Midnight Prince: Empire of Sin

Adam was currently in the midst of a very weird circumstance. A situation where his mind was more unstable than it had ever been in recent times. One of his minds was busy keeping a straight face and a smile while facing Hugr inside the realm of dreams, the dreams that were inside the Wolf's inner mind. Another one of his minds was busy fighting against a gigantic wolf and the wolf was really, really angry as it faced him with exponentially more intensity and vigor.

Those different states and events that his various minds were processing in real-time, the poison of Fenrir corroding his mind and soul and making it hard for him to even breathe, and all the stress that had been progressively building up throughout the process of this whole fiasco. All of this, everything concocted together caused him to reach the boiling point.

All his life, Adam had always been the kind to repress his emotions as much as possible no matter the scenario. He had long since understood that whining to anyone would rarely change the situation at hand. He was the voice of reason, the one who endured, and the one who would calmly look for the solution while silently bearing all the pain and frustration.

Things became worse after he had awakened into his Supernatural self. His emotions became… muted… low and unfeeling. They rarely exceeded a certain threshold and rarely did they last long enough for him to fret over them. 

Even the greatest mental trauma would only last for a few moments before swiftly being extinguished under the influence of his curse. 

Adam was able to forget the sickening feeling of killing someone after killing five people at the same time in cold blood. Killing people who had once been humans was forgotten as well and massacring a group of criminals for his own goals was barely on his radar any longer.

All this time, something had been quietly bottling inside of him, waiting to be released and this situation was perhaps the only chance he had to truly unleash these bottled feelings and rotten emotions.

'I am angry.'

The sad thing was— even now, even though he knew that he was fucking angry, that his heart was bursting with the desire to destroy everything he could lay his eyes upon, his mind was still cold and calm. 

Ever calculating, ever analyzing, ever rationalizing.

His anger did not transform into irrationality but rather a cold and sharp rationality with only one goal and one goal in mind.

Slowly, Adam approached Fedora's motionless body, as though it was a doll with its strings cut off, which was falling from the sky. Now that Lycaon wasn't occupying it any longer it was clear that she had lost consciousness and was now heading straight down to certain doom. 

Adam had done something he never thought he would be able to do.

He— delivered death to the link between Fedora and Lycaon or one could say that he annihilated it, erased it from existence. Anything worked. But he did not do it completely. He just incredibly weakened it to the point that it seemed that it didn't exist any longer.

'It can still be useful.'

Adam didn't know how hard it was to create such a connection, but the reality was that he might need the help of Lycaon in the future, and having a way to summon him was not something he could willingly discard.

'Sorry.'

He apologized to Fedora deep in his heart and manipulated the heat around her to keep her warm in this icy tundra. It wouldn't do if she died because of the cold while he was fighting the realm and the enemies.

Once he put a shield around her to keep the heat locked in, and to save her from the hellish nature and other stray enemies, Adam stood up quietly and started to float once again toward the giant wolf that one of his mind was fighting.

This beast, this wolf, this— was not Hugrúnulfr.

From what he had summarized and analyzed from this scenario as a whole, Hugrúnulfr was akin to a consciousness born from Natasha's blood and the blood of Fenrir inside Natasha which was tainted with Fenrir's conscience and intent. In a way, Hugrúnulfr was Natasha's clone or Fenrir's clone, or perhaps a bit of both simultaneously.

 But to him— she was her own person.

If so then. what was the thing that was rampaging on the battlefield like a beast without reason?

"Natasha… It's time for you to wake up."

Indeed. This was none other than Natasha herself. The true dark side of Natasha that was hidden within her for all this time. Her mind was being overwhelmed by rage and hatred that did not belong to her but the one causing this was not Hugrúnulfr either. It was just a form of emotion that was hidden deep within her.

Adam took a step forward.

His mind was colder than even the cold tundra surrounding him from all sides.

"If you don't wake up now, I will have to spank you, you know?"

Misbehaving children had to be spanked every now and then to get them in line. 

Slowly, a grim reaper-like aura formed around Adam, a dark entity entirely cloaked from head to toe while holding a large scythe above his head.

Adam opened his eyes to the world, his right eye was burning so fervently that it felt like it would melt at any moment… but he had no care for that… for what he was seeing was something beyond the natural order.

[Your overwhelming feelings of wrath grant you a momentary insight into the true capabilities of your ocular powers. Eyes of Truth has been temporarily elevated to its next level…]

[Witness the natural order of the world.]

[Observe the Fate of the universe.]

[O' Omniscient Observer of the Truth.]

Bzz~ Bzz~ Bzzz~

A mighty headache struck his mind and even reached his soul— the essence of his existence. He felt like his vision had been entirely divided into two sides. On one side he could see Natasha or rather the giant wolf as it was, in its natural form— a giant monster that was threatening to attack and kill him.

But with the other eye – from his right vision, the eye that seemed to be burning a hole into his skull – Adam was seeing the world as it truly was. Not the world of the mundane, but a world made out of rules and law. The rules and laws that interwove the very fabric of reality. 

