"This is terrible!" Vicente muttered in a pessimistic tone.

"Indeed it is. The greed of the magicians of the Congregation of Revelations and the vampires' thirst for power will bring this continent to a tragic end. I fear that not even you will be able to stop it, young man." The Dark Reaper turned his head to Vicente and sighed.

"The Congregation of Revelations and the vampires are after essentially the same thing: reaching the 7th stage.

Legends say that the vampires can achieve this feat by dominating the continent. On the other hand, the Congregation of Revelations has used these legends to try to dominate the religions and achieve the same thing in a different way.

I don't know all the secrets of this group, but I don't think they're as far from the 7th stage as the vampires are. But there's a problem with that. Do you know what happens when you reach the 7th stage?" This creature from the shadows asked.

"What happens?" Vicente had no idea.

"Such a being disappears." Said the creature as a laughing sound erupted from his head. "Some groups that have never had magical beings capable of reaching the absolute peak don't know what it's like to advance to the 7th stage. They think what happened at the previous stages will happen again between the 6th and 7th stages.

But the limit of the continent is the 6th stage. Once you try to cross it, you have two destinations. When you reach the level of an Archon Archmage, you either die or disappear from this world. What happens in the second possibility, I honestly don't know. But the fact is that you cannot reach the 7th stage and continue to be here.

After so many sacrifices, these groups will simply lose their greatest experts... Can you imagine what will happen next?"

"Chaos," Torne muttered.

"Yes, unfortunately, that's the case. More blood, more brutality, and worse. That's what threatens the continent the most. A group without a leader will disintegrate until it disappears or has an internal war for succession. Either way, it means losses."

"Are you saying that one should not seek the top?" Vicente narrowed his eyes.

"That is not the case. But there's a big difference between destroying the natural balance of things to achieve something like that. Vampires have never reached the 6th stage in their history, young man.

They've always been limited by the magicians of the Dark Path. But now, one of them has reached it and will fight to become a Magus. This will cause uncontrollable destruction.

But what if he succeeds? Well, the vampires will lose their leader, and another will emerge with the same goal: to become a Magus. From then on, it's not hard to imagine what could happen."

"More casualties and a weakening of the forces that rival the vampires," Vicente muttered.

"That is the case. The right way to pursue the 7th stage is through natural cultivation, using natural resources. If you try alternative methods that take more than this world can replenish, you can cause your own destruction.

The oldest races on this continent understood this long ago. Unfortunately, the Congregation of Revelations magicians made a big mistake. Now the vampires are on this destructive journey for power." The being said before he let out a long sigh.

"But... That's strange. Isn't this common knowledge among races like yours? Why didn't you warn the creatures from the continent?" Vicente asked in a strange tone.

"That is a secret, young man." Said the creature from the shadows.

"Then... Why are we hearing this?" Vicente insisted.

The Dark Reaper laughed. "Isn't it obvious? You have a magical form of extreme purity that naturally oppresses me. That is why I can tell you this secret. It would be different if you didn't have the Throne of Darkness."

That wasn't a secret because the experts of the ancient races of the continent wanted to keep it a secret. The problem was the natural laws of this world. Any information about the 7th stage was protected by the elements of this continent, which forced the silence of those who knew about it.

How could the Dark Reaper next to Vicente tell him and Torne about all this? Well, it was because Vicente was a superior being to this Dark Reaper. As the master of darkness, all creatures of the dark owed him respect and obedience.

Vicente couldn't yet use his powers to force all beings of darkness to follow this natural order of things, but the Dark Reaper willingly said such things when he learned what Vice was.

His elements didn't stop him, so only his will could keep him from telling Vice such things.

But it was already too late.

"Sigh, things would have been different if you had found me sooner." Said the creature from the shadows. "But now all is lost. Your throne of darkness has much potential, but many dangers are ahead. Even if you survive and grow, nothing will happen before something irreversible happens."

At that moment, Rory and the others appeared in the place where Vicente was and immediately stopped at the entrance to that area when they felt the power of the shadow creature next to Vicente.

But even though they noticed it, they didn't pick up their weapons to try to fight. They just stopped in shock as they came face to face with a Paragon.

"Vicente..." Rory muttered.

Vicente looked at his companions and said. "This Senior is not our enemy. He was just telling me a story."

Torne had already returned to Vicente's body, while the Dark Reaper was already aware that the boy next to him didn't want others to know about the Throne of Darkness.

It made sense to protect something so critical, so he just sat next to the black-haired boy.

The Dark Reaper said. "That's what I think, young man. But maybe you can do something for all of us. So don't give up. I don't expect things to get better, but I sincerely wish you luck on your journey.

Did your party come for the resources of this secret outpost? I've used up most of them, but there are still things here that will be useful to your people. Please, take whatever you need."

As soon as these words were spoken, the group continued their way through the area, with Vicente staying by the side of the dark being while his companions gathered the resources from this place.

Of course, Layla felt terrible about this place, which had been the outpost of her organization's enemies. But she left it until later to talk to Vicente about everything.

In the meantime, the Dark Reaper said to Vicente. "I would serve you if it were up to me, young man. But I'm afraid I can't go with you. Unlike that ghost, I can't hide in your body.

But I will help you. Don't worry about trying to contact me or ordering me around. I'll do whatever I think is necessary to help you. When you least expect it, my actions will produce results." Said the being as he got up and started to leave.

"I don't know if we will meet again, but I will keep an eye on your stories and help you from the shadows."

The creature disappeared without giving Vicente or Torne a chance to ask more questions.