Black String of Fate

Xavier and Seraphina looked over at each other for a moment, and after seeing Seraphina nod, he moved towards the emperor who was holding the chest.

"May I, emperor?"

The emperor snapped out of his reverie and nodded.

"Of course, I expect you must know how to efficiently absorb it. We cannot waste even a single drop of its power."

"Heh, there's no one better at absorbing natural treasures than me in this world. It's one of the abilities of my innate gift."

"Ho, you possess such an innate gift? I figured you might possess one seeing your battle prowess, but such an ability is incredible too."

Xavier smiled at the emperor's words and grabbed the stone with his bare hands. The emperor was excited to see just how such an innate gift would work, but his anticipation turned into shock as he saw Xavier put that stone in his mouth.

Seraphina, too, was utterly dumbfounded.

*CRUNCH* *crunch* *crunch*

Soon, chewing noises started coming out of Xavier as he closed his eyes and ate the precious stone like delicious candy. He closed his eyes and delighted himself as he was eating a tasty sweet, but the look on other's faces could horrify anyone.

"W-what in the world are you doing?!" The emperor exclaimed in shock and surprise, and Xavier noticed everyone looking at him weirdly. He quickly swallowed the stone and smiled in reassurance, but nobody was reassured.

Soon, the same ethereal light started glowing out of Xavier's body. Xavier had his eyes closed as if he was enchanted, bathing in this feeling of power he had so dearly missed.

The light slowly turned from ethereal white to abyssal red, signifying the transformation from an external source to Xavier's own strength. It happened all too fast, faster than anyone present in the treasury could expect.

'It's like a dry desert quickly soaking up the elixir of life…' Seraphina thought as she watched Xavier's presence become more and more potent. She could see that his rank was increasing by the second.

Soon, the whole treasury, and due to the open door, the whole castle bathed in the deep red light. Panic ensued among the maids, butlers, and the other royalties, the soldiers and their commanders were alerted, but nobody could figure out what was going on.

Inside the treasury, Xavier, who was levitating from the power he was harnessing, soon absorbed all the light back into himself. He slowly floated down back to the ground and took a deep breath.

The others watched in anticipation as Xavier slowly opened his eyes, and the first to react was the emperor and Seraphina.

They jumped back on instinct, that's how fearsome Xavier's presence had become. While Seraphina had terrible memories flashback in her mind, the emperor felt as if he was a helpless human standing in front of a primordial demon god.

"My god, how can the heavens allow a man to hold such power…" The emperor muttered while looking at the depths of the abyss that Xavier's deep red eyes were.

Xavier looked down as he clenched his fists, reveling in the power he had regained after such a long time.

"It's been too long, I missed this feeling…" Xavier muttered in a low voice, but the words were heard clearly by everyone.

"Everyone, get it together. Sir Xavier has already made the promise of blood, he cannot harm any of us." Seraphina said as she tried to calm everyone down. The atmosphere was too tense, Xavier's presence wasn't something a simple Grandmaster could experience and stay calm.

Xavier made an amused smile as he replied,

"How can you be so sure of that?"

This reply completely shocked and scared the hell out of everyone, but before any of them could take action, Xavier laughed and reassured them.

"Relax, I'm not going to kill you. It was a joke, can't a Savant joke around?"

Seraphina calmed down and breathed a sigh of relief. This person was really too much for her to handle. She then asked the most important question, one she needed to know the answer to before making any further plans.

"Savant? How strong exactly are you?"

Xavier felt the Force inside him as he replied,

"Hmm, much stronger than when I was a Savant, but still weaker than my prime."

The emperor was in shock as he overheard the discussion taking place between her daughter and this man.

'Stronger than when he was a Savant, but still weaker than his prime? Don't tell me…'

"Sir Xavier, by any chance… Were you a legendary Archon?"

Julian, who was still trying to get used to that terrifying presence, heard what his father said. His jaw dropped in shock as he looked over at Xavier fearfully.

Xavier smiled as he replied,

"Legendary? There's no need to attach grandiose titles to just another rank. There isn't anything much legendary about simply being an Archon."

While the emperor and Julian were in awe, Seraphina could feel the subtle humble bragging from Xavier. Sure enough, even being an Archon can't change people from who they were at their core.

"With this, we should be prepared for the fight against the heavenly demon, right?" She said as he addressed Xavier. He shook his head and drew out his sword.

"We're not done just yet. You can't be expecting me to fight against a Savant with this, right?" Xavier said as he rushed his Force through the weapon. The weapon quite literally melted a second after experiencing Xavier's deadly force.

"I'll be taking a new weapon, if you don't mind." Xavier said to the emperor and without even waiting for a reply, he set his sights on a deep red blade embedded at the very back of the treasury.

He flared out his aura and pointed his hand at the blade. The blade shook and soon set free from the ground, flew towards the one beckoning it, and landed securely on Xavier's palm.

"...It's a good blade. It'll make do." Xavier said as he ran his eyes carefully throughout the blade, getting familiar with his new weapon.

The emperor sighed helplessly as he allowed Xavier to take the second-greatest treasure their empire possessed.

"It is named 'Bloodborne'. It would be an honor for an Archon like you to use this blade." The emperor replied, and Xavier smiled in satisfaction.

This chapter upload first at NovelBin.Com