Chapter 221: Talk II

He stepped closer, his presence intensifying.

"Don’t follow someone else’s weapon art. Don’t just learn and replicate what I or others have created. You should develop your own original art. Just like you did with your Devourer art."

Damian’s breath caught.

"But Abyssal Slaughter is–"

"You’ve already learned and understood the basics, haven’t you?"

Kaiser interrupted.

"At its core, Abyssal Slaughter is just one perfect strike. Everything else -+all the advanced principles, all the variations – they’re just me understanding natural laws and incorporating them into the art."

He gestured broadly.

"Principles like: lifting something heavy as though it were light. Moving through resistance as though through air. Concentrating force into impossible precision.

These principles exist in the world independently. Everything depends on one’s capability to understand them and incorporate them into personal technique."

BOOM!

The revelation crashed through Damian’s mind like thunder.

Inside his mental status screen, the entry for Abyssal Slaughter shifted:

Abyssal Slaughter - SS: Major Success

His understanding of weapon arts fundamentally deepened. Even Omega Point – which he’d thought he understood well – suddenly revealed new dimensions.

’They’re not rigid arts to memorize. They’re frameworks for understanding principles. Ways of thinking about power and application. The arts themselves are just... examples of what’s possible when you understand fundamental laws.’

Before he could articulate this revelation, Kaiser continued.

"Regarding your Devourer art – I assume it involves consuming Monster flesh to convert their biological energy into enhancements for your own body?"

Damian nodded, wondering where this was going.

Kaiser’s voice dropped to something almost conspiratorial.

"...But why should a devouring art be limited to just flesh and physical enhancement?"

His ancient eyes gleamed with something dangerous.

"Why not devour their memories? Their knowledge? Their emotions and experiences? Their very... souls?"

BOOM!

The biggest explosion yet detonated in Damian’s mind, the implications so vast they threatened to overwhelm his processing.

Kuro, perched on a nearby branch, looked at Kaiser with what could only be described as fearful respect.

’Scary old man! Terrifying old man! Mad old man!’

Damian opened his mouth but found no words, just stared at Kaiser with complex emotions.

Finally, he managed to speak.

"You know... I thought I was a monster for developing this art in the first place and for eating sentient species like Giants. But sometimes I forget you’re a centuries-old monster as well."

Kaiser shrugged, his expression showing something approaching pride.

"I’m genuinely proud of you, you know. Unlike my other disciples – who all died despite their talents – you might actually survive what’s coming. There should be no limits you’re unwilling to cross."

His voice became more serious.

"I’m not looking at you as a normal teenager anymore. That’s why I allowed you to kill that Kestrel girl. Why I let your friend torture her for closure. Our race lacks youth with your particular combination of capability and ruthlessness."

Damian looked at him silently, processing that admission.

"Mara Kestrel was your Academy’s student too. Doesn’t that matter?"

Kaiser’s expression became cold.

"Kid, if your parents hadn’t already slaughtered the Kestrel branch, I would have eliminated all their branches myself just for attempting to kill you. I don’t involve myself in political games, but I’m still human. I still have selfish reasons for training MY disciples."

His ancient eyes showed absolute certainty.

"I can’t let you die yet... There’s a reason no Imperial family has moved against you directly despite everything. You have my protection, and they know exactly what that means."

’Can’t let me die YET? What the fuck does that qualifier mean?’

Before Damian could ask, Kaiser shifted topics.

"Open your Domain. While we’re at it, I should examine that as well. I won’t have much time to guide you after this year – chaotic times are approaching faster than expected."

Damian activated his Domain without hesitation.

"Despair."

The forest disappeared, replaced by his mental construct.

An endless void of black fog that moved with malevolent intelligence, searching for negative emotions to feed upon.

They stood on what appeared to be solid pitch-black ground, though no actual surface was visible beneath their feet.

The sky above was crimson like fresh blood, pulsing with irregular rhythm like a massive beating heart.

And everywhere –scattered across the dark ground, hanging in the air, pressed against the boundaries – were bodies.

All preserved in his subconscious, their final moments of fear and despair captured and weaponized.

Kaiser looked around with professional interest.

"A mental Domain based on negative emotions. Interesting construction... Crude but with significant potential."

Damian moved the black fog to surround Kaiser, activating the Domain’s primary attack – amplification of the target’s own negative emotions, turning their mind against itself.

But... Kaiser just stood there, his expression unchanged.

Sensing Damian’s confusion, the old man smiled.

"You think this level of negative emotion holds power over me? Let me show you what Despair truly is."

The blackest, darkest fog erupted from Kaiser – not part of Damian’s Domain but something external, something that made the Domain itself recoil.

Damian’s mind was immediately flooded with the greatest despair he’d ever experienced.

All his guilt... All his failures...

Every person he couldn’t save. Every mistake that cost lives. His brother’s torture in his past life. Zavier’s parents. Brian’s family.

Everything crashed down simultaneously, magnified a thousand times, becoming so overwhelming that his mind sought the only escape.

Puchi

His hand moved on its own, plunging into his own chest, fingers wrapping around his heart, beginning to squeeze–

SHATTER.

The Domain broke completely, reality snapping back to the forest.

"..."

Damian stood gasping, his hand still pressed against his chest where he’d been about to tear out his own heart, cold sweat covering his entire body.

Kaiser’s voice was calm and almost gentle.

"Domains are dangerous toys, little one. Mental Domains especially. You hold power over negative emotions, yes. But what happens when someone enters your Domain who understands those emotions far better than you?"

He gestured at Damian’s shaking hands.

"If their understanding is slightly superior, they’ll simply be unaffected by your attacks. But if their understanding is vastly greater..."

His ancient eyes showed hard-learned wisdom.

"Your own Domain becomes your greatest enemy. Your weapon turns against you, using your own power to destroy you from within."

Damian’s face was pale, understanding the horrifying truth.

’I almost killed myself... Inside my own Domain... Using my own power...’

Kaiser continued, his tone becoming more analytical.

"I also noticed something else. You’ve been feeling very light-headed these past weeks, haven’t you? Relaxed, free of negative emotions and in better moods than usual?"

Damian thought back to the time since awakening his Domain.

The dinner with friends, the laughter and the ability to enjoy moments without constant tension.

He’d attributed it to breaking through to C+ rank, to feeling safer with the Unnamed Four’s protection and to his parents’ demonstrated power.

But...