[Three-headed Hydra - Silver] becomes [Four-headed Hydra - Gold] !
[Four-headed Hydra - Gold] - A newborn hydra has one head. At one year, they acquire a second. At ten, a third, and so on in multiples of ten. It has been a hundred years since your body acquired this Title, and the frailty that comes with age is offset by the growth of the Hydra slumbering within you.
Your vitality allows you to regenerate any body part as long as you have the time and energy. You may restore a limb or organ once per day; this bonus doubles if the missing part is your head.
The toxicity of your blood increases and gains corrosive properties.
VIT +20% (NEW: +10%)
There were undoubtedly countless ways to upgrade this Title, but the simplest remained aging. Priam could age faster than anyone and he intended to exploit that glitch.
“...What glitch am I talking about? My memory’s failing me,” he murmured, searching for a seat. His back ached, and he was tired of standing.
An arrow of bone halted less than a centimeter from his left eye, and Priam blinked. Old age had dulled his reflexes, and only his add-on’s intervention had saved his life.
“Even now, you continue to elude death,” a familiar voice said.
A token materialized in his hand and it took Priam a few seconds to realize what he had to do.
Reborn Token - Reset biological lifespan (Legendary) used.
Note: This effect will not result in any Titles or Achievements. No skills will be granted for unearned feats.
A fountain of youth erupted within him, and the old man groaned as his strength surged back. Thanks to [Homo Elysian Obsession], his soul began rejuvenating as well. Priam closed his eyes, savoring the sensation. If aging was a blight capable of breaking even the most serene of monks, its opposite was pure bliss. The only comparison he could make was a prolonged orgasm—one devoid of any sexual connotation.
Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, the Juggernaut cheated death. Once more.
When the rejuvenation finally ebbed, leaving him in the body of a twenty-five-year-old, Priam exhaled in quiet disappointment. The experience transcended anything he had ever known, redefining the word ‘bliss’.
“As a teenager, I hated you.”
Priam opened his eyes. “Why?”
“You crushed all my dreams, burdening me with impossible expectations.”
“...”
“Like any kid, I wanted to be a hero. My father was one, and everyone said my natural gifts made even geniuses despair. I became an Ace at eight. Earned my first Mythic Achievement at fifteen. From dawn to dusk, I trained—to be like you, to surpass you. I had the best teachers—including you—guiding me every step of the way. Then, at seventeen, right before I Tiered up to try for Ace II, I faced the echo you left behind in the Colosseum. A mere copy of you, wielding the System for less than six months.” His nemesis paused, staring at his hands. “I should have won. My Supremacies, attributes, and bloodlines were superior… Your phantom annihilated me.” He swallowed. “That night, when I came home, I told Mom I was quitting the path of a warrior. I became a healer instead.”
The Juggernaut had always known his shadow would eclipse others. He never imagined one of them would be his own son.
“I don’t know what to say… but I’m sorry my other self never noticed.”
His son burst into laughter. “Father knew—little escaped him. Deep down, he was relieved I didn’t become a warrior. He worried a lot about his family.”
“You too.”
“Hum?”
“I obtained [Twisted Soul] because my soul followed the alteration of my body. If you had tampered with my genome in a bad way, you could’ve forced my soul to become apocryphal.”
A shiver ran through the nemesis. “If I had ever considered it, the System would’ve turned me into a puppet and I would’ve welcomed that fate.” He clasped his hands to stop them from trembling. “We emigrated to Elysium because of an Apocryphe… and the memory of that abomination still haunts my nights. His Story was wrong.”
“I thought you and Vic left when the Depths drowned half of Sector Hope?”
“It’s connected.”
“How—”
“I refuse to discuss it further. Let’s end this,” he said, spreading his arms wide.
“Just like that?”
“Mom is dead, my siblings don’t exist, and my friends were never born. I despise this world.”
Priam summoned Promesse. “You’re not even going to fight back?”
His instincts screamed that his son could be an exceptional opponent if he wanted.
“What’s the point?”
His son’s sorrow struck Priam, and he sighed before leaping forward. At the last moment, an immense shadow blocked his path. Priam rolled aside, dodging the devastating sweep of a massive tail. As he regained his footing, a colossal maw lunged at him. Smirking, the Juggernaut shoved his discarded body into the beast’s path and vanished into mist. He reappeared a few meters away—just as the draconic lung of his former vessel exploded from the pressure it had accumulated. Holding a Breath for several minutes made for a spectacular finale.
The detonation ballooned the wyrm like a birthday balloon. For a heartbeat, Priam thought it might withstand the blast—but then flesh gave way. The shockwave shredded the creature, scattering putrid entrails across the bunker. The nightmarish head crashed to the ground.
Straining his ears, Priam detected a steady pulse deep within the skull. A heart was still beating inside.
“Fucking beast,” he muttered, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The wyrm’s ability to reflect a portion of the damage it took was a real pain in the ass. Like a hedgehog or a sea urchin, it was best to leave it alone. Too bad I didn't have a choice...
