My Darkness Is Shallow
The goddess’s voice carried a faint note of reproach.
“But this one is somewhat disappointed.”
Why?
“What?”
“If you toss that out without even turning on your blinker, what am I supposed to say?”
“Have you not been neglecting your training with the power of Polar Night of late?”
“Ugh. Look, I’ve been busy—”
“It is not that you have pushed Polar Night down your list of priorities, is it?”
Stop the factual beatdown!
Don’t cowardly club me with the truth—let’s settle this fairly with proper instigation and fabrication!
Nyx’s words had struck at a timing I never saw coming. The effect was spectacular.
“Then I’ll begin training Polar Night right away.”
“Now everything has finally settled into its proper place.”
Hehe.
Are you that pleased? The way your lips keep twitching tells me you’re thoroughly satisfied.
Tsk.
Polar Night is, after all, the authority of the Goddess of Night. Its power is immense. The cost to manifest and maintain it is relatively low. As long as the will exists, it can be deployed in any situation. Its ever-changing nature allows seamless shifts between offense and defense, and it adapts to countless environments.
Looking at it that way, it seems like a flawless ability, doesn’t it?
Yet among those very advantages lies one clear drawback.
The power to manifest will.
To draw out Polar Night’s true strength, the user must focus intensely. For example, even if the total output is ten, the difference between concentrating it into a single point and simply releasing it is night and day.
“You point out something so obvious.”
“To bring out my full power with Polar Night, I have to sacrifice a lot of other things.”
My arsenal was ridiculously diverse: martial arts, body techniques, magic, monster transformation, draconic abilities, Ars Goetia and Cocytus…
Huff, huff.
It’s disgustingly long. And I hadn’t even mentioned several other categories.
There was no denying that Polar Night was an outstanding power. But it was inherently difficult to control. If I devoted my concentration to drawing out its full might, using my other abilities became nearly impossible.
“If the output climbed higher, maybe. But that’s not happening.”
My Polar Night stat had already surpassed two thousand. The result of dumping every single bonus stat I gained on level-up straight into it.
The frustrating part was that no matter how hard I concentrated, the power I could draw out at once only equaled a stat of one hundred. One twentieth of the total pool.
Like buying two liters of water only to find the bottle’s opening restricts how much can pour out at once.
Even that much output was enough to devour most rankers, but—
“The efficiency-to-investment ratio is terrible.”
“I never told you to focus solely on Polar Night.”
“Well, yeah, but still.”
“At the very least, should you not be able to wield it at the level worthy of being called this one’s contractor?”
Her standards were brutally high.
Shadow Dominion
Since Nyx had spoken with real weight behind her words for the first time in a while, I had no choice.
Today would be Polar Night training day.
“Where is the red hat?”
“Why are you suddenly looking for the beret?”
“It seems you too require rigorous training.”
“Are you trying to kill me?”
I’d had more than enough of that kind of training back in the military.
“Will you work the trainees to the bone and then slip away by yourself?”
“I didn’t work them that hard. Everyone reacted positively.”
The goddess’s training methods haven’t been verified yet. It’s not like endlessly repeating push-ups or gymnastics will actually strengthen anyone.
“This one never told you to perform those bizarre movements.”
You just don’t understand. The moment you put on that beret, the drill instructor inside you snaps awake and goes feral. I couldn’t possibly offer something so dangerous to the goddess.
“Where should we begin?”
“First, release as much Polar Night as you can.”
“Maximum output, huh.”
That was easy enough.
Ssssssssssh!
Shadow Dominion
Simply releasing it was as easy as turning a faucet. Darkness poured from the soles of my feet, spreading across the ground and into the air, fluttering like smoke.
“Now, try creating a weapon.”
“Hammer? Sword? Or spear?”
“Whichever is easiest for you to manifest.”
“Let’s go with a sword.”
Thanks to the Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword, the sword was the most familiar.
“How many?”
“One.”
“Will it take time?”
“Concentrate fully.”
Good.
Let’s do this.
I stacked the Polar Night I had raised to its maximum in dense layers. I gathered the dark power equivalent to one hundred stats and condensed it into a single point. A sharp aura swirled above the blade, forged like a peerless treasured sword.
With this much Polar Night concentrated, it should possess at least the sharpness of a Unique-grade weapon.
Nyx examined the completed longsword, then manifested within the homunculus body.
Shadow Dominion
The weapon in Nyx’s hand was identical in shape to the black sword I had created.
“Does it not look rather plausible?”
“In appearance, yes.”
“Hoo. This one now sees that you infused it with less power.”
“That much I know. It’s been nearly two years since I started handling Polar Night.”
Though the shape was the same, the difference in Polar Night output contained within the black swords was obvious. In stat terms, roughly thirty. The balance of Polar Night composing each blade was identical, but because the amount of power infused differed, my sword was clearly stronger.
“That assessment seems reasonable at first glance.”
“You’re saying the goddess’s sword is stronger?”
“Let us test it.”
Nyx flicked her finger.
“Following the principles of the Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword, swing your blade and attempt to cut this one’s sword.”
Hmm?
Wasn’t this match a little too obvious?
The Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword was a martial art consisting of a single form. A lethal strike designed to sever the enemy’s breath. Even without internal energy, the technique’s mystery amplified my strength and agility. With three times the Polar Night, I saw no point in clashing.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry.”
Perhaps there was something to be gained from the act of cutting Polar Night itself.
I exhaled shortly and gripped the black sword. I unfolded the form without internal energy.
Slash!
