<h4>Chapter 1169 The Stain Of Darkness</h4>


    The scorching sun overhead painted a certainndscape with its golden rays, raining down heat and vibrance until it grew akin to a flood.


    Settled dust and debris designed the earth, recreating a tableu of ruin to whomever could see it.


    Unfortunately, only corpses were present to witness this sight.


    Lying on the boiling, shattered earth were the dead bodies of countless thousands of denizens. Their cold formsy still as dried blood formed a sea of carnage.


    The radiance of the sun reflected on the dead ones and their sticky smelly liquid, showing no mercy on all the dead denizens of the world.


    Not a single one of them were alive.


    … Not one.


    ~VWUUUUSSSHHH!~


    Staining the bright convas that brimmed with death, darkness began to form.


    Like a distortion in space, a stain on reality, the ckness expanded and created a hole—a gate that perhaps led somewhere, or an opening for something toe through.


    Something… or someone.


    From within the pure ck portal emerged thetter, a human who seemed to be in his early thirties.


    His tall form cast a silhoutte upon the world he entered, and the brilliance of light reflected on his brown hair and pale skin. His glowing purple eyes lit up, and the darkness he emerged from clung tight to him.


    His dark trenchcoat absorbed the luminous rays that descended from amove, and his ck boots stepped into the sticky dark red pool of blood that filled the ground.


    However, rather than frown or despair at the sight of pure carnage that spread out before him, he smiled instead.


    "I see you''ve handled the rest of them." The man spoke, his calm voice a sharp contrast to the chaos that surrounded him.


    Right now, millions—no, billions of people—were dead.


    And he offered no remorse for their departure.


    Rather, his gaze fell on the two who were responsible for this sight of despair. They had appeared in front of him the moment he uttered the words from earlier, and even they did not seem the least bit upset by what they had done.


    The genocide they had wrought.


    This duo—a boy and a woman—did not seem like the kind who would be responsible for such chaos.


    The woman was dressed in pure white, almost akin to an angel. Her white gown was well apanied by a veil that nearly covered her face. Her white long white hair cascading down her immensely attractive face, and her skin was so pure, it rivaled jewels.


    Finally, her golden eyes glowed with unspeakable radiance.


    All in all, she was a beauty unlike any other. Someone possessing such unreal charm could not have been responsible for this grotesque sight… right?


    And what of the other one; the boy?


    He looked to be in histe teens, and had long dark hair which was tied to form a ponytail behind him. He was immensely handsome, but the most apt definition of his demeanor would be ''cute.''


    A stoic expression graced his face, and his blue eyes appeared nk.


    He too, like the angelic woman, did not look like a viin who would ughter the denizens of an entire world.


    They did not seem like the kind to associate with the shady man that had just emerged from malicious darkness.


    And yet… here they were.


    "You''rete." The woman? said.


    "..." The boy said nothing.


    Instead, he gazed intently at the right hand of the one who hade from the portal. In his grasp was a fragment of light, seemingly brighter than even the sun that hung above.


    "Apologies, Ciel, Stefan…" His lips widened even more as the purple energy in his eyes flickered with every word he uttered.


    "... It seems the target wanted to live a little longer, so he struggled quite a bit."


    However, since the light fragment was currently in his grasp, the duo that stared at this man knew he must have seeded in his task.


    "Well, what matters is that you retrieved it… right, Legris?"


    Yes, this man was Legris Damien, and the fragment of light that he held was merely what he considered to be one piece in the entire puzzle.


    "Indeed. I should thank you for weakening the target for me, Ciel." He smiled at the white maiden, and then turned his attention to the boy beside her.


    "You handled most of the resistance well, Stefan. Well done."


    All three of them had spent the past couple of weeks locating and finally obtaining their first piece.


    A mementous assion indeed!


    "What is that, though? Is that really what you were after all along?" Ciel asked, drawing Legris'' attention back to her.


    Upon hearing her question, he gave a lighthearted chuckle and raised the crystal-like fragment of light. His gaze fell on it, and it seemed like his eyes were devouring it just by how intensely Legris was staring.


    "Indeed. It''s only a mere fraction, but this is a piece of a Constetion. It''s the residue left behind in a person''s Soul once they make a contract with any of the twelve."


    "And? We just need to gather enough of this stuff, right? I sense Aether from it, so how is this any different from just absorbing a ton of that?" Ciel folded her hands, a sigh escaping her lips.


    "Haha…" Once again, Legris couldn''t help but chuckle at her words.


    However, the moment he noticed her frown, he slowly ceased it.


    "I apologize, but it''s a little funnyparing the two. Constetions possess the purest, most powerful kind of Aether. A fraction of a Constetion''s Aether is millions of times more powerful than the same fraction of regr Aether."


    "Ah, I see…" Ciel''s hands dropped, and her tone slowly took an apologetic road.


    "It''s fine. Aether herself has the highest concentration of herself, but it''s not like we can start hunting for a Singrity, right? We just have to make do with the Hosts chosen by Constetions."


    Upon hearing more of Legris'' exnation, it seemed his two allies slowly understood his point.


    That caused him to smile even more.


    "Once we obtain enough of this, I can finally begin [Convergence]."


    Stefan and Ciel both smiled, nodding their heads in agreement as they epted Legis'' words.


    It didn''t matter how many more worlds needed to be destroyed.


    It was no concern how many people had to die.


    There was no consideration for the sacrifices that would be required.


    As long as they seeded in their goals… that was all that mattered.


    "I just need a lot more."


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    [A/N]


    Thanks for reading, everyone!


    It feels like an eternity since west saw Legris. I''ve missed him, to be honest.


    Just so