True Ruler of Darkness

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The Living Light Jean laughed so loudly that the sound ripped through the sky like thunder strikes. 

"I can feel it!" Jean roared, his voice trembling with manic ecstasy. "The ancient mana is entering my blood... I can feel the supreme power!"

The Hero was finally showing his true colors. He looked down at the grass floor, his eyes wide with dark greed as he stared at the dead Nero.

"It is a shame that I lost so many of my shadow slaves. But gaining one with this much power makes it all worth it!"

Jean raised his hands, unleashing his system skill. 

A dense wave of pitch-black shadows erupted from his feet, slithering across the grass. The dark tide completely swirled around Nero’s severed corpse, swallowing the pieces whole into his dark shadow realm.

"Hahaha! Finally!" Jean roared, his long coat fluttering wildly in the storm. 

"I knew waiting all these centuries for this exact moment was worth it! Once the gate is fully open, the dark realm will pour out into this world! No god or angel will be able to stop them..."

"....and I will be the sole survivor of the otherworldly heroes! Me! Kim Jean!"

He stood at the absolute edge of the terrace, looking down at the burning, ruined capital below. The engineered grassland was completely destroyed, but he did not care. He stood there, the sole winner.

"So, that's what it was, huh?"

A flat, unbothered voice suddenly echoed behind him.

As soon as Jean turned his head, the ruined terrace, the burning capital, and the stormy sky vanished instantly. 

The Living Light Hero found himself trapped in a vast, silent place of absolute darkness. As far as his eyes could see, there was only darkness. His feet were standing on the surface of a still, dark sea.

"What?! Where am I?!" Jean screamed, his confidence instantly breaking.

"Come on," the voice echoed from every direction, laced with cold amusement. 

"I thought the great Shadow King wouldn't be afraid of a little darkness."

"What is this sorcery?!" Jean shrieked, spinning around frantically. "I killed you! Your body was cut in half!"

"Oh?"

Nero appeared directly in front of him, manifesting suddenly out of nowhere. 

"Fascinating place you have here. Though I highly doubt it is better than mine."

*SNAP*

A sharp snapping sound echoed loudly.

The vast darkness was violently swallowed by a roaring red sea of blood. Colossal waves crashed through the void, completely drowning Jean's shadow magic.

Jean gasped, his mind failing to comprehend the scale of the magic. 

"What is the meaning of this?! How can you possibly be alive?!"

"Ah," Nero mocked, shrugging his shoulders. 

"It's fascinating what you can buy with infinite Soul Points. Finding out that your skill was connected to the devil realm was easy... After that, I just had to die so you would let me in!"

Jean staggered backward, his legs shaking violently while covered in thic blood.

"Monster... You are the real monster..."

"Nah," Nero whispered, his expression turning pitch-black. "Let me show you a true monster."

Nero snapped his fingers a second time.

Jean's spiritual essence violently blasted away into tiny bits of meat and blood, his soul entirely obliterated within his own inner world.

Outside, in the physical realm, the heavy shadows covering the body suddenly vaporized.

Nero's lifeless body stood up.

His severed torso smoothly reattached itself to his legs, leaving a massive, jagged visible scar across his waistline. His eyes were completely black, devoid of pupils, burning with pure darkness.

Back in the shadow palace of mind.

Nero slowly turned his head toward the crimson sea manifesting in the air behind him.

"I know you are there," Nero said softly. "Sorry for freaking you out earlier. You can have your body back now."

The red sea of blood had something in the deep, revealing a giant cosmic eye, a colossal face, and an even bigger divine body. It was the sleeping soul of Toshio Tanaka!

Jean’s remaining spirit was still shaking from getting taken over.

The arrogant hero who had spent centuries killing people and enslaving the dead souls was now finally consumed by Nero.

Nero took over Jean's body permanently.

The physical body of the Hero lay motionless on the grass.

Slowly, his black hair began to shift, bleaching into a brilliant, snow-white tone.

Nero finally possessed a physical, living body of his own.

Nero looked down at his new hands, flexing his fingers one by one. He took a deep, heavy breath of the crisp air, feeling the massive surge of ancient mana rushing back into his core. The world-shaking power was returning to him.

He glanced over at the shirtless, unconscious salaryman lying nearby. Toshio Tanaka remained motionless.

Nero took a deep breath in his new vessel and flew away into the black sky at impossible speed.

The realm gate was going to open once the 12th Hero is summoned. And that ancient gateway was not connected to our home world. No.

It is connected straight to the absolute darkness.

Down on the terrace, Toshio Tanaka remained perfectly still, no signs of any life...