Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 486: Carnage

It was a very bad day to be a Chel'Kari.Seraphina shot into the sky, riding a stream of water beneath her feet as more spears formed around her. The Chel'Kari had used the time during her conversation with Thalion to gather their forces. Normally, this would have ended with all the human citizens dead—but to them, that would have been an acceptable loss.

Now, with Seraphina inside the city, every defensive tower was manned, and groups of fighters launched themselves into the air to intercept her.

Thalion still stood below, surrounded by humans slowly backing away from him.

To be fair, he hadn’t initially planned to kill every Chel'Kari when closing the incursion. But after seeing how they treated people… why refuse the experience?

“Are you insane? I don’t know how you blocked that attack, but you’re not going to kill every Chel'Kari. They’re far too strong!” Rina shouted.

"I don’t like them either, but killing all of them is madness. It’s evil!”

Thalion only half-listened while scanning the surroundings with his blood sense, searching for the incursion pillar. He’d prefer to deal with that first.

Although…

He’d probably need to eliminate the bullies before leaving. Otherwise, they’d just kill the others.

“Evil? If killing a few incursion owners is evil, then I crossed that line long ago,” Thalion said calmly. “And you can handle a bit of pressure, right? I want to show off a little.”

Before the last word had fully left his mouth, he shifted—into the Eclipsari, Consecrated Scion of the Void.

Darkness descended.

Thalion slowly released more of his aura, and the humans who had spent the entire day with him could only stare in shock, mouths hanging open.

“What the fuck…” one of them whispered, looking up at the towering, three-meter-tall figure.

To Thalion, it felt incredible.

The fear spreading through the crowd like wildfire.

The absence of any threat that could stop him from transforming.

He controlled the surrounding darkness carefully, dimming the light rather than extinguishing it completely.

Then he moved.

In a single dash, he tore through the bullies who had threatened them earlier. There was no hesitation. No mercy.

They didn’t need to live.

Just as he was about to continue, a system notification appeared.

Void-Adaptive Mutation (Divine)

The power of the void flows through your veins. The void is no place for the weak. With this passive skill, your body will continuously evolve as you consume darkness, aligning yourself more closely with the void. This evolution may lead to subtle transformations—and the emergence of powerful new abilities unique to those who dwell within the depths of the void.

Yeah… if I get skills like this, I don’t mind waiting a few levels.

Thalion came to a complete stop, processing what he had just received.

What kind of absurd existence had he become?

He could already turn everything into darkness—and now absorbing it would make him even stronger? That had already been partially true through his body tempering, but now it had gotten even better.

He suspected it would take a significant amount of darkness to trigger the first mutation… but would an incursion pillar be enough?

If his understanding was correct, the accumulated darkness would be consumed to fuel the mutation itself. The incursion now seemed tailor-made for him, and this time Thalion wanted to fully embrace the sinister nature of his core. Would it make him even stronger?

This didn’t change his current approach to the battle.

Except for one thing—

He now wanted that pillar even more.

Dark tendrils shot out from his body, devouring the corpses of the fallen bullies. The humans recoiled, some looking ready to vomit at the sight.

Taken from NovelFire, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have held back the darkness earlier.

Above, Seraphina moved swiftly across her flowing current, surrounded by forming water lances—ready to unleash the next wave of destruction.

Once fully charged, she unleashed her attack, which was usually enough to kill a Chel'Kari on impact. They weren’t the best fighters, and their chitin armor couldn’t withstand Seraphina’s abilities. Still, they had powerful weapons and were surprisingly fast.

With most of them focused on Seraphina, they failed to notice what was happening in the center of the plaza.

Thalion leapt onto the roof of a massive building in a single bound. Now fully awake from dealing with weaklings, he released his aura as darkness spread across the surroundings.

Thalion thought with a grin as he spotted a structure visually built around an incursion pillar.

Two tendrils of darkness shot from his body, anchoring themselves to the edges of the stone rooftop. A moment later, he launched himself across the city toward the suspicious building. The air howled around him before he crashed straight through the entrance.

He hadn’t even used a skill.

The stone gave way instantly—some of it even dissolving on contact with his skin. Dust erupted as Thalion rolled forward and rose smoothly to his feet.

Ratgul’s training was paying off.

Before him stood the object of his desire:

The incursion pillar.

Only a few guards stood in his way. Each was around level one hundred and sixty—likely among the strongest fighters in the city.

Bloodlust surged through Thalion’s body.

“What the fuck is that thing?” one of the Chel'Kari shouted, its aura flaring as it activated a boosting skill. Water gathered from the air, forming streams that coiled around the warrior.

