Chapter 278: Disgusting Azel was surprised to hear Exotin because it wasn’t something that should have existed yet. In the game, Exotin only appeared much later... after Naelia had been captured and drained of nearly all her royal blood. Her body had been found by her family and from that tragedy came something even worse. Scientists from a rival Empire had taken samples of her blood and used it to fuel a forbidden summoning. They succeeded in calling forth a dragon that burned Starbloom Castle to ash. The real horror was the dragon but there was something they had done alongside that horror... It was the drug. They called it Exotin. The plan behind it had been terrifyingly efficient. Introduce it to small and isolated human towns. Let the people taste it once, twice and again... let them crave it, and depend on it. The more they took, the deeper the drug fused with their blood. Eventually, those who consumed it would lose control of their minds and become empty shells. Mindless soldiers who would kill and die on command. The enemy Empire’s intention had been to use Exotin to turn Starbloom town and cities into silent weapons... civilizations that destroyed themselves from within. That plan had failed only because the Children of the Sky descended soon after, throwing the world into chaos. The apocalypse had forced even ordinary humans to evolve, developing a natural resistance to addiction and mental corruption. It was a cruel blessing, but one that had saved them from vanishing overnight. ’Haah, how the fuck did I trigger such a big butterfly event?’ ... Azel blinked as the teleportation haze faded. The darkness cleared slowly, revealing the three of them standing on a circular stone platform. The air was cold and the floor beneath his boots was slick like someone had spilled oil on it. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, but when they did, he realized they weren’t alone. Dozens of gang members surrounded them in a perfect circle, each one dressed in black from head to toe. Some held rifles, others pistols, but there was one similarity... all pointed straight at them. Ravik’s ears flattened back against his skull, a low growl rumbling from his throat. Erblim tilted his head, unimpressed. Azel sighed, glancing around the dim chamber. "Huh. Not as bad as I expected." That was, of course, before the air began to shift. From a side corridor, a robed woman entered the room. She moved with deliberate grace. Her robes were stitched with symbols that glowed purple under the flickering torchlight, and she carried a staff made of polished blackwood. A veil of silk hid her face, though strands of long black hair spilled from beneath it. ’So that’s their leader, huh?’ Azel thought. ’What can she do?’ The woman’s voice echoed softly through the air, it was melodious... "Blacken." The instant she spoke, the torches snuffed out... Anything that produced light died down. The entire chamber vanished into perfect... suffocating darkness. It wasn’t just dark, it was the absence of light itself. Even the glow of holy mana inside his body dimmed. Azel immediately tried to summon a holy light to break through, but the spell failed before it even formed. "Blacken is the absence of light. You shall not be allowed to use light as long as I stand." ’Absence of light, huh?’ Azel thought with a small smirk. ’Cute trick.’ Unfortunately for her, he didn’t need light to see. Even in this pitch-black void, he could see clearly in the dark... courtesy of one of Nyala’s blessing. Ravik was a werewolf and his kind saw through the shadows as though they were mist. Erblim was even better... his vision could not be hindered by mere darkness. Azel raised his hand casually. "Attack." The moment the word left his lips, the air exploded with motion. Erblim shot forward first, his body shrinking and twisting into his crow form. A rush of feathers scattered across the room as he darted between the gunmen, a blur of black slicing through black. At the same time, Ravik charged on all fours, claws sparking against the stone as he tackled the nearest shooter. Gunfire burst through the dark, but the bullets hit nothing but walls. Ravik was already behind them, tearing through their ranks. Azel didn’t even bother fighting them. He simply walked straight toward the source of the spell... the veiled woman at the far end of the room. She waited confidently. "You cannot touch me, child of light." When he reached her, her veil fluttered in the air, revealing the truth underneath. Her face wasn’t human. Three eyes glared from her forehead, all glowing faintly red. Her skin was gray and stretched thin like dried leather, her lips cracked, and her teeth were blackened. Every word she spoke came out as a hiss instead of the melody he had heard. "You shall not use light..." she rasped again, raising her staff as tendrils of darkness coiled around her arms. Azel tilted his head. "Yeah, I heard you the first time." Then he punched her. His fist connected with her uppermost eye. The impact sounded like glass shattering underwater. The creature screamed... a raw, inhuman shriek that made even the gangsters stop firing. Black blood sprayed across the floor as she fell backward, clutching at her ruined face. The darkness instantly lifted and light returned. The priestess writhed on the ground, her two remaining eyes wide with panic. Azel stood over her, shaking black ichor off his hand. "You really shouldn’t have picked a fight with me." For a moment, he felt pity. Then suddenly... a sweet scent spread through the room. His head felt light and his heartbeat slowed. [You are being charmed.] The System warning flashed in front of his eyes. Her body began to change. The gray skin smoothed to pale ivory; the rotted mouth vanished, replaced by soft pink lips. Her eyes turned blue and glossy as tears shimmered on her lashes. When the transformation finished, a stunning woman knelt before him, trembling. "Please," she whispered, "don’t hurt me." [Kyone’s Blessing is reacting...] Azel’s vision sharpened. The illusion peeled away instantly, revealing the truth... "Nice try." He raised his boot and brought it down. The ground cracked under the force. Her skull shattered like stone, black blood splattering across the ground as silence filled the chamber once more. Azel exhaled and looked down at what was left of her... nothing more than blood and pulp. "Fucking disgusting." A soft chime echoed in his head. [Ding!] [You have killed Reira, the Priestess of Darkness.]