The Path
Devouring, ma.s.sacre, greed, and death… Various powerful laws converged in Leylin’s body, causing him to grow without end. The path to becoming a rank 8 Magus was the control of several laws, and with three new laws added Leylin quickly broke through from the peak of rank 7.
Everything fell into place. Even just one of death or ma.s.sacre could have brought him to rank 8, but with four different laws condensing together he broke through to a different realm entirely.
A terrifying phantom Targaryen appeared behind his back, hissing like an ancient ruler of beasts. Its body guarded by fine crimson scales covered the skies, and it flapped its devilish wings as its single horn radiated terror. The most intriguing of all was its third eye, the pupil within that was as large as a star containing a trace of cold-blooded indifference.
The Targaryen was a representation of the laws Leylin comprehended. Every scale contained the power of laws so strong that another Magus could comprehend some of a law just by looking at it. It was extremely precious for Magi ranked 4 to 8.
Now, even more laws were infused into these scales. Death, ma.s.sacre, and greed converged in a whirlpool as the Targaryen continued to grow. The creature hissed as multiple bulges appeared at its neck.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Three loud explosions rang out at the Targaryen’s neck as three more heads popped out, carrying the new laws Leylin had obtained. They were slightly smaller than the original, having neither the horn nor the third eye, but other than that they were identical.
Many more heads grew beside these four as well. However, they seemed illusory, as if they lacked something important that prevented them from materialising.
“A rank 8 Magus needs to comprehend multiple laws To reach the peak of rank 8 one needs to comprehend their own path, cultivating their own set of laws…” The serpent howled as Leylin’s spoke, each note causing the astral plane to tremble.
“My path is the root of all evil. With dreamforce as the foundation I shall fuse gluttony, greed, and wrath, pride, l.u.s.t, sloth, and envy. This shall couple with ma.s.sacre and death, forming the path of original sin.”
“Henceforth, I am the Lord of Original Sin!” Leylin’s voice at this moment travelled across the entire astral plane. Dreamscape trembled with joy, it’s origin force converging as Leylin unleashed a dark red dreamforce at the peak of its power.
With the Nightmare Absorbing Physique having sacrificed a Lord of Calamity to the world, Dreamscape gave Leylin the highest level of access to its origin force. Using it to fuse his laws would not be a problem.
*Hsss!* The four-headed Targaryen roared, using the law of devouring that mutated from devouring to fuse ma.s.sacre, death, and greed. Crimson dreamforce catalysed the fusion, forming the basis of a perfect path.
An incomplete, seemingly weak light shone right into the phantom Targaryen. Leylin’s path having materialised, the beast underwent a complete transformation. Crimson light covered its body during the act, before fading to reveal a ma.s.sive and powerful figure in the Targaryen’s place.
This creature had nine pairs of devilish wings, each wide enough to cover an entire world. The scales on its body were now black, interlaced with complicated crimson runes. Nine malevolent heads roared in different directions, four real and five illusory. The head in the centre, the one with the horn and third eye, was radiating an incredibly powerful aura.
This aura far surpa.s.sed rank 7, pointing towards a path that led to truth.
[Beep!] the A.I. Chip soudned out, [Host bloodline has advanced, approaching the limit of its roots. Retrieving stats… The Targaryen Serpent’s genes have been transformed, reaching perfection. a.n.a.lysing law runes…]As if dictated by something like fate, the A.I. Chip returned with a truename for this nine-headed serpent, [Beep! Host bloodline’s truename is now Nine-Headed Nightmare Hydra(incomplete).
Law of devouring has evolved under the influence of the bloodline— Devour is now an innate rank 8 spell.]
‘Nine-Headed Nightmare Hydra?’ Leylin looked over all the information provided by the A.I. Chip. His bloodline had been transformed, but it still lacked the necessary laws to reach completion. It would have to wait until he devoured the remaining Lords of Baator, clearing all obstacles to his breakthrough to rank 9.
“The seven sins are the basis of vile thoughts. These thoughts lead to violence, and violence causes death. The cycle is thus formed…” The Nightmare Hydra roared from behind Leylin at this moment. Every emotion of gluttony and greed, every murder, and every death was absorbed into a black fog that shrouded it, making it seem more sinister and darker than before.
The source of these emotions wasn’t restricted to Leylin’s divine kingdom. Nay, all of Baator, the prime material plane, indeed even the entire astral plane came under his control. Be it wors.h.i.+ppers, friends, enemies, or even strangers, the sins of all beings in existence would be absorbed by him. With the foundation of dreamforce, Original Sin would cover the entire astral plane!
“As long as intelligent beings remain in this universe, I will never die,” Leylin proclaimed.
The power of sin would become his strength, a power that n.o.body could escape from. Put bluntly, be it G.o.ds or Magi, nothing could ever kill him unless the entire astral plane was destroyed. Even if he was attacked and slain, he would revive from the sins of any being! Such was the might of dreamforce combined with original sin!
There were various paths that led to the truth, and thus there had been many peak rank 8s that had survived to this point. However, Leylin’s path of original sin was at the top of the list, a result of every move of his being painstakingly planned out.
Leylin s.h.i.+fted his gaze towards his divine kingdom. Despite his G.o.d clone being devoured by the main body and a small part of it dying with Distorted Shadow, it had remained upright. This was extremely unfathomable to the World of G.o.ds, breaking all known laws.
“Kukulkan, my Lord, you are a star in the skies, the Lord of the Natives, the Ruler of Devils… You have shown mercy on my soul, and are my only haven in death…” Many pet.i.tioners continued to pray in the divine kingdom, feeling nothing amiss. It was like Kukulkan’s death hadn’t affected them in the slightest.
[Experiment successful. Divine kingdom remains stable, and the power of faith is moving smoothly.] Another of Leylin’s clones appeared within the divine kingdom, carrying the dignity of a G.o.d. However, its voice was the extremely monotonous tone of the A.I. Chip.Indeed, this new ‘clone’ was being operated by the A.I. Chip, having fused with one of Kukulkan’s avatars. Even as the true body fell, this clone took over everything just as Leylin had planned.
This was also a decision Leylin had made in the past. He didn’t like how faith had so much of a hold over G.o.ds, but he didn’t just want to toss his divine kingdom and pet.i.tioners away. He’d instead have the A.I. Chip take control of an avatar, becoming the G.o.d Kukulkan itself.
This would be downright impossible for a G.o.d, but with the A.I. Chip having fused with his soul Leylin could do it. The A.I. Chip at this point was another Leylin, even one that had pa.s.sed the probe of the World of G.o.ds as it took over his divine kingdom.
“Great!” Leylin nodded, and the Nightmare Hydra spat out an illusory divine spark that it inserted into the clone. Having gained control of the divine domain, alongside the fact that this auxilliary A.I. Chip was under the control of the central one within Leylin, Kukulkan was reborn once more.
Even though the divinity the Hydra gave the clone was only a simulation, it was just like a greater G.o.d authorising their subordinates to manage their divine kingdom. Despite Distorted Shadow’s plans, Leylin hadn’t suffered any repercussions at all!