Chapter 198 Original
The Laws… his understanding of them…
Something in his soul was changing. All the interchangeable energies, the separate powers, each unique in their own way…
WHOOSH
Light glimmered behind Dorian's shut eyes as he returned to the stone island at the center of the Castle of Envy. The air around him fluctuated, vibrating with power. Screeches and whistles sounded out, the air becoming tense.
Around him, the various Demonic Shades all stared in surprise. Just moments ago, Hallow had returned and begun to fill the other Shades in on what had happened. Hallow, despite his reluctance, had been honest, telling them how the Array Genie had recognized Dorian as a disciple of the Demon Emperor almost instantly.
This information solidified the stance the other Shades had of Dorian, fully convincing them. With that in mind, they gradually began to shift and focus on how they would deal with Fifteen.
Dorian's abrupt arrival, complete with a Baptism that set the nearby Laws to chaos, had caught them off guard.
Dorian finished his Baptism for the Law of Envy.
The moment he did, the energy from the various Laws in his soul that had begun to draw close to each other all shivered.
All of a sudden, knowledge filled Dorian's head. Archaic, mystic knowledge that magically appeared as a result of the interacting energies.
Knowledge about a new Law. One that was formed from an amalgamation of the seven Laws he now had access to.
'The Law of Original Sin. An Origin Law.' He exhaled as he opened his eyes, excitement thronging within him.
'Ausra, show me my Laws Progress, but condense it down to show this new Law.' He mentally commanded, ignoring his surroundings.
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Laws Progress
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Virtuous Laws (4/7) - ???
Demonic Laws (7/7) - Law of Original Sin - 1%
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As he looked at this screen, he realized several things.
'The Law of Original Sin grows in mastery depending on the combined level of all my Demonic Laws. If any of the 7 Demonic Laws are at 1%, it will be stuck at 1%.' He instinctively could tell this was true.
At the same time, he noticed something odd.
'The Virtuous Laws set have a '???' by them? Ausra?' He queried.
'From the inferences gained from your obtaining the Law of Original Sin, it is confirmed that there is a respective counterpart for the Virtuous Laws.' The cool voice of his Soul Spell Matrix Genie echoed in his head.
'That's what I figured.' He thought, excited.
'But what does this Law do?' He frowned, 'How do I know it's an 'Origin Law?' What does that even mean?'
'How does it compare to Yukeli's Law of the Absolute?' From the few memories he had left of Yukeli, he was well aware of how horrifyingly powerful Yukeli's Law of the Absolute had been. None of his Demonic Laws had ever felt comparable, despite being very powerful Laws in their own right.
Dorian tossed the thought to the side for now as he rose up, blinking slowly. He had delayed for a bit too long already, he would figure the new Law out after he settled his current situation.
"Lord Obelisk!"
"Great Demon Disciple!"
"Greetings, my fellow practitioners." He replied in return as he was greeted. He eyed them all and then turned his attention to Hallow. The man was standing at the center of the other Shades, his face pensive.
"Have you made your decision?" Dorian spoke aloud, staring at him cooly.
Hallow looked at Dorian for a long moment and then bowed his head slightly,
"I was blind." His words were genuine, the disbelief he had held earlier nowhere to be seen. The proof that Dorian had shown him seemed impossible to fake, after all. The Array Genie would not lie.
Dorian nodded back, mentally relieved. It seemed he'd get away with everything after all, for now, anyway.
"Good! Then I will go release the final Sealing Tube! After that, we shall head to the Central Castle and free the Demon Emperor! If Fifteen or 'Lord Inigo' tries to stop us, we will directly strike him down!" Dorian proclaimed, pounding on his chest. He forgot that he had sharp claws in his Balance Demon form, however, and accidentally stabbed himself.
'Ow, damn it.' He didn't let a hint of the pain show on his face as he donned a proud look.
"Yes!"
"Let's do it!"
He got a few cheers from the excited Masters of the Demonic Council. To them, this was all a dream come true.
He tossed aside any worries of how he would handle the situation for now. He had a few ideas up his sleeve and wasn't worried yet. What most concerned him was the brand new Law he had gained.
