historical

[You have killed the Fenrir]

[You will be rewarded for your failure and death]

[You have gained +5 stat points]

[You have gained item Fenrir's dagger]

Raith paused.

He looked under the messages that piled up in front of him, he checked the back too.

"Is this playing?"

There was something that he was supposed to be rewarded for the moment he killed Fenrir. It was a trial of the Fenrir after all. So why is it not coming?

'Why is the message that I have unlocked the shadow lord attribute not coming is the abyss teasing me?"

Raith cocked his head and he still kept glancing below the pile of messages that floated in front of him.

'And the rewards are not even encouraging. Tsk'

Raith clicked his tongue.

[You have not discovered your true name]

[The attribute can only awaken when you discover your true name]

"The hell isn't that supposed to be Raven Raith."

[Wrong]

"Fuck you"

[Wrong]

"No, I meant fuck you!"

Raith heaved a sigh at the silence of the system and looked down at the lifeless body of the monster he died twice to kill but wasn't rewarded as due.

'I was rewarded for my death and failures...'

Raith sat down on the body of the Fenrir and crossed his leg. Now that he is actually thinking about it, he takes note of the fact that he didn't level up when he killed the Fenrir, he only leveled up when he died.

In that way, it kind of makes sense that he is the chosen hero of the archon of failure and death.

Heroes from the archon of light get stronger in light

Heroes from the archon of justice get stronger when they stand for just purposes

Heroes of the archon of elements get stronger when they are around natural elements, depending on which one they are found with.

Heroes of the sword archon will only see progress and true strength if they follow the path of the sword.

Heroes of the spear archon too.

Heroes of the throne archon are the most mysterious and always are bound to be the strongest heroes because the throne archon is the strongest of all nine. They have ample skills which are based on having authority over certain concepts such as speed and more.

Heroes of the Hound archon are mostly useful for scouting purposes they are some of them that have commendable prowess and are high rankers, they get stronger by following the path of perception and scouting.

Heroes of the shield archon are defense types and mostly get stronger by following their path.

Hence it was only natural that the only hero of the death and failure archon and sometimes known as the darkness archon should gain strength by following the path of darkness, death, and failure.

'Just why have I never thought of this!'

Raith scratched his head in frustration as he realized that he was supposed to get used to dying and dying and dying. It wasn't a good feeling to anticipate. At this rate, he just may build a resistance to all forms of dying that there is.

He looked down at the corpse of the big black wolf.

'Can't let this go to waste now can I?"

He stood up and pulled out the sword, blood seamed down the tip of the blade coloring the black fur of the monster.

Raith looked at the blade and closed his eyes. He had long overcome his fears of death. Suicide cannot cause him to really die now, can it?

'If this goes well, devourer will activate and swallow the Fenrir, then I will gain my sweet stat. I bet I could gain like 30 stat points from this big bad wolf'

Raith grinned.

"What the hell is he doing?"

Volmak muttered from his vantage point which was safe from all the crumbling and intense battle.

pierce.

"keoorghk! hishhh... it's not enjoyable'

Rairh mumbled with blood pooling down his mouth as he crumbled to his knee and his head like the fall of a mighty general dropped.

[You have died]

[The abyss rewards acts of courage and seflessness]

[You killed yourself]

[The darkness within you has risen]

[Level UP!]

[Level Up!]

[You have gained 8 stat points]

[You have gained a new title 'I am suicidal']

> Title effect: 50% raise in all your stat points when you are risking your life in battle.

[You have passed a hidden trial: The trial of uncertainty]

[%#%#%#%#^#]

Now it happened just as Raith predicted.

His body blackened and spread all over the Fenrir, wrapping around the monster and getting smaller and smaller till it had consumed the Fenrir then reverted to Raith who coughed himself to resurrection.

He quickly stood to his knee and panting and coughing more and more. He remembered the devastating feeling as he drove that sword into his belly and it came out from his back, the pain of his intestine rupturing.

'Ha, let's not do that again'

His panting slowed down and finally came to an end.

[You have stored a new shadow ego]

"...the stats?"

Raith cocked his head and flipped his hands into the holographic message.

"Where is my fucking stats!"

Volmak's eyes widened the hell out due to shock and surprise as he saw what Raith was truly capable of.

'The–the‐the Fenrir... it disappeared, it went away in an instance.'

His eyeballs quivered as he tried to make sense of it.

step step step step

He jacked out of it and quickly ran to Raith.

"Young man! Come quick, let's leave this place"

He yelled to Raith, trying not to raise his voice too much because of the soldiers that were making their way to this place.

"Volmak!! Volmak!! Wait!"

Old man Volmak paused as he heard the voice.

Raith looked at him and looked back. They were about to find an escape route and looking at the way this underground cave was built they might not be able to escape unless they go through the route Volmak came in from. Which was also the same route the soldiers, the commander, and the lord of the castle took to reach here.

"Please, I didn't know anything about all this. I had no idea you were being held in captivity."

The old man sighed and his shoulders relaxed.

"It's fine my lord. All we seek is to leave. Can you allow that?"

"Sir Volmak, I respect you a lot no doubt. But if the demons find out you released the Fenrir, not just my head will roll off my neck, yours and that of every person you have ever loved and you know this."

He responded with a calm demeanor walking closer to Volmak with his loose robe that displayed his chest. He looked like he had been busy with something when the quaking sent him out of his room.

Volmak sighed and looked at Raith who was behind him and looked back at the lord of the castle, whose beauty was defined by his slick and long black hair.

"You are right... but I ask you of one thing. Can you let this human go?"

Volmak pleaded.

"Anything for you Volmak."

"Please give me some time."

Volmak requested and the lord nodded in response. He turned to Raith.

"What is going on? I don't understand, freed the Fenrir. You didn't free the Fenrir, I killed it."

"Shush"

Volmak placed his fingers on Raith's lips triggering a pause.

"Given my strength and record, he thinks I freed the Fenrir, and that is plausible because the Fenrir's body is nowhere to be found. I also can't tell them that you killed him, we don't want them finding out about your powers and their link to the abyss. Even the greatest of demon lords will come for you. But this way, I can still fight for my life using my connections.

You don't worry about me. Rather, I think it's time for you to go home."

Volmak whispered to him.

"Home? No way, I don't want to go home Volmak, Felfhiem is my home."

Raith's expression crumbled, his brows shifted upwards as his eyes began to gather tears.

"Come on young man. These past few months I have spent with you have been the best of my life. And Aye, I am not going to die. You can also come back when things settle, you have the support of the abyss."

The old man said, wiping away his tears.

He removed the black ring that was in his hand and committed it to Raith's hand.

"I was not able to teach you anything but I will leave you my greatest companion, he has been with me most of my journey and I am sure he will be a great help."

He said as he folded Raith's hands together with the black ring.

Raith snuffed his running nose and nodded.

Volmak patted his head and walked over to the lord.

"Please can you help me escort him back to the gate so he can go back to his world?"

The Lord looked at Volmak in a very sorrowful way. As one would look like a martyr on his way to getting martyred.

The lord turned one of his soldiers.

"See to it that this human reaches the gate and goes over to Ailgard."

He whispered to the soldier pointing to Raith who stood there with shuddering shoulders and his disgusting nakedness subtly covered by the darkness of the cave.