Birth of a Great King?

The full moon was hanging brightly in the center of the star-filled sky. People watched the knights and adventurers digging burials for them to bury the dead holy knights and the beasts that were now all burning, giving the area a crimson glow.

At the very same time, a pair of crimson eyes shone with magic power in the dark underground basement that was only lighted with a simple and almost broken lamp.

Lighting the area, the sound of blood dripping to the floor was heard and traces of torture could be seen when looking at the holy knight limped in the wall.

"This is useless. I should have picked someone ranked higher, but that could only be the holy mage. Tsk. Shadow Flame: Expand," Kara said, and thrust his arm on the injured holy knight. 

In an instant, a black flame radiating with a shadowy aura emerged from Kara's palm. The black flame quickly expanded and gobbled the injured holy knight. The holy knight disappeared almost instantly, and no trace was left of him.

"How cold," May commented inside his mind.

This comment made Kara think about something he wanted to ask her.

"Isn't being cold the most dominant emotion of Shadows, if you could call it an emotion? So why do you become angry about pretty much everything?" Kara asked.

Kara then entered his mind, and in the dark silent space there, he could see May again. As beautiful and innocent looking as ever.

"It's a long story," she said. 

Kara was unimpressed. His eyebrows furrowed.

"I need to know it," Kara intoned, looking calmly yet coldly at her with his crimson eyes.

This made May grin as if she had seen something funny.

"What?"

"Well, I saw in your memories that the clan had been extremely secretive about their secrets but even they did not know of how things really are." May said.

"Get to the point."

"Well, wait," she said teasingly and there was a pause, "But continuing, ancient shadows are different compared to the shadows today. The difference in power is incomparable."

"I figured, but how does that have to do with your emotions?"

"Everything." May declared and looked at Kara's eyes, confusing him.

Knowing Kara's confusion, May explained, "The shadows are a laughable race. Back in the day, the shadows used to be a group of emotional monsters. Emotions were our major source of power. Some hide in fear of everyone. Some had psychopathic tendencies, allowing them to coldly kill anyone. Some is full of envy."

All these were news to Kara!

Shadows used to be emotional creatures?

Something like that was unthinkable!

Laughing inside, he grinned and said, "How could that be?"

"That's right. But it was true. Emotions were our brand of magic. All shadows were born of at least one emotion, and considering the emotion and its effects, one could become more powerful than others. The emotion of hatred was extremely powerful."

Noticing Kara seemingly in disbelief, May giggled and continued talking, "Fufufu, The shadows of the ancient past were all extremely powerful feared across lands as one of the most dangerous monsters not to ever approach. Hunting us was almost impossible."

"But at one point in time, a certain shadow was born, bearing the rare emotion of love. She united the shadow race, but that crumbled because of a certain shadow bearing another emotion. But this shadow's emotion had never been born. It wasn't. It was developed."

This made Kara curious.

"What is it?"

May slowly smiled and looked at Kara closely before opening her lips.

"Indifference."

This made Kara laugh.

"What is this? Are you just joking with me?"

Indifference?

Doesn't that mean the person she was saying was like him?

May also knew of this and spoke.

"Coincidence or fate, I don't know and I have no way of confirming if you have a connection to that individual. But from what I see, you are not totally indifferent to the world yet. You couldn't compare to that person. That man is indifferent to everything. Unimaginably indifferent," May said deeply, as if she knew the person well.

Kara still has a hard time believing. In fact, now that he heard it, it sounded like a fake tale.

Rolling his eyes inside, he asked May, "So, what's your emotion? I assume anger?"

May had a pondering blank look on her face, before she spoke.

"Fufufu, that's right. But it's not that simple. It's complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"I wouldn't tell you." May said gently, but it sounded like a threat.

Seeing that he might not really be able to get her to talk, Kara moved on to another question.

"The holy church. Why are they after you and how did they narrowed your location so fast? It looked like they were already expecting it." Kara said. The only important thing he got from the holy knight he captured was that they were told to hunt a certain evil resurrected in this world called the Dark Princess of Silence.

He also learned from the holy knight that the Williamson Theocracy knew that May was the one who caused the Forest of the Darn to turn like that for thousands of years.

"Is there an immortal in the Church that had lived even in your time?" Kara asked May.

From what he could see, it looked like the Williamson Theocracy knew May would awaken again. Or at least the Holy Church knew. 

They might not know that they imprisoned her in a book in the Shadow clan in the South Continent, but if they indeed expected May to awaken, the Forest of the Darn would be the first place they had to investigate.

"If there is no immortal, could there be a prophecy?" Kara pondered.

"Those working for the Great Gods had always been tricky and annoying. I swear they could actually see the future," May replied.

"So I guess you don't know too?"

"I had not the slighest interest in them."

---

Meanwhile, a Great Council consisting of ten figures all masked in the shadows of their respective majestic seats were talking in a grand hall.

"The Forest of the Darn had finally gone back to normal. Does this mean the skill book is now at hand?"

"Does this mean a global war is going to happen soon?"

"Pope Drawood, what did the prophecy tell us?" a man asked the figure in a white yellow robe in the center.

The said pope calmly gazed at the man in his seat with a smile on his face and waited for a while and the tension to build up before responding.

"The prophecy remains. The next thing that would happen would be the birth of a great king."