SON OF THE HERO KING

‘Does he want to rely on the phoenix’s Nirvana?’

But that power was extremely limited. One could indeed come back from the ashes with that power, but if not even ashes remained, then Nirvana could do nothing in that regard.

The only reason Tiamat wasn’t going crazy was that even though the light of Sol’s star had vanished, the star itself was telling her that he was still alive. It was incomprehensible to her but it was still the truth.

Meanwhile, Anubis wasn’t phased in the slightest. So what if Sol died? In the worst case, he could just revive him as an undead. In fact, since the dipshit was clearly in a relationship with his daughter, then having him as an undead and giving him to Isis would be the best solution, in his mind, that is. At least, in this way, there was no way for Sol to hurt his daughter.

Surtr, meanwhile, went back to his smaller form and flashed a smile toward Nihil.

“Herald, the mission is a failure. Let’s use this occasion to retreat.”

Surtr was sure that Sol was now dead. Nihil was close to a false god and even though she was terribly wounded, she was still quite powerful all the same. As for him, <<Cruel Sun>> was the strongest technique he could use in an instant, that was at his disposal.

Only a false god could survive the explosion from the two attacks and no matter how powerful Sol was, it still wasn’t close to that level.

The thought of retreating again filled him with a feeling of sadness and humiliation but his personal pride was of no importance in the face of the big picture.

*Huff* *Huff* *Huff*

Nihil ignored Surtr as she stared at the raging storm of cataclysmic mana shredding time and space, creating a void of nothingness. Her breathing was rough and her vision was blurred. She was hurting all over because of all the wounds she received and the last attack she threw didn’t make it easier on her either.

She was on the verge of falling into hibernation. The damage to her body and soul was simply too extensive. All her plans for future events had to be put on hold as she would be asleep for a long time, perhaps years on end, in order to recuperate. She had lost her soldiers, a group of demigods, and her best friend in a fruitless endeavor.

A blazing feeling of rage burned her whole being, agony wrecked her sense, when she thought about how disastrous the current situation had become. She was living through the greatest failure of her entire life.

All of this… because of one man.

‘Sol Dragona Luxuria.’

Never had Nihil hated a name so much. Not even Anubis elicited such a feeling of rage and hatred from her.

“Did we… Did we get him?”

Nihil wasn’t so deep gone that she didn’t know they needed to escape. But she wanted to see. She wanted to confirm.

That he was dead. That he was erased from reality. That the brilliant flame he represented was finally extinguished.

Only then could she rest calmly.

Sadly for her, her hopes were dashed when a peal of mocking laughter exploded out from between the collision of the attacks.

“Hahaha, wondering if you got your enemy means you definitely didn’t manage to get them?”

Nihil felt like she was about to have a heart attack, seeing Sol’s sudden appearance, all alive. If it was just that it would have still been alright.

If Sol had been grievously wounded and was struggling on his last breath, she could have accepted it. But when she realized that he was not only alive but well, with nary a wound on his body?

It was simply too much. Blood surged as she spat a mouthful of blood mixed with seared portions of her internal organs; she nearly fainted then and there.

“H-how…?”

Nihil wasn’t the only one shocked at seeing him alive. Surtr was positively astonished. He was sure that Sol was dead. In fact, he wasn’t even able to feel any energy from Sol after the attacks had hit him. So then why was he able to stand here in front of him? All fine and dandy like that.

Of course, while he was shocked, he was not slow at all. A red portal immediately opened behind them and he began to bring Nihil, who was now too weak to protest, with him and flee this cataclysmic scene.

“Hehe…I can’t stop you from leaving but…”

<<Deus Ex Machina: Rule of Three>>

An illusory and intangible lock formed between Sol and Nihil, creating a loop between their existence and their reality itself. Surtr was unable to stop this attack and could only watch as the light dissipated with the loop of fate formed between the two sworn enemies.

"Do you know the rule of three?"

Sol spoke as he looked directly into Nihil’s eyes.

“The first time we met, you won.”

Sol was speaking about the Wing of Freedom’s attack on Lustburg. If both Sol and Nihil were chess players, then Sol lost the moment the Divine Sword, his king piece, was stolen and most of the WoF, Nihil’s pieces, managed to escape from Lustburg.

“I won our second meeting.”

This was related to the attack of WoF on the Dragon Realm. Nihil failed all her big objectives and lost most of her subordinates and even received severe wounds herself. Now she could only flee like a bereaved dog.

This was the creation of the pattern, the pattern between the two. A set of three.

“We are now Nemesis, enemies that cannot exist in one reality. No matter what the outcome is, our third confrontation will be our last— that too is Fate… our Fate…"

Those were the last words Nihil heard as she was swallowed by the portal alongside a silently observing Surtr.

All Surtr did was silently observe Sol, observe every aspect of him. As if wishing to memorize every corner of Sol’s face. He did not utter any third-rate line of revenge. Such a thing was beneath his very existence.

