Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

When Adam came down to the basement of the house, after getting out of his room and checking in on his mother, he did not waste time with useless chitchat and straight got to the point.

"Makarov, I have a gift for you."n-(1n

Makarov, who was slurping on some spaghetti that he had made for himself, looked up from his bowl with a confused expression and saw a small pearl being thrown his way by the person in question.

At first, he was confused about what the hell Adam was doing by throwing this object his way. But with his eyesight and knowledge, he soon noticed something peculiar with the pearl that was handed over to him.

His expression changed immediately and he couldn't help but stand up before literally lunging at the pearl like he was desperately trying to save it.

Once he caught it in his hands, tucked away safely in the confines of his hands, he looked down at the pearl, his expression changing many times before looking at Adam once again like he was a lunatic.

"Are you fucking crazy?"

"Heh. I will have to bring this up… Even in your old age, you have an elegance worthy of a ballerina, you know that?"

Adam laughed and took his seat while Makarov gave him the middle finger before looking at the pearl once again with sparkling eyes.

At first glance, the pearl had nothing special to it. It was just a relatively beautiful jewel that was very well crafted for how it looked. But for Makarov, it was like he was witnessing completely new and different dimensions.

"Viktor. Let go of that poor chicken leg and come see this!"

He hissed at his goofball grandson who was still eating some chicken leg and called him over.

Sigh~

Viktor sighed helplessly. He had known this was going to happen. This was why he had started tearing apart the chicken faster than ever before when Adam threw the pearl his old man's way. Sadly, he hadn't been fast enough and couldn't finish all the food properly.

But the moment he reached Makarov and watched the pearl, all thoughts about the chicken vanished from his head completely and he started to observe the pearl as if he was looking at the greatest treasure in the world.

Like this, both grandfather and grandson, one with grease on his mouth and the other with tomato sauce on his beard started fidgeting and discussing the design of the pearl and the intricate formation that was engraved within it down to the very minute detailed bit.

  "This is marvelous. This is like… It's perfect…"

Viktor was at a complete loss for words as he marveled at the intricacies of the object before him but Makarov fully understood what he meant and the reason for his reaction. 

'Come to think of it, this is his first time observing a true naturally formed divine weapon of the gods.'

Makarov mused as he observed the pearl deeply with his gaze full of intelligence. He was not entranced by its perfection like his grandson. This was something that was inherent to all divine weapons made by the gods.

They were perfect.

Even if they had flaws, weak points, limitations, and so on, all those points were encased in perfection. No matter from which angle one looked at it, they would realize that all the features were needed to do what it did.

Perfection.

This was the goal of many blacksmiths and this had once been his goal as well when he was younger.

But now, all of those things had changed. He was not blinded by the perfection that was present before him.

"Perfection means that there is no further place for growth, doesn't it?"

Makarov spoke quietly, pulling Viktor away from his trance.

"There is nothing wrong with pursuing perfection. After all, why grow when you are perfect? But I do not like such a thing. It only hinders the progress of a person."

"Grandfather."

Makarov patted Viktor on the back, "Don't copy your grandpa. All blacksmith should have their own aspirations, their own way and style. Like that blockhead student of mine who focuses on technology. You are still young. So do not worry about all this bullshit. Fumbling and searching for your way are all important steps that you must take before you reach the very top."

The power of divine weapons had all a threshold. A limit that could never be broken no matter what they did. This was normal and in fact, did not matter in the least. After all, what kind of human could actually bring forth the full power of a divine weapon? Doing so would mean that they were equals to the gods up in the sky.

So his goal might be useless. This was just his stubbornness but he was able to see it. This pearl inspired him.

What he saw wasn't perfection.

What he saw was— a whole new world. 

A marble that could contain even an entire universe. A cycle of infinite expansion and then return to its origin.

His thoughts were swarming with ideas crazier than the rest.

"Makarov…"

"Hum?"

Makarov looked at Adam. He didn't ask where the boy got this piece of divine weapon. It was not important for him to know the origins of the object. He could see now that the boy had something very important to tell him.

What could it be?

"I want you to use my blood."

"Hum?"

Makarov tilted his head in confusion, his eyes became slightly blurry, as if he was in a trance. He felt like the world around him was different than before. But he couldn't exactly say how so.

"What do you mean? Obviously, I will take your blood to bind the weapon to you and make it match your prana. But I have a feeling you mean something else."

"My blood is special. I want you to use it in large quantities for the creation of this weapon. I have a feeling that it will make it even better than just simply creating it using your ways."

Makarov frowned, as a blacksmith, it was normal to accommodate the desires of his clients. But his mind felt weird, almost sluggish as he heard Adam's request. 

"Boy. What is happening now?"

"We are in a dream currently."

"A dream?"

"Let's just say I am taking some precautionary measures. Currently, all your true inner thoughts are brought to the surface and after what I will say next, I will know about your true feelings."

"You…"

"Sorry. But I cannot afford to gamble on this matter. Don't worry. I can understand a negative response. In which case I will simply erase all your memory of this conversation and act as if nothing happened at all."

Makarov felt a myriad of emotions, which should have been impossible for someone like him and his control. He realized that Adam was telling the truth.

'What kind of secret does he have?'

"You might have wondered once who my father is, right? Rather, you might have asked yourself this question many times in fact."

Makarov stopped. He felt like he was going to hear something huge.

"It's simple really. My father is—"

Thump~ Thump~ Thump~

"—The first Murderer, Cain, and I… am a Primogenitor."

For the first time, Makarov realized that he didn't have enough vocabulary to express what he was feeling right now as he let out more than hundreds of curses out of shock.