[107] Time for Ascension
Chapter 107: Time for Ascension
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‘Why’s she in my house?’
I’m not fond of this. Since I didn't give her my address, she must have looked into my background and found my location. How irritating.
For anybody else, it would be hard, if not outright impossible to search for me since I was Ai Hoshino’s son. After all that happened to Ai, she prioritized keeping her personal information well hidden. But for a devil like Ranefer, it wasn’t impossible to find information on her, as the devils controlled the entertainment sector of the world.
‘Now she knows who my mother is.’ I didn’t like that.
“Sorry,” As if she could read my thoughts from my face, not that I was bothering to hide my deep frown, she muttered in a low voice that Ai couldn't hear. “I tried to reach out to you after gathering the things you wanted, but you weren't replying…. Must have been a busy night, I guessed. So I decided to visit on my own.”
That's an excuse and a half if I heard one. She could have just waited until I reached back to her. I glared into her eyes as she maintained an innocent face.
She couldn’t attack me thanks to the Slave Tattoo, but the protection didn’t stretch out to my family. The Phoenix Demon came here to subtly imply that, if she wanted, she could threaten my family anytime. An attempt to warn me to not antagonize her.
What a daring little bird.
‘Do I kill her right now?’ She deserved it for trying such meager threats on me.
“Hey,” Ai suddenly said, before I could tear the Phoenix off her feathers. “What did she just say, Aqua? Tell me it's a joke.”
‘...No, never mind.’ Suddenly, I had a better idea. ‘Killing for something so meager isn’t worth it. Huh, isn’t she lucky the Venerable Ego was erased before I came here?’ With a smile, I put my arms around Ranefer’s waist and pulled her closer.
“No? Why'd she lie?” I said to Ai while placing a gentle peck on Ranefer’s lips, surprising both of them. “I told her to bring me some important items yesterday, and she's just delivering those. Though honestly, I would have preferred a delivery via teleportation better.” I said with a narrowing of my eyes that only Ranefer registered as she mouthed another sorry.
But Mrs Hoshino didn’t keep her glare subtle, she looked at Ranefer with a deep frown. “You are aware he's 15, correct? How old are you, missus?”
“About 1,600 years, my dearest co-mother,” the demoness said with a smile. “I jest not, that’s how old I am, as I’m a devil. As for yourself, I hear you’re 31? Isn’t that a bit too young to be his mother? Did you adopt-”
Ai's clothing blitzed and transformed; her figure vanished before I could register it. She blurred towards us in a split second, her hand snatching Ranefer away from my hold, and a palm made of light slammed her throat against the wall.
The Light Goddess’ golden hair fluttered as her blue eyes glared down at the red ones of the blonde Demon. Sparks of golden fire circled around Ranefer’s throat to heal the damage that she received just from being in contact with the massive hand of light that held her up against the wall.
“A Demon? That is believable. But I dislike how you speak, devil,” being a Divine Goddess of Light, she couldn’t be scared by the fiery demonic aura that Ranefer let out. “I also dislike how you've been looking down on me since earlier. I'm his mother, you're not. You dare challenge my authority?”
“....” Ranefer was smiling awkwardly with her hands raised in a defensive stance. She shot me a look that said ‘save me?’ but I was busy admiring the scene.
‘She really is… cute. Damn, she’s hot.’ I thought I’d not get to see sights like this again after the things that happened between us during the last few days. I didn't think she'd get this defensive over her paternity getting challenged by a ‘sugar’ mother.
“Ai, let her go,” I guessed this much should be enough to counter-warn the devil that no, my family wasn’t lambs waiting to be slaughtered, as I approached to aid the little Phoenix.
“....” When I called her by her name, she snapped to look at me, frowning as she opened her mouth. It was clear that she intended to reprimand me for calling her by her name instead of her title, ‘mother’, but she paused before she could utter a word.
Her killing intent vanished as she recalled how our talk had ended yesterday. Perhaps she had hoped all that silly agreement was for naught now that my hair wasn’t black anymore, but too bad for her, it's not the case.
Ranefer fell to her knees from where she was hanging in the air, as the hand of light vanished too, and I gently helped her up. “Auk… t-thanks…” she cleared her throat as she stood straight, feigning strength.
“Yeah, don’t provoke her next time,” I said. If a fight had broken out between the two of them, Ranefer’s victory wasn't certain. No, she’d most likely lose. The Goddess of Light was powerful, which should be especially true against Ranefer who was a devil, a race of beings weak against divinity and light magic.
Even if Ranefer in particular might not be that weak toward those two factors, thanks to her Fire (and possibly sun-related) abilities and Immortality, the Goddess of Light still boasted enough power to put that to test. That’s why Ranefer was trembling right now, this coward.
Ai frowned at me, “Who is she to you?”
“A sponsor,” I said without batting an eye. It’s better not to provoke her again by calling her my ‘sugar mommy’, and it’s not as if what I said was entirely a lie. “She was sick, and I cured her. So she vowed to sponsor me till death does us apart. She is a devil though, that’s not a lie.”
Ai continued frowning, “You… cured a devil? Why?”
“That is pretty racist, Ai. Devils are people too,” I shook my head as she blinked. She opened her mouth and then closed it with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll send her away since you don’t like her. Ranefer, will you kindly get out and never visit us ever again?”
I said to Ranefer, who gave me a dry smile. I had a feeling that she wouldn’t come here even if I asked her to, she’d find some excuse to dodge the call.
