Kian watched as Damnatio's skeleton wore the mask. It shook for a few seconds before a suit appeared on its body. A black leather suit which had a hood that covered a quarter of its face.
The hands were covered with a pair of black gloves while the feet were covered with a pair of leather boots that had iron soles. The figure had a dark purple line of light trailing throughout its body, emerging from the mask and down to the boots.
"What is happening?" Kian gulped as he distanced himself from the skeleton. Damnatio wasn't moving. It stood there for a couple of seconds before it raised its right hand.
On its hand was a dark purple orb of light. It launched the orb which Kian barely avoided. The man rolled to the ground for a couple of seconds, coughing as he felt his wounds open up.
"Fuck," Kian cursed. He looked up to see the skeleton stand in front of him. He wasn't able to dodge the next attack, a kick right on his guts. "Fucking hell!"
The man was sent flying across the room. He crashed on the wall, breaking it and almost shattering his bones. Blood had already dripped from his opened wounds, and now all he could do was grunt in pain.
"What the hell is happening here?" Kian asked himself. Did he make a mistake? Was his decision to get the mask worth it? The man was questioning so much that he didn't realize that the skeleton was already in front of him. It stood right in front of Kian, raising its hand and showing the man its palm where a dark purple orb was pulsating.
Using as much force as he could, Kian rolled to the side and kicked the hand of Damnatio. He ran around the skeleton and tackled it to the ground. His body wanted to rest and lie down, but he didn't want to die.
"Not yet," Kian said to himself. He raised his fist and collided it on the mask of the skeleton, only for him to feel its cold iron surface. "Fuck!"
The skeleton was unfazed by the punch. It grabbed Kian's shoulders and slammed the man to the ground, this time the skeleton was now on top of him. Damnatio let go of Kian's left arm while it raised its hand to conjure the dark purple orb. The orb spun with an incredible speed, making Kian gulp in fear. If that attack lands on him, it would surely end his life.
"Fucking dead shit," Kian yelled. His left arm was free, so he used it to punch the left arm od Damnatio. He was surprised when the skeleton's arm flew away from the force. "You may have the mask, but you're still a skeleton.
Kian pushed Damnatio off of him. One by one, he removed its limbs off. Kian was laughing at the sight. The skeleton only had its torso, all bone from its limbs were detached from its body. "Now, the mask."
When he held the mask, a surge of dark force entered his body. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he was sent to a dark dimension, only facing two figures in front of him.
They were tall figures, both wore clothes similar to what Damnatio's skeleton wore. It stood in front of Kian while he was floating in the empty space, all naked but his body was glowing.
When he looked closer, he saw that the two wore different objects on their heads. One wore a crown while the other wore a mask. It didn't take time for Kian to realize that the two were the ones that the books mentioned, Lucifer and Damnatio.
"How do we say this?" Lucifer, the one with the crown, sighed. "You are in big trouble for even taking a look of the mask."
Kian was confused. He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean big trouble? I barely touched the mask, why am I in trouble?"
"The mask has incredibly dark powers," Damnatio said. "This is written in the records that I wrote. All of the books in the Nightmare Castle are written by me and all of them can only be read by me. I guess you're also me somehow because you have the Serpent Bearer as your Soul. It's a highly unstable Soul."
"What's happened to Ophiuchus?" Kian asked. "He's not fine, right?"
"Ophiuchus was originally part of the Serpent Soul before it split into two," Damnatio said. "Ophiuchus became its bearer and Serpens became the serpent. Every generation of Heroes, the Serpent Soul would try to merge into one, but it's not every generation that they would succeed. Among six generations, only twice has it been successful. Most of the times, the Serpent Souls would split into two."
"Then the two of you…" Kian trailed off. "You both are from the generations where the Serpent Soul wasn't able to split?"
The two nodded, then Lucifer spoke, "But another power possessed me. It was a power from the stars, a power that only the Soulless could master. It was the power of Artifacis the Artificial. I was able to catch up to the rest of the group using this power, and even become stronger than them. My powers grew until it slowly weakened. When I defeated the final boss, I took its power. I took all the powers of the bosses and forged the crown."
"You became Lucifer the Conqueror," Kian whispered. "And Damnatio, you also didn't have the Serpent Soul, why weren't you able to wield Artifacis?"
"Because Artifacis did not exist after I conquered the tower," Lucifer said. "It vanished in the second generation and was lost forever. We want you to find it and not wear this mask, child. This mask brings so much power but it also brings so many darkness."
"Will it allow me to conquer the tower?" Kian asked. "There has been five generations after the first one and Artifacis did not appear. It's a helpless case, but this one is real and it's already here."
"Don't do it," Damnatio said. "You will only suffer if you even try to wear it."
"My goal here is to conquer the tower," Kian said. "Everything else is irrelevant."
The two men looked at each other and laughed. They bumped their fists and nodded. "Okay, kid. Go ahead. Take the mask and fucking defeat this tower."
Their facea slowly darkened as well as their bodies. Their skin became gray and their aura got darker than before. Damnatio grinned. "Wear the mask and be one of us."
"I won't," Kian said. "I won't lose to its power."
The man awoke and saw the mask in his hand. He placed the item in his face. He immediately felt his soul get ripped into pieces, his body was like it was sucked into an eternal darkness.
Two large heads of Lucifer and Damnatio spun around him, both grinning and laughing at him. "Go to us! Let's stay in this castle forever! Become the darkest in all histories!"
"No," Kian whispered. He looked up and grinned. "I have to take what was owed."
With a burst of scream, a powerful force of magic erupted from the castle. It reached all floors, shaking everyone in the World Tower.
"What was that?" Brent asked Mira.
The woman took a knife out of a body. She sighed and shook her head. "Must be something else. It's not from this floor."
"You bitch," a man chuckled. "Joseph will have your head for this."
"I just took your arm away and you're just a spy, not even a Hero," Mira nonchalantly said. "If you live after this, tell him to bring his fucking army. I'll be waiting."