MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

Adam felt his life force slipping his grasp and a shade of utter darkness covered his mind and soul as he drifted to the embrace of death.

How many times had he died by now? He couldn't even bring himself to count at this point. But if he were to make a rough estimation, it would probably be more than a hundred times already. If something happened to you that many times, you would also lose interest in keeping count…

'Ah… I guess I really deserved it this time, huh…'

For the first time ever in this short life of his, Adam truly embraced the sleep that Death brought to him with open arms.

At the same time…

[The Curse of Cain is reacting to your emotions and state of mind.]

———

Just when Adam fell to his wounds and welcomed the embrace of death for the very first time in his life, somewhere far away, farther than any mortal could ever hope to reach or could even imagine existing, there was a man who was sitting on a throne of thorns and had finally opened his eyes in what seemed like a millennium.

But it didn't really matter to him as time was not a thought of concern for a being of the man's caliber. He was already beyond the mere concepts of the space-time continuum.

His body was thin like a stick and his face was covered by a white hood, leaving only his golden eyes to glow out from beyond the darkness of his veiled face.

His golden eyes were eerie and fascinating, as there were two stars shaped black pupils shining out from between their golden depths. Large chains coiled around his entire body as if restricting him from leaving from this throne made of thorns but he did not spare a glance at them as he looked into the distance, in the direction of Earth.

"Already?"

Speaking those words in an eerie voice, he then looked up at the dark ceiling and muttered something under his breath before closing his eyes once again and returning to his slumber.

Now was not the time yet. But he could feel that time was finally moving for him. Soon, very soon, he would achieve the dream that had spanned across countless eons…

———

"Where am I?"

When Adam opened his eyes … He was startled to realize that he was not on the island where he had died at the hands of the devil. There was no one present in the place that he found himself in right now.

He was now completely alone in an utterly dark void. It was the kind of place where there was not a single source of light and where he was unable to even see his own body in the overarching darkness.

In the first place, was he even present with his body in this place? It was hard to say that for sure.

"Where is this place?"

He asked once again but still no answer came, only silence remained. He was simply alone in this world, wherever it may be.

Something akin to a sigh leaked out of him as he realized the gravity of his current situation.

Even though he could think, he could not use any of his powers, sense anything, or even move. It almost felt like he had suddenly become isolated from everything and everyone and was suddenly transported inside a place that was disconnected from reality itself.

He tried contacting Genesis but nothing happened no matter what he tried; not even a word of response came back no matter how long he called for the book spirit.

"Did I actually die for good this time or what?"

He was starting to wonder if this place was actually hell and if he had finally died for real this time, unlike all the times before.

It wouldn't really be bad if he did, was what he thought in the deepest recess of his mind.

He always wondered how he would react when he came face to face with a true final death to end it all. What would he think and what would he do in that kind of scenario?

He realized now that, once again, the thought of Death left him mostly indifferent. He had already died so many times that he had now become completely numb to the prospect of dying already.

If he was in his normal state, he would not have cared about dying once more or many more times, in fact.

But now, there was an issue that was bothering him very much. A deeper issue than whatever the prospect of dying once again could bring to his mind.

This time… he was not the only one to die; someone else had died alongside him.

"Hae-Won."

Adam muttered her name with a forlorn tone in his voice. One he had never thought he would make for someone like her.

The fact that she was now dead was fully settling in his mind. Moreover, he was sad to come to the conclusion that, even though he didn't directly cause her death, his influence in her death was absolutely irrefutable.

Perhaps her husband would not have sacrificed her like he had done in the current scenario if he had judged her useful or at least loyal to him.

Perhaps she would have lived a better life if she had never met with him.

In the end, all her life really amounted to was meeting men who merely saw her as a means to an end and practically used and abused her in nearly every way possible.

The only difference between him and her husband, Kang Ho, was basically in the way they treated her and the fact that Adam was not the one to deliver the literal killing blow to her and nothing else.

He sighed, or at least he thought he did, once more after he thought those things through. It was hard to tell in this isolated environment what he was actually doing but he didn't have the heart to pursue that oddity.

His thoughts were getting more and more complicated the longer he remained in this dark void.

On one hand, his meeting with Hae-Won had been few and far between and it was painfully obvious to him that he didn't have a single iota of love for her.

The most he felt for her was pity and a small sense of affection that every guy who had a sexual relationship with a girl would automatically have. He was not immune to this either.

Her death shocked him a great deal but beyond a slight forlorn feeling that was spreading in his heart, it didn't amount to anything much.

