Cain's reaction was lightning-fast, but by the time he heard the whoosh of something slicing through the air, it was already too late.
Caught completely off guard, Cain was obliterated on the spot by a golden throwing axe.
Yes, obliterated. All that remained was a splatter of black, viscous liquid radiating across the floor, with bits of Cain's body scattered everywhere.
The axe's momentum didn't stop—it punched right through the museum's wall and kept flying into the distance.
Thankfully, the FEA had already evacuated everyone around the Shadow Hunters' base, or that axe would've caused some serious collateral damage.
Even so, the cannon-like destruction startled the FEA agents.
Paxton Fertel, witnessing the scene, furrowed his brow deeply.
Iris's eyes, hidden behind a black cloth, glowed faintly blue. She already knew who had arrived.
"Mr. Black, is that you?" she called out.
Roy slowly stepped into the museum's grand hall.
"It's me. Lady Iris, are you okay?"
Iris let out a heavy sigh of relief. She'd been stalling Cain because her God's Eye had glimpsed a blurry future where Roy would likely show up.
Without realizing it, Iris had come to see Roy as a reliable ally—a fact that would shock other angels if they knew. After all, Uriel, the Angel of Wisdom, despised losing control. She preferred everything to go according to plan and didn't like relying on others.
With a gesture into the void, the Leviathan Axe flew back into Roy's hand.
Iris, now so weak she'd reverted to her human form, was kneeling on the ground. Her body was covered in golden cracks, clearly struggling to hold together.
"Mr. Black, I can't fight anymore. It's up to you now!"
Roy could see her condition and immediately asked about the creature he'd just obliterated, knowing Cain wasn't truly dead since no treasure chest had appeared.
"Lady Iris, what was that thing?"
"He's Cain, the progenitor of vampires, summoned back by thirteen third-generation vampires!"
Roy nodded, understanding dawning. Cain was a name steeped in infamy, thanks to the popularity of vampire culture. Cain, Dracula, and Lilith were the three most recurring figures in vampire stories. In some versions, Lilith was also considered a vampire progenitor, but not in this world.
"What kind of special abilities does this guy have?" Roy asked, noticing the black, oily liquid on the ground slowly creeping in one direction, as if trying to reassemble.
He didn't act immediately, wanting to understand Cain's nature before making a move.
"Cain can't be killed. He has a conceptual 'immortality.' Normally, his strength is manageable, but after being banished to the edge of the universe for thousands of years, he seems to have gained some unique powers. Even I can't handle him now!"
"Be specific," Roy pressed.
"Darkness element. Cain seems to have gained control over a portion of the darkness element's authority, allowing him to manipulate it."
That sounded vaguely familiar, but Roy decided to test the waters himself. Iris's explanation was a bit too abstract.
Just then, Cain finished resurrecting. The vampire progenitor, humiliated by the sneak attack, looked furious.
"Who dares ambush the great Cain, progenitor of vampires, King of Darkness?!"
Boom!
Another throwing axe. Cain, once again caught off guard, was blasted into a puddle of black goo.
"Lady Iris, this guy doesn't seem as tough as you made him out to be," Roy remarked.
Iris stared at Roy in shock. Even in his ghost wolf form, Roy's power was now comparable to when he'd transformed into a demon before. It had been less than a month since they fought the War Knight and Leviathan in Ravensfall, and Roy had already grown this much? Iris almost thought she was under an illusion.
"Uh, don't underestimate him. He just hasn't had time to react."
Then Roy killed Cain three more times in a row, leaving Iris speechless.
At the end of the day, Cain was a squishy spellcaster. Despite his infinite resurrections, he had no invincibility window upon reviving, so Roy, a warrior, kept him pinned down.
But Roy also understood what Iris meant by "immortality." Cain truly couldn't be killed. Roy had obliterated him four times, and each resurrection was identical in speed and manner.
Even if Roy exhausted himself, he couldn't kill Cain through physical means.
Should he use the Reaper's power?
In theory, it could work. Cain's conceptual immortality was matched by the Reaper's Eye, which could kill matter on a conceptual level.
It was like the ultimate shield versus the ultimate spear.
But the last time Roy faced the War Knight Ash, the Reaper's Eye—the cat's eye stone—had reacted strangely, so he'd tossed it into his inventory and hadn't touched it since.
"Enough!" Cain roared as he resurrected again, this time transforming into a shadowy, creeping darkness on the floor, finally dodging Roy's axe.
Being repeatedly blasted by Roy's axe was a massive blow to his pride.
Now that Roy had failed to keep him pinned, Cain quickly retreated, wary of another axe.
"Who are you? State your name!" Cain demanded, his face twisted in anger.
He'd been so close to claiming the Holy Grail, only for this stranger to humiliate him.
"Roy Black. You might not have heard of me, but don't worry—this name will soon be your nightmare!"
Cain's fury exploded. His long exile had already pushed him toward madness, and now he couldn't control his emotions.
"Arrogant brat! Let the King of Darkness teach you how to speak to your betters!"
A dark abyss formed beneath Roy's feet, and countless tendrils shot out, binding him from all directions.
This move was highly effective against warriors. Even the strongest needed a moment to exert force, a process that could be shortened but never eliminated. The War Knight Ash, for instance, with his unmatched strength, still needed solid ground to fight effectively. Roy was no different.
