Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power Chapter 427: Harvester’s Will Ladders
Previously on Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power...
Kaden fixed his gaze on the Forbidden Alchemist, feeling a trickle of icy sweat slide down his neck.
Beside him, Rea just barely stopped the bleeding from her orifices that threatened to sap her strength completely. She locked eyes with the Alchemist alongside Kaden, dark streaks staining her cheeks.
She appeared like a miserable specter.
In that moment, the pair of fiancés witnessed a surge of energy, resembling gray mist expanding outward, pouring from the Alchemist and covering the entire house in a torrent.
Kaden shattered the heavy, choking quiet at last. "Overstepping my boundaries, you say?" he rasped. "You'll have to be more specific. I merely followed the command of The Will."
"Is that so?" The Alchemist's tone returned to its playful edge. "Then it looks like I jumped the gun, Prometheus."
"How do you know that name?"
"Everyone knows that name," the Forbidden answered, lifting his right hand and pointing his finger skyward as though invoking the skies.
"You pulled off something only that charming, detestable figure could manage. And you did it while undermining numerous gods simultaneously. If I were in your shoes, I'd guard my tracks more vigilantly."
The Forbidden Alchemist observed Kaden's puzzled and stunned expression after his statement.
He couldn't hold back, bursting into laughter that grated like metal scraping stone.
The sound boomed so fiercely that the air rippled visibly like disturbed waves, a blast wave crashing against Kaden and Rea.
Kaden waved his hand before them, moving from left to right, dissipating the shockwave through his will, which drew a thankful glance from Rea.
He lacked the moment to return her smile, as the Forbidden Alchemist's voice echoed again,
"This is precisely why I can't stand The Hero," he declared, his brows furrowing in annoyance. "He possesses this irritating tendency to pass on his power to individuals clueless about its weight."
"Here you stand, a novice born from a slain god of death—notice the irony?—meddling with forces whose extent you never grasped."
"Speak plainly," Kaden growled. "Or keep quiet."
"Direct speech belongs to mortals and idiots. You're neither, right?"
Kaden frowned deeply. "What power did I wield that's not my own? All that I employ, have employed, and shall employ is my personal strength."
"The marionette remains oblivious to its strings until they're cut," the Alchemist remarked, strolling casually about the chamber.
He cast a look toward Rea, then grinned.
"Well, certain ones among you might realize it. But that's solely due to the puppeteer's lamentable display. And even so, what price does that awareness demand?"
Rea's gaze sharpened like a keen dagger. "So you're aware of the wretch lurking in my mind?"
"Oh, young miss, she's lurking far beyond your head, I assure you," the Forbidden snickered.
Rea experienced a sharp twinge of discomfort. Yet the Forbidden Alchemist's focus had shifted back to Kaden.
He ceased his wandering, confronting the man still masked in his guise. He wagged his head.
"Time's running short, and I can't spare much of my awareness for this matter much longer. More pressing concerns await me. So let's wrap this up quickly, little marionette. Will you cross your limits again or not?"
"I favor direct words," Kaden replied. "I count myself as a mortal."
"Naturally, naturally," the Alchemist chuckled wryly. "Then I'll make it crystal clear. Will you rescue Rudolph as you planned, or allow destiny to unfold naturally?"
Kaden showed no trace of doubt.
"I pledged my word to him," he stated, his muscles tightening as energy surged within. "And I'm sorry to say, I must honor it."
"Ah, there it is—your real character emerging, young one. Much like the Sovereign. Much like the Godkiller." He shook his head with feigned sorrow. "Yet this sense of honor will doom you all someday. Just as it's already dooming ."
He tacked on the final words while smirking at Rea.
She furrowed her brow.
"If you understand us so well," Kaden said, assuming his battle-ready posture, accepting the unavoidable clash, "then you realize we harbor no fear of death."
"That renders you fools beyond measure. Not fearing death led to the God of Death's demise. Will you heed the lesson? No, for you're ignorant of your own past. Pitiful little marionette. And do you truly intend to battle me?"
Kaden flashed a icy grin, tired of the enigmatic chatter that led nowhere.
Gradually, with clear indicators, his eyes shed every trace of feeling. Only void lingered within.
"Domain Activation..."
The Alchemist's eyes widened. A broad, radiant grin split his face as Kaden's declaration hit.
"...Cradle of Emptiness."
"SO IT WAS TRUE! YOU POSSESS—!"
Time froze completely.
"Harvester Will’s First Ladder — Suppression."
The Alchemist's strength waned, his vitality leaking away. His eyes bulged as he sensed his power getting... consumed.
"Harvester Will’s Second Ladder — Self Enhancement."
The Alchemist's absorbed energy streamed not to Kaden, but to Rea at his side.
The Alchemist beheld the sight in stunned silence.
Only then did time flow onward.
And all was drawn into the embrace of nothingness.
...
The Alchemist scanned the blood-red void encircling him from every direction.
His thoughts grew feeble, his feelings blunted, and a creeping erosion of self seeped into him.
He formed a faint, nearly imperceptible smile, its corner trembling.
Raising his head, his gaze settled on Kaden, shirtless, clad in dark pants woven from living void. His form was sheathed in his Seed of Prometheus, with Blanche's fiery visage, composed of twisting flames, hovering above.
She scowled at the Alchemist with seething rage.
Next to Kaden was Rea, her eyes gleaming with a fresh, vicious shine.
Glimpsing Rea briefly conjured the Woeful One's features in the Alchemist's mind for an instant, swiftly overtaken by another visage.
A countenance most had dismissed, yet no one could truly erase.
He let out a hissing chuckle. "Oh, this is delightful!" he roared, halting, then pressing on. "The Hero’s string binds you. The Slave’s Will corrupts you. The deceased God of Death taints your core Origin. The Fallen Family of the Phoenix’s remnants cling to you. And now..."
He paused again, surveying his surroundings. The Alchemist appeared to struggle against his mirth, but failed.
He guffawed repeatedly, until tears streamed down.
To an outsider lacking context, he might seem reveling in joy. But the Alchemist wasn't; fury exploded amid each burst of laughter.
"...now even Emptiness claims you." He cut off sharply, locking onto Kaden’s vacant eyes. "Oh boy, oh boy... what remains truly yours? Oh boy, your profound ignorance is a grave offense."
"Finished with your nonsense, Alchemist?" Kaden intoned evenly, cocking his head a bit to the left.
"Oh boy, I—!"
"I don't care."
Kaden interrupted him, pressing his index finger to his lips in a gesture of hush. In that instant, the very idea of sound was devoured by the void.
The Alchemist snapped his finger without delay, igniting emerald flames. Blanche shrieked in fury, then incinerated them with her own blaze.
Kaden moved swiftly after, releasing the notion of voice and seizing another within his grasp.
The notion of space.
This time, he imposed it solely between the Alchemist and Rea, causing them to materialize right before one another.
Rea's arms lashed out like cracking lashes, trapping the Alchemist's head between her palms with a sharp clap.
She bared a broad, savage, damnable grin.
Einar poured all her perceptions into Rea in one rush of silver glow.
Runes writhed at the Alchemist's command...
"No runes within my domain."
The runes shattered into glowing liquid, vanishing utterly.
Kaden's voice rang out from behind the Alchemist as he brought his face near the Alchemist’s left ear and murmured,
"You're tied to The Witch, aren't you? Consider this a farewell token."
He triggered his Trait,
"Curse of Voice."
And Rea unleashed her skill, channeling her amplified terror deeply into the Alchemist’s neural makeup,
"Blossoming Fear of Loss."
—End of Chapter 427—