Back in his chamber, silence reigned. The muffled music of the feast barely reached him.
Dong locked the door with a wave of his hand and slowly turned toward the moonlit window.
Then
A low chuckle escaped his lips.
"Hah… finally…"
The chuckle grew into laughter, echoing through the empty room deep, triumphant, tinged with madness.
"Finally, I got it," Dong whispered, his eyes gleaming with a dangerous light as he stared at the scroll. "The thing they all feared to touch… belongs to me now."
The faint golden glow of the chained scroll flickered in his hands, as if responding to his voice.
Outside, the kingdom celebrated its young hero.
Inside, in the quiet of the royal chamber a new legend had just begun.
Dong burst into a low, manic laugh, his eyes gleaming with madness and delight.
> "This… is the Hellfire Illusion Technique," he said, voice laced with dark amusement. "Once it's cast, the victim experiences thousands of deaths within their own mind endless pain, endless torture. They'll watch their loved ones die before their eyes, again and again, until their sanity crumbles. In the end, they beg for death… or take it themselves."
He raised his hand, a faint crimson flame flickering at his fingertips.
> "And the best part," he whispered, smiling, "is that I decide how long their suffering lasts.
Dong's laughter slowly faded, replaced by a calm, sinister smile. The crimson glow from the Hellfire scroll still danced across his eyes, reflecting the hunger for vengeance burning deep within.
> "From this moment," he murmured, voice low and steady, "my revenge begins."
He walked to the window, gazing at the moonlit kingdom below.
> "Tomorrow will mark the final night of the Blackhorn Guild the same cowards who once came to kill me."
A faint smirk curved his lips.
> "Tomorrow is their grand festival. Every member, every executive, even the guild's master will be there. How convenient…"
He clenched his fist, feeling his new power pulse beneath his skin.
> "It'll make erasing them all at once much easier."
His gaze hardened, eyes glowing faintly with two distinct auras.
> "After slaying the Ice Dragon, I gained two new skills one, the Hellfire Illusion Technique, capable of shattering minds…"
He paused, a faint whisper escaping his lips.
> "And the second… something far deadlier."