Son of the Hero King

Standing in front of the Gate of Truth, Adam looked on with unbridled curiosity brimming in his eyes. The void of the End was not somewhere one could ever escape from. Once they entered, there would be no returning for them. The Shadow of Finality inevitably brought everything to nothingness.

Sol was not the first of his reincarnations. Many before him came and many before him managed to reach this final step as well and yet all of them failed… all because they tried to control the never-ending power and authority that came with the End of all things, or… if they tried to reject the notion of facing the End.

Adam found the notion itself funny if he had to be honest. After all, in the first place, how could one even control something that was the antithesis of all existence? If the End of all could be controlled, could it be truly called the End?

Such a philosophical problem resulted in one thing.

Failure.

Be it in this universe or the others, all his reincarnation inevitably failed at this step, failed to revert or deny the End. Thus, in all timelines, the End inevitably swallowed them all, annihilating their world as Fate foretold.

Luxuria, you are really a stupid little girl.

Making sure that his soul would never reincarnate in this world had not been an easy feat as he had to remove himself from the source of the world in its entirety and travel through a different universe before his self was completely destroyed.

Ultimately, by using his power over Origin, he was able to start a new Beginning for himself and remove his existence from his original world and everything he once held dear.

As long as Sol's previous incarnation lived and died on Earth, this would have been the end for Adam, the finality of his existence, his consciousness and thoughts wiped out in its entirety, and everything reset to the base self.

His existence may survive, but Adam would reach his own End, the conclusion of his story. There would have been no more chance for this particular soul to awaken the End and bring the total destruction of a world.

Sadly his plan was destroyed by someone unexpected. Someone from this world managed to yank his Soul back to its original place, thereby rendering all his previous sacrifices to naught.

“I will dissipate either way after this but…” He couldn’t do much anymore.

Only the last ember of his powers remained now, and with it, there was little to nothing he could do to change the ultimate fate that would descend upon this world.

If Sol failed, the world he sacrificed everything to protect… would have to finally face its own End.

“How ironic.”

In trying to protect his world, he brought destruction to many worlds. Sadly, Karma seemed to have finally caught on and delivered him his comeuppance.

While such bleak thoughts plagued Adam’s mind, Sol’s Sea of Consciousness began to quake and crack away, breaking down into pieces. Fissures ran along reality and the once deep blue sea turned colors into a deep bloody red.

Huh?

Confusion colored Adam’s mind. The current change was definitely a first in all of his reincarnations.

These signs could only mean one thing— Sol was dying. But this should have been impossible. The power of End necessitated a living vessel to manifest in its purest form.

So, though it would take over the consciousness of the wielder, it would not actively destroy its host until it delivered the End to the world.

What have you done?

A paradox had just occurred. If Sol was truly dead, Adam should have started dissipating as well after getting absorbed by the Gate of Truth for one last time, and yet here he was… still free and left to his own devices in Sol’s Sea of Consciousness.

Nothing about this made any sense by any means.

Perhaps that was why…

Adam could feel a growing anticipation within him— a hope, a wish, a possibility for success.

If it’s you then…

A grin formed on his face as a long-lost feeling of excitement filled his heart for the first time in who knew how long. Either way, this would be the last time for him, anyway… He had already invested once in Sol back in the Astral Realm, so why not invest in the mad lad once more…

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All or nothing, right?

———

At the same time, in the Mortal Realm, Lilin, Setsuna, Milia, and Isis all felt their hearts miss a beat as a feeling of emptiness washed over them in sync. A feeling that seemed to be conveying to them that they had just lost something that they held dearest to their heart, something that had always been with them for a long long time.

“Sol…”

None of them panicked but they understood that the worst-case scenario had come to pass. Knowing that, they immediately started spreading apart, making the distance to enact the emergency plan that was planned for this very moment.

Thanks to Lilith and Wukong keeping the two kings busy, they were able to move about with relative freedom. Soon, they were standing at the exact position representing the direction of the South-East, South-West, North-East, and North-West in the second circle Sol had drawn inside the Mirror World.

“It’s time to start.” The cry of a phoenix resounded in the sky as a pillar of flames connected heaven and earth with blinding brilliance.

Isis thought of the ritual Sol had prepared over the last seven days while infusing her surroundings with the power of Death. Thus, she started reciting the words Sol had passed onto her, all for this very moment.

