Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

The drive back home took a little bit of time, longer than he anticipated it to be in his mind. Adam was finding it harder and harder to feel and remember how much time was spent between each of his visits. Sometimes he felt like he was only gone for one day… Other times, however, it felt like at least a few weeks or months had passed or maybe more…

'My perception of time is becoming affected.'

If purely his time in the real world was counted, he had only awakened for around 1 month or so. This was indeed a ridiculously short amount of time.

But the true time he went through was hard to calculate since he didn't really know exactly how much time he had spent in the other dimensions and planes he visited over the course of this month in the real world. 

But if he had to list them…

Nearly a century living as Buddha. However, the memories were extremely blurry now and almost non-existent even though he had perfect memory.

A few years of training in the Library if everything was calculated and summed together

Another near century in a dream created by Asmodeus to trap him in his illusions and dreams.

A few months in Wonderland at least… Maybe more than that, he was not really sure at this point…

'I guess I am technically nearly 300 years old now, I suppose?'

Adam laughed bleakly as he drove through the roads. He knew this was not really the case. After all, the case with Buddha and the Dreamworld could hardly be considered real life.

But even then—

[You should stop counting now. Sooner or later, even the mere thought of counting the time will be meaningless to you.]

'You really know how to rain down the parade, don't you, pal?'

There was not much Adam could say to Genesis. if one based their calculation with the creation of the universe as the main focal point, then Cain could be more or less 13.7 billion years old.

If counted from the creation of Earth, then Cain could be said to have lived for more than 4.5 billion years now. If using history and human apparitions on Earth as the base, then he lived at least for 6 million years and even if modern humans were counted, Cain would be at least 200,000 years old now.

No matter which point they took as the base, it was evident that Cain had lived an extraordinarily long life to this point and all of that was without considering his entrance into special realms where times advanced far differently than what they did on Earth.

'I wonder if he is crazy now?'

The Earthly Primogenitors were only a few thousand years old at best. This would mean for at least one or two hundred thousand years, Cain had lived alone with no one close to him and people dying left and right as their natural lifespan reached an end.

Forever alone. Forever lonely. Forever drifting through the abyss.

Putting down your loved one in the embrace of the desolate ground. Destined to never have anyone follow you on the last travel.

This was sad. This was scary. This was utterly abysmal. The stuff of nightmares.

'Hah… I guess he can't even become crazy even if he wished to.'

『 Trait: Eternal Damnation 

 Rank: EX

 Description: Even in 'Death,' you will no longer find peace nor will you find rest. Death will no longer be an escape for you, even if temporary…

 Effect 1: Your mind is damned to wander the world of the living. The eternal rest of 'Death" will not come even partially any longer. 

 Effect 2: You will not find peace even in lies. Illusions can not affect your mind any longer.

 Effect 3: Insanity will not be an escape for you any longer. You will be damned to feel the weight of the years on you for all eternity. Your mind may bend under the weight, but it will never break, only endure and suffer. 』

Adam had already noticed this trend. His mind was becoming more and more active even as he died. His need for sleep had all but vanished and was becoming concerning in his mind.

Even someone as strong as Inari could not actually ensnare him into her illusions and not even the most insane suffering could break his mind down.

[Eternal Damnation]

A name truly well deserved for his state.

'Do you think there are other features in this Curse?'

[This is hard to say but it should definitely be the case if we just think about it logically. Cain is a mysterious figure in many way despite how renowned he is.]

No public skills. No pubic show of strength'

[He is a very lowkey man. The kind who hides for years just to strike once and vanish for who knows how long other than he himself.]

'Speaking of that… Why is he the most wanted man?'n)(OIn

This was something interesting as well. He doubted the fact that Cain killing Abel was enough to warrant him with the most wanted tag in the whole universe, to be frank.

Perhaps it was because he used humanity as bait? Or perhaps because he created all those primogenitors who created dissonance on this plain? 

[This information is not accessible with your level of authority…]

Adam cursed a little, surprised by the notification that was thrown at his face. He thought that the situation with Cain wasn't really a secret. Now though, it was clear that it was a big secret that he could not dig into as he was now. This message had not opened much since he had woken up in the Hospital.

'What does it mean?'

[I believe it's clear already…]

Adam shrugged, losing interest in this subject altogether…

He may be curious but he knew that with how many plans Eve was brewing, sooner or later someone would come to him with the information before he could even do anything about it. So, he decided to lay back and watch from the sidelines, waiting for the time that he got the things he desired.

