Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

Takoda tensed up when he heard the noises of cracks reverberating from all around him.

His instincts had already been acting up the moment those ice sculptures manifested out of nowhere.

Whenever sculptures appeared in an important location or another world, 9 out of 10 times those sculptures would come alive in one creepy way or another.

Thus was the wisdom that was imparted after years of experience by his elders.

All around him, he could see countless sculptures of men in Viking clothing moving and looking at him, their creepy eyes shining with a crimson light.

Individually, they were no match for him. But Takoda was not a tireless machine that could go on endlessly.

As if it wasn't enough, he could feel a far more powerful presence hiding in the distance, stalking and observing them, ready to attack at any given moment.

'This is going to be quite troublesome.'

At least this was what he thought initially.

"Do you know… against me, even millions of mobs are useless."

A low voice resounded just then— Takoda observed what could only be described as the overturning of heaven and earth.

Gravity changed, the earth rumbled, lightning flashed everywhere and even a faint spark of fire could be seen enveloping the world.

Takoda could not explain what he saw in words. Not clearly at least.

One moment thousands of sculptures were ready to come at him then in the next, they all crumbled, crushed, fell, burned, and so on, the cause of destruction was so diverse it was frankly admirable.

Takoda shivered, goosebumps covered his skin, his fur puffed up, and all his instincts were screaming at him to simply roll down and show his stomach to beg for forgiveness.

All of this chaos was done by one man and him alone. Without him even taking a step or moving a finger, he had enacted the scene of carnage that shocked the living hell out of the Alpha.

'Is it a Phantasm Realm? Or perhaps even a Divine Kingdom?'

This was the only way to explain what the hell just happened in this place. It would be too shocking if that were to be a normal attack.

"Wait, Magician! They are undead. Without holy water, they will stand endlessly."

This wasn't some zombie show. Destroying the head of a zombie or an undead didn't do shit.

Only holy water or destroying their cores could end them for good.

"Don't worry. They will never stand up again."

His voice was nonchalant and full of confidence, so much so that Takoda started to wonder if he was the one who was crazy here.

But— feeling a sense of unease rise from his body, Takoda wisely chooses to simply shut up and observe for now.

"As you can see, your little minions are useless against me. So how long do you plan to hide?"

Silence fell before a sigh resonated in the surroundings,

"My. I didn't think you were already this strong."

A projection flashed and someone appeared right in front of Adam, an impish smile on her young face as she bent down quietly while winking at him, acting all cute.

"Hi! Brother? How have you been doing?"

"Fedora…?"

'Well…'

Takoda closed his eyes, wishing he could cover his ears at this very moment. He had theorized that Magician had some sort of relationship with Natasha. What he didn't expect was that they were this close and now that he knew of this fact, actually attacking him or sharing the real identity of the Magician would be very easy for him. It was all a matter of tracking out of this single clue alone and he would be able to quite easily pinpoint his identity.

How many hunters could accept such things happening to them? Especially those that went out of their way to make themselves as secretive as possible…

'He won't dispose of me later, right?'

He was starting to slightly regret meddling in this whole mess and wondering if he should flee right this instant to save himself from all the hassle.

The two floating above gazed at each other, ignoring the lost Takoda as he thought up a way to get out of this situation with his head intact.

Adam had a very complicated expression on his face as he looked at the young wolf before him,

"I would have never thought it would be you, the traitor…"

He did not bother attacking her. The Fedora that was in front of him right now was nothing but a projection after all.

Lashing out now would be useless.

"Why?"

She tilted her head to the side and asked, "Perhaps because I am so cute? Because I seem completely harmless or… Perhaps because you put too much trust in that immature Eyes of Truth of yours?"

Adam was not surprised by this revelation. The current skills and power that Fedora was manifesting were completely different from what she should have been able to do with the stats that he gleaned.

This could only mean one thing— that she was so powerful she could hide her information from him.

"Who are you really?"

Fedora chuckled to herself, gently skipping like a young girl having fun; seemingly lost in a world of her own.

"When you think of Fedora, the first thing that comes to mind are those old hats, right? But there's something else that is distinctly different than what the general public would assume. My name has quite an interesting meaning hidden within, you know?"

She stopped when she was completely behind him,

"The name Fedora comes from the Greek name, Theodora and it means— a gift from God."

She smiled, a chilly smile spreading on her cute face, "This is Fedora. Nothing more than a receptacle but at the same time, an entity separated from me."

Adam started to feel a chill run down his spine.

Step~

The crunching of ice and snow filled his ears as someone entered his domain far away and the projection of Fedora vanished from his eyes.

"I have many, many names… Bestowed upon me through the eons of my existence…"

Though the distance between them was a few kilometers at least, Adam had the very distinct impression that he could hear her loud and clearly, as if she was simply a few steps away from him.