She cleared her throat one more and said, “Indeed, my schedule is busy today, so I should get going. Once again, thank you for your service that night, it felt good. I’m quite busy fitting myself back into the devil society now that I am healthy." Then she made a hurt face, “In this busy time, I dropped quite a few meetings just to come see you, although it didn’t go very well… I hope you and your dear mother will forgive me if any of my jokes have offended you. Then, I shall see you later.”
I gave her a light spank, squeezing her mound along the way, as a magic circle spread below her feet and she stepped into its center. “Bye~” she waved at me as the circle grew brighter and she vanished into particles of light.
Ai saw our interaction with a silent frown. She had her jaws clenched but didn’t say anything. With a sigh, she dropped the outfit with a snap of her finger, which made her return to the apron and bodycon she was wearing.
“Go take a bath, you… smell,” she said with a disapproving look, turning around to walk into the kitchen. “I’ll finish cooking, and the food will be ready in a bit. Get dressed and come down to the dining table, you have school in a bit.”
“I don’t,” I ignored her and walked to the bags of treasure on the floor. The aura I felt from them was decent enough to work with. “There'll be a thunderstorm soon in Tokyo, nobody will attend school.” I picked up the treasures and walked out onto the front yard, finally ready to advance.
* * *
In the front yard, I laid out the treasures from Ranefer around me in a hexagon shape. Each piece was a relic in its own right, oozing a unique kind of magic.
A scepter adorned with glowing runes, it's wood ancient and petrified; a crystal orb emitting a soft, pulsating light; an ornate dagger with a blade that seemed to shift and shimmer like water; a scroll sealed with a wax emblem, crackling with unseen energy; a small, unassuming stone that hummed with a deep, resonant power; and a golden amulet, warm to the touch, its gemstones sparkling with inner fire. The air around these relics crackled with magical energy, creating an almost palpable tension.
I stood at the center of this array, gently raising my arms wide. I didn’t need to sit like a yoga guru this time, as I had in my Underlord advancement. I began to close my eyes, the last scene I saw was the blue eye growing dark with rain clouds. My eyes closed, and I focused, controlling the relics' potent energy into a swirl. A swirl that I called into me.
“What is he doing…?” I heard someone ask, as my family began to gather around in a safe distance.
The swirl of energy coalesced into the empty space inside my soul, turning into soulfire. A swirling vortex of authority enveloped my form when the soulfire burned outwards, burning my clothes and body alike, causing pain and satisfaction at the same time.
As I stood there, lit up like a bonfire, the sky started throwing a fit. It growled and darkened – a proper tempest brewing up there. The Overlord Advancement had begun.
However it didn’t progress any further, for it first demanded who I was to challenge the heavens. It waited for some deep, even if not particularly philosophical answer from me. Despite how old I was, no, exactly because of that, the answer was hard to reach.
Most Underlords didn’t Advance to Overlord. It was the case with all Lord ranks. Due to the answer it demanded from the cultivator, it was hard to advance.
The Overlord Revelation was about where you are now, who you are, and what do others see when they look at you. It is a reflection of who you are as a person in this stage. That is a hard question to answer for someone like me, who has many things.
Minutes passed, and I failed to reach a conclusion. I opened my eyes, and looked around for a second, seeing a small crowd looking at me from within the house. The tiger cubs from my home in the 6th universe to whom I was ‘Trigathar’, that unsuspecting girl Asia who I didn’t have any connection with, and the lovely Tsubasa who was in love with ‘Aqua’. There was Ai too, my 2nd loveliest mother, who didn’t see me as her son anymore. I wondered what she saw me as… Lastly, there was Ruby, rubbing her sleepy eyes and wondering if she was dreaming as she looked at the scenery. Who was I to her? The Doctor Gorou? Or her Onii-Chan Aqua?
Wondering about Ruby gave me a lead. Wasn’t I… both? While I had no memories of my other life during my 10th as Gorou, it was still me. This life, in particular, was bits and pieces of my past lives all jumbled up together. Ai, for example, wielded my Empress’ power, while being kind of an imitation yet opposite image of my Vampire Mother. I also had people from my other lives here, Ruby and the tiger cubs.
This life… it’s like a ['best of' album] of my existence. ‘So who am I right now?’ That's the million-dollar question.
"I’m…” I reached the answer. “Everything."
I’m a hero, a monster, a God, a Demon God. I have tasted all shades of life, and thus that’s what I am now. In this life that was so well-balanced, I am everything.
The world seemed to roar in response, the sky above me thrumming with the power of a dragon's roar. Thunder rumbled, and then, as if answering a cosmic call, lightning began to crash down upon me like a waterfall. Each bolt was a trial, a tribulation of lightning, challenging and purifying.
I stood unflinching, welcoming the barrage of electric fury. It bathed me, searing and reshaping, a physical and spiritual baptism. My mind cleared, my muscles grew stronger, and my Qi grew more powerful. Along with that, my presence in this reality grew, like my authority learned to walk.
The ordeal was intense, but I endured, feeling every jolt reforge me.
When the storm finally calmed down, I stood there transformed. Drenched in the rain, my hair clung to my shoulders; my eyes were a deeper shade of blue, they shone with newfound intensity. I felt a few inches taller, a few folds stronger, and at my core, there was a sense of having reached a new threshold of power.
"Overlord," I muttered to myself, rolling the word around in my mouth as I opened my eyes. I was now an Overlord, half a Sage, a being of greater strength and wisdom.
My eyes took in the sight of those who had witnessed my transformation. There was a mixture of relief, awe, and perhaps… a touch of fear in their eyes.
However, the ones who should really be fearing were not here. I deliberately did this in the real world, instead of inside an Instant Dungeon. So that the world of myths and legends knew… that a big player had entered their gambling house.
About time I took ambitious steps in this world.
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