Like a giant clock filled with hundreds of gears, all of which worked seamlessly together to reach the highest efficiency.

This was — Law.

He was seeing a large tree made out of light, a trunk so large it seemed to cover the world and branches so numerous they seemed to go beyond infinity.

This was — Time.

He was watching, A world entirely made out of threads. 

Threads of different colors all align together to create a path toward different directions. All of them had a beginning and an end, an end that could never escaped from.

This was — Fate.

Cough~!

Tears of blood started to stream from his two eyes and the golden colored pupil that was observing all this seemed to be on the verge of bursting.

A headache was threatening to split his head and make it explode as an amount of information that would make his World blush in shame gushed into his mind and overwhelmed his soul, ready to ground it into dust.

His entire body trembled, revulsed, repulsed, shocked, and beyond distressed. The Truth of the World was not something he could comprehend or accept.

'This is not even one-tenth of what Buddha witnessed.'n).O1n

Adam fought against the scream of pain he wanted to utter. He knew that he could not hold on to this state for much longer. His soul was already at its limit and pushing it beyond was not something he should do.

'Only a few seconds remaining.'

But this was more than enough for him.

He gazed at Natasha. He did not need his 'eyes' to see as long as he was in the World and finally, he could see it.

The link between Natasha and Hugrúnulfr to something bigger. Something beyond them. 

The Hatred and Anger of Fenrir. The desire to destroy the world belonging to the Sun Swallowing Wolf.

A dark thread linking them toward a dark Fate.

This was something neither of them could ever overcome on their own. This was something that was too much stronger than them.

How could two pitiful 21-year-olds face the crushing hatred of a god-slayer monster?

But things were different for him.

Adam started lifting his hand. Instantly, he felt like the weight of the world itself was resting on his arm as if trying to stop him from doing what he wanted.

But he ignored it. His eyes rested focused on his target. 

Above him, the grim reaper's eyes twinkled as it slowly rose the scythe in its bony hand. 

Adam's entire body started to break down. His veins exploded, his muscles swelled and his bones cracked. His body was truly reaching for a power he was not yet ready to bear.

But this was alright.

He was used to Pain. He had even bathed in Lava. What did it matter if all the bones in his body cracked?

Meanwhile, in the Sea of Consciousness, Adam's body started becoming faint. He could feel it. He was about to die and he would certainly not be able to wake up any time soon.

"Hugrúnulfr. Please talk to your sister after this. I have done everything I can."

"My…Sister…?"

"Yes. Natasha."

"She is not my sister. She hate me. She wants to kill me. I don't like her."

She spoke like a sad child but Adam was not fooled. Approaching her he placed his head against her own. Not fearing that she would bite him.

He muttered, 

"I know Hugrúnulfr is a gentle girl who wants to hurt no one. You are a big girl, right? Sometimes it's up to the big sister to take the first step."

"...The big sister?"

"Yes. You are the oldest one. The first consciousness. Natasha had been fed many false information all her life. It certainly won't be easy. But — Why not give it a try?"

"Will you help me?"

"Sure. Haha. I might be down for the count after this but — I will always be here. I will always help you. But, you need to take the first step. You need to show all of them that you are truly a Courageous beautiful wolf."

The time difference between the world of consciousness and the real world was truly helpful in moments like this.

"From now on, this will be your stage."

"What if she refuses?"

"She won't."

"What if she still hates me?"

"She won't."

"What if…What if she is still afraid of me?"

Adam looked up. Though her eyes were animalistic, the fear and insecurities in them were unmistakable for anything else.

Smiling softly, Adam kissed her just above her snout and ruffled her fur.

"Then — I will spank her for you. What do you say?"

lightsnοvεl The bell-like laugh that escaped from her was all the answer Adam needed. 

"Goodbye. See you later Hugr." Adam spoke quietly to the gentle wolf in the sea of consciousness.

"Farewell. See you never Fenrir." Adam spoke harshly outside as the grim reaper swung its scythe.

Rumble~!!!

The world itself started to tremble and shake as golden and silver aura clashed against each other.

Awooo~!!!

The roar of the helpless wolf surged but in the end —

Snap~!

The Thread of Fate was cut.

Whoosh!

A very tempest was raised as all the snow and ice was pushed aside revealing the first buds of growing flowers.

Winter ended.

It was time for Spring to come.

Watching all of this, a faint smile hung on Adam's lips.

His hair started greying until they were white as snow, his skin dried up, showing numerous wrinkles, and cracks appeared all over his body.

What he just did was something that should not have been possible for anyone else without sacrificing their entire existence.

He had — Defied Fate.

[You have done the impossible.]

[Your achievement is witnessed and acclaimed by the world itself]

[You are being bestowed a new title]

[You are the adversary of Fate. The one who rebelled against the Natural flow of the universe.]

[You are — Satan] [1]

[1]: Satan in Hebrew means "accuser" or "adversary", and is derived from a verb meaning primarily "to obstruct, oppose".