Kai Lane: Beginning

...

A gigantic spear of lightning, 30 metres across, fell from the sky onto the battlefield. Its size and fierce aura dwarfed all the other attacks. In this intense moment, incredible attacks raged as people fought with all they had. However, this lightning bolt was the most frightening of all. Most importantly, because of this attack, Sky Island began to tremble.

Time seemed to freeze. Everything froze in mid-motion, and an incredible feeling was awakened in the bodies of the Kings, Protectors, and Lords on the island with the lightning strike.

No one dared to continue.

It was as if the will of the heavens had fallen to earth with that lightning.

To the people there, that silence seemed to last hundreds of years, but in reality, not even a second had passed.

An illusory white-blue energy rose from the Sky Island and began to envelop the people on the island, one by one.

The energy slowly took shape, forming a crown tattoo on Alain's forehead. It was not only on his forehead. Crowns appeared on the foreheads of all the kings. The symbol of what they were protecting appeared on the backs of the Guardians, and the shape of their weapons appeared on the chests of the Lords, where their hearts were. These markings were not very distinct, however, and were a little faded. Over time, they would remain under the skin, only being revealed when the owner wanted them to be.

Similarly, the lightning of the emotion they had was revealed in other people's eyes. This lightning grew brighter and brighter over time.

Nobody on this island knew what it was. Even in Melony's fragmented memories of her past life, there was no trace of it. Only Fenrir inside Kronos was breathless. Only he was terrified. He had never expected something like this to happen.

The potential awakening of ordinary people was achieved by pushing the limits of their emotions and tapping into their latent talent. Every academy had at least one person who had awakened their potential.

However, Kings, Protectors and Lords were different; it was more difficult for them to awaken their potential than it was to reach the Opening Sky from the 6th Step. Therefore, even if such individuals existed, they were the greatest geniuses in the Ancestral Realm. Kai had never seen anyone like that in any of his past lives, and so they had never reached that level.

But now there were dozens of them! Everyone with a title in the Skylands had awakened their potential, and others were slowly doing the same.

When the lightning disappeared, everyone continued to fight. In this situation, who had the time to think about what was happening? Every second could mean death.

At that moment, Alain raised his head. There was a crackling sound as he leapt into the air and grabbed the man's leg. He was as fast as lightning, and a grey energy swirled around his body. The four remaining elders gritted their teeth.

"Half Step 2!!!"

And Alain was no ordinary Half Step 2. He was now a King with Divine Potential!

He instantly pulled the man into the air and threw him to the ground. Previously, he might not have been able to defeat six Elders even by giving his life, but now, no one else knew how much stronger Alain had become.

But the Elders were stronger too. They had already reached their peak, and their potential had dried up. Their strength had increased slightly, but that was nothing compared to the increase in strength experienced by Isaac and Alain.

PAAATT!!!

The old man was pinned to the ground by Alain's movement. The crunching sounds coming from his body as the dust lifted into the air made me think his old bones were in a pitiful state.

The other two elders took out two halves of a capsule from their waist in the dust. Although they had kept it for their own survival, they realised that if Isaac awakened his potential, they would not survive.

Before he could react, the lights from the two halves of the capsule merged and trapped him in a sphere.

'It would be best for us if you stayed here for a while.'

The elders snickered, clenched their fists, and pulled the fallen man out. The four elders looked at each other, then at Alain, who was slowly getting down. As if nothing had happened, Alain pulled his second dagger out of the corpse and looked at the four elders. The elder he had thrown to the ground was a little dazed, but he knew what he had to do to survive.

The Crown mark on Alain's forehead glowed golden. Over time, it would fade and be left to Alain's will, but for now, it shone like the glory of the King.

"Die!"

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Alain shot out of his seat like a bolt of lightning, his daggers looking like dry earth. All four elders exuded a completely poisonous air at the same time.

Both sides unleashed their most powerful attacks. Suddenly, Alain was surrounded on all four sides. Even if one of them died from this attack, Alain would still die in the end.

"Is that all you can do?"

The four elders shot out like lightning and rushed at Alain.

Alain simply threw one of his daggers to the ground and closed his eyes.

"The Art of Judgment.... Absolute Zero."

Ding...

The dagger stuck in the ground gave off no sensation. He hadn't realised that before Alain awakened the Divine Potential. Now, however, he could feel those waves.

They slowly hit the four elders, leaving them like statues. The four elders could not believe their eyes.

They... They couldn't move.

"It doesn't matter what art you have. It doesn't matter if you want to attack me. Don't try."

Alain walked slowly towards the first elder, holding a dagger. This man, who had lived for over 900 years, was now trembling with fear. After a while, however, the trembling stopped. His body was finally able to move, and he fell. A bloody trail ran down his chest. He reflected on everything that had happened in his life. He had regrets, but it was too late.

"There is nothing you can do against my judgment."

This time, Alain started walking towards the other old man.