My strength and agility were both in the three-thousands. If I transformed, I could flatten a village’s back mountain without any skill assistance. Even without sword energy or aura, the black sword carrying the profound principles of advanced martial arts held terrifying power.
“I don’t feel anything at all.”
“Look at your sword.”
“……!”
What had been cut was not the goddess’s Polar Night. The sword I had swung—concentrating one hundred stats into a single point and layering it with the mystery of the Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword—had been sliced cleanly in two.
“You are mistaken.”
Unlike the sword in my hand, hers didn’t have a single nick.
How?
The Polar Night difference was a full three times. The power I had poured into my black sword should have been enough to crush a modest hill. The way her blade had spun and bounced back in the opposite direction proved it. Yet what had broken was my own Polar Night.
“Your darkness is shallow.”
“Shallow?”
“You are only hasty to bestow will upon the night and pile it up.”
The repelled black sword returned to Nyx’s side and spun lazily.
“The true night that swallows even the radiance of the moon and stars is not so shallow.”
Shaaaraaak!
The Polar Night that had wrapped around Nyx like a dress fluttered and unfurled. The total amount of power wasn’t that great—roughly two hundred in stat value.
Twice what I could manifest at once.
Yet the pressure it gave off was something else entirely. The ever-shifting darkness writhed as though it would devour me at any moment. It felt similar to the oppressive aura I had sensed when facing the Outer God Yog-Sothoth in the Dreamlands of Russia.
It wasn’t a matter of winning or losing. In pure power, I would win. But… how should I describe it? It felt like staring into the midnight sea whose depths could not be fathomed.
“I believed you handled the power of Polar Night quite well, but that was not the case.”
“I can’t do it as well as you, Goddess.”
“Obviously.”
Hmm. Hearing it stated so plainly was a little irritating.
“Your level of understanding the night is not low. It is simply that, compared to how deeply you have gazed into darkness, your method of wielding it is crude.”
Understanding and method, huh.
Nyx’s criticism pricked my pride.
“From now on, this one shall teach you how to wield the true night.”
“What an honor.”
“Indeed. Not just anyone may receive this one’s teachings.”
She lightly clasped her white-jade hands together.
* * *
Nyx extended a single strand of darkness.
“What do you believe the night to be?”
“A king?”
“I wish to hear your reason.”
“Because it possesses both the face of a tyrant and that of one who embraces everything.”
The night tears down the world’s shape and swallows all things into darkness. At the same time, it hides every ugly truth of a world stripped of light. Embrace and tyranny. The night—and darkness—holds these contradictory natures. That must be why Polar Night is so versatile.
“A correct expression. You have understood the nature of night well.”
The Polar Night rising in faint wisps began to stack layer by layer. Dozens of overlapping sheets formed the shape of a single black sword.
“That is my method.”
“You must have used what wisdom you possess. But it is lacking.”
Nyx raised Polar Night in her left hand. It moved slowly. The motion was clearly visible.
“You wield many different types of power.”
“Well, that is my specialty.”
“You may not have reached mastery in any single field, but you possess understanding across many domains.”
Those words were rather harsh. Me? Without relying on Devour, I reached the Harmonization realm through pure enlightenment alone! Do you think just any average person could emit sword energy?
“If you are satisfied with that level, then we have nothing more to discuss.”
“Ah, no way. Please, Goddess, bestow your golden words of wisdom upon me.”
“Since the topic has arisen, let us use the martial art known as Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts as an example.”
“Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts is quite different from ordinary martial arts, you know?”
The forms were derived from wild beasts, legendary divine beasts, and demonic creatures. Techniques like the Emperor Sword Form or Five Tiger Severing Gate were created with movement linkage in mind—like combo systems in fighting games.
But each form of Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts was a heretical technique created without assuming any linkage. That was why it was so difficult to learn.
“Sword methods, blade methods, spear methods… Cramming techniques that are already difficult to master individually into one art.”
It was also why my martial achievement had stalled at the Harmonization realm. Even focusing on just one path, mastering martial arts was hard. Not all forms of sword energy manifested the same way, either.
Nyx gave a radiant smile at my grumbling.
“Is that not better?”
“Huh?”
“To properly wield Polar Night, one requires experience across many fields.”
Polar Night rotated above her palm like a vortex. Extremely slowly. Densely. Hundreds—thousands—of strands twisted together without a single gap, forming a long shape.
“You infused every single strand with will?”
“You recognize it immediately.”
So that’s why my sword had been cut. Each time will was infused and the strands twisted, cutting power and durability increased. She had repeated that process hundreds of times. If my sword was Unique-grade, then what Nyx had created was easily Epic—perhaps even Legend.
“Insane. How do you even do that?”
Amazing was amazing, but if you asked whether it was practical, the answer was no. For Nyx, who was the night itself, it might be possible. But in an urgent battle, there was simply no time to hold Polar Night and put in that much effort.
“Your temper is as impatient as ever. Did you think this one would not know that?”
“Sorry.”
“Perform the fifteenth form of Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts.”
The fifteenth form was the Yellow Dragon Fang.
Pazuzuzuz!
A black blade surged from my hand wrapped in internal energy and sliced through the air with tyrannical force.
“When you execute the martial art, do you consciously think about it?”
“No. The forms are already familiar.”
“Then move Polar Night in the same manner.”
Hmm?
Polar Night was a little different from internal energy, wasn’t it?
There were questions I wanted to ask, but after my earlier comment, Nyx wore a slightly sulky expression. I didn’t have the courage to speak.
Whatever. I don’t know anymore.
I raised Polar Night exactly as the goddess had instructed.