Son of the Hero King

『 Zone: Deus Ex Machina 』

This was the unique power Sol had achieved from his desire to not be bound by Fate back in the Astral Realm.

A zone that was closer to a divine ability than anything else, any power that didn’t include the goddesses. The power to write stories as he wished to a certain degree.

When using this power as a Duke, Sol was faced with different and very frustrating limitations due to the large amount of energy necessary to enact the power.

But now, by using the divinity dwelling in his body and bringing back his body to the power level of a Demigod, Sol had to admit that he felt almost invincible.

He felt that, even if he was to fight Tiamat or Anubis while winning was impossible and absolutely out of the equation, defeat could also be avoided.

This was simply the result of forcibly improving his power without having a proper base to build it upon. Neither a True name nor an Avatar. He didn’t even have a Territory.

Once he properly reached the level of demigod? Sol shuddered in anticipation of that time to come.

"Sol…"

Isis's voice brought Sol back to earth. Thanks to the link between them, she could currently share a part of his feelings.

"I am sorry. Getting used to this feeling is a daunting task."

The euphoria coursing through his vein currently was mind-numbing. Power was indeed the greatest and most powerful drug a man could ever desire for.

But Sol knew that he could not let himself be swept away by the flow and corruption of power. He had to control it, master it, and steers it in the direction that was most appropriate for him.

Standing in the world filled with the threads of Fate, he felt like only one thought from him was enough to change the law and even the very foundation of this world.

He took a deep breath, then exhaled out loud.

'Focus.'

The threads all around him became clearer in his eyes.

He had many small goals when conducting this act.

He gazed at the golden thread related to Invidia connecting Lilith. It was a faint thread and cutting it would be easier than ever.

"Let's start."

The four witches looked at each other and prepared themselves.

They had been extremely surprised by the sudden rise in power Sol was now showing. They had heard about his feats during the war. But seeing this phenomenon with their own eyes was quite a bit different.

Thankfully, they knew that they could keep their questions for later and so became serious about the important task ahead.

The four witches advanced together until they were standing around Lilith in four different directions.

A star with six branches, taking a hexagonal shape, appeared on the ground with Lilith laying down perfectly in the center.

When they reached this part, Isis and Hathor also walked forward and took positions on the two remaining branches of the hexagon that were unoccupied till now.

The hexagram, as the witches liked to call this formation, started to shine as the six powerhouses began to fill the circle with their mana.

"We are a tad bit short."

"Sorry. My realm isn't enough to keep a perfect synchronization with everyone."

"Don't worry. We already anticipated something like this."

Kali spoke lightly. Even though Isis was a divine beast, the quality, purity, and quantity of mana she could bring in as a mere Duke was relatively low when compared to a King.

A portal opened as one of Isis' undead at the King level appeared and poured mana through her body.

In a fight, this would have been an outrageous and stupid waste of energy.

But there were no constraints in place here.

The mana of different colors continued to meld and fuse and when the equilibrium was finally reached, the multicolored hexagram changed into a deep black and eerie color.

"The alchemy circle is ready."

Ambrosia muttered. In terms of alchemy, she was inferior to no one as she had been one of the main participants in the G.O.D project alongside Anubis and Echidna.

The work Neptune had done during his insane project was truly the work of a genius. But the lack of experience could be seen clearly.

The alchemy circle they were currently using could be seen as a six-pointed star or as two inverted triangles.

The mystical union of the two triangles represented the concepts of creation and rebirth.

"First we need to stabilize the two bloodlines in her body."

One of the reasons for Lilith's plight was that her human and succubus blood were not in harmony and, in fact, constantly fought against each other for dominance over her body. Thus, it created negative results where her body became too weak and her succubus blood tried to devour her own body as a result.

"Kali. You go first."

Kali closed her eyes. When she had been asked to participate in this madness, she had thought that Sol had finally gone crazy.

She took a deep breath and looked at Sol, asking him silently if he was really serious about this. Asking him for one last assurance so that she could escape from this madness.

To this, Sol simply nodded his head. His expression was grave but his decision was made.

Seeing this, Kali could only grit her teeth. Either way, it was already too late to stop after invoking that circle. Her previous thoughts had just been a way to escape her current reality. Nothing more.

『 Avatar : Shiva 』

Even though Kali summoned the power of her True Name, there was no great explosion of power nor any noticeable change that occurred in her.

