Ch 177 – Fortune in Misfortune

The cries of roosters rang through the morning horizon, the warm orange sun bathed the land a soft yellow color, and the clouds turned white and fluffy as morning soon greeted this side of the Earth. In one particular area, one can find a particular family estate that belongs to a legendary family of the world of Earth—the Aeterna Family Estate.

Who are they? They are a legendary lineage of mages with members having their names ring throughout the entire world. Many of which were S-Rank figures, beings that hold powers rivaling an entire nation's military might!

In a world where might means right, S-Rank beings are kings among kings! They are heroes that slay legendary dragons. They are champions of their race! They are figures with their own legends being sung through the annals of time!

Though not as powerful as Demigods, they are still powerhouses that have incomparable might! They can cause mayhem to entire kingdoms, bring the ruin of cities with their wrath, and affect the lives of countless beings with their every action!

They can be the shining beacons of light that protect the world from danger, or be the harbinger of doom! They hold might comparable to an entire nation, they have abilities far surpassing what most mortals can achieve and wield power one can consider otherworldly.

They are only one step away from Demigods, and are considered the 'peak' of the mortal realm. Demigods are already far above what mortals are capable of doing, due to the fact that the higher the rank, the bigger the gap becomes. Demigods are in a strange area between mortals and Gods; they are far above mortals but far below Gods.

So with a family that produced multiple S-Rank figures already, one can see the might they hold as a whole. One can even consider them as overlords of Europe, the continent in which the family is located. Very few forces on Earth hold the same influence as them, along with the same might.

And inside the family estate, one can see that no living beings seem to be inside it. There were no butlers or maids doing their duties, there were no gardeners taking care of the plant life in the wide expanse of the garden, there were no butterflies or bees pollinating the flowers, it felt barren and empty.

"Haa…" Nox Aeterna exhaled deeply, his chest deflating lightly as in front of him, one can see a weird milky white lump condensing and twisting around like a spectral ball of light.

If one even listened closely, one can hear the shrieks of pain emanating from the milky white ball of spectral light. On it, one can find faces of the damned crying out for help, but alas, the room Nox Aeterna was in was the very same room his Dream Incubator was located.

Even if one was a powerful figure of S-Rank strength, they'd have a hard time escaping this place unscathed due to the myriad of measures Nox Aeterna put up just in case any mishap were to happen.

'Healing my soul is taking a lot of time.' Nox Aeterna opened his eyes lightly, and a pair of brilliant rainbow eyes like priceless jewels were seen. Deep within them, one can visibly see the deep mysteries lying behind his innocent child exterior that would make one feel a chill crawl up their spine.

Waving his arms, he manipulated his mana and the fabrics of space around him tore open from multiple areas. Plunging out them were mystical pills, many of which exuded strong aromas and spiritual energy, pills perfectly suited to nourish the soul and even strengthen it.

Using his immense skill and law comprehension over multiple Laws, the lump of milky white souls and pills in front of him burned under intense ethereal white flames. Instantly, he heard the soul-piercing shrieks of the lump of souls in front of him, but he remained unperturbed.

He was Isaac Deathwill, a legendary undead lich that has lived for over a thousand years. His name rang through the tunnels of time back in Tellus, with his legends spread throughout the entire world. He was a legendary Demigod one step away from reaching the realm of Gods, with unfathomable powers to mortal men. He has delved into many paths of magic, comprehending countless laws to a high degree, with his highest attainment being that of Death.

The Law of Soul is closely intertwined with the Law of Death, so Nox Aeterna, of course, has a deep foundation in regards to the subject of souls. But as of now, he was a clone produced through a jeopardized method, and his current abilities are not completely reintegrated from the original body.

'I already expected that my soul would get damaged from before, but with my current S-Rank Law of Soul attainment is barely enough to heal the damage done by a God. Using my deep understanding over many other Laws that have successfully breached into the realm of Demigods, I can use them as a foundation to devise a way to use ordinary souls and pills to heal my special soul imbued with the Law of Dream!' His eyes gleamed with brilliance, but he coughed out blood out of nowhere as an intense soul-wrenching pain appeared from within.

The lump of milky white light in front of him flickered dangerously close to breaking down instantly, but Nox Aeterna quickly stabilized the situation while slowing down the refinement process. He sighed lightly, feeling his aching soul that continued to deteriorate, he let out a breath of turbid air and stretched out both of his arms forward.

More mana poured towards the flames, and the lump of milky white light gathered once more into a circular ball. Finally, as time passed, the lump quickly turned into a strange ping-pong-sized ball that floated in the air in front of him.

It had a wispy exterior, and it exuded strong spiritual energy that would make anyone on Earth shout out in shock with how potent the energy was even though it was simply its mere aura. Also, the sounds of shrieks faded away, and the ball silently floated in the air in front of him without the faces of the damned showing on its exterior shell.

