Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power Chapter 453: Benefits

While happenings unfolded in Fokay, night had fallen upon Darklore.

In Waverith, Medusa lounged within the bathroom of her luxurious residence. She reclined wearily in the tub brimming with verdant, writhing serpents that expelled venom-tinted liquid.

A sigh of contentment slipped from her mouth, her form easing deeper into relaxation.

Evidently, the Serpent Queen savored this brief pause following an exhausting day. Yet, this peace shattered suddenly when a vivid emerald glow burst from her back.

Alongside the radiance, emerald flames surged, enveloping the entire chamber in a verdant shroud, while the serpents hissed and sprayed without cease.

From them emanated a tangle of unease, terror, agony, and rage, woven like twisted plaits; these sentiments originated from their matriarch.

Medusa remained submerged in the tub. Her head arched backward now, damp locks clinging to her features akin to undulating serpent tails. Her gaze was fully exposed, and briefly, it mirrored the emblem glowing on her back—the image of a serpent devouring its tail.

With a deep breath, she raised her arms from the liquid, letting serpents and frothing toxic fluid cascade down. She positioned them before her, then hid her face inside the cradle they formed.

Just her eyes remained visible. And tears streamed from them.

"I am sorry." She murmured, her tone breaking, her posture slumping abruptly.

She appeared to carry a weight far beyond her own, a burden capable of shattering her in an unimaginable manner.

'Did another option exist for me?' Medusa gasped, tears flowing more rapidly. 'Was there any alternative but to maim my daughter, sealing the abilities she gained from me?'

'Was there any other path but to steer her toward you, sister?'

Choking sounds escaped her, as her tears morphed into crimson, wailing serpents. The scene was utterly terrifying.

Her breaths turned erratic.

'Ascension was your desire, sister.' The thought carried bitterness. "Ah! Everyone craves it! That's their sole pursuit! The Gambit! The Gambit! Forever that damned Gambit!!"

The emerald blaze intensified with greater ferocity.

'Yet I do not. Ascension holds no interest for me. I refuse to join the divine games of those deities, contests persisting from the First Era onward.'

Her lifelong yearning boiled down to a single goal: restoring their ruined Warren, thereby resurrecting their Father.

'Our essence of strength and kinship was stolen from us!'

Echidna had declined to intervene. Medusa compelled her action.

Her sibling had surrendered now, transferring all her essence to her niece. Medusa yearned to sob in frenzy, but instead, she could only chuckle at the absurd twist.

'You're a coward, Echidna. I despise you. I loathe you for weighing down my daughter. I loathe you for rendering her the sole viable option.'

Did this serve as her sister's revenge against her?

Medusa realized it wasn't wholly so. She understood Echidna's choice stemmed from recognizing that success hinged on channeling all into one container.

She comprehended... yet she had to deceive herself to evade the remorse of exploiting her child for a load she feared bearing alone.

Madness wasn't a force intended for universal mastery.

Echidna faltered and selected Monsters.

She herself had faltered and embraced Ouroboros.

What of Inara?

The girl had acquired her aunt's Monsters alongside her mother's Ouroboros.

Would this suffice?

Would this prove sufficient against their Father's influence? Against Madness in its purest form?

Medusa held no certainty. Thus, in that moment, she resorted to the sole action available.

And that was weeping.

Weeping for her deceased sibling.

Weeping for her personal failings.

Weeping for her child doomed to an irreversible fate.

'Monsters... ah... monsters, that's what we all are!'

And among them, she reigned supreme.

Medusa sobbed, joined by the serpents in their shared lament.

...

"Something feels off." Kaden pondered, reclining casually on his back with his head pillowed on a plush surface, forehead creased and lids closed.

The odd sensation's origin eluded him, yet his ability "Blood Oath" had buzzed persistently. An individual bound by that skill was undoubtedly enduring turmoil.

Yet this vagueness prompted Kaden to nearly swear.

What turmoil precisely?

Mixed sensations assailed him: awe-inspiring yet heart-rending.

Awe-inspiring to the point of envy, heart-rending enough to nearly sever the Blood Oath connection with that individual.

His instincts alerted him, urging a decision: sever or preserve. Regardless, consequences would follow.

Kaden refrained from severing. He refused to forsake anyone over mere ambiguity.

Currently, the identity escaped him—likely due to separation and circumstances—and the chaos that person dragged into his life remained unclear.

"Ah, blood and ashes, might I get some rest?" He grumbled softly, eyes remaining shut, weariness evident.

The youth paid no heed to the conflict raging within his psyche.

No true conflict existed from the start. Not for Kaden, at any rate. From the outset, victory was assured in his mind.

Not solely due to this being his inner domain, but because corruption from the surrounding Darkness was impossible.

His exceptional Will enabled resistance to any curse or detrimental influence. Indeed, since the Witch's Curse failed to affect him... this predicament paled in comparison.

Yet more existed to it. Even should his Will falter at times, leading to frenzy and psychic fatigue... Kaden had recently grasped one key insight.

An ability he hadn't realized he could employ sans invoking his Domain.

This revelation transformed the landscape.

Full, deliberate control over that eerie force eluded him, but he'd discerned how to at least wield a fragment of it.

And even a fragment of void could consume an entire metropolis with proper handling.

'Overwhelming might. How did I unlock this ability?'

No connection tied it to his innate affinities. Profound confusion gripped him, though awareness of this novel application skyrocketed his Domain mastery.

At minimum, that offered cause for joy.

Thus, his Will paired with Void ensured Kaden faced no peril from the necrotic shadows in his thoughts.

Thus, from the very start,

'Mere snare was this.' He scoffed. 'I figured Woeful would foresee it, but she failed. Why?'

Curiosity gnawed at him. By this juncture, most deities recognized his Void prowess and robust Will. Notably, Void captivated their attention.

So why did his novel deployment of that force evade their foresight?

No resolution came to Kaden for that query, and he dismissed any hope of one. Still, another query burned for clarity.

With that, his eyes parted—crimson, star-flecked vastness illuminating the grim surroundings—and fixed upon Rea's grinning visage hovering above.

His head lay in her lap, granting a clear sight of the seams and stitches encircling her throat.

Kaden favored the view, though he hesitated to voice it.

"How did you triumph so swiftly?" He inquired at last, intrigued and astonished by Rea's rapid dispersal of his mental gloom.

He felt nearly insulted. Truth be told, he was insulted.

"You don't know?" Rea queried, continuing to stroke his locks with gore-stained fingers, drawing a baffled glance from Kaden.

She laughed, the echo empty, as though her larynx and essence suffered some defect. "Sorrow take me, you truly don't know. Recall, Kaden. Recall our kiss."

"Huh?"

"Our bloody kiss." Rea clarified, drawing her mouth mere inches from his. "Did that instant slip your mind? You ingested my blood. I ingested yours. And we shared the blended blood likewise."

"What... what does that imply?"

His pulse quickened.

"What else could it mean?" Rea shrugged. "I believe it granted me certain advantages. Advantages allowing such comfort within my betrothed's psyche."

Her mouth stretched broadly, gaze emptier than the corpses nearby.

"Isn't it romantic?"

Kaden's expression locked in shock. Moments passed before he recovered, able only to whisper,

"Well, I will be damned."