Uriel found himself floating in a completely black space. There was no up or down, but he could feel everything around him.
'This place is comfortable,' thought Uriel, closing his eyes, feeling the peace the darkness brought.
[Prepare for your Evaluation...]
The voice of that spell echoed everywhere and nowhere, but Uriel didn't really mind.
[You have received a memory: Dark Mantle]
[You have received a memory: Eclipse Claw]
[You have received a memory: Dark Vault]
[Aspirant, your trial has ended.]
[A slave prisoner was used as a lab rat. Destined to die, the slave survived the cruel experiment, obtaining a power that had been erased. With his will, he drew the attention of something neither profane nor divine, receiving its blessing.]
[You have defeated 35 awakened humans, names unknown]
[You have killed an Ascended human, name unknown]
[You have received the blessing of True Darkness]
[Final Rating: Glorious. Your cruelty is undeniable.]
'I am not cruel, and I doubt I truly am,' thought Uriel to himself upon hearing how the spell labeled him.
[Inactive Uriel, receive your blessing!]
[You have been granted a True Name: Lord of Darkness]
'Oh, wow. That's great,' thought Uriel upon hearing he had obtained a True Name in his first nightmare—something very difficult to do if you're not the protagonist.
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve. Evolve Aspect?]
"Yes," replied Uriel.
[Inactive Aspect: Blank Canvas is evolving]
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine]
'Oh, that's great.'
Aspect Name: Dark Lord.
'A Demon King theme?' thought Uriel.
As far as he remembered from reading many stories and watching animes and manhwas, there was usually an evil entity, a final boss called Demon King, Dark King, or Dark Lord. These were the final bosses to be defeated in stories.
He wondered if he would become a kind of final boss, though he really doubted it. There was no guarantee he would be a final boss, right?
Uriel summoned the runes, looking at the description of his divine Aspect.
Aspect: Dark Lord.
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description: [You are a fragment left behind by the True One. Shadows fear you, and light abhors you. As darkness, the night bows before you.]
Innate Ability: [Dark Body]
Ability Description: [By covering your body with darkness, you become partially intangible and can alter your body.]
[The first seal is broken.]
[Awakening Latent Powers.]
...
Uriel felt the darkness envelop him completely. However, he wasn't drowning; it even felt warm and comfortable, like the warmth of a home you long to return to, or a mother embracing her child.
He could feel his body changing within the darkness. It wasn't a painful sensation; it was relaxing and somewhat strange. As if something inside him began to awaken. That energy—'Essence,' as he knew it—flooded his body, strengthening it completely, transforming and remaking it.
When the sensation ended, Uriel opened his eyes. He observed the vast darkness that was his soul, seeing a great black sphere as large as a sun. Around it, three black spheres orbited. They were his memories.
[Unlocking Aspect Ability]
[Inactive Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Dark Shaper]
Uriel summoned the runes, looking at his general information.
...
Name: Uriel
True Name: Lord of Darkness.
Soul Core: Inactive
Fragment of Darkness: [50/1000]
Memories: [Dark Mantle] [Eclipse Claw] [Dark Vault]
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Darkness] [Dark Flame] [Extra Carapace] [Dream Spawn]
Aspect Abilities: [Dark Shaper]
Ability Description: [You command darkness, giving it the forms you desire]
Innate Ability: [Dark Body]
Ability Description: [By covering your body with darkness, you become partially intangible, and can alter your body.]
...
Before Uriel could say anything, the voice of the spell continued speaking.
[All power has a price]
[You have received a Flaw.]
[Your Flaw is: Dual Mind]
Flaw Description: [Inside your head is another version of yourself.]
"And what does that mean?" asked Uriel, bewildered.
[Awaken, Dark Lord]
Uriel was pulled out of his sea of souls.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was the vaulted ceiling of the precinct—an armored roof above his head with poorly concealed turrets.
The sudden light made Uriel squint a little. Not more than perhaps 30 minutes ago, he had been an entity of darkness that killed a large number of awakened ones and even a master, along with blowing up half the facility. Now that he thought about it, in that form he could be equated to a tyrant or terror.
Turning his head, Uriel looked to the side and what he saw made him blink.
In a cheap plastic chair placed beside his reinforced medical bed sat a beautiful woman.
She had short hair, black as a raven, and eyes blue as ice. Her skin was smooth, flexible, and white. The woman appeared to be in her twenties, wearing a dark blue uniform with silver stripes and leather boots. The jacket of her uniform was unfastened carelessly, revealing a sleeveless shirt underneath. The woman yawned while stretching her arms, causing the thin fabric to tighten and accentuate her large breasts.
'Damn. Now those are two great reasons to join the government.'
'That's true,' responded Uriel, then he froze like a stone.
That thought wasn't his—well, it was, but it wasn't. He had a voice in his head.
'I'm schizophrenic,' thought Uriel with horror.
'Hey, it's not schizophrenia. Actually, I'm you. I'm your Flaw, you idiot. You can call me Shade. I'm a superior version of you.'
'Rude. We're the same person.'
'Not since you received it. By the way, get a communicator or a phone to see if there are any awakened strippers to check out their services.'
'Shut up.'
'Make me, dog!'
Uriel felt one of his eyebrows twitch.
"What are you looking at?" the woman suddenly said, causing Uriel to stop arguing with his other self.
'Quick, tell her: her tits.'
"Nothing in particular. I just spaced out for a moment," he said in a flat voice.
'Wuss.'
'Shut up,' Uriel yelled internally.
"Miss, can you remove these restraints? They bring back bad memories from my nightmare," said Uriel, to which the officer nodded.
"I am Ascended Jet. You can call me Mistress Jet. For the last three days, I've been on guard duty because of your nightmare," said Jet, releasing Uriel, who sat up and stretched with a yawn.
"Mistress Jet. I have a question."
"Speak."
"Does the government really pay extra for watching over sleepers during their nightmares?" he asked curiously, causing Shade inside his head to facepalm, which Uriel ignored.
Jet, upon hearing the question, let out an amused laugh.
"Yes, we get good incentives for watching over sleepers during their first nightmare, so many accept without problems."
"Oh, that's good," he murmured.
'Hey, Uriel. You should have asked her what bra size she wears. With those breasts, it should be an extra F.'
'Shut up, Shade. It's not the time for that.'
'So, what is it time for then?'
'To prepare for the winter solstice.'
'Tsk. We'll worry about that when the time comes. Right now, the most important thing is to grab a cute girl and...'
Uriel ignored Shade and his generally perverted mental ramblings to focus on Jet, who sent him to take a shower since he reeked of nightmare.