Chapter Twenty-Seven: Aura of Despair

Enlightenment.

A state of achieving great clarity. It was rumored that in this state, one could gain an immense understanding of a particular aspect of their cultivation.

This state of enlightenment was something many cultivators dreamed of experiencing, yet only a few ever had the chance.

It wasn't due to a lack of talent or potential; it was simply that the state of enlightenment was an incredibly rare opportunity.

So rare, in fact, that most cultivators never experienced it in their entire lives.

When the struggling Ashahell saw Twilight sitting amidst the swirl of dark smoke, a profound shock arose within him.

With widened eyes, he muttered under his breath:

"Enlightenment. He entered a state of enlightenment?"

Ashahell couldn't believe what he was seeing. After all, the rarity of enlightenment was well known.

Yet, now, a mere sixteen-year-old boy was experiencing it right before his eyes.

There was only one thing he could say about this, and the way he looked at Twilight changed...

From one of intense hostility to one of deep wariness.

A sixteen-year-old boy entering a state of enlightenment was almost unheard of throughout the nine layers of the Astral Realm.

Only one thought came to Ashahell's mind as he gazed at the seated Twilight:

Monster. An absolute monster whose potential and talent were unparalleled.

One had to understand that, although his current cultivation was low due to just breaking out of his seal, at his peak, Ashahell had stepped into the realm of the Sacred.

Even so, he had only experienced enlightenment once in his entire life.

Only once!

Yet now, a boy he wanted to devour — someone who had only just begun his cultivation — was experiencing a state of enlightenment because of him.

How could he not be wary?

'Now I know why he brought you here. Still, this is not the end of our clash, human,' Ashahell thought, resolving to escape while he still could.

---

While Ashahell wrestled with complicated emotions and plotted his escape, Twilight remained completely unaware, focusing on his calm mental state.

'State of enlightenment?' he thought, surprised by his current situation.

Although Lillian hadn't gone into much detail about it, she had mentioned it in passing.

And from the way she spoke about enlightenment, it had seemed like an incredibly rare occurrence.

But now... he thought otherwise.

A state of enlightenment was nothing special. After all, if it were truly rare, why was he experiencing it now when he hadn't done anything of significance?

Unbeknownst to Twilight, if Lillian were here to hear his thoughts, she would have spat on him in contempt.

Shoving away all distractions, Twilight chose to focus on this state of enlightenment.

Even if he didn't believe it was rare, it was undeniable that this state brought him an unprecedented level of clarity.

As Twilight calmed his raging emotions, his consciousness became serene.

Despair.

Twilight had already studied the concept of dread to an acceptable degree, so he chose to focus on the second abyssal entity he could control.

As he concentrated on the concept of despair, several ideas and methods for manipulating it came to mind.

Despair was a sense of hopelessness. When all hope was lost, despair was born.

In the Abyss, shrouded in eternal darkness and tormented by everlasting fear, despair takes root.

There is no hope of escape. No path to sanity. No solace.

Only continuous suffering. Only madness.

Only despair.

As Twilight arrived at this realization, he felt like he was close — just one more step, and full control over despair wouldn't be impossible.

With that in mind, he sank into deep thought, recalling all the times he had felt powerless, when all hope had been lost, and when he had believed the world had abandoned him.

It was then that Twilight sensed an invisible ripple around him.

The power of despair.

Now all he had to do was find a way to make it affect his surroundings.

The first thought that came to mind was to manifest despair through chains, just like dread, darkness, and shadows.

But Twilight quickly discarded the idea. If all his attacks were chains, he wouldn't be able to fully utilize the power of despair.

Instead, he chose to manipulate despair as an aura.

Once the aura formed, it would spread invisibly, slowly chipping away at people's sanity, making them feel hopeless and lost.

Upon coming to this conclusion, Twilight began manipulating despair, amplifying it with all his painful memories.

It wasn't long before he stabilized his control over what he had now named the Aura of Despair.

However, Twilight didn't wish to leave this state of clarity just yet.

He focused all his mental strength on grasping a new abyssal entity.

Even so, before he could achieve any significant progress, he felt the state of enlightenment slipping away.

He sighed ruefully.

Then, he opened his eyes and stood, staring at Ashahell's miserable state with a peculiar light dancing in his deep gray eyes.

"Don't think you've won, human. I, Ashahell, shall remember this humiliation and repay it a hundredfold." Ashahell growled as he continued struggling against hundreds of chains of dread.

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Seeing the ruthless expression on Ashahell's face, Twilight shook his head with a bright smile.

"A hundredfold? It seems you don't have a clear view of the situation. Even if you escape, Ashahell, you won't leave in one piece."

With that, an invisible ripple spread from his body, blanketing the area around him.

Aura of Despair!

The ripple surged toward Ashahell, and soon, his face twisted into an unsightly expression.

Hopelessness. An unparalleled sense of despair.

These were the emotions he felt.

Ashahell had to admit that this was the first time in his life that he had truly experienced such hopelessness.

However, he wasn't alone in that suffering. Twilight, too, faced the same thing.

Just as dread constantly eroded his heart whenever he used it on Ashahell, the Aura of Despair affected him as well.

Twilight sighed inwardly. He knew this was the side effect of his power.

But to deal with Ashahell, he had to make this small sacrifice.

Besides, when had he ever been afraid of difficulties?

Hopelessness? He had experienced it countless times before.

So what if he had to suffer?

As long as his enemy suffered even more, then it was all worth it.

Ashahell began to falter, his will to fight waning to a frightening degree.

Then, with gritted teeth, he growled, and the faint red mist surrounding him intensified.

"HUMAN! MARK MY WORDS! MY REVENGE IS CERTAIN!"

With that, Ashahell shattered the hundreds of gray chains binding him and dashed toward the golden door Twilight had opened earlier.

"Not so fast, deadling!" Twilight shouted, moving forward.

Charging Flare!

His speed skyrocketed as he waved his hand, commanding the spirit qi in the air to surround his short sword.

With a grabbing motion, the blade rose, spiraling through the air into his hand.

Then, he halted his charge and executed a slash toward Ashahell.

Winding Slash!

A flurry of slashes, amplified by spirit qi, tore through the air toward the escaping Ashahell.

Twilight coated the blade with the Aura of Despair before unleashing his attack.

Then, using Abyssal Bind to delay Ashahell, he ensured his strike landed true.

A roar shook the air as Ashahell's right arm was obliterated.

A moment later, black smoke surged from Twilight's body, covering Ashahell.

Devour!

With a wave of his hand, Twilight commanded the black smoke to absorb all the fear Ashahell had ever experienced in his life.

Then, he clenched his fist.

Chains of Dread! Abyssal Bind!

Pitch-black chains rose from the ground, latching onto Ashahell and pulling.

With a final, bone-chilling scream, Ashahell was flung through the golden door.

A second later, the door slammed shut.