Chapter 339: Perfection
A bird. The gods were laughing. But even in feathers, I learned. I remembered. Despite the disadvantage that I have there is also an advantage that I didn't expect to have. My movements were more easy, and not suspicious unlike before. I could easily approach anyone without alerting them. With my harmless appearance I went towards the target I needed the most.
The empress of the empire. Fortunately I still knew the hidden path I made so all I need is to go there and find the person that will conceived my new body.
Good thing I was able to get close to her and plant a part of my soul.
Eventually, I became Claudius Von Celestio. The current emperor's uncle. In that life I tried to spread the Monastery's influence. An organization that replace the Revolutionary church after they lost in the War of faith, Nirvana was able to create it and made strong. I let their roots run deep.
But again—he returned as if a cycle. Another Apollo came. Another death.
But I had already set my next anchor.
The empress wass already pregnant and so my body was as good as set
This time, I was born and named Nero Von Celestio.
A heir to the throne, I am eldest after all.
I should be able to gain an even greater power than the other lives I have experience.
The thought of being the emperor filled me with ecstasy
But then again Iike fate decided to play with me he appeared again
An Apollo
And he put Augustus on the throne.
My throne.
The seat, the position that supposed to be mine, was taken from me
And now from the supposed to be crown prince I became brother to the emperor.
But its okay
This time... I will not lose.
This time, I will gather all the more power
This time… I will evolve.
.
.
.
They say patience is a virtue.
But for someone like me—patience is survival.
I will bid my time until that Apollo die I must lay low and not catch his eyes.
After my rebirth as Nero Von Celestio, the empire grew too wary. Too watchful, especially with all the ruckus that the Monastery has been doing. I needed time, space... and silence.
So, I disappeared. I went to a kingdom far away
Far from the empire's eye, I found her—a princess of a crumbling kingdom. I gave her an offer she accepted
She was beautiful. Desperate. Gullible at times but perfect to help me.
I married her not for love, not even for power—but for protection, so his eyes would not land on me again. I need to remained quiet until the news of his death came to me. Those golden eyes shouldn't reach me here.
There, in the silence of that dying nation, I rebuilt.
As the years passed, the echoes of the past faded.
The last Apollo was dying. I could feel it. And so the good news reach me of his death and that is when I began spreading the my connection as well as the power of the Monastery.
Years went by and the monastery became a threat that even the emperor can't turn a blind at.
On the other hand the remnants of the Revolutionary Church already gain foothold that even reach the nobility. And at the center of it all was me. Without Nirvana they needed a new leader I took it without them noticing it.
I twisted their doctrine into one of rebirth and transcendence.
They called it heresy.
I called it progress.
All the focus and power will now on me
Through them my experiments extended and expanded.
Nirvana may have been sealed, but his ghost still lingered in their sermons.
While they preached salvation, I harvested followers.
Subjects.
Experiments.
Each soul fed the fires of my research.
But fate, once again, denied me peace.
I saw him again.
Clad in lightning, bearing the same name.
Apollo.
Not a ghost. Not a fragment.
A storm.
He didn't speak at first. His eyes said enough.
He has the confidence, the power and within his eyes I saw
Condemnation. Recognition.
Hatred.
He came to capture me, in the four corners of this wrench academy, he arrived like a god.
To end me.
I escaped. Barely.
I had to.
Because I was close—closer than ever before.
To the creation I wanted to be perfect than ever
I began the final phase.
But before I could even do that the damn dukes got me, I never thought they could be that strong, strong enough to negate the powers from the outside.
And just like that I died
I couldn't even see him again
The one that bears my teacher's name
He was the one I wanted to see
In every life I had he was always there
And for some reason I wanted to see him again even it means I had to die for it.
Aside from my research his existence is the one that excites me the most
Apollo
I both fear and adore you
So come and see me, but even you can't I will
Those golden eyes a beautiful sun set hair, just by looking even in my current form brings satisfaction to me
However I need a body if I were to meet him looking like a runaway ghost it will look unsightly.
I want to look at you with pride and you show the perfection I have achieved.
Using the foreign energy I had discovered in my days in Mahika. I built the vessel.
This time, it would be perfect.
Stronger than Nirvana.
Stable.
Conscious.
Aware.
A demon not born of chaos…
…but of desire
.
.
.
My last laboratory was forged beneath mountains, hidden between space and time by ancient seals only I could break. This is also the place where I first found the grimoire.
Surrounding me is the objects that house that strange power, even after so many years I still don't know where that energy come from but for now, I will focus on how I will use them. For there origin that could wait
"Lets do this"
The power that came from the outside brewed like storm and slowly it bend to my will.
There in the middle of it all, my soul hovered—fractured, stitched together from the repeated time I broke it to pieces, but even in this state it still cling to the identity it has.
More, come to me, I need more
The more of the energy came to me the more my senses become stronger.
I move my will and the jars that contain Nirvana's flesh came to me, it surrounds my soul along with the dark matter.
And piece by piece, I built my new body. Not just a host. I don't need that anymore.
I will personally do this
And acquire the power to see him again.
While the dark matter stich me, I summon another object from the grimoire.
It was gemstone that came from the condense form of the fragment of the world tree. With this an infinite amount of power will be mine.
Finally as my limps grow, the grimoire flew to me
Finally after absorbing the other vessels it grew much powerful.
I have it now in my hand
A weapon.
I suddenly howl feeling the new life that I just achieve.
I now stood with perfection
One part demon. One part divine.
"Yes this is me"
It was beautiful. Elegant.
And terrifying.
As I began the merging process, I need to be fully assimilated, as my soul took root in the new vessel, I felt invincible.
I was transcending.
Then I saw it.
A ripple in the air.
An echo of movement that triggered a memory so old I forgot I still had it.
A silhouette.
Claws. Horns. A low, unnatural growl that reverberated not in the air… but in me.
A demon.
No. The demon.
The one I always dreamed of creating. Ever since I laid my eyes in that enigma I felt the urge to take hold of it.
Even as a half-demon, its form was stable. Fluid. Perfectly synchronized with its soul.
I froze.
I had spent lifetimes chasing this.
And here it was—walking, breathing, looking at me.
The demon looked at me the same way it did when we first fought.
Before I could move, its fist slammed into my gut.
Pain shot through my forming body. Bones not yet solid cracked. My breath—new and unused—was forced out in a desperate gasp.
And then I heard it.
That voice.
Unholy. Guttural. Not meant for human ears.
Yet every word was clear.
"Finally found you… Nero."
My eyes widened.
I tried to defend and use the grimoire to push him back but then its appearance change, from its previous half demon form it turn into a humanoid creature with wings made of blade.
Cold and red eyes look down on me though I am not sure if it really is the eyes I am seeing and not his aura.
The energy surrounding me move
But… it twisted.
I looked at my opponent
Not divine. Not human.
Something else entirely.
And he was smiling.
I felt my body tremble
This isn't good