Galaxy's First Ruler

Hisss!!!

A hiss resounded throughout the humid night sky over the sea, darkening all dark blue waves crashing over the rocks.

The breath of sea entered Aldrich's nose, making him remember countless poetic verses. His urge to write something kept increasing by seconds, same as his urge to draw that point of light that he had buried deep within his heart some time ago.

Alas, this wasn't the time to act on those urges. This was the time to help Sha devour the Collective Sub-consciousness of an entire serpent race.

Huuuuu!

Aldrich opened his mouth and sucked a deep breath into his lungs.

BOOM!!!

A boom rang out in his mind, shaking every organ, every vein, and all blood in his body. For research, Aldrich had tried all kinds of drugs on animals, humans, and himself, too. The first thing he had felt that came close to those feelings was the process of evolution. But even then, those ecstatic moments couldn't be compared to what Aldrich was feeling.

Aldrich felt as if someone was injecting his body with adrenaline. Injections after injections, pumping him to the full and beyond.

Crackk!

Aldrich made a fist and all the rocks on the island cracked. The burst of Mana coming out of him pushed Sha away. His hairs flailed upwards, disregarding the erratic howling winds over the sea. And as it seemed this would make him burst, Aldrich saw the silhouette taking a form hundreds of meters away from him.

It was a serpent, and unlike its brethren, it wasn't overly long, only a few dozens of meters. But this wasn't the thing that had caught Aldrich's attention. It was the serpent's body. It was dark, almost dark enough for it to not reflect any light. The only thing Aldrich could compare its body to was like a child had drawn a line on white paper with a black crayon, rough along the edges and coarse.

Its eyes were black, its forked tongue was black, and black was the straight horn over its head. The tip of this horn was like the point of origin, sending out waves after waves of Darkness, making Aldrich's entire body throb with pleasure.

This was the serpent Aldrich was looking for. The serpent who could use the Domain of Darkness. This serpent was...

DARK HORNED BASILISK – The Bringer of Darkness.

Aldrich remembered its name and felt himself getting stronger. The weakness that he had just felt moments ago receded like a toxic ex-wife after claiming alimony. Aldrich extended his hand out, and the Pillar of Footprints in his head elongated, widened, and flashed goldenly. And his eyes couldn't help but fall on the changing stats hovering in front of him.

[...

Presence of Darkness confirmed...

Activating Title - Spawn of Darkness...

Record of Aldrich

Attributes -->

Strength: 165 (+55)

Defence: 163 (+54)

Agility: 165 (+55)

Vitality: 150 (+50)

Perception: 460 (-200 +330)

Correspondence: 187 (+62)

...]

For a moment...

For an incredibly brief moment...

A fraction of a second...

And for less than a short dying breath...

All things became inconsequential to Aldrich. He felt like a lone bird, flying through the expanse, feeling every strand of wind. If he wanted, he could change this wind, and if he wanted he could break apart this space.

Aldrich had already lost 200 points worth of Perception because of the Laws' fluctuations happening around him. But the Spawn of Darkness had the authority to double his Perception in the presence of Darkness. And only Aldrich had Perception high enough for it to land beyond the 400 even after losing more than half of its max value.

400...

Aldrich had once experienced the power of this figure before. No control, just raw power. In one breath, he had annihilated a Viscount Ranked Crawler.

Aldrich felt the tiniest perception of water drops, dust, worms, and the Devil's tattoo controlled by the Dark Sapling in his forehead's depth. In a buried voice, words came out of his mouth, which he hadn't said in a long time.

"CHANGE! TARGET LOCK!!"

[...

Agility: 274 (+55 +46 +63)

...]

Just as Aldrich felt his legs thrum with excitement, Sha plunged in his shadow as if following an unspoken order.

Swoosshh!!!

One moment Aldrich was standing over the island, and in the next moment, he appeared under the belly of the serpent. It wasn't the One Step Shunpo, but his Agility was incomprehensible in such a short distance. The serpent had sensed Aldrich, but the pull from the crack in space on it was strong. Strong enough for it to not care about any surviving insects flying here and there.

Aldrich pointed the Pillar of Footprints towards the Serpent's dark, scale-less belly, and spoke out.

"... Expand!"

BOOM!!!

This place wasn't the Great Hall of the Manor. Here no one was a Marquess, no one was a Duchess. Here, Aldrich could let himself loose with no concern in his mind. At this moment, this place was just another Dungeon for Aldrich.

The Pillar of Footprints hit the Basilisk's belly, and even the fissure's pull wasn't strong enough to prevent the serpent from going up towards the sky.

Hissssss!!!

A mad hissing sound reverberated, but to only Aldrich, this hiss made any sense.

-INSECT! YOU DARE!!!-

But neither the Pillar nor Aldrich cared for this hiss. The spirit wriggled, churned, trying to get itself off the strange staff's effect of taking it to the sky, but it was to no effect. Another hiss came out of its mouth, and it looked down at Aldrich's figure becoming smaller and smaller.

-Insane human, this is your doom... DARKNESS DOMAIN – ETERNAL MAZE OF HORRORS!!! -

The serpent opened its mouth wide, showing the rows of dark dagger-like teeth. And just as the hiss vanished, a pillar of dark flame came out of its mouth. It was like an incredibly wide column of water, but its color was entirely dark, like hasty lines drawn by children.

This dark pillar struck Aldrich straight and engulfed him. The Pillar of Footprints shortened, making the serpent let out a condescending laugh.

-Hahaha! Fool tried...-

But before the serpent could finish its sentence, two figures appeared above and under its mouth. At the tip of its horn stood Aldrich majestically, holding the staff like a spear in his hands. And under its mouth hovered Sha, with a dark heavy sword.

"Ancient Relic..."

"Stone Splitter..."

The pair of father and daughter chanted and brought down the seasoning on their dinner.

TATHAGATA BULL RUSH!!!

MEGATON CRUSHER!!!

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