, and a thought crossed his mind. And that thought is having a family, yes, a family, meaning having a wife and a child. But that is ridiculous, he thought he's still too young for that, and who would want a family at the age.

Well, deep inside Xyn, he doesn't want to have a family with a wife and child because he doesn't want that kind of life, a life that is normal, a life that is like when one has a family. In other words, he wants to reach his ideal goals or it could be said his imaginative and ideal life.

Xyn peered closely unto the town then focused unto the people.

"A long time has passed, and it seems there are only soldiers there. Could there still be people hiding within their houses, or have they completely evacuated all the civilians."

Xyn did not observe the town while the townspeople were evacuating, that is why he is not sure.

"So, when I destroy the town, the civilians will also die… doesn't matter. I already gave them a warning before I attacked. So, it's their fault if they didn't evacuate their loved ones and keep them from harm. I gave them a chance to save the people they value most, so if there are still some civilians left, the chance I gave has already passed so they will die."

That is also why Xyn first sent a warning to the folks of this town. To give them a chance to save the people they valued. The civilians have no use when it comes to battle, so he gave them a chance to get rid of the bothersome people which are worthless in a battlefield and in his tests.

"Hm, now I'm here, about to destroy this town. As I look at the slaughter before me, I feel nothing… No there is something."

He looked at his hands then back to the battlefield.

"It feels like entertainment… amusement... Yes, it feels like that. It feels like how I would feel when killing random people or rather NPCs within video games. When I kill countless people with a high-grade weapon I still feel enjoyment, entertainment, and amusement. So, could this mean all of this is like a game to me."

He smiled behind the mask.

"For some reason it's funny."

He lowered his head and looked at the ground as a thought crossed his mind.

"Is mother even going to still support me knowing I'm going to destroy this town."

Then something flashed within the mind of Xyn.

"Agh…"

He held his head as a memory flashed in his mind. The memory of when he saw his mother lifelessly lying on a hospital bed and as he held the corpse of his mother tightly.

"Dammit, I hate remembering this kind of memories… I-It hurts dammit… I hate this feeling."

He felt pain within his heart.

Xyn shook his head hoping to shake off the bad memory and he looked at the distance trying to change the flow of his thoughts.

He looked at the guardians and it was working for just a little, then he extended his hand and darkness began to cover it. At the very least it helped change the course of his thoughts.

"Blazing Darkness, a blaze that doesn't even burn. Blaze which is blazing calmly, different from a normal fire. I don't even know the origins of this power."

Then magic circles began to form all around and engulfing his extended right arm along with the blazing darkness.

"Still, there's no point in thinking about its origins when I can't even get a start on figuring out how this power came to me. Besides, this power has been useful, so useful. Also, how did I get to learn magic spells so quick? Normally, some spells take years to be able to cast and some months. But for me, I can cast and learn spells for just a short time. Could this darkness have really helped in learning spells?"

One of the dreams Xyn hoped to achieve is to become a strong magic caster. As he traveled across the world, he also sought to learn different kinds of magic and spells. When he did learn, he was surprised.

He can learn and cast spells for a short time, spells that are strong takes years to be able to cast and master, however, for him it only took more or less than a month – some strong spells took him several months to learn. Also, he was able to create original spells for just a short time when normally depending on the magnitude of the spell it would take several years for the spell to be stable and able to be cast. That is why now he is able to use 812 spells.

Xyn wondered this, but later on, decided to not think about it a lot. He can't come to a conclusion anyway. However, he thought that perhaps the dark power has something to do with him able to learn spells with ease.

"I should say I have reached my dream of being a strong magic caster easily, well not that easy."

Then in the distance, the magic cannons atop the wall were moving and pointed towards Xyn then Booooosshh. The cannon fired.

As the cannons fired, Xyn quickly looked at the attacks that were coming towards him.

Xyn however, just stood still and looked like he wants to get hit. But before the beams could reach him something or rather someone suddenly went in front of him.