"In the past, before my curse awakened, my name was— Lycaon." [1]

Names had powers deeply embedded into their existences. This was a fact that Adam had learned ever since he awakened and entered the Supernatural world.

But this was the first time that, Adam felt such a suffocating pressure from someone simply spelling a name.

It was as if the world itself was rejecting the entity standing before him.

"After spreading my name, I became known as the very first Werewolf and Shapeshifter. I am the Father of all shapeshifters. Their Primogenitor."

Another step was taken, and with that step, the entity covered more than a couple of kilometers in an instant, bringing him much closer to Adam.

One of Fedora's eyes changed colors, going from the usual blue to a complete Golden.

This eye alone seemed to encompass all life, an eye filled with vicissitudes of life and the passage of time.

The eye of someone who had seen too much and lived far too long.

The pressure on Adam was incommensurable, he felt like he was standing in front of his mother as she was when used her armor and Divine Weapon.

Fedora, seemingly ignoring everything that Adam was going through, took one last step, bringing her just right up to him.

She was shorter than Adam, but their sight seemed to be at the same level.

"Nowadays though… People seemed to have a new for me. A name I honestly like very much, if I say so myself. They call me— The Binge Eater."

The pressure was at its summit as if trying to force Adam to bow his head in respect in front of the being in front of him.

This was the presence of a King, an absolute Alpha Predator, a supreme being that stood on the top of the food chain. The 0.1%, so to speak.

Bowing down was normal. But Adam fought back against the pressure that was forcing him to bow down.

Even though he was far weaker.

Even though he could see no hope of winning as he was now.

He refused to bow to anyone out of coercion. Even if that person was some super-powerful entity that lived for thousands of years.

At the same time, far far away, in another dimension, a large muscular man was leaning on his throne with his chin resting on his palm, a feral smile hanging on his lips. At the same time, the smile was mixed with the subtlest hints of pride and acceptance, all directed toward his youngest sibling.

Only disappointment would have appeared if Adam had bowed his head before him right now.

The castle he was sitting in seemed to be devoid of decorations or even any items and one could see multiple chains on his feet and torso tying him down to the throne.

Even then, this position of being a prisoner to his throne took nothing away from the regal presence of the man as his golden eyes looked at the horizon.

His lips moved and Fedora's lips moved in Sync alongside them.

[Beautiful.]

"Beautiful."

[We are Kings. We bow to no one. Not even the ever-illusory Fate.]

"We are Kings. We bow to no one. Not even the ever-illusory Fate."

[As a sign of respect, let me start again with my greetings.]

"As a sign of respect, let me start again with my greetings."

A mischievous smile formed on her face, mirroring the expression on the man's face.

[Hi, little brother! It's time for some brotherly hazing.]

"Hi, little brother! It's time for some brotherly hazing."

Fedora's fist moved. So slow that Adam could clearly observe all the movements from the tightening of her dainty fist to the form of her nerves pumping blood.

His skills were at full power, analyzing and observing everything for the simple goal of avoiding the incoming attack.n)/1n

But— he realized with horror that he was completely unable to move.

The fist seemed slow but at the same time, it was blinding fast!

Boom~!

A giant shockwave exploded alongside half of Adam's torso then with a simple twirl, Fedora or rather Lycaon— kicked Adam's head away, as if he was playing with a football.

"Hahaha! Come on brother! The princess may not be in another castle but if you don't come fast, you will lose her!"

Her laughter filled the entirety of the Phantasm Realm.

"Surpass your limits, brother! Surpass your limits or cry as you mourn your own weakness!"

It was the first meeting between the two siblings.

As for Takoda, he was currently questioning his whole existence and wondering if he should find a way to erase his memory right now.

Clearly, the chance of him not being silenced after this fight was incredibly close to Zero.

A bitter smile formed on his face and he started running.

Not towards the exit but towards Natasha.

There was nothing he could do in the current fight. But if he could at least be a little bit useful in slowing down Natasha's transformation— he might not get killed by these lunatics.

It was time to bet everything on this simple fact.

He did not want to die. He could not afford to die. Not now, not without having accomplished anything.

Even if he had to go to hell, he wanted to at least be able to tell his Father— "Your son died while stopping our own primogenitor's plan."

What could be more badass than that? He couldn't find a comparison.

[1]: I don't think anyone could have ever guessed since one of the Hints was kinda Fedora's name itself and her relationship to Greek mythology. Another hint was how Fedora felt close to Adam and called him Brother.

In mythology, Lycaon angered Zeus and got cursed, thereby changing into a werewolf. Obviously, his Origin will be different here but you get the gist.