After all, she had brought out her Avatar, not for a fight but in order to help her operate even more carefully.

"I am ready. What about you two?"

She gave a look toward Hathor and Persephone.

Once she received the confirmation from them she slowly brought her hand forward and a ball of light flickered in her hand before floating toward Lilith's body.

Kali was the Witch of Destruction. A power she honed after years and years of research and training.

There were few things she could not destroy and this did not only relate to big things that were found in nature.

The ball stopped above Lilith's chest and slowly, very slowly, entered her body.

Kali extended her senses. She could not allow herself to make even the slightest semblance of any mistake.

The energy spread slowly through the interior of Lilith's body.

Had she been awake or had her body been filled with any mana, this action would have been impossible to enact. After all, Lilith was no weaker than her in terms of both power and her status as a Kinge-rank being.

But this impossible situation became possible after Sol made sure to reduce Lilith's mana to near zero.

Once Kali was sure that Lilith’s whole body was filled with all of her energy, she did something that could be considered one of the most heinous things to do to an individual and a warrior no less.

Using the power of destruction… She neatly and perfectly — Erased all of Lilith's mana veins.

Lilith's body trembled as blood began to leak out from her lips. Even though Kali had been extremely meticulous in her task, the trauma and backlash one would receive due to losing all of their mana veins were simply too much for the body to bear.

Hathor and Persephone acted immediately and began to use their power to heal Lilith as fast as possible.

It took a few minutes, but when they were done, she was perfectly healed and healthy.

There was only one problem. If nothing changed, Lilith would only be a normal person from now on.

Furthermore…

"Medea."

"I am on it."

『 Avatar : Chronos 』

Without the constant protection of her mana veins, the ordinary body of Lilith was now even more fragile under the devouring of her bloodline.

If she was left like this, Persephone and Hathor would have to continuously heal her for her to even sustain her life. But Medea managed to change this by freezing the body in time directly after Persephone and Hathor had healed her body to its most optimal state.

"Isis, how is it going?"

"She is alright. I managed to stop her soul from leaving her body."

A sigh of relief leaked out of their mouths after hearing that statement. One of the most important mana veins in a human’s body was close to the heart.

For an instant, Lilith effectively died after having that vein destroyed due to Kali’s powers. Had there been no one to prevent it, it would have been possible for her soul to fly out of her body and simply enter the afterlife.

Thankfully, Isis used the power of her True Name — 『 Ereshkigal 』 — without hesitation to help them out.

She wasn't a true King yet, but it was more than enough for now.

The operation had only started for a few minutes but they were all already sweating from the nerves of the dire situation.

The only one who was feeling a little relaxed was Freya. But she knew that her main role in this operation was simply to provide the necessary energy required for this operation.

High above them, Sol was floating cross-legged with his eyes closed as he continued to observe the threads of Fate.

Whenever a small mistake could happen, he would simply prevent that Fate from unfolding by deviating to a more optimal path leading to their success.

He was consuming far less energy than he did during his fight against the two demigods, but he knew that this one wasn't much different in terms of consumption.

Ambrosia, who was floating next to Sol, looked down with curiosity.

– For a new beginning, there is a need for there to be an end –

This was what Sol mentioned to them when they asked him why he was so adamant about breaking her veins.

They understood then that Sol didn't just wish to heal Lilith.

He intended to completely revamp all the functions of her body and create her anew.

If he succeeded — Her thought stopped when she felt an aura of dread that made her soul shiver in fright and immediately distanced herself from Sol.

"You…"

From who knows where a pair of black scissors appeared in his hand.

At first, it looked like an ordinary pair of scissors with an odd color scheme.

But she could feel that this was a dangerous weapon, one having enough power to even make her feel dread and despair that she had stopped feeling after having stepped on the path of a demigod.

'What is he doing?'

Her eyes widened further as Sol moved his other hand and seemingly caught something out of thin air.

She could not feel it. She could not see it. She could not even sense it.

But— *Snap*

Without a shadow of a doubt, even though she did not know what it exactly was, she knew that something was cut. And it was something that had the power to affect reality itself.

'What the hell?'

She watched as Sol groaned and a trace of blood poured from his eyes, nose, and lips.

She approached him hurriedly but he stopped her from coming closer.

"Do not worry. I just underestimated the repercussions slightly. It won’t happen again."