"My curse has made life meaningless for me. My parents are dead. My friends are dead. The people I love are dead. My judgement mirrored my curse. You can't learn the Art of Judgement anywhere. Or how to get rid of it. Because....."

Alain stepped forward and cut the second elder's throat with a sharp, precise slice.

"Because I created this art."

"King of Lies... It represents a curse for me, and a forbidden king for the universe."

As Alain walked slowly towards them, the two old hunters' blood froze. The fear they already felt rose even higher, and in that moment, they began to understand.

"You!! You are the Forbidden King!"

" Yes, yes I am."

Alain swung his knife once more, killing the third elder.

"I suppose I won't die today after all."

In the past, a Forbidden King represented ten people who had fully mastered the universe. The ten kings. The Forbidden Techniques represent the ten meanings of life.

Of course, not every Forbidden King could practise a Forbidden Technique. But the six Elders did not live long enough to find that out. They only knew that the Forbidden Kings frightened even the most powerful figures.

"Very well."

After the last Elder had spoken, he did not close his eyes in pain and beg for his life. It was as if he had already accepted that he was going to die.

"You forget things, child."

At that moment, Alain remembered Isaac's capsule, which began to glow with light. In an instant, it began to move rapidly towards the Last Elder. For a brief moment, the energy emitted by the capsule overrode Alain's judgement.

"Even if I die, one of you will come with me...."

A knife emerged from the old man's chest and moved towards Isaac. Isaac was now frozen to the spot. Only his mind could move inside the capsule, but he was not a Mind Thief. There was...
There was nothing he could do.

He was about to die here!

'It's so painful to die like this!'

His only regret in life was his fear of death. It hurt him deeply to die before he could overcome this fear.

'I think.... There's nothing left to do now. There's no point thinking about it after I'm dead.'

'Zaheer, Alan, and everyone else... Haha, wait for me! I'm almost there!'

PIERCCH....!!!

Alan's hand moved quickly, splitting the last elder's head in two.

But it was too late.

A knife lay in the centre of his chest, and the smell of poison was unmistakable.

As Isaac stared at the bloody scene before him, Alain slowly turned around and looked at him. A small knife that smelled bad was stuck in his chest. Blood poured from Alain's mouth.

"A-Alain..... You... What did you...?"

Isaac's eyes flickered, and he immediately caught Alain's body as it fell slowly into his hands. The capsule had been destroyed and the six Elders were dead. But how could Isaac think of these things as he looked at Alain?

"I-I did what I had to do.... I did what I had to do ahem!!! ahem!! Isaac... I didn't... I didn't run away.''

Alain coughed a few more times, spitting up blood each time. Over time, the blood changed colour and the golden crown on his forehead began to disappear.

"A-Alain... You..."

"D-don't tire yourself, Isaac. You're... not a coward."

Alain forcefully reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe filled with a strange liquid.

"I was a king..."

He inserted the needle into his own arm, mixing some of his blood with the liquid in the syringe.

He stabbed Isaac with the needle faster than he could react.

"You are a king now."

At that moment, the Crown mark on Alain's forehead disappeared completely and slowly appeared on Isaac's. Alain's energy completely merged with Isaac's, and Isaac became the King of Lies.

Had he not suppressed it, he could have reached Step 2 there and then.

"W-what is this?"

"It's just... A... gift... from Kai's master... Forget it. ''

After becoming Half Step 2, Isaac could hear footsteps approaching the area where they were.

"Isaac."

Alain looked up at the sky in the last moments of his life. He had a smile on his face. Two bloody tears fell from his eyes. He surrendered himself completely to Isaac's gaze. His blood-covered lips parted once more.

"I wanted to live."

"I... I would like to live like a normal person.''

Isaac could now make out the silhouettes of people approaching. He immediately put his hand on Alain's leg, trying to pull him away, but Alain suddenly grabbed his arm.

Alain looked away, feeling as if a light was approaching him. He turned and looked into Isaac's eyes. Isaac was like a child. He was scared. He was crying. His aura was strong and intense. People coming from afar would shudder involuntarily when they felt it. But Isaac knew. This aura did not belong to him; it belonged to Alain.

"Isaac...."

Alain could feel the weight of his eyelids, and opened his mouth one last time before leaving.

"Don't let them die."

His hand on Isaac's arm lost its energy and fell to the ground. He had closed his eyes, and his remaining energy finally merged with Isaac's. Isaac continued to stare at Alain's body.

''Why didn't you let me speak, Alain? You knew how scared I was, didn't you? You... You knew I would run away again, didn't you?''

Isaac's tears fell onto Alain's body.

"Alain... Don't worry..."

Isaac raised his head and looked at the people dozens of metres away. The Crown of the King shone on his forehead, and the Lightning of Fear in his eyes seemed to shoot out. Alain's incredibly powerful aura suddenly changed, turning into something wild. That aura became Isaac's. It was too late for everything. Alain was dead, and Isaac knew what he had to do next.

"I won't run!"

Chapter Name: Alain's Death