[Author’s Note: The last two chapters had some paragraphs mixed up. They have been fixed now, and you can read the correct chapters after clearing your cache.]
He turned around to leave when Percival stopped him.
“There is something I’m curious about. Why are you so hell-bent on killing Henry Hargraves? I understand he killed the majority of humanity, but he had no choice. He didn’t do anything wrong—”
“I’m not punishing him for his past actions,” Alan said, cutting off Percival. “I’m just eliminating the possibility of a single person hoarding too much power.”
History proved that whenever a single person had too much power, they would bring a calamity.
Zeus was the perfect example.
One Above All was another. He might have sacrificed himself for the world, but his personality before that wasn’t good.
He was known for disrespecting people and acting on whim.
“So you will eliminate anyone who has a chance to become far stronger than others?”
“Yes. A society where people have varying strength can never be stable. That’s why I will remove anyone who threatens to upset the balance.”
Percival sighed.
Zeus Clan never cared about geniuses. What they focused on was making all members powerful.
It was why they trained all children until they bled, and why they did not give too many privileges to Morrigan even though she was a genius.
The Luminera continent was engulfed in hidden chaos as God Clans began to fight amongst themselves.
The public rage was reduced after the heroic sacrifice of One Above All was revealed.
But it never disappeared.
Henry did not care about the public.
He only spent his time and focus on Layla.
He did everything he could do to live a moment longer and look over his sister. He did not want to leave her orphaned.
Ten years later, Henry was barely alive.
He lay on a bed in a hospital room.
His pulse had weakened considerably, and according to doctors he did not have much time left.
“Where is Layla?” he asked in a normal tone despite having difficulty in breathing. His pride refused to let him show weakness.
“She is asleep,” Amelia answered.
She bit her lips and clenched her fists. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes.
She had always known that something was wrong when Henry asked her to help him raise Layla, but she always consoled herself by saying Henry was at least peak Exalted and could live for hundreds of years.
She told herself that he would not die and he was just being cautious.
‘No. Not again.’
Amelia regretted her past actions. In blind anger, she had refused to converse or interact with Henry unless absolutely necessary.
And now, she could no longer do that even if she wanted to.
“Why are… you like this…? Why are you… dying….” She eked the words out. She didn’t want him to die.
Henry did not answer her.
After a few minutes, he exhaled and spoke, “Amelia, thank you for always looking after Layla.”
“No. Don’t say that.”
“If you hadn’t been here, I would have no idea how to raise a child.”
“Please… stop talking… please…”
“Thank you, Amelia.”
He turned to her and saw her face covered in tears. Over the years, Amelia had grown into an incredible beauty.
Her silver-white hair looked as though they were made from stars, and her blood-red eyes seemed to be able to peer into one’s soul.
Despite having traits that made her look like a cold person, she had always been over-emotional.
Even now, she couldn’t stop crying because the person she ‘hated’ was dying.
“Please… don’t die…”
Her tears continued to fall.
Henry raised his hand weakly. His wrists were barely stable, since most of his muscles had been burned away.
With trembling hands, he wiped her tear and patted her head.
“Please continue to take care of Layla for me.”
Before Amelia could say anything, his pulse stopped.
His death shook her greatly, but she had to strengthen her heart if she wanted to support Layla. The child was in more despair than her.
Over the next few days, Henry’s corpse was cremated.
After everyone left the site of cremation, a wisp of purple smoke appeared above the area.
It transformed into a floating eyeball.
Velkaria, the Thousand Eye Despair.
Unlike others, she knew the exact cause of Henry’s death. It was her God, Yaleth.
During his previous life, Henry was forced to become a Void God mid-battle and create a Divinity if he wanted to be strong enough to stop Yaleth.
His Divinity – Flames of Abnegation – burned his soul, body, and Seed of Existence to empower him.
Although he won, he ended up doing permanent damage to his Seed of Existence that wouldn’t be repaired even if he was revived or reincarnated, at least not in one reincarnation.
It would take several reincarnations for the damage to heal naturally.
Thanks to this curse, he was born ‘defective’ in his next life as Henry Hargraves.
His body was incredibly weakened, and he could not awaken his God Blood.
After he formed a contract with Velkaria, he instantly became as strong as a Stage-3 being.
But that was borrowed strength.
Henry was still unawakened. He was just riding on the coattail of Velkaria.
Thanks to it, his lifespan was only 80 years, which was further reduced by being in close contact with a Void Entity for years.
Henry…
Velkaria’s voice was tinged with sorrow and bitterness.
She had always prayed that Henry would die quickly and she would be set free, but now that it happened, her heart was strangely in pain.
The contract between Henry and Velkaria had been simple.
Henry Hargraves will not reveal he has Velkaria inside his body, and he will not do anything that will bring her harm. Velkaria will relinquish all her powers to Henry Hargraves for as long as he is alive.
This contract was something Velkaria hastily concocted because she didn’t want to die after being fatally injured by parents of Henry.
After living inside Henry, she had enough time to slowly recover, and since no one found out about her, she was in no danger.