Leaving his natural regeneration to handle the rest, the Champion turned and walked toward his nemesis. Father and son stared at each other for a long moment before the latter exhaled sharply.
“Your final Tribulation will strike in less than a minute. Hurry up.”
Ignoring the goosebumps prickling his arms, Priam nodded. If his son had the courage to face death head-on, then he would be brave enough to deliver it.
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He raised Promesse. “I think I made a mistake. About Vic.”
“...Mom would have sacrificed humanity’s future for you.”
“I... The Tutorial was hell.”
His nemesis clenched his jaw before locking eyes with his father. “Only a King can petition for the resurrection of someone who died in an Impossible Tutorial. I don’t know if you’ll ever reach that rank, but if you do, bring her back.”
“I will,” Priam vowed as the air around them crackled with raw energy. The final Tribulation was preparing to execute the slow candidate.
“Any last words?”
“I was born eight and a half months after your Tutorial.”
The world might as well have crumbled beneath Priam’s feet.
“You said Vic’s implant failed because of [Humanity Adapts]. That you were conceived at the Mercenaries’ Guild. In my dream!”
“I said Mom’s birth control was ineffective when you were with them, not that it hadn’t failed before that. She was on anti-epileptic meds that reduced its effectiveness, and... who cares now?” He sighed. “You never asked for my name because you didn’t want to humanize me, did you? To be honest, I don’t remember it myself. I guess my whole life has been a lie—a simulation of your nightmare. Still, I want you to know that I’m not just a figment of one of your dreams. I existed. And now, kill me!”
Thunder roared, heralding death’s arrival. With a cry of rage and sorrow, Priam brought Promesse down.
The wyrm bellowed in its death throes.
You have gained the skill: [Karmic Consequence Resistance - Epic].
Jasmine didn’t need the notification to know that something terrible had just happened. A moment ago, all had been still. Now, her instincts screamed as above her, Priam’s spear descended upon his nemesis with terrible finality.
A glance at the reptile’s carcass and the young woman understood. The wyrm had woven its karmic powers to entwine her fate with that of the Tribulation. If Priam killed his son, Jasmine would die as well.
The Juggernaut’s Shadow closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
[Host death imminent. Emergency signal sent.]
The traitorous add-on alerted its master, and at the last possible moment, Priam halted his strike.
“No!”
He looked down, and Jasmine was almost glad to see anguish in his eyes—a torment proportional to the love she bore him. For all his power, Priam was drowning in the horror of this event.
A thunderclap without lightning made the nemesis flinch, and Jasmine felt the System’s attention settle upon them. Priam hesitated, then shook his head. When he lowered his gaze again, he was smiling at his Shadow.
Jasmine’s heart clenched, and a single tear slipped from her eye. He’s ready to kill his son to survive... but he refuses to let me die because of him.
The Juggernaut threw his head back and roared at the heavens. Of course, he had no intention of dying without a fight. Jasmine had no doubt the battle would be spectacular... but Priam would lose in the end. seaʀᴄh thё NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
She would not allow it.
“I became your Shadow to protect you, not the other way around,” she declared, stepping from the darkness. A dagger materialized in her grip, and she struck at the nemesis.
“Jasmine, no!”
The System’s wrath fell upon the one who dared attack a Tribulation.
A bolt of lightning struck Jasmine down before Priam’s eyes, shredding her cloak of shadows. Seeing her naked body collapse to the ground, he roared in fury.
“I didn’t control the wyrm,” a soft voice murmured.
Blinded by rage, furious at the world, the mage turned on his son. Promesse followed, obliterating the heart of the innocent Tribulation.
As the System’s presence faded, Priam fell to his knees. He gathered Jasmine’s body in his arms, pressing a trembling hand against the tattoo adorning her neck. Beneath his fingers, there was no pulse.
And so, without shame, the Juggernaut wept.
Status:
PHYSICAL:
Strength 915
Constitution 1 624 (+8)
Agility 1 256
Vitality 1 643 (+106)
Perception 884 (+3)
MENTAL:
Vivacity (D) 634
Dexterity 787
Memory 979 (+5)
Willpower 1 221
Charisma 894
META:
Meta-affinity (O) 1 103
Meta-focus 633
Meta-endurance 1 122
Meta-perception 558
Meta-chance 678
Meta-authority 555
Potential: 26 669 (-566)
Tier 0
Sun points: 1 143 444
[He Who Eludes Death] charge: OFF. Reloaded in 17 hours 41 minutes 6 seconds.
Concepts:
Bloodlines:
Rewards standing:
[Tribulation]: Two Tribulations pending.
Future Tribulations delayed until:
Time: 29 days 19 hours 41 minutes 54 seconds.
Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 900 / 6 attributes > 1 200 / 1 attribute > 1 800
Tribulations ended and next arc already complete on Patreon if you want to find out what happens next!
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