"Abducting a child…"
Cael had completely given up on complaining.
This broken system kept handing out the weirdest achievements imaginable.
Still, compared to that nonsense, what truly caught his attention was the update to his personal panel.
"System, open my status panel."
[Opening Personal Panel]
Host: Cael
Age: 20 (?)
Vision: None
Attribute:Dark
Inventory: Dull Blade (Tier 2), paper, pen, Mora, 100,000 Primogems
Assets:Very wealthy
"…Dark?"
Cael stared at the black text for a long moment.
So his Origin Power was Dark.
That immediately reminded him of the Dark Demon God — Agarest.
If he remembered correctly, Agarest was also associated with darkness.
Then that meant…
"No way…"
"This can't be that coincidental, right?"
A chill ran down his spine as countless thoughts flooded his mind.
For the first time, Cael began to seriously doubt who he really was.
Right now, only two possibilities existed in his mind.
First:
He was a soul transmigrator who just so happened to inhabit a body of the same age and appearance, with unexplained ties to the Dark Demon God.
But that was too coincidental—borderline impossible.
Second:
He was Agarest.
He had transmigrated six thousand years ago, fallen five hundred years ago, and now revived in the present—having lost all memories of those six thousand years.
If that were the case…
Everything suddenly made sense.
Why Agarest existed.
Why Agarest knew jingju.
Why he instinctively understood Dark element manipulation.
Of course—
This was only a hypothesis.
What mattered right now was testing this power.
The First Experiment
Cael hired a carriage and headed straight into the wilds outside Liyue Harbor.
He soon found what he was looking for.
A large hilichurl encampment.
Unlike the game's simplified camps, this one was massive—over a hundred hilichurls, spread across the terrain.
If hilichurls only appeared in groups of ten like in-game, they'd have gone extinct long ago.
Cael watched calmly.
No fear.
Even if his Origin Power wasn't enough—
He still had the Fifty-Fifty ability.
Closing his eyes, he focused inward.
Suddenly—
It felt as though his body was no longer his own.
Black, molten darkness erupted from his hand.
"…Damn," he muttered.
"Looks pretty cool."
Though startled at first, he adapted quickly.
The energy was vast, far beyond what his current body should have been able to handle.
And yet, this was clearly only the tip of the iceberg.
The Dark element felt familiar—almost nostalgic.
As if something long forgotten had returned.
Knowledge surfaced in his mind without warning.
Darkness could be shaped freely.
Scythes.
Spears.
Pure energy constructs.
Explosive cores.
At higher levels, it could even erode life itself—
And with enough strength, devour the vitality of gods.
Cael absorbed it all instinctively.
"Let's start simple."
The Dark element compressed rapidly in his palm, forming a dense black sphere.
He weighed it once—
Then casually tossed it into the camp.
The hilichurls gathered around it, tilting their heads curiously.
Cael was already gone.
BOOM.
Blinding black light erupted.
A towering mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
The World Reacts
At Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Zhongli's hand paused mid-tea.
"Dark element…"
"So he's awakened."
At her desk, Ganyu shuddered violently and rushed to the window.
"That was—Dark Zero-Type Annihilation Burst…!"
"Ah Cael… he's regained his element!"
She nearly ran out—
Only to freeze.
"His memories have not yet returned. Do not act."
"…Yes, Lord Rex Lapis."
High in the mountains, Cloud Retainer burst from her abode in a panic.
"DAMN IT—AGA— Wait?!"
Shenhe pointed calmly.
"Master. No mountain exploded. A battle occurred over there."
Cloud Retainer stared at the mushroom cloud.
"…He recovered his element already?"
"That fast…?"
At Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao shaded her eyes, staring into the distance.
"Oho~ That looks like a potential customer hotspot!"
Elsewhere, an elderly woman slowly looked up.
Her expression changed instantly.
Flash.
A young woman appeared in a burst of white light, staring at the sky.
"…That bastard really came back?"
"Tch… Guess I'm getting bullied again."
She smiled anyway.
"Welcome home, Agarest."
Across Teyvat
In Inazuma, at Yae Publishing House, Yae Miko spat out her drink.
"What?!"
"That idiot isn't dead?!"
Her face darkened—then softened.
"…Welcome back."
"Please come here already. Ei is being stupid again."
In Sumeru, Nahida opened her eyes.
Chains bound her—but her gaze drifted far away.
"So familiar…"
"Who… is it?"
In the distant land of Snezhnaya, Tsaritsa opened her pale eyes from her icy throne.
"So you left a contingency after all."
"It seems… the plan was never forgotten."
Back to the Present
Cael stared at the towering mushroom cloud, utterly dumbfounded.
"…That was WAY too strong."
Returning to the site, he found the entire hilichurl camp erased.
Nothing left.
He swallowed hard.
"…Yeah."
"I'm not using that unless I absolutely have to."
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