Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power
Chapter 99 - 100: War…WAR!!!

Chapter 99: Chapter 100: War...WAR!!!

A/N: My bad! I published the Chapter 100 first instead of 99 and I cannot delete it anymore, not when it’s premium.

Go read Chapter 99 first.

And sorry.

Chapter 100 – Warborn

Kaden stood silently in the dark void, his expression calm and relaxed.

He had just died at the hands of the shadow panther, not because of weakness, but because he chose to die.

He had the feeling that if he continued like that, he would only kill the shadow panther hours later, and that... if it didn’t run away.

Because the shadow panther was fast and slippery, but its actual power, its striking force, was weak.

And Kaden, with his stats, could easily dodge its strikes and strike back.

Just the shadow panther was faster than him, so he barely touched it.

And it couldn’t go on.

"Let me think, what could help me win against him?" Kaden muttered under his breath, his hand on his chin as he thought.

The response was rather simple: he needed speed, and the ability to strike the shadow.

For his speed,

"Death, how many stat points do I have left?" he asked.

[Stat points: 135.]

Kaden nodded.

’This will be enough to increase dramatically my speed to match the shadow panther.’

’Death, add 100 to my Agility stat.’

Death responded, making Kaden’s stat go from 201 to 301 instantly.

But matching it and still being unable to touch it because of its shadow transformation would be useless.

And the best way was either a trait fragment or...

"Death, I choose the bloodline fragment."

Yes. Kaden had chosen bloodline because with it, for sure, he would have something related to shadow.

DING!

[You have died.]

[At which point in time do you wish to return?]

"When I met it."

[DING! Confirmed.]

[You have been killed by the Shadow Panther, a unique-type Master-rank beast. You have obtained a bloodline fragment: Shadow of Monstrosity bloodline.]

[Do you wish to integrate it in your bloodline with Synthesis?]

"Yes," Kaden answered immediately.

Death responded while acting at once. As Kaden floated in the dark void, he didn’t feel anything but the process was happening.

His crimson blood, that already had a shimmer of white-gold after absorbing a part of the Devourer’s Soul bloodline, now had something dark inside. It was subtle, but it was there.

Soon the transformation ended, and a notification panel appeared in front of Kaden.

[You have integrated the Shadow of Monstrosity bloodline inside your bloodline.]

[You have gained the ability to touch shadow.]

[You have gained a high level of affinity to shadows. But you can use it properly only if your origin is shadow-based.]

The notifications ended, and Kaden stood there looking at it calmly.

"Origin huh..." Kaden thought, tilting his head softly.

He knew next time what type of fragment to ask.

"Death, revive me."

[Cost: 300 Death Coins.]

Tick—!

...

Kaden found himself back in the forest, and in front of him stood the shadow panther, looking at him with its usual calm expression.

This time, Kaden didn’t say anything.

He simply unsheathed Reditha and took a step forward.

His body blurred with speed beyond what even the panther expected. In not even a second, Kaden was already upon it, Reditha flashing with red light, striking the panther with lethal force.

The panther acted in time, turning half of its body into shadow to evade while at the same time attacking from the ground as jagged spikes made of shadow erupted from it.

It expected Kaden to step back and stop his attack but Kaden simply threw Reditha into the sky, then punched the ground hard with his bare hand.

BOOM!

He destroyed the spikes with disturbing ease. The shadow panther, distracted by the scene, didn’t even notice the crimson sword falling from the sky not until it was too late.

’GRRRRR!!’ the beast growled as shadow erupted all around it, covering its body with haste and precision.

TANK—!

Reditha was blocked by the barrier and bounced back before disappearing and returning to Kaden’s hand.

Kaden saw the barrier and smirked.

He opened his left palm, and a red lotus appeared in it. He hurled it forward toward the barrier, and the moment it touched it, the barrier started to be eaten away, started to corrode.

Slowly, the barrier began to break down.

The panther growled louder, irritation and nervousness starting to creep in.

It never expected an Awakened-rank to be this powerful.

But it couldn’t cower.

It wanted to become stronger and it was only possible by consuming origin cores. And the origin core of a human was the best.

So, before its barrier was fully taken down, it burst out of it and charged toward Kaden with a speed no normal Awakened-rank could ever hope to track.

And just as it was a meter from Kaden, it transformed into shadow and entered his shadow.

Kaden, not expecting this, immediately became immobilized, his body refusing to move.

’Fuck!’ he cursed, feeling his shadow twist being deformed, reshaped, turning against him.

Spears erupted from it, close enough to cause irreversible damage.

Reditha flashed and blocked the spears.

But that wasn’t the only point of attack.

All around them, the shadows twisted and launched a flurry of spears toward Kaden, intending to kill.

Kaden observed all of it with a calm gaze.

He didn’t fear death as he had enough points to come back.

