I am the Only Son of Nyx

Kai returned to his room.

He closed the door behind him and made his way down.

’There has been a mistake.’

The Chancellor’s voice rang inside his mind coldly like a death knell, reminding him that this world was ruled by the strong and their utterly broken view. Ruled by those who deemed themselves the favourite of their Patron Gods.

’You will keep the rewards. You will keep some privileges of an Angel. But your status will be regressed back to Lesser Angel. You have proven yourself worthy to serve mankind, Student Kai... Let’s not delude ourselves with pointless ambition.’

Kai’s blood was boiling.

He is angry at how nonchalant the Chancellor was at delivering the news.

He is angry at how easily his hard work was thrown away, as if it hadn’t been paid for with blood.

"Go to the corner," Kai pointed to the far corner of the basement. His voice was demanding— and dripped with restrained anger. Talitha wanted to ask what happened, but she couldn’t let out a single word. "Go to the corner. Closed your eyes and covered your ears."

Talitha obeyed and quickly went to the corner.

Earlier, Kai looked down and seemed angry, but it wasn’t to this point.

She could feel the heat of anger that he was emanating, and it scared her.

Kai wanted to punch the wall. Wanted to scream. Wanted to let out the anger and frustration that was filling him to the brim, but he found himself sitting on the mattress and intertwining his fingers together.

He was mad and filled with hate.

He hated the Chancellor. Kai had seen it in his eyes, that cold reflection that made it clear he wasn’t looking at a person. In the Chancellor’s gaze, he was nothing more than a slave. Just a better slave than a few others.

A slave sick with hopeful ambitions that needed to be cured.

It was the same gaze as the Demon Man.

He hated Ragnar. He hated Abigail. He hated Matilda.

Kai gripped his hands tighter and sweated in shimmering anger.

He hated the professors. He hated the academy. He hated the system that made this world.

More importantly, he hated himself.

Hated that he couldn’t say anything before the Chancellor. Hated that he was helpless to even resist the decree. As much as he wanted to, his tongue was tied. Frozen by the very power that governed this world.

After all he had done. After how he turned the Blood Rite around and submerged his hands in the blood of the innocents. After all he had done. The Chancellor took everything. He took every single thing Kai wanted the most, like it was nothing.

Ever since Bella was sacrificed, he wanted to give her death meaning.

If he became an Angel, then she’ll die for something.

But no.

He wasn’t allowed to have that.

As a Lesser Angel, he wasn’t allowed to even dream of being treated normally.

What is the point of heeding the rules when those in power could change them as they see fit?

For twenty minutes straight, Talitha had stood in the corner, covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut. She had vowed to cover for her little sister. Vowed to show Kai the gratitude he was owed that Abigail couldn’t.

Talitha wouldn’t disobey him.

Especially when it hadn’t even been a day since the vow.

However, she couldn’t help but take a peek.

She didn’t know what happened to Kai. Didn’t know why he asked her to do this, but Talitha reckoned he didn’t want her to see what he was about to do. When she glanced back, she saw him sitting on the edge of the mattress, head dropped low.

Initially, she thought he was calming himself down.

But she heard steady breathing.

’He’s asleep?’ Talitha hesitantly turned around and approached to check. ’He’s really asleep.’

Seems like the anger and hate caused him to pass out.

She straightened her spine and sighed.

Gently, she helped Kai lie down on the mattress to sleep comfortably.

...

Kai slowly opened his eyes.

He remembered seething from the anger that was erupting from deep within him.

In his entire life, he had never been that angry before, and it scared him. He made use of the Deep Slumber to force himself to sleep lest he do something he would regret. And now, the familiar muted sky greeted him.

Nobody exists in this void space. There’s not even a sound.

Or at least, there should be nobody and no sound.

But this time was different.

Kai tilted his head up again and realized he was lying on the Goddess’s lap again.

She was stroking his hair with a motherly love exactly like the first time he met her, and was also humming a soothing tune that recharged his mind and body. Before her presence, nothing matters. Not the anger. Not the hate. All things simply ended within her vicinity.

"I’m sorry..." An ethereal voice seeped into Kai’s ears.

Kai stared at the Goddess.

He couldn’t see her eyes, but he could tell that she meant what she said.

Even though it wasn’t her whom she was angry at, she apologized as if she was the one who had done the wrong. Her words came out soft and magical. "Why did you choose me?" Kai asked, curious about the answer to this question since the first day he awakened the dormant Primordial Bloodline in him. "Why not Bella? She’s as strong, if not stronger than me. Had you chosen her, she would still be alive and certainly do better than I could ever do."

The Goddess only smiled at him.

Her expression said what words didn’t need to.

It said that Kai already knew the answer to that question.

But he didn’t.

At least, he thought that he didn’t.

"Do you believe I can be stronger?" Kai changed the question. "That I could kill that man?"

