[107] Time for Ascension

[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.”Updated chapters at novelhall.com

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.

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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