’But I’m not planning on dying,’ Kaden thought firmly as he circulated his mana inside his body.

He couldn’t control his limbs, but his mind and mana were still his.

So he used them.

The panther being inside his shadow was a good thing because now he could finish it all, right here, right now.

He guided poisonous mana inside his body down toward his two feet. He pushed a large amount of mana into both legs.

A spear managed to touch his leg, making him bleed.

He smiled, took the blood, and concentrated it beneath his feet.

Then he used Soulbrand on the soil, making it harder to be thrown off then applied Soulbrand on his own feet.

With him now able to touch and interact with shadows, his poisonous mana, infused with Soulbrand and corrosive blood, slipped through the shadow and entered inside.

It started slow.

Then Kaden sped it up.

Inside the shadow, the panther was there, creating spears and launching them leisurely.

But suddenly it paused, sensing something wrong. It looked around, saw nothing, and continued like nothing happened.

What a mistake.

After almost a minute, the beast’s instincts exploded. It began coughing. Its limbs started to corrode. Its black fur changed to a sickly green.

It immediately tried to escape the shadow but just then, blood began entering the space.

And then,

"Explode."

Kaden’s voice echoed inside the shadows like a curse, and the panther’s body trembled. It tried to escape but...

BOOOOOOMMMM!

...too late.

A massive explosion detonated inside the shadow. Poisoned, corroded by Kaden’s blood, the beast was burned alive, its life clinging by a thread.

The panther was thrown out of Kaden’s shadow and collapsed to the ground, its whole body bleeding.

The scent of blood and charred flesh filled the air, but Kaden didn’t care.

He crouched beside the beast, looking into its eyes. His mask covered his face, but his crimson eyes burned through.

The beast stared back.

But its eyes were filled with fear.

Its body bled black and green, its skin cracked, torn by corrosion, burned from within. The pain it was going through was immeasurable.

Kaden looked for a moment, then slowly placed his hand on it.

"It was a good fight."

"I would’ve let you go if I wasn’t tasked with killing all of you... but unfortunately, you have to die."

He paused. Then slowly...

"Let me make it qui—"

"Don’t you dare kill that beast."

A voice interrupted him.

Cold. Arrogant. Feminine.

Kaden recognized it immediately.

He turned his head slowly, locking eyes with a golden-haired, golden-eyed woman.

Sora Asterion. The Youngest Princess of the Empire.

Kaden cursed internally.

But Sora too was surprised.

Because those eyes...

"You... you’re that guy who blackmailed me?" she said, her voice strong and furious. Without hesitation, her body erupted in radiant golden flames — flames so intense the air began to ripple and distort.

She immediately launched herself at Kaden, wanting to rip him apart.

But Kaden didn’t waste time.

The moment Sora moved, he had already killed the beast.

So when she was just an inch away, Kaden vanished pulled from Fokay alongside Rory as his evolution quest was completed.

But not without leaving some words behind,

"Attacking an innocent person out of nowhere..."

"...Golden voice, you’re so rude."

And then he disappeared completely.

Leaving behind a seething Sora.

Her eyes were molten gold, ready to erupt. The temperature around her rose so sharply that the grass beneath her feet began to incinerate.

But just as she looked at the beast’s body, she stopped. She needed it.

She closed her eyes.

"An inhabitant of Darklore... noble presence..."

"...red eyes... black hair..."

She opened them again. Her voice low and cold.

"...Warborn."

...

Kaden reappeared in Darklore, in his home, in the exact place he’d left before Fokay.

The meeting room.

The moment he appeared, his eyes locked onto two armored figures dressed as if they were heading into war.

Garros and Serena.

The moment they sensed a presence inside the room, they turned with such overwhelming killing intent that Kaden’s mask cracked.

He dropped to one knee instantly.

Rory, who was still on his head, lost consciousness blood dripping from her nose, ears, mouth.

"Cough... cough... fuck, it’s me!" Kaden said, trying to breathe.

Garros and Serena calmed immediately.

Serena rushed to him.

"My baby!" Serena cried, her voice full of love and sorrow, wrapping him in a tight embrace.

Garros stood behind them watching silently.

Kaden raised his head slowly, blood spilling from his mouth. He looked around.

But Daela wasn’t here.

He looked at his mother.

"...W-Where... is Daela?" Kaden asked softly, throat burning.

He didn’t blame them for hurting. He didn’t care about the pain.

Because something inside him was screaming.

And it was right.

Serena bit her lip, unable to speak.

But Garros didn’t hold back.

"Daela has been kidnapped by beast outside." Garros said, his voice stripped of his playfulness.

Then, with eyes burning like war itself,

"Be ready, Kaden..."

A pause.

"...Because we’re going to war."

—End of Chapter 100—

—End of Volume 2: First Step in Fokay—