'Hmm, this will barely do to heal my soul and even raise it to A-Rank, with my immense foundation formed from countless comprehended Laws, I can deal with normal S-Rank figures with a high chance of winning…' Nox Aeterna stretched out his hand, and the ball landed on his palm before he continued: 'But my parents are already at the peak of S-Rank! And if they work together with each other, they can exert battle strength comparable to a low-tier Demigod!'

What is a Demigod? They are beings that have transcended the realm of mortals and have the strength to affect the entire world! Their every spell can raze continents down to the ground, their attacks can cause oceans to shake, and their breath can part the clouds and mow down forests! Their power is simply incomprehensible to any mortal, for they are essentially of the same status as a God!

But that is quite an ignorant view, for a Demigod to face a God is like a child facing an adult! The higher the rank, the wider the gap becomes! Gods are beings who hold power far above what any mortal being can imagine! Facing a Demigod would merely be child's play for them.

'A Demigod, huh, to think that I have already so many multiple Demigod-level comprehensions while remaining as a mortal. Once I ascend to a Demigod, my battle strength would rise by several folds as the bare minimum! Not even my original body has attained so much Demigod-level comprehension as me!' Nox Aeterna brightly grinned, his eyes squinting while he stared at the mysterious lump in his hand with interest. Even though he held more Demigod-level comprehension than his original body, he knew that his original body held innumerable S-Rank comprehension over countless other Laws than him. Though he had quality, his original body's average quality of S-Rank added to his countless Law Comprehensions outmatches his few Demigod-level comprehension. This was the classic case of high quality versus above average quality added with immense quantity. Though Isaac Deathwill was definitely not an ordinary individual due to the fact that he has been alive for over a thousand years already!

Opening his mouth, he tossed the pill into his mouth and closed his mouth shut. A burst of spiritual energy instantly pervaded his system, but he calmly responded to the burst of energy and swiftly guide it toward his rainbow-colored soul full of cracks and fissures.

Like a cool spring, a strange sensation greeted his soul as it quickly recovered under the stream of spiritual energy healing it. From ginormous cracks being filled with white spiritual energy and getting repaired, to many small cracks receiving the same treatment. In mere moments, his originally damaged soul that neared the brink of dissipation escaped the grasp of death and into a more favorable state.

If anyone else were to have taken the pill, they'd be unable to control the overwhelming burst of spiritual energy and would waste a lot of it. Healing their soul would have already expended a lot of the energy, let's not talk about even nourishing their soul to increase their strength.

But Nox Aeterna holds a deep foundation formed from his immense multiple Demigod-level comprehension of multiple Laws. Not only that, but he also has the skills that have successfully integrated over the past few days from his original body, so him wielding the immense burst of energy didn't impose much of a problem for Nox Aeterna.

The more he continued to nourish his soul, the more the integration process between him and his original body continued to deepen. Previously lost memories appeared in his mind, skills that he has no way of doing became instinctual for him, and his comprehension over multiple laws also rose successfully out of nowhere.

One can say that him facing the dream of the mysterious God with the Law of Sleep held more blessings than misfortune. Not only did his Law of Sleep comprehension rose to Z-Rank in mere minutes, but also his Law of Dream comprehension has entered the realm of Demigods! His soul has also evolved and mutated under the strange conditions brought by being inside a dream filled with the Law of Sleep and being inside the realm of dreams with incomparably dense Law of Dream. Due to those conditions, his soul has been imbued with the Law of Sleep which increased his effectiveness in exploring dreams by many folds altogether.

Now, the reintegration process is rapidly increasing due to him exerting more and more of his damaged soul and healing it.

'By my estimate, regaining all of my original body's abilities would happen soon enough. With so many Laws comprehended at S-Rank, it would deepen my foundation to another level and I can easily deal with S-Ranks even with lower raw strength than them.' Nox Aeterna continued to manipulate the mysterious ethereal energy stemming from spirits to nourish his own soul.

Slowly, all of the damage was healed and his soul regained its brilliant rainbow color. Not only that, but his weak aura slowly rose in strength with each passing second.

From a measly F-Rank to a slightly more powerful E-Rank. Then his aura rose once more and entered the more powerful D-Rank realm. Then C-Rank, B-Rank, until eventually…

'Ha!' He shouted in his mind and he wielded the remaining energy to ram against his soul and strengthen it further. His previously small soul the size of his heart has already rapidly increased in size, and its rainbow shine has turned brighter the stronger and larger it became.

Eventually, just like Nox Aeterna expected, his aura rapidly rose towards A-Rank and a burst of spiritual energy exploded outwards with him as the epicenter.

Feeling the increase in strength, he grinned lightly and opened his pair of rainbow eyes that glimmered with killing intent. 'Mother, father, it seems like you two will now have to unfortunately die by my hands.'

AN: This chapter has 2047 words.

(October 16, 2022 – 326th day of writing)