"You can be as strong as you want," the Goddess answered. "You are my son."

Just like the last time, she leaned down and gently kissed Kai’s forehead.

And before Kai realized what was going on, the world morphed around him.

Her voice echoed again before he woke up.

"I’ll be watching. I’m always watching."

...

Just like the first days, things returned to normal.

Students avoided him or looked down on him.

Even the ones who knew him kept their distance after news about his demotion spread.

Fortunately, Kai didn’t have to endure it for long.

For the next month, he and the other students were placed in a training chamber.

It was only as big as the basement Kai called his room, but the entire place was circular, draped in white and crimson, and the floor was steel. Running water encircled the chamber, and at its center sat a bed, meant for sleeping or for use as a meditation mat, and a standing mirror right beside it.

Professor Hera said that their goal was to stabilize both their second Divine Lock and Halo.

She said within the month, their second Divine Lock shouldn’t be secreting mana messily. As for their Halos, the students are required to constantly circulate their mana into it until the Halo mark appears on their nape.

During this time, there can be no interactions between students.

Even the mining quota was postponed.

Once the students came out of the training chamber and finished what they needed to finish, the postponed quota would be added to the existing weekly quota. It would be busy for them as soon as they finished this process.

For Kai, there was nothing wrong with his Primordial Lock.

He doesn’t have a problem with it, unlike the others.

It took him only a moment to stabilize it.

Since his Primordial Lock simply grew, while the others developed a second Divine Lock, it made sense for him not to have a problem stabilizing it. He spends most of his time mending his blood vessels.

Consolidating his power as a Grade-2 Awakened Supernal.

Other than that, he was also focusing on his Halo.

It was problematic.

Swish—!

Kai closed his eyes to focus on the warmth inside his neck and then infused it with mana.

As soon as he did, he could feel a change.

He slowly opened his eyes and then immediately sucked in a cold breath at the sight.

After the ceremony involving the Blessed Drop of Hebe, the students were excited with their newfound power. Kai had seen them activating their Halos multiple times, and all of them were emanating pale light.

It was the standard form of a Halo.

But right now, what came out of him wasn’t light.

"How is this my Halo?" Kai looked at the falling motes that were now within his vision. A slow, constant descent of grey particles that drifted from his shoulders and hair. Like a snow made of ash, the ash motes dissolved before even nearing the ground. "How can I show this to anyone? I’d be gaining more attention than I already was."

Kai massaged his throbbing forehead.

He wasn’t worried about Professor Hera, but he was worried about the academy.

If they know, then there would certainly be questions for him.

And even if he hid it well, it would only be a matter of time before he made a mistake.

Kai needed to think of a solution fast.

"Hold on a minute," He thought aloud, remembering that his Primordial Lock had reacted almost instantly to the Blessed Drop of Hebe. It devoured the blessing and changed it. Kai didn’t know what it turned into, but he reckoned it had to do with his bloodline. "I should be able to morph it back to normal."

Since his Primordial Lock could change the nature of the light, then as its owner, he should be able to use it to change it back. Kai closed his eyes and focused on the warmth on his nape again.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that it was futile.

"I am not strong enough." The words fell from Kai’s lips, hollow and defeated. He tried seizing the warmth with his mana, trying to shape it and return it to normal, at least close to it, but it resisted.

Pushed back.

It was like wrestling a thick, lumpy liquid that refused to be shaped.

And worse, it drank his mana greedily and gave nothing in return.

"It feels the same as that," He muttered. "The same as the energy in the House of Night."

Back then, while perfecting the Slashing Ending under Noxian’s watchful eye, he had learned to let the night mend his wounds. It was Noxian who aided him to do it, who whispered that the night answered to him. That he was its master. That he could shape it into anything.

And perhaps, doing this in the House of Night would be the move.

In there, he has absolute control as the First Son of the Primordial Night.

Here, outside, he’s only a Supernal.

Kai decided to try it, but he could only wait until nighttime.

Today marked the end of the power stabilization process. Kai would step out of the training chamber and back into the academy’s halls—just in time for the rearrangement. Classes were merging. The Blood Rite had thinned their numbers, and the empty seats would be removed like the dead they belonged to.

New ones would take their places.

Alongside it were the other students who passed the Blood Rite as Kai did.

Kai didn’t need to pack his belongings. He didn’t bring any other than the standard-issued phone for Angels that was given before training began. He only tidied the bedsheets and washed his face with the running water.

Once he finished, he walked out of the chamber and headed straight for the staircase.

He was in a rush as it’s only fifteen minutes left before the class started.

As he made a turn, he bumped into someone.

"What’s this...?" A familiar voice that froze Kai’s body seeped into his ears. "Am I seeing it right? The Lesser Angel survived?"

Kai slowly raised his gaze and locked eyes with the massive man before him.

It was Roan.