In the worst case, he simply had to increase his clearance level and access the info… Easy peasy… Well, theoretically speaking, of course.

Sighing, he shook his head and looked at his house.

—He was now finally home.

In the living room, Cecilia was wearing a white shirt and long military-style pants as she moved her body against the ground, doing some push-ups. 

"998."

Her face was covered in sweat and her breath was a little hurried. This was not the first rep she was doing, but already the tenth one. Each with a similar number of sets

Her clothes were completely drenched in her own sweat and the ground looked like a faucet had run over it from the sweat that had drenched it. 

"999."

Her hands trembled a little, making her feel like a young fawn who was just born and could hardly walk.

"One thousand."

When she finally uttered those words, it was like a huge weight was lifted from her and she stood up, slowly, carefully.

Her arms were still shivering but she had succeeded in going through the last rep. Sadly, there was no happy smile on her face.

— Only sheer disappointment.

"Only ten thousand."

Doing 10 thousand push-ups was pretty good even for trained individuals of her caliber. But those were done without special handicaps.

In short. It was simply trash in her eyes. She could already do something like this when she was a teen.

Swinging her sword ten thousand times had been a daily routine for her back then and now she was sweating and trembling like she was about to die after doing just one exercise.

Clenching her hand, Cecilia inspected her body. There was a deep internal struggle inside her even as she tried to exert more force. 

There were many paths for her if she had to be honest about it.

The worst would be being transplanted with an inferior heart.

She could also choose to become a vampire.

Beg the elves for some leaves of the World Tree.

Try becoming a werewolf.

Sign a contract with a devil.

So many options were available in front of her, so it was hard to say that her life was truly in danger.

But she refused to follow any of them. She did not want to take this path. Her hatred for monsters may have lowered after she started raising Adam but deep down, she felt a certain revulsion about becoming one.

Not because of mere hatred, of course…

But something else Mei told her once in the past before she died. When she asked what would happen if Mei gave birth to someone who would become a Primogenitor…

"My child is not a failure like them, huh…"

Cecilia muttered in a whispery voice. Those words were heavy with their meanings. Clearly highlighting that there was something wrong with the other Primogenitors.

Clenching her fist again, Cecilia looked at the fire that was flickering in her palms.

There was another way.

A way much harder than any she had listed in her mind. Harsher and one with a small very chance of success.

It was perhaps the only way for her to succeed while still keeping her humanity and perhaps even transcending beyond it.

"Not yet."

It wasn't yet the time to go for that option. A storm was incoming and she needed to at least reach the power output of a Director to face it.

That alone would be enough for her to use some of her old deadly skills.

Growl~! 

Cecilia's concentration was interrupted as her stomach started rumbling.

Just in time, she felt someone break through the ward of her house and recognized the energy signature to be Adam's.

'Well. I guess I should walk out with Adam sometimes as well. We don't really do those anymore these days.'

She started walking toward the shower. Her steps were lighter and her worries hidden beneath the veil of her easygoing personality.

----

(Edit as of 16/11/2023:

Guys! I need help, please. Here is My new story: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/76472/cosmic-fairytale-sea-of-stars-a-science-fantasy. 

Some of you may already have seen it on Patreon here. The previous name was Space Odyssey: A Journey through the Star. Now it was renamed as Cosmic Fairytale: Sea of Stars.

So, guys, why do I need your help? Well, I am posting this story on RR now and I need a little boost on your part. Even if you are not already reading SoS, please come and help me by going to Royal Road and leaving a review for this story or simply following and favorite. 

I am asking all this as an author who needs help. SoS is my new project and I want to keep it free and independent from WN. For that, I need it to work on RR and any little help from you guys can help boost the story far higher. I am currently ranked 11th in Rising Stars section of sci-fi and I am sure we can do more. So come and help me. It will only take you a few minutes and it's free.

Here's what you need to know about the story, though check the synopsis too.

The story is a Science Fantasy. It's like sci-fi adaptation of old fairytales we know about, but happens in space. For example characters like Snow White, Pinocchio, Cinderella, and even stories like Thousand and One nights. It's a mix between Mecha/Super Power/Space Opera Adventure. The mecha part is partially inspired by Gurren Lagann and Code Geass. 

Mc's name is Noah. If I had to explain in simple terms, his personality is a little like Gojo from Jujutsu and Kamina from Gurren Lagann. As for his power, outside of Mecha, without too much spoiling you can add that he has something like Venom a symbiote.)