A person in a full set of white armor stood in front of him. It was the Holy Maiden of Providence.

She had her arm extended and three lined up in a row large golden magic circles were in front of her. The circles are what blocked the beams of the cannons, protecting Xyn in the process.

"Criswell, you do know those attacks are nothing. There was no need for you to rush back just to protect me from the futile attacks."

Criswell quickly turned to face her master. Of course, the magic circles are still there to protect.

"My Lord, please pardon me. But, you have already done your experiment on the protective shields. So, there is no need for you to receive their attacks anymore and dirty you. Also, I am your shield, it is one of my duties to protect you from something like this."

Indeed, she knows about the testing the Dark Protection, that's because Xyn told the guardians. That is why everyone just stood when the human soldiers previously barraged them with attacks.

"I see. I understand. Then protect me, Criswell. Do not let even a tiny piece of their petty attacks touch me."

"Certainly."

Then the cannons attacked once again but were blocked by the magic circles.

Criswell turned back to face the town.

"[Divine Barrage]."

She cast a spell and multiple balls or rather it could be described like comets of divine light came flying towards each cannon atop the wall. As the balls made of light hit, it caused explosions obliterating everything within its area of effect.

What? She managed to specify targets with that spell. I did not expect she could do that when she just went to the battlefield. I guess that's how good my guardians are. Especially her, she impressed me.

"You specifically targeted the cannons. I'm impressed, Criswell."

Criswell instantly turned to face Xyn and her defensive circles disappeared.

"I-Impressed?? Ah- ah, Thank you very much, my lord! It's a great honor to have you impressed, my one and only master!"

She deeply bowed as she said that.

Ah, okay. She's so… energetic? I didn't expect she would act that way by saying I'm impressed…

Xyn thought.

"Ah Umm, now focus on protecting me."

"Of course, my lord."

Suddenly there was a loud bang and Criswell sensed that something is quickly approaching towards her master.

A bullet was heading straight towards her master in great speed, so Criswell quickly and immediately extended her hand which is holding her sword.

Then a sound of metal clashing metal rang out.

The speeding bullet was blocked by Criswell's blade, however, the impact was so strong that it deflected to afar leaving a loud clang sound.

"That sounded like a strong impact."

"Indeed it is, my lord."

Then another bullet flew towards Xyn but was again blocked by Criswell.

"Hmmm, could it be the soldier that was able to take out a golem by one shot?"

"It seems like it. Should I blast where the attack is coming from?"

"All right go for it."

"[Light Blast]."

A ball of light flew towards the wall in great speed and as it hit it exploded.

Then Criswell positioned herself beside Xyn to better guard him.

Xyn looked at his right arm that is still engulfed by darkness and blue magic circles then he shifted his sight once again to the town.

I suppose I can't tell if mother would still support me at the current circumstance, after all, she is already… dead. Besides, I'm doing this for my current family so that should be alright, and I don't care about humanity anymore.

Xyn has abandoned his humanity, for humanity itself took away someone valuable from him. He does not want to be human anymore. Now, he regards himself as unknown being, a being of darkness. A being of darkness who chooses whatever he wants to be and do what he wants.

Humans are the ones who took someone valuable to me. Now, humanity will be necessary sacrifices for my new family.

"Guardians! You have done enough, return now to my side and witness my supreme power!"

All guardians heard their master, and so they quickly returned to their master's side.

"You have done well my guardians, and now it is my turn. Time to end this."

The guardians made sounds of anticipation and excitement as their master is finally about to let them see a bit of his supreme power.

This spell has only been used on a very small scale during my training. So I'm looking forward to how it will be on a large scale. An ultimate spell powered by my darkness.

He smoothly and gracefully raised his right hand high, his actions can be described as something theatric.

Then he positioned his fingers in a finger-snapping position.

Xyn broadly smiled behind the mask.

"[Night Fall]."

*Snap*

The magic circles that engulfed his arm dispersed then into nothing.