Without a foothold, Roy could only rely on his core strength, which was far less effective.
Fortunately, Roy wasn't just a brute-force warrior. He had tricks up his sleeve.
Activating Blood Fury and War Domain, he unleashed nine dark-element tendrils from his back, countering Cain's.
Cain was stunned. "How can you wield the power of darkness?!"
Boom!
Roy hurled the Leviathan Axe again, but this time Cain was ready. He conjured a dark-element shield, trapping the axe in a quagmire-like barrier.
"Damn you, trying to ambush the great King of Darkness again?!"
In the next moment, Roy recalled his dark tendrils, split off a soul double, and sent it charging to retrieve the axe and obliterate Cain once more.
"This guy's strength is pretty average, but he's definitely a pain," Roy muttered, realizing Cain's true difficulty.
With infinite resurrections, Cain had endless chances to adapt. Roy's first few axe throws had caught him off guard, but now Cain was prepared, forcing Roy to use other tactics. Once Cain figured out the soul double, Roy would need to pull out another trump card.
It was like a single-player game where Cain was a player with infinite lives, and Roy was the powerful boss. No matter how strong the boss, endless challenges would eventually bring it down.
No wonder God had chosen to banish Cain—exile was indeed the best way to deal with him.
"Mr. Black, killing him a million times won't work," Iris said.
Roy knew that, but without using the Reaper's Eye, he was out of options.
"I know. Lady Iris, do you have any ideas?"
Iris gave a bitter smile. "If I were at full strength, I might be able to banish him with a grand prophecy, but now…" All her power was tied up maintaining her human form and the light wall protecting Claire's group.
Cain resurrected again, still as arrogant as ever. "You can't kill me! The great Cain is immortal!"
"Shut the hell up!" Roy snapped, using different tactics to kill Cain again and again, even executing him once with the Executioner's Blade.
But Cain kept coming back, unaffected. Each kill made him more cautious, increasing the difficulty for Roy.
By the twentieth kill, Roy was forced to switch to his demon form, relying on his +60 physical stats to pummel Cain.
At this point, Cain stopped talking. He'd learned that taunting Roy only led to worse beatings. After over twenty deaths, the so-called vampire progenitor and King of Darkness had lost all dignity.
But Roy was just as frustrated. To keep killing Cain, he had to go all out, draining his stamina rapidly. At this rate, the tide would soon turn against him.
So, on Cain's fiftieth resurrection, Roy switched back to ghost wolf form, using his explosive speed to grab Cain and cast a Sleep Curse.
Having been killed forty-nine times, Cain's mind was foggy, and the curse put him under instantly.
"Damn it! How do I kill this guy?!" Roy cursed. He'd arrived at the Shadow Hunters' base at 6:30, and now it was nearly 8:00, yet the fight wasn't over.
Sure, Cain was taking a one-sided beating, but killing him so many times was exhausting Roy too.
Iris was equally helpless. She couldn't assist unless Adrian suddenly showed up to heal her human form. But Adrian had vanished after the Ravensfall incident, off somewhere having fun. All Iris could do was offer moral support and brainstorm ideas.
With Cain temporarily incapacitated by the curse, Roy caught his breath and consulted Iris.
"Lady Iris, what if we killed Cain's mind? Would that work?"
Iris looked at him in surprise. "You have a way to pull out his soul?"
"No, I mean entering his dream and killing his mind directly."
Iris pondered for a moment. "I've never considered that. It might be worth a try!"
Worth a try? Let's do it.
Roy activated his long-unused Nightmare skill, diving into Cain's dream.
Inside a lavish, golden palace, scantily clad, beautiful women laughed and played. At the center sat a black-haired young man, exuding an unmatched noble aura, like a born king.
The women flocked to him, shamelessly displaying their bodies.
In this decadent, desire-filled environment, four figures stood out—two men and two women kneeling at the young man's feet. One of them had the face of Michael's true form, which Roy recognized. The other three, no doubt, were the remaining archangels.
Clearly, Cain deeply resented the four archangels, so in his dream, he forced them to kneel before him.
He issued a command. "You two, come lick my feet."
He pointed at Gabriel and Michael, who had tormented him in the past. In the dream, the Guardian Angel and Judgment Angel could only obey, licking his toes, which filled Cain with smug satisfaction.
"What a wonderful dream. I don't ever want to wake up!" Cain mused.
At his level, he could easily distinguish reality from dreams. But dreams were intoxicating because people chose to linger in them, unwilling to wake.
Since he couldn't be killed, why not indulge in the dream a bit longer? That was Cain's mindset.
But suddenly, the golden palace began to shake.
"What's happening?" Cain pushed the women aside. These dream-created beings, with their limited intelligence, didn't react to the disturbance.
The palace's ceiling was ripped open by a massive hand. Cain looked up to see an elderly figure, larger than a mountain, staring down at him.
"Cain, beholding God, why don't you kneel?"
Cain's heart froze, his gaze filled with disbelief. "Impossible! You're supposed to be dead!"
(The image I had in mind for Iris was inspired by the Fire Keeper from Dark Souls 3, just swap the black robe for a white one.)