Chapter 496: Unexpected gains: Law of Darkness

While Nero was resting, taking his time to unwind after everything that had happened, he had no idea that a powerful change was quietly taking place within his body.

It had happened almost immediately after he had slashed the possessed Barak.

The moment his blade severed the connection between the corpse and Leviathan, something unexpected had occurred.

Just like when Nero killed monsters and absorbed their essence, allowing that energy to flow into his inner world and shatter the black chains sealing his stars, the same phenomenon had happened again.

Only this time...

It was on an entirely different scale.

The energy that had entered his body after injuring the vessel of the Sin of Envy was terrifying.

It was roughly twenty times greater than the energy Nero would normally obtain from an ordinary monster.

That alone was proof of how dangerous an owner of Sin truly was.

The moment the violent energy entered Nero’s inner world, it completely ignored the fifth star.

The green star.

The star containing the Law of Wind.

Normally, the energy should have been absorbed by the remaining chains surrounding it. Yet the fifth star had already been almost completely unsealed.

Only a single black chain remained.

Instead, the massive wave of energy rushed past it and slammed directly into the sixth star.

The black star.

The star containing the Law of Darkness.

The impact was immediate.

Crack!

Snap!

Crack!

Snap!

Crack!

Snap!

The nine black chains surrounding the sixth star trembled violently.

Then—

They shattered.

All nine chains broke at the same time.

The universe that represented Nero’s inner world trembled.

An enormous wave of darkness spread outward from the newly liberated star, sweeping through the endless void like a silent storm.

For a brief moment, everything disappeared beneath an endless darkness.

There was no light.

No color.

No sound.

Only darkness.

A chilling energy permeated the entire inner world.

Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the darkness receded.

The remaining energy was already almost completely exhausted.

Yet it wasn’t finished.

A tiny portion of that terrifying energy remained.

Almost negligible compared to the amount that had shattered the sixth star.

That final fragment rushed toward the fifth star.

The green star.

The star containing the Law of Wind.

It slammed into the remaining chains.

Snap!

Snap!

Snap!

Three of the four remaining chains shattered instantly.

The final chain trembled violently.

Cracks spread across its surface.

One after another.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

It was already on the verge of breaking.

But the energy born from injuring the Sin of Envy finally disappeared.

It had accomplished its purpose.

Silence returned to Nero’s inner world.

An unexpected miracle had occurred.

A windfall that Nero could never have anticipated.

The sixth star had been completely unsealed.

And the fifth star was now only one step away.

Nero had almost unlocked six of the nine Laws.

Only three remained after the sixth.

But even that realization was enough to make the situation feel unreal.

---

Nero, who had been peacefully relaxing outside, suddenly felt his consciousness being pulled somewhere.

His body remained still.

But his soul drifted away.

In the next instant, his consciousness returned to his inner world.

The same familiar scenery greeted him.

An endless universe stretched before him.

Countless stars filled the darkness, each one representing a different Law.

Nine stars.

Nine Laws.

His path had always been connected to these mysterious stars.

Now, several of them shone brilliantly.

The first star was red.

It burned like an eternal flame, housing the Law of Fire.

The second star was golden.

Lightning continuously danced across its surface, housing the Law of Lightning.

The third star was brown.

Heavy and ancient, it carried the Law of Earth.

The fourth star was deep blue.

It resembled an endless ocean floating within the universe, housing the Law of Water.

Then came the fifth star.

Green.

The star of Wind.

Nero’s gaze settled upon it.

Unlike the other liberated stars, it was still surrounded by a single black chain.

Only one.

But the chain was covered in cracks.

It looked as though even the slightest amount of additional energy could finally destroy it.

Then Nero looked farther.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

The sixth star was completely different.

Black.

Not simply dark.

Black.

It was darker than the night itself.

The star seemed to absorb the surrounding light rather than reflect it.

An ominous aura constantly radiated from its surface.

Nero stared at it for several seconds.

And strangely...

He felt drawn toward it.

It was as though the star itself possessed a gravitational pull that existed beyond the physical world.

The longer he looked at it, the deeper the sensation became.

As though somewhere within that darkness existed an endless abyss.

A place capable of swallowing everything.

Nero narrowed his eyes.

He resisted the strange attraction and turned his gaze away.

His attention shifted toward the center of his inner world.

There.

A massive vortex of prana continuously revolved.

It was enormous.

Much larger than the core he had possessed in the past.

This vortex was the final form of a prana core.

Something that only beings standing at the absolute pinnacle of the world could normally possess.

The Zodiacs.

The Archmages.

Existences who had already surpassed ordinary understanding.

Yet Nero possessed one.

And something else was sealed within it.

Something he still didn’t understand.

Nero stared at the vortex.

The mysterious entity inside remained completely docile.

It hadn’t moved.

It hadn’t resisted.

It hadn’t attempted to break free.

Yet Nero could feel it.

That presence was waiting.

Patiently.

As though it had all the time in the world.

As though it were simply bidding its time.

A chill suddenly passed through Nero’s soul.

Even in this spiritual form, he could feel it.

His instincts were warning him.

There was something inside that vortex that he should not underestimate.

Nero remained silent for several moments.

Then he shook his head.

He discarded the stray thoughts.

There was no point in worrying about something he didn’t yet understand.

Right now, there were more important things to consider.

The sixth star had been unsealed.

Another Law had become accessible to him.

And Nero could already feel the difference.

His connection with the vortex of prana had become deeper.