The nearest guard barely managed to raise its trident before Thalion’s claw tore through it. The crack of breaking chitin and a high-pitched scream echoed through the chamber.

Then the darkness came alive.

Shadows twisted as they spread across the room. Thalion no longer held back. The Chel'Kari stood no chance—he tore them apart one by one. Writhing tendrils of darkness lashed out, consuming whatever remained as he advanced toward the pillar.

Dark mist rose from his maw and skin.

The small flames along the runes had turned pitch black under the influence of his passive skill. Tendrils surged forward, wrapping around the incursion pillar and devouring it.

This time, no dungeon boss quest appeared.

And the darkness wasn’t enough to trigger his new divine passive skill, .

At first, that annoyed him. An incursion pillar contained an absurd amount of power.

But then—

It excited him.

There was no doubt that divine skills delivered on their promise. So far, none had fallen short. In fact, they had exceeded every expectation he had.

Which meant one thing:

When finally triggered…

The power it granted would be immense.

Thalion threw his head back and let out a piercing screech that echoed across the entire city. Bloodlust and malice surged from him, rising to the surface like a tidal wave.

This city—

would drown in blood.

<--

Rina shuddered when she heard the horrific screech echo across the city.

She had climbed onto the roof of the gathering hall—the place where everyone brought their catches to trade for coins. To her, this city had once seemed like an unbreakable bastion, a place no one would ever dare attack.

And yet—

two humans were tearing it apart.

The fact that they could defeat the Chel'Kari without even risking their lives was eye-opening. Rina had seen Chel'Kari fight underwater before, and their strength had been far beyond her own. Back then, she hadn’t blamed herself. The beings from incursions were often centuries old, raised within the system itself, while she had only completed the tutorial.

But seeing these two changed everything.

The blue-haired woman was unbelievably powerful. Fast, precise, and seemingly limitless in mana, she moved as if she were one with the water itself. Rina couldn’t explain it, but every time Seraphina used a skill, it felt like something greater was at work.

Like she wasn’t just controlling water—

Rina had never imagined it was possible to fly like that.

In just a few minutes, Seraphina had killed over fifty Chel'Kari without slowing down.

And then there was Thalion.

At first, Rina had thought he was one of the unluckiest people she had ever met. No real water-based abilities and dropped into an ocean.

Behind in levels.

That was what she believed.

Then in a single night, he had gained multiple levels—something she had never even heard of before. Then came the revelation that he had won the first system event.

She didn’t fully understand what “Chosen” meant, but she had heard of the Blessed. If it was anything like that—then it meant power. Real power.

And now even beings from an incursion were searching for him.

For Rina, participating in a system event that cost fifteen hundred years of lifespan would have been insanity. She knew she wasn’t weak—but she also knew she wasn’t among the elite.

When she had first seen his image projected above the black sphere, she hadn’t fully believed it.

Then Seraphina had appeared and Thalion had effortlessly blocked an attack that would have killed dozens.

Who was he?

How could someone at his level be this strong?

What kind of class did he even have?

To her, Thalion was a complete mystery.

And that thing he had transformed into…

The bullies who had once terrified her were cut down in seconds. At first, she had assumed it was some kind of temporary enhancement—but that illusion shattered almost immediately.

The fact that even someone like Seraphina seemed to respect him had already been shocking.

But now—

standing on the rooftop, watching the destruction unfold—

Rina began to understand.

Seraphina was powerful.

But that black monster…

was something else entirely.

Its speed was almost impossible to follow. Attacks bounced off it and its offense was on an entirely different level.

Five dark spikes erupted from its shadow, leveling three buildings at once.

Where Seraphina had to block, dodge, reposition, the creature did everything at once.

It simply tore through the Chel'Kari, killing so quickly that Rina lost track of it at times. For brief moments, it was as if night itself descended around it. The darkness it created felt almost solid—lingering even after it moved on, only slowly dissolving under the sunlight.

Rina didn’t understand why Thalion had saved them.

It didn’t make sense.

He was ruthless.

A killer who showed no hesitation.

So why wouldn’t he just kill her once he was done?

Running wasn’t an option. The remaining Chel'Kari might kill her—and even if they didn’t, she likely wouldn’t survive another night outside.

Then it hit her.

If she could prove she was useful, he might spare her.

There was a hall filled with treasures. Maybe she could find something valuable—something worth offering.

Something that proved she wasn’t expendable.

She didn’t know what would happen to the city once the Chel'Kari were gone.

But she needed this island to survive.

With a spark of hope igniting in her chest, Rina jumped down from the building—heading toward the treasure hall.