Dorian began to walk over towards the Sealing tube, his eyes determined. Before he got there, however, Hallow spoke up.
"Hold on a moment, Lord Obelisk!" His voice was guided and respectful, as if he didn't want to anger Dorian.
Dorian slowly turned to face him, giving him a slow nod, and returned,
"Yes?"
"Before anything else, I thought it wise to see if we can confirm the identity of Fifteen." Hallow began, his words carefully chosen.
"Oh?" Dorian shrugged,
"Can we do that from here?" He could see interest appear in the eyes of the other Demonic Shades.
"Yes, I have a way to contact any members of the Demonic Council… as long as they choose to accept the communication." As he spoke the final half of that sentence, Hallow sent a glare at a few choice members of the Council. Those members all looked away as if they had noticed something fascinating on the walls or floor of the stone island.
"Hmm, acceptable plan. I'll allow it. Let's see the results." Dorian immediately agreed, knowing that 'Lord Obelisk' would've done the same. No true 'Great Demon Disciple' would allow loose ends like that to continue without confirmation. Internally, however, he had no idea how this would go down.
'Should I have said no?' He sighed. There was no point in worrying about it. He just needed to stick to being Lord Obelisk.
"As you command." Hallow bowed his head slightly and then withdrew a small, glowing yellow stone from his Spatial Ring. He clenched the stone in his hand for a moment, his eyes growing unfocused.
WHOOSH
The air in the chamber began to stir slightly. Particles of light flowed off of Hallow, creating a miniature vortex.
Abruptly, the particles flew up into the air, starting to form a vague, humanoid shape.
"He will only be able to see me, Lord Obelisk. I'll keep my questions precise to avoid leaking your presence." Hallow let out a quick statement as the image was still forming.
A second later, the image finished forming, transforming into a form Dorian was quite familiar with.
'It's him! He's in his Grey Mantor form!' Dorian clenched his fists slightly, his eyes cold.
"What is it, Hallow? I am in the middle of important work, preparing to kill that blasted Lord Inigo." Fifteen's voice warbled through the air, the image projection showing him with his arms crossed.
"Fifteen, fellow Councilmember." Hallow began, speaking slowly.
"Or rather… should I say, Fifteen, the Anomaly? Spawn of Yukeli." Hallow's voice took on a harsh tone, crossing his arms back at Fifteen.
The Anomaly overhead froze, his facial features giving away nothing. After a single, stark moment, his face twisted into a smile.
"Hahahaha, what gave it away? You finally caught on. Damn, that's annoying." The Anomaly let out several spurts of laughter, shaking its head.
"Is that why you called me up? To let me know you found out what I am?"
As he spoke, all the Shades in the room clenched their fists in rage. To hear that one of their members was a traitor was one thing, but to find out directly from his own admission, to hear that he really was related to the Great Murderer… it was infuriating.
"No. I contacted you to let you know that we're coming to kill you." Hallow's hands shook slightly as he spoke, real rage leaking through. He was now fully convinced that Dorian was who he said he was, and infuriated that he had fallen for a trap from one of his own.
'Of course he managed to avoid all my searches and effort. There was a traitor on the council, leaking everything and aware of all my efforts!' If looks could kill, Fifteen would've been dead a dozen times through.
"We? Ah, the other members of the Council know too? But if you abandon your positions, your precious Inheritances will be destroyed by the vile Lord Inigo. Are you willing to give all of that up?' Fifteen smirked, apparently completely unconcerned with Hallow's threat.
"I'm safe here in the Central Castle and won't be going anywhere. Come and get me if you want, hahaha!" Without giving Hallow time to respond, Fifteen ended the communication, vanishing.
"That bastard." Hallow visibly shook with rage.
"He's set up in the Central Castle! Where the Demon Emperor himself lived!"
"As a spawn of Yukeli, he's probably already desecrated it!"
"We must stop him, immediately! The fake 'Lord Inigo' is probably with him!"
The Shades all roared in anger, their thoughts unified.