He was actually much more shocked about the fact that his actions might have led to her death than her actual death itself. It was sad but that was just how he felt about all this.

It was a supremely selfish and hypocritical mask he was covering his face with, he knew that more than anything else.

The desire to always appear as someone good even when doing bad things clashed with the reality of his current situation and heavily disoriented his psyche.

Did he feel bad about her death?

He did. Truly so. At least, he thought that he did. But this was where everything stopped. The sadness he felt only amounted to the feelings of guilt he felt for her outcome, nothing more.

"I am a selfish and hypocritical bastard."

He thought he had come to terms with this reality already. It seemed like he hadn't, he was only being naive in thinking so. He thought he had grown up mentally and was more mature.

But he had never faced true defeat before till now.

He had never faced the reality of his actions even once, where one mistake of his cost the life of someone he might have wished to protect.

What if it had been Shuri? Or, even as unlikely as it was, Cecilia?

It was then that something substantial finally hit him… The death of Hae-Won made him realize a truth that he had always wanted to avoid till now. A truth Genesis and many others had already told him about but he always refused to listen to them.

For all entities in this world besides him— Death was an inevitability.

It might happen now or in many years.

It might be an accident or a murder.

It might simply be because they reached the end of the times allotted to them.

No matter what the reason… Death would always come and like a merciless grim reaper, it would reap the lives of those he loved and cherished, leaving him all alone in this lonely and cruel world.

"Ah…"

He would live and they would all die.

He would stay eternal and infinite and they would all leave him in time.

One after another… everyone would disappear before his eyes…

Given enough time — He would be all alone.

"I don't want that…"

For the first time in a long long while, so long that he did not even remember when he started to forget about this fact, Adam remembered a deep-buried feeling inside of him that he believed that he had already forgotten by now…

The fear of Death.

But this was different from the others. After all, what he feared was not his own death, but that of the ones that he loved and cherished… those he deemed to be the purpose of his existence…

What could he do? This thought began to swirl in his head, again and again, echoing like the wailing voices of innumerable people bombarding him with their screams of agony and misery.

What could he possibly do?

He crouched down, closing his eyes, blocking his ears, but the voices, the screams would never leave him no matter what he did.

Finally…Amidst the delirium and madness that was trying to seize him whole and drown him in this dark void of nothingness…

A simple solution finally came to his mind. Something that was so simple that he could not understand why he did not think of this sooner.

What could he do to stop the people he loved from dying?

—He simply had to take control of Death itself.

He had to face Death. He had to defeat it. He had to Conquer it at all costs. Only then, would he not be alone any longer.

[All conditions have been fulfilled…]

[The power of 'Origin' reacts to the innate power of 'Death' that you wield…]

He wouldn't just let destiny rule him and his loved ones any longer. He would be the one to take control of anything and everything and make them follow his rules.

[The power of 'Death' is being assimilated within you…]

Even if he had to make the impossible possible, even if he had to face unrealistic odds that would leave him with nothing but despair…

[Karma is being consumed to accelerate the assimilation process…]

He might still be immature… He might still have many things to learn, many sights to witness, and many things to experience before finally reaching the level he wishes to achieve in his life…

But… No matter what the price he had to pay…

[Assimilation complete!]

[The power of 'Death' is evolving from an Innate skill to a Unique Skill…]

He would make Death his and his alone.

[The curse of Cain reacts to the power of 'Death' within you…]

[Evolution of curse finally completed…]

[New trait unlocked: Eternal Damnation]

『 Trait: Eternal Damnation

Rank: EX

Description: Even in 'Death,' you will no longer find peace nor will you find rest. Death will no longer be an escape for you, even if temporary…

Effect 1: Your mind is damned to wander the world of the living. The eternal rest of 'Death" will not come even partially any longer.

Effect 2: You will not find peace even in lies. Illusions can not affect your mind any longer.

Effect 3: Insanity will not be an escape for you any longer. You will be damned to feel the weight of the years on you for all eternity. Your mind may bend under the weight, but it will never break, only endure and suffer. 』

⦗You have gained a new skill— "Adaptation" through resonance with Cain's Curse and the power of 'Death'⦘

『 Skill: Adaptation

Rank: EX

Description: Death will progressively come harder and harder for you. The more you die the harder it will be for you to die of the same cause, until one day… Death will not even come to you, not even as a release… You will be damned for all time…

Effect: Continuously evolves your body and slowly creates resistance to the aura of death until it reaches full resistance to death and Immunity to Death itself. 』