“Once the sound of the Sixth trumpet resonates, the second woe will descend. The four riders of the Apocalypse will be freed from the river of apocalypse and bring forth the End of mankind. I am Death, the Pale Rider.”

I am sorry, father…

She started muttering a short litany and those words resonated with the world, bringing her power. Isis had always rejected the concept of Death as she did not want her path to clash with her father’s road to godhood. She knew that he would undoubtedly give in to her if she so wished, however, that was what not she wished but her hands were tied.

Still, Sol told her that she did not have to worry about ruining everything her father built. He assured her that if he succeeded, two Deaths, would be able to exist independently. She believed him even though what he was saying made no sense and as such she decided to enact this gamble.

Her aura changed as the previous King's name she had worked her entire life on… eroded before her own eyes and a completely new path opened up for her.

Close to Isis, Lilin took a deep breath while her mind went past everything that happened in recent times. Unlike Isis, Lilin had no particular path she wanted that clashed with anyone else.

She had long given up on the pure path of the sword and more so wished to use the power of her killing intent to pave a new road for herself. This was a path of demons, a path toward becoming a Shura.

Her hair and eyes were dyed red as she brought forth the full power of her killing intent and manifested it into existence,

“I choose the path of War and thus become the Red Rider.” Blood coalesced into a sword and a name started forming in her sea of consciousness. A path riddled with a sea of blood and endless death. But she knew that this was the path best suited for her.

Standing opposite Lilin was none other than Setsuna. Out of all of them, she was the most wounded and still needed to recover. But she refused to let her wounds slow her down. Her path had been one filled with thorns for more than ten years and now, one of her greatest wishes was about to be accomplished.

Lupus would die and she would regain the throne that was rightfully hers. An all-freezing chill settled around Setsuna, billowing into a white mist, and a crown made of frost and frigid snow manifested above her head akin to a floating halo.

“I am Setsuna, the White Rider and thus, I will embody Conquest.” A kingly path that was worthy of a Queen. If Sol wished to conquer the world then she would stand at the forefront with no hesitation whatsoever, decimating all his foes.

Watching the three girls all reaching a new level, Milia felt nothing but pride in her heart. After all, those girls were all under the rule of her one and only master.

For Milia, her path had long been decided, long before this plan ever came into fruition. Shadowy silhouettes of slithering reptiles billowed into existence and surrounded her, opening their maws with a bone-chilling hiss. As a child, she had been bestowed the power of Gluttony and yet she was not satisfied. She wanted more, like a deep black hole wishing to devour all creation.

This was why,

“I shall thus be Famine, the Black Rider.” Devouring all creation would be the eventual path that would lead her to godhood, and she cared not that a goddess already stood on that very path. If necessary, she would eat even the gods themselves if that is what her lord wished.

In the distance, Eins could feel that something was going horribly wrong. He did not know what kind of ritual was happening, but his intuition screamed at him that he needed to stop it, and yet he was unable to as Camelia seemed to have given up all thoughts of any defense and relentlessly attacked her surroundings while covering the four girls in holy territory.

“Are you crazy, woman!? Do you not care about what happens to your friends!?” Neither Lilith nor Wukong were in the Holy territory, and they were truly at risk of death at this rate, but Camelia did not stop.

She would rather eliminate everything in her surroundings than let this ritual be interrupted at this crucial moment.

“Girls, do not stop! No matter what, you must succeed!” She shouted at Isis and the others, prompting them to nod and redouble their efforts to focus on the connection that had vanished from their soul.

Even though it was gone, the emptiness in itself was akin to a hole that needed to be filled. As the only one present with the deepest understanding of the soul here, it was Isis’ job to focus the powers and concepts that the girls embodied into bringing Sol back from the other side.

Death, War, Conquest, and Famine.

Four concepts related to the Apocalypse from what Sol told her, and thus the very embodiments that delivered the world its the End.

Holding this power felt like holding pure unadulterated energy so unstable it was ready to explode at any moment. But under her careful control, this unstable power calmed down and started filling her and the missing link.

Please, Sol. Please!

Isis did not believe in the goddess, only in Sol and thus she prayed. Prayed that he was not wrong and that his gamble was not a mistake. All she wanted was for Sol to survive and for them to spend another day together.

Yet nothing seemed to happen.

Isis was on the verge of a breakdown. After all, Sol seemed to have truly vanished for good this time. But just as she was about to wail in despair, she heard it.

{Thanks.} Sol's voice sounded in her mind.

It was only one word. But for her, this word was worth everything, even the world itself.

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