"The Inheritances can be destroyed most effectively at the Central Castle. As a spawn of Yukeli, he's probably already working towards that end right now!" Dorian added fuel to the fire, using the knowledge he'd gained from the other Councilmembers.
"Ready up quickly! I will go release the final Seal and we can immediately charge to the Central Castle, using the final portal that will appear!" He was almost completely certain that after he removed the last Sealing Tube, a portal to the Central Castle would form.
Without hesitation, Dorian spun around and loped over to the last and final Sealing Tube in all of the Outer Castles.
He hovered his hand around it. Like all the times before, sparks of light appeared. He focused the energy of his soul, interacting with the unique Artifact and Array hybrid.
For the last time, he saw a visualization of Moria from a Sealing Tube, the planet still chained down. He immediately started pulling on the tube. Gradually, the chains stretched taut, creaking. He went all out, pulling it with great force as quickly as possible.
He drew on every iota of his willpower to pull it out.
Time passed and, eventually, Dorian felt the chains reach a breaking point. The energy around him, in reality, was set into a flurry, the Laws of the Universe fluctuating wildly.
"Grrrr!" Dorian grunted out loud, tugging with all his might.
WHOOSH
He managed to release the Sealing Tube. Instantly, all of those chains cracked and shattered, the vision of Moria vanished as he blinked.
The fluctuating Laws of the Universe returned to normal, everything around him whiplashing back. As he sensed this, he could tell that the Laws of the Universe had gained an even stronger presence on Moria, but were not fully free.
'There's only the Central Castle left!' As he thought this, a crackling noise caught his attention.
Reality itself tore, a gleaming hole of light and energy forming at the center of the stone island. This portal cast blue light outwards, creating a myriad of shadows in the dimly lit room.
Dorian smiled, his eyes cool and confident.
It was time to end this.
"Let's go!" He threw the empty remnant of the Sealing Tube to the side as he marched towards the portal. All of the other Shade Councilmembers quickly followed, putting on protective gear. Powerful Auras burst out as they prepared themselves, readying for anything.
Dorian walked right up to the glowing portal, staring at it. He felt slightly uneasy being so near the rippling hole in reality.
He took a deep breath and then, without waiting further, stepped into it.
WHOOSH
The world around him transformed into a myriad of chaotic flashing lights and explosions of buffeting energy. Dorian activated his defensive Laws, Perfect Body Ability, and anything he thought might prove useful, blocking out any and all damage he might take.
He could feel himself stretching, transported at a fast speed. His mind moved at an incredibly fast speed as well, however, making the journey feel longer.
As he travelled, he focused his mind on the new Law he had just obtained.
The Law of Original Sin.
'It's only at 1% but I should still be able to use it…'
Deep within his soul, Dorian could feel a sort of dark energy present. This energy was colored pure, midnight black and gave off no feeling or emotion of any sort, unlike the other energies. It was something foreign, something he lacked a clear understanding of.
This new energy had formed when he gained access to the Law of Original Sin, without needing any sort of Baptism.
'Hmm…' As he grasped hold of this energy, he felt himself starting to arrive at the end point of the portal.
'What exactly do you do…?' A tidbit of the black energy was absorbed into his body, just mere instants before he arrived.
As it came within his full control, Dorian gained a hint of what the Law of Original Sin was capable of. The single impetus that filled his thoughts as he realized this was one of unadulterated shock.
'It… it can reshape reality?! What?!'
WHOOSH
Dorian arrived.
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Leader's body shook as he tensed up, going on high alert. His eyes opened wide as he focused, the air around him tense.
In the spot he had been staking out, his eyes focused on a location thousands of meters away…
A glowing portal had just appeared, rippling in reality.
And from that portal appeared a figure he was very familiar with. The figure of a creature he had seen in a vision.
"Lord Inigo." His voice was cold.
A figure that had just arrived in a dead zone, where the energy from Laws couldn't be absorbed from the universe, leaving him vulnerable and weakened.
"I've got you now."
Leader whipped his ancient red bow forward as he prepared to attack.
.