Sword God in a World of Magic

Shang knew that Lucius hadn't kept all of his abilities as the Child of Calamity a secret.

He had made some of his abilities public, but he had disguised them as something else.

"You can use Anti-Magic?!" the Lightning Emperor asked in shock.

"I don't know exactly how Lucius' Anti-Magic works," Shang said. "This is a Domain that I can use to turn Elemental Mana into Neutral Mana in exchange for parts of my body."

"In exchange for parts of your body?" the Lightning Emperor repeated. "This is..."

The Lightning Emperor became silent.

"Very different," he said.

"You called it Anti-Magic," Shang said. "You said Lucius can use something like that."

"He could," the Lightning Emperor said. "Since when did you have access to this Domain?"

"I comprehended it at the Peak of the Second Realm," Shang said.

Silence.

At this moment, the Lightning Emperor became incredibly shocked.

Peak of the Second Realm?!

"Lucius had something very similar," the Lightning Emperor said. "However, he only comprehended it as a Peak Ancestral Mage shortly before he became a Mage Lord."

"And yet, you comprehended it in the Second Realm?"

"However, your Domain is different in a fundamental way. Lucius didn't need to sacrifice anything for his Domain, but you need to sacrifice parts of your body."

"I'm certain Lucius couldn't do that."

This shocked Shang.

Shang had assumed that the Domain of Entropy was something that every Child of Calamity could use. After all, Abominations could also use it.

And yet, Lucius had only been able to use it as a Peak Ancestral Mage?

He had had no access to the Domain before that?

Shang had assumed that all the Children of Calamity shared the same powers, but that wasn't the case, apparently.

This immediately opened another question for Shang, and he wasn't sure if he should ask it.

The Lightning Emperor seemed shocked, but not in a bad way. Shang felt like the Lightning Emperor wasn't about to kill him.

In the end, Shang's curiosity won out, and he decided to ask another question.

"There's another power I have," Shang said.

"Oh?" the Lightning Emperor uttered.

Shang took a deep breath and pointed at his bandages.

"I can sacrifice my soul for a very powerful attack," Shang said. "I lost my first eye when I used this ability to kill someone at the Mid Third Realm when I was at the Peak Second Realm, and I used it again to kill someone at the Peak Fourth Realm when I was at the Initial or Early Fourth Realm."

Silence.

"Like an Abomination," the Lightning Emperor said.

Shang nodded. "Correct."

More silence.

"Is this what Lucius had comprehended back then? Is the Concept you are trying to comprehend right now the one Lucius had also comprehended as a Peak Ancestral Mage?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

"Most likely," Shang said.

Silence.

"Something that created so much trouble for Lucius. I'm not surprised that you've had so many troubles. You're not even a Mage," the Lightning Emperor said.

"You and Lucius are intrinsically connected, and even more, you have unlocked powers that Lucius had only attained far later."

"You and Lucius share a power, but something between you seems fundamentally different."

"You seem even closer to Lucius' power than he was."

Silence.

"Maybe, you can actually become even more powerful than him."

"Maybe, you actually have a shot at killing this God of yours."

"Back then, we had nothing. Our little group had to earn every little bit of resources ourselves, and we didn't have a place we could call home."

"Most of us don't want to believe it, but this lack of resources has probably stopped us from growing even more powerful and unearthing even more of our potential."

"Lucius' strongest support had been a Mage Lord and later a Mage King."

"But now, things are different."

"You have the backing of a Mage Emperor and several Mage Kings."

"I don't know how or why you and Lucius are connected, but I am willing to invest in the future so that it may be better than the past."

"Shang, you need to enter the Trial of Want!"

"IT am certain now that Lucius left the Trial of Want for you, his successor!"

Shang nodded. "I'm planning on."

"Make use of the resources," the Lightning Emperor said. "You have access to way more than we've had access to back then. The only thing that can stop you is your own talent."

"Thank you," Shang said absentmindedly as he left his Isolation Barrier to fly to the Trial of Want.

Silence.

"Shang," the Lightning Emperor said slowly.

Shang didn't like the Lightning Emperor's tone.

It made him nervous.

"Shang, are you..."

Silence.

"Forget it. I hope you will succeed," the Lightning Emperor said before cutting the connection.

As Shang continued to fly, he kept looking at the pin on his robes.

'Does he suspect me of being the Child of Calamity?'

Shang wasn't quite sure.

The only reason why Shang had even dared to tell the Lightning Emperor about his powers of Entropy was that Shang essentially already had an "alibi".

After all, the Lightning Emperor had once asked Shang if he had talked to the God about the Child of Calamity, and Shang had said that they had never talked about it.

If Shang were the Child of Calamity, it would be a certainty that he and the God would have talked about it since it was part of Shang's very nature.

Therefore, Shang couldn't be the Child of Calamity.

Even more, four different Emperors had inspected Shang, and they couldn't find any evidence of him being the Child of Calamity.

And yet, Lucius' and Shang's powers were too similar to Abominations.

Yes, nearly all the Emperors took inspiration from the Abominations to increase their own powers, but Lucius and Shang were on an entirely different level.

It was almost like they were Abominations.

So, even though Shang essentially couldn't be the Child of Calamity, everything pointed to him being the Child of Calamity.

What if?

What if Shang was the Child of Calamity?

The Lightning Emperor only needed to ask since Shang couldn't lie to him.

Did the Lightning Emperor suspect Shang of being the Child of Calamity?

He wasn't sure.