Chương 58: Chapter : 58

"Goodbye, you arrogant fool!" Vane roared, preparing to lunge forward and stab the shadow's heart, an attack that would instantly kill the man in the mask. Vane gathered all of his strength in his legs. He was absolutely sure of his victory.

Vane tensed his leg muscles, fully prepared to launch himself forward and drive his cursed blade straight into the heart of the shadow on the floor. He kept his eyes totally focused on the dark shape on the concrete. He was grinning. He loved the feeling of taking a life without the victim even being able to defend themselves. Inside the mask, Ken's brain was doing a very quick, very lazy calculation.

"Alright, a stab to the heart is definitely bad," Ken thought casually.

"I could just jump out of the window. If I jump, the shadow moves with me, and he misses. But jumping requires bending my knees and using energy. I could blast him with a magic beam, but that would blow a hole in the roof, and then imperial police would notice the explosion from across the city. What is the laziest way to fix this?" Ken looked at the bright magical torches burning on the walls of the penthouse. They were casting the light that created the shadow.

"If the curse needs a shadow to work," Ken reasoned simply, "then all I have to do is remove the shadow. And you can't have a shadow if there is no light. Perfect. Minimal effort required." Vane pushed off the ground, flying forward with his cursed sword aimed directly at the shadow's chest.

"Die!" Vane screamed. The Sovereign did not move. He simply spoke one single, quiet command.

"Erase." Ken did not use a basic shadow spell. He didn't blow out the torches with wind. He used a heaven-defying, absolute manipulation spell that completely broke the fundamental laws of physics. He literally erased the ambient photons in the room. In less than a millisecond, the entire penthouse was plunged into absolute, pure, suffocating darkness. It was not just dim. It was not like a cloudy night.

It was a darkness so complete, so thick, that it felt like thick black ink had been poured directly into their eyes. The magical torches on the walls were still burning—the heat from the fire was still there—but the flames produced zero light. The moonlight shining through the large glass windows simply stopped at the glass, refusing to enter the room. Vane stumbled, his combat boots slipping on the concrete floor. His cursed sword stabbed empty air and clanged loudly against the ground. He had missed.

"What?!" Vane gasped, his voice cracking with sudden, overwhelming panic.

"What happened?! Where did the light go?!" A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Vane spun around wildly. He held his hands up right in front of his face, but he couldn't even see his own fingers. He looked toward the torches. He could feel the heat of the fire warming his skin, but he saw absolutely nothing. Total blindness.

"Who turned out the lights?!" Vane screamed, his previous arrogance completely shattering. His heart started hammering in his chest like a trapped bird.

"This is impossible! The torches are still burning! I can feel them! Why can't I see anything?!" Without light, there could be no shadow. And without a shadow, Vane's ultimate Curse magic was completely and totally useless. His greatest weapon had just been turned off like a broken toy.

"You rely on parlor tricks," The Sovereign's voice echoed in the pitch black. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. It bounced off the walls, making it impossible for Vane to tell where the masked man was standing.

"You think you understand the laws of magic," The Sovereign continued, his tone dripping with cold, mocking pity.

"But you are nothing more than a child playing with a candle, completely unaware of the monster hiding in the dark."

"Show yourself!" Vane yelled, swinging his cursed blade wildly in wide, desperate circles. The heavy steel sliced through the empty air.

"Fight me like a man! Turn the light back on!"

"I dictate the rules of reality in this room," The Sovereign whispered. This time, the voice was directly behind Vane's right ear. Vane let out a terrified scream and spun around, swinging his sword as hard as he could. But he only hit empty air. He was completely terrified. He was a man who kidnapped people, cursed them, and stole their life force. He had spent the last month feeling like an untouchable king in the slums.

But right now, standing in the unnatural, impossible darkness, Vane realized he was just prey. He was trapped in a cage with something that could rewrite the laws of physics with a single word. In the pure blackness, The Sovereign silently summoned his own weapon. Dark mana gathered in his hand, solidifying into a long, sleek black blade.

"This is the end of your reign," The Sovereign stated coldly. The Sovereign moved. He didn't run; he just stepped forward with terrifying speed. Slash! It was a devastating, high-speed strike. The Sovereign's black blade cut perfectly across the right side of Vane's chest. The blade sliced deeply through Vane's heavy coat, tearing into his skin and muscle.

"AGHHHH!" Vane shrieked in absolute agony. The pain was explosive. Vane dropped his cursed sword. The weapon clattered away into the darkness. Vane grabbed his chest with both hands, feeling hot blood pouring out of the massive wound. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the hard concrete floor, gasping for air. He was critically injured. The strike was lethal enough to completely cripple him. He could not stand up. He could not fight back. He was entirely broken. But he was not dead.

In the pitch black, The Sovereign looked down at the bleeding, crying gang boss. Internally, Ken put his sword away. The dark mana dissolved back into his hand.

"Okay, that should do it," Ken thought casually, completely ignoring the fact that he was standing in the dark.

"I aimed for the right side of his chest specifically because the human heart is on the left. If I hit his heart, he would die right now. And if he dies tonight, there is no boss for Princess Iris to fight tomorrow morning." Ken scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"If Iris doesn't fight the boss, she doesn't complete the B-rank mission. If she doesn't complete the mission, the 13th Unit doesn't get the twenty points. And if we don't get the points, Naomi will probably yell at me for the rest of my natural life. So, you get to live, buddy. Consider this a heavy handicap for tomorrow's match." The Sovereign stood over Vane for one final moment. He listened to the man wheezing in the dark.

"I leave you with your life tonight," The Sovereign declared, his voice hard and merciless.

"Not out of pity. But because your defeat belongs to someone else tomorrow. Bleed in the dark, Vane. Think about the monster you met tonight. And pray that the Princess who comes for you tomorrow is more merciful than I am." The Sovereign turned his back on the crying man. He walked toward the large glass windows of the penthouse.

"Return," The Sovereign whispered.