This was war. There was no right nor wrong. Only the side that triumphed and the side which was vanquished. They were the ones to be vanquished this time. And in a war, the one to be vanquished didn’t have any right to say anything against the triumphing side.

That was all. The winner takes all, even the rights of the losing side…

———

The moment the red portal closed, the golden glow in Sol’s eyes began to dim, until he nearly passed out himself.

He had been using a power far above what he should be physically capable of. The only reason he hadn’t exploded until now was thanks to the regeneration powers of the phoenix that was constantly healing him.

Though this didn’t take away the pain he was constantly being wracked with.

‘My Divine energy is nearly drained.’

The reserves were bottoming out, but Sol heaved a sigh of relief when he realized that he still had a small, extremely minuscule, amount left. He had a specific idea about where to use it and when. So he was thankful.

“You were really reckless.”

Sol's mind calmed down when he felt a soft embrace wrap around him. Mainly, his head was resting on a particularly soft and bouncy object.

It was Tiamat, now bereft of her combat form. Feeling safe, all strength finally vanished from his body and his power level decreased at a breathtaking pace until he went back to the Duke level.

“Damn… This fucking sucks.”

He felt like he was suffocating. Like heavy shackles had been placed on him, robbing him of all possible movements.

'How weak and fragile.'

He couldn’t help but think.

“Hahaha. Going back from a top-level Demigod to a Duke must be quite the troubling sensation. I know what you are feeling right now.”

Tiamat wasn’t lying here. After all, she did destroy her own powers to re-cultivate back from the Duke rank in the past.

“However, this will be a valuable experience for you.”

Growing to become a demigod was like passing a test with a limited number of places, let’s say the top 10. Some people studied greatly in order to succeed and some people were lucky enough to get the place of those who “dropped out”.

The vast majority of people simply failed.

But it was different for Sol now. Now he had the equivalent of a cheat sheet and knew all the answers necessary to become a top scorer.

Sol laughed lightly while feeling his eyes growing heavier by the moment. Now that he was back to the Duke rank, he felt like he could fall asleep at any moment.

“How is the situation with the demigods?”

“Don’t worry. Without Surtr or Nihil, that Anubis fellow there can perfectly take care of them alone. Killing is the only thing he is good at anyways.”

“Hey! I resent that! Your words are truly hurtful!”

Tiamat ignored the vehement complaints that Anubis was voicing out, and looked at Sol. She knew he was tired and needed rest. His body needed to acclimate to all the changes he went through in just one evening.

But still… There was one thing she needed to ask. Just one thing she needed to desperately know. And she needed it as soon as possible.

“How did you survive?”

This, just this, she was dying to know this all this time.

To her question, Sol leaked out a mischievous smile.

“Do you know about Schrodinger?”

When the attack landed on him, Sol should have really died without a single chance of survival. But at the same time, his death was not something that could be confirmed by anyone observing him. There was always a chance of his survival in his oppositions’ minds, no matter how sure they could’ve been of his death.

Because of this, he fell into a quantum state where he was neither really dead nor alive, juggling between the inverse states, and waiting for the confirmation of the spectators of his final state. In this reality, for the people observing him, there was always a 50% chance that he was dead and a 50% chance that he was alive. The probabilities of a simple coin toss.

By affecting causality, Sol changed the 50% chance of being alive into 100%, akin to rigging a coin toss to always produce the same result, affecting reality and keeping himself alive in the process.

<<Deus Ex Machina: Schrodinger's Cat>>

Looking at the now passed out and sleeping Sol, with a gentle smile of triumph on his face, Tiamat couldn’t help but leak out a dumbfounded laugh…

“How utterly absurd!”

She couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of monster she had created. Of course, she knew it was impossible for Sol to use most of those skills now that he had reverted back to being a Duke, but as she said, the road to becoming a demigod was wide open for him. It was only a question of time before he could access all of his monstrous potential.

Tiamat couldn’t hide the proud smile from being formed on her lips. Even though Sol was now a little monster, he was her monster. That was all that mattered in her opinion.

“Sleep well, little one. You were really incredible this time around.”

Like this, the curtain fell on the event that would later be known as The Awakening of the Almighty Emperor…

What happened on this day would be remembered as the spark that lit the fire of events that would engulf this entire universe in chaos and change the destiny of everyone involved.

———

(AN: Next chapter will be EPILOGUE 2. But this is essentially the end of BOOK 2 Vol 9: The War as well as the end of BOOK 2 Itself. Damn, now I am emotional. Hope you liked it and don’t hesitate to give me your opinion in the comments.)

AN: This is the last chapter of VOL 9, don't forget to rewards me if you liked BOOK 2. Also please, could you leave comments about what you liked or disliked in this Vol and in BOOK 2 Overall? That would be helpful.