SWNOVELXO Chapter 287: Changes
"DESMOND!!! HOW MUCH HAVE YOU LEARNED?!?!?!?! HOW MUCH DID YOU PLAN, OLD FRIEND?!?!?!?!"
At Vladimir's shout, the hall of the gods fell silent. Every Titan and Chaos-Born sitting in that precious hall of the palace of Olympus was listening attentively and trying to make sense of what was happening.
By order of Chronos, each of the children of the Titans had been included in the conversation, and it seemed that a little bit of the truth needed to be revealed.
Zeus and his two precious brothers were especially confused. They had only tried to kill the Fallen Gods for the stability of the tower and the safety of the lower floors, but they were aware of the battle that had taken place many years ago, so what they were now learning was the truth of all the battles they had fought, all the times of life and death.
When Zeus looked carefully at his father next to him, he saw the sadness and bitterness on Chronos' face and began to fill with resentment. Only the creator himself could know what Zeus, who openly hated his father but respected him at the same time, was thinking.
"It's all on me..." James muttered. There was nothing to hide anymore. He felt as if he was in a game. To guess the whole truth and know everything in part placed incredible pressure on his mind.
None of the vampires in the throne room dared to speak. It had already been a shock to them to see the spirit of Vladimir, the ancestor of each of them, and it was even more shocking that it was connected to James.
Anyone who could hold the soul of a Sun Vampire would be nothing less than a vampire god in their eyes.
"Damn it...I had a simple dream when I entered the tower, I was going to pierce the tower and reach Chaos, what happened to me?" James questioned, feeling like he was plunged into a great void.
He kept being told that he was not destined. Even in Drak's prophecy such words had been left to him, but now, looking around him, it was as if every step he took and every breath he took had been calculated by Desmond himself.
He had taken Chaos's word for it, so he knew it wasn't a toy or anything like that BUT it was hard to push himself forward and try to believe it.
Because he didn't know what to believe right now.
"What am I supposed to do now?" James questioned and then stood up from his throne and looked at Victoria standing in front of him.
"Carry on Victoria, you may no longer be an empress but you will remain a leader," James said suddenly and took a deep breath as he looked intently at every vampire in the throne room.
After only a moment of silence, he began to speak:
"I want you to put your arrogance aside after this day. It's challenging, I understand, but if your ancestor's prophecy is true and a war is going to happen, arrogance is the last thing you should have. In the future, you will meet many people, people for whom you will have to give up your life if necessary, and people who will die for you if necessary. And on top of that, it won't just be people."
James took a deep breath as he said these words and slowly shook his head up and down, "Rest assured though, when the time comes for battle, I will be on the front lines, in front of every one of you, every race, of whether it be the gods upstairs or other beings, we will fight this tower together if the threats from outside are real."
With that, he slowly descended the stairs and said, "Come on, Uncle."
Vladimir's eyes were filled with pride, the fact that James could still be sane in the midst of so much dark reality made him and every god and goddess watching proud.
The noble vampires in the throne room were surprised to hear James call Vladimir [uncle].
It was clear that none of them had expected the person Drak had spoken of in his prescient prophecy to be so incredible.
Laura gently began to guide James and he was immediately taken to the room next to Ariel. Throwing himself suddenly into the bathroom, James breathed deeply through his nose and continued to feel the blood running down his body as the icy water poured over him from the shower head.
His whole body was trembling. It seemed to be triggered by the adrenaline that the thought of war gave him. Strangely, he couldn't help feeling excited about the responsibility that had been strangely thrust upon him and the certainty of what he would have to do in the future.
He closed his eyes and leaned his hands against the bathroom wall, trying to relax himself, and every single person watching him was sure of it.
It wasn't long before he received a text message [Are you okay?
It was from Zeus, the last person James had expected.
Thinking that Zeus was now aware of the truth, James stayed where he was for a few seconds and then asked the following questions:
"What would you do if you were in my shoes? Nearly dying on the 27th floor, leading billions to their near extinction...I'm not even strong, my status points are top tier, but what about my experience? I ask you, great Zeus, what would you do in my place?"
When James said these words, all eyes in the Hall of Olympus turned to Zeus. Zeus' face was full of laughter and joy, which made everyone look at him strangely.
[If I were you, all I would do is keep moving forward. When I founded the Guild of Olympus, we went through great hardships. In the old days, each of the Fallen Gods had followers that were not direct even if they were dead, and I destroyed many of them with my own hands. In those times when despair covered not only my heart but my whole body, all I did was keep moving forward even if my body was riddled with holes. Of course...that's just my opinion].
When James looked at this message sent to him by Zeus with his eyes wide open, he could feel the 8 Sacred Fires in his body burning with hope.
"To keep moving forward even when your body is riddled with holes?" James suddenly questioned, both sides of his lip curling upwards just a little, indicating that she was starting to come to him.
"I've never been so wrong in my thinking Zeus, who would have thought that perhaps the god I hated the most would turn out to be one of the ones I respect the most," James said suddenly and then finished cleaning the blood from his body and left the bathroom.
Once he was dressed in clean clothes, he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. He couldn't sleep.
Suddenly he sat up in bed and went out onto the balcony of the room, breathing deeply. There was so much on his mind that despite his Mind Palace ability, he was unable to fully relax.
As soon as she opened the balcony door and stepped out onto the balcony, she threw a pillow in the centre of the balcony, which was the size of a normal room, and sat cross-legged on the pillow.
He immediately closed his eyes and began to meditate.
He wanted to try to get even better at using Star Magic. After all, it would be in his best interest to try to master this magic, which would destroy his ability to provide for his needs in times of war.
He had already made good progress with Star Magic, he could only get even better at it and try to get stronger. He was already officially sleep-deprived, it was the most free time he could find and the only thing to do when these factors came into play was to meditate.
By the time he started meditating and came close to finishing it, 80 days had already passed. After such a long time, Miracle and Ruby were out of inventory and wandering around the palace of the vampire empire.
The vampires were especially trembling with fear.
After all, there was a member of the most feared race of all, the Supreme Dragons, sitting on the head of a sacred Phoenix that towered above even ancient monsters.
Ruby introduced herself as James' grandmother and Miracle as James' daughter.
However, Ariel found out what had happened and was very worried about James. Yet she knew that as his mother she would never leave James alone. After all, Ariel had already seen her daughter die a horrible death because she had left her alone, and she would not do the same for her son.
The entire floor was being cleared for normal entry and exit. The vampires had indeed managed to put their arrogance aside, if only slightly, at James' request. Of course, a definitive change could not be expected suddenly. The new rules were going to be very difficult.
First the Church of the Night, under James' direct command, entered the floor and was indeed greeted with a great feast.
With the agreement between Victoria, the leader of the Vampire Empire, and Datura and Aether, the main pope, the 39th floor, which had been considered heathen, had chosen the Church of Night as their religion for the first time in their existence.
And all because one man had made a small request.