His voice was light and his eyes were bright like the sun.

She could feel his aura slowly change as he seemed to have come to a realization.

"Kali. Start phase two. Now…"

Kali nodded and this time she was even more nervous than before.

If what she did previously was still in the realm of possibility, what she was about to do now was logically and scientifically so stupid that she nearly slapped Sol when he proposed this.

What she had to do now.

— was to burn away Lilith's succubus bloodline.

'This isn't a Xianxia for fucks sake!'

Kali cursed inwardly. Her brain kept telling her that things like adding or erasing a bloodline were purely impossible. It was no different than completely collapsing the entire genetic code of a person and killing them entirely.

But she also knew that this was not a world of logic in the first place. As such, she stopped thinking altogether and merely focused on her task.

She spread her senses to the extremities of her control and this time Freya intervened as well and helped her using her True Name.

『 Avatar : Ouranos 』

But even then this wouldn't be enough for them to do such a daunting task. They would need someone experienced in this field.

"Mother. I can't do it alone."

"Do not worry. Simply follow my lead."

Both Sol and Ambrosia floated back down close to the magical hexagram.

Ambrosia had also been shocked when Sol proposed this part to them. But unlike Kali, she knew that it was surely possible. As Chimera worked on a principle close to this.

Lilith as a homunculus was not much different in that regard.

Sol stayed silent as he brought his wrist above Lilith's mouth.

He wasn't crazy. All he needed was for Lilith to become fully human. By cutting the link with Invidia, with those black scissors of Causality, he made sure that the following operation would be even easier for them.

One of Lilith's greatest limitations was her weak body. She did not need her succubus power and had never needed it, to begin with.

As long as she obtained a body and mana vast and strong enough to sustain her powers, then it would be more than enough and who else in this realm had a stronger body than him?

"Now."

Everyone immediately worked in concert with each other. Kali with Freya and Ambrosia helped destroy Lilith's accursed bloodline.

Lilith seemed to crumble in herself. Her body distorted as her genetic chain completely collapsed.

But she did not die yet.

Medea, Persephone, Hathor, and Isis made sure of that by continuously restoring her body and holding in her soul.

Kali heaved and puffed out strained breaths. This was far more complicated than simply destroying the mana veins in her body.

This part of the operation lasted for more than a few hours as she had to continuously keep a constant flow of energy.

She still had enough energy, but from a mental viewpoint, she was nearing a breaking point.

Thankfully, at last…

"It is done."

She heaved a sigh of relief but could not look at Lilith.

Her body was deformed beyond belief. She looked more like a clump of flesh than anything else.

But — She was still alive. Her soul was still present in her body, if that could even be called a body at this point that is.

This was all Sol needed as he slit her wrist and began pouring golden divine blood on her deformed body.

Not the divine blood of Luxuria nor even that of Superbia.

—But the one generated by the new divine power inside his body.

Sol closed his eyes.

Currently, Lilith was a ‘Human’. The purest of all humans to be exact.

While he was a divine beast at the demigod level.

When the witches were studying Lilith and Pandora's blood, he had been busy studying what made the witches what they were.

And just like how Asmodeus created her own variation of humanity.

Sol too would create his own— starting with his dear aunt, Lilith.

He placed his hands together and started to manipulate the threads of Fate between them.

It was time to induce the ultimate enlightenment for Lilith.

<<A story of enlightenment: Vajrayogini>> [1]

Like a maestro conducting the greatest musical, Fate moved under his will and slowly created a new connection between the two of them.

"Hathor, Isis, the three of us will start Nirvana now."

The elevation of the Blood, Body, and Mind.

He had started the prologue of a new story. But the next pages of this epic would depend on Lilith and only herself.

Was she up to the task?

———

[1]: Vajrayogini is a Female Buddha. It's also the name of an old cult dating to around the 12th century. Vajrayogini's essence is a transcendent passion that is free of selfishness and illusion. She is a meditation deity and her practice includes methods for preventing ordinary death, intermediate state (bardo), and rebirth (samsara) by transforming them into paths to enlightenment, and for transforming all mundane daily experiences into higher spiritual paths. Everyone can see how fitting this is for Lilith.

(AN: My Editor doesn’t feel well and has an exam tomorrow. So chapter might be a little late. Anyway. Vol 11 is finally at its end. CH 401 to end this and a Special chapter to show goddess side.)