Zero to Overlord: The Forsaken God's Ascension

The Friend and the Foe

The Shadow Guard didn’t move like a man. He moved like a ripple in a dark pond. The black spear in his hand pulsed with a rhythm that matched the dying beats of Kael’s heart.

"You're a mess, Lucius," the Guard said, his voice echoing from behind the obsidian mask. "The Emperor gave you a quick exit, but you chose to crawl back into the light. Do you have any idea how much paperwork your survival has caused me?"

"I’ll make sure your death is just as inconvenient," I spat.

The Guard chuckled. "Level 0 trash talking a Level 5 Shadow Master. Julian was right; the Rift turned your brain into mush."

He lunged.

He didn't run across the cobblestones. He sank into the shadows and reappeared behind me in a heartbeat. The black spear whistled toward my neck.

CLANG!

I didn't turn around. I drew the Sovereign Fang in a blur of blue light. The translucent blade met the shadow spear, and the impact sent a shockwave that shattered the windows of the surrounding shops.

"A Sovereign blade?" The Guard’s voice shifted from amusement to greed. "Where did a peasant find a treasure like that?"

"I didn't find it," I said, twisting the hilt. "It found its master."

I pushed back. The blue frost from the sword climbed up the shadow spear, freezing the darkness itself. The Guard leaped back, his boots skidding on the wet stones.

"Val, stay back," I commanded.

"Don't have to tell me twice," she said, leaning against a lamp post and crossing her arms. "But hurry up. This rain is ruining my hair."

The Guard roared, his mana exploding in a pillar of black smoke. "Shadow Arts: Thousand Needle Rain!"

The shadows around us rose like liquid. Thousands of tiny, needle-sharp spears formed in the air, pointing directly at my heart. With a flick of his wrist, they fired.

I didn't dodge. I didn't hide. I held the Sovereign Fang horizontally and closed my eyes.

"Consume," I whispered.

I opened my chest—not the physical one, but the Void Singularity within. The black needles didn't pierce me. As they hit the air around me, they began to curve. They were sucked into my skin, vanishing into the "Zero" energy in my veins.

The Guard froze. "What... what did you do? Those were condensed mana!"

"I know," I said, feeling a rush of cold power. "They were delicious."

I used Void Step, but this time, I didn't just move. I left a trail of black fire behind me. I appeared in front of the Guard before he could even raise his spear.

I grabbed his mask with my left hand and slammed my right fist into his gut.

CRUNCH.

The obsidian armor shattered. I didn't stop. I shoved my hand into the gap in his armor, touching his bare skin.

"Wait! STOP!" the Guard screamed. "I’m just following orders! The Emperor... he’ll kill my family if I fail!"

"My father killed mine the moment he picked up that spear," I said.

I didn't drain him to death. I drained him until his mana foundation cracked. He fell to the ground, gasping, his black armor dissolving into grey smoke. He was no longer a Shadow Master. He was just a man in the mud.

I looked at Kael’s body again. The boy who had been my brother. The man who had tried to kill me.

"Take a message to my father," I said, standing over the broken Guard.

The Guard looked up, tears of pain streaming down his face.

"Tell him the battery is no longer a source of power," I said, my voice vibrating with the weight of the Void. "It is a black hole. And it’s coming to reclaim everything it gave him."

I turned to Valeriana. "We're done here."

"Not quite," she said, pointing to the end of the street.

A carriage was waiting there—a black carriage with the Silver Spire Academy crest on the door. A small, pale face was looking out the window, eyes wide with terror and awe.

"That's our ride," I said.

We walked away from the corpses and the broken men. I didn't look back at Kael. He was a part of the Lucius who died on the altar.

"The Academy entrance exams start in three days," Valeriana said as we climbed into the shadows of the carriage. "Are you ready to be a servant?"

"I've been a prince and I've been a monster," I said, looking at my reflection in the dark window. "Being a servant will be easy. It's the hiding that will be hard."

"Why?"

"Because every time I see a Thorne, I want to see them bleed."