Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 939 - 939: The Veil

The Sea Green jewel began to glow ominously when the Obsidian Black jewel released a flash of dark light.

While Artemisia watched in shock at the destruction of Arthur’s arm, he remained unfazed, his gaze fixed on Hades’ crystal in his left hand, which glowed in response.

After a moment, the light faded, and the Authority of the Sky-Blue and Sea Green jewels calmed, ceasing their glow, while the Obsidian Black jewel emitted a low hum, resonating with Arthur through Hades’ crystal.

Raising his bony arm, Arthur pointed the staff toward Beatrix, whose vitality was waning.

|¬The son of the King of the Underworld commands you, retract the Curse of the Styx. ¬|

The jewel flashed brilliantly, and the black energy draining Beatrix’s life force began to retreat. Her skin regained its natural colour as the dark energy was drawn into the Obsidian jewel.

Immediately, Artemisia began scanning Beatrix’s body to be sure she was fine. Though she appeared calm, from her bleeding palms where her nails had pierced her skin; she was anything but.

Directing the staff at Evan, the same phenomenon occurred and the curse that had been fighting his Mesarthim’s Yellow flames vanished.

Arthur turned to Artemisia, wanting to speak, but saw her meticulously scanning Beatrix’s body and chose to remain silent.

If Arthur hadn’t been Hades’ son and possessed a fragment of the god of Darkness’ Authority, Beatrix would have died from the Curse of the Styx within the hour.

Artemisia, attached to Beatrix, was understandably frantic. She was just better at hiding her emotions.

Leaving her to tend to the unconscious Beatrix, Arthur stabbed the staff into the ground and raised his injured arm.

The Authority that had wounded him was too great for his Time Reversal to heal, so he removed the artifact on his hand and waited for his cosmic energy to regenerate his flesh.

Turning to the Chief Priest, he asked again.

|¬How do you have this staff? ¬|

“…”

The man offered no response, staring blankly at Arthur. He wasn’t dead, but his mind seemed shattered by despair—despair at having attacked the descendant of his god.

He could see that Arthur had controlled the staff and heard the words he had spoken.

“That thing… is your father’s power?”

Evan asked, prompting Arthur to twist his lips before replying.

“Yes, and No. Mostly Yes.

It’s a ‘Replenishable Charge’ of the Authority owned by the ‘King of the Underworld’. A ‘Ruler’s Authority’.”

Looking at Artemisia, who was knowledgeable about deity-related matters, he continued.

“It’s probably what your father has and why he’s considered a ‘god King’. Except that the ‘Ruler’s Authority’ he possesses is many times weaker than my Dad’s.

Ruler Authorities are things that Pantheon Members who lord over Important ‘Territories’ and controlled Vital Realms and Dimensions in a Universe possess.

If my guess is correct, the Authorities of ‘Race Kings’ in this Universe are this same Ruler’s Authority, but modified and split into countless fragments.

Each Race King possesses a fragment of the True Ruler’s Authority.”

Arthur accurately analysed the true nature of the Authorities that ‘Race Kings’ possessed and the reason they had those titles.

Each Race King of Valmone indeed held a fragment of the True Ruler’s Authority, complete with racial modifiers.

Artemisia looked up at him as he spoke but remained silent, turning her gaze to the dormant jewels on the staff.

Arthur also focused on them, attempting to rouse them with his divinity, but they remained unresponsive—as he expected.

“These Jewels are all Charges of Olympian Ruler Authorities.

The Sky-Blue Jewel is the ‘Authority of the Sky’, the Sea Green Jewel is the ‘Authority of the Sea’, and the Obsidian Black Jewel is the ‘Authority of the Underworld’.”

Evan quickly recalled his knowledge of Olympian Mythos and mentioned the three gods who wielded these powers.

“The Three Brothers Who Rule Olympus: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades…”

Looking at Arthur, he continued.

“…your father.”

“Indeed. But it makes no sense that their Authorities are here.”

Hearing Arthur’s response, Artemisia looked at him strangely and asked.

“Why do you think so? According to my father, you are the descendant of an Ancient Devil King who came to this universe once.”

She glanced at Lostvayne before posing another question.

“Couldn’t your father and his brothers have come to this universe as well?”

Artemisia didn’t act like it, but the revelation that Arthur’s father was a god with a Ruler Authority surprised her.

“You don’t know this Artemisia, but my father and his brothers DO NOT get along.

There are tens of thousands of years in Olympus’ history that record nothing but Wars between three of them.

Moreover, there’s me being the son of my father, and his brother, Zeus, seeks my demise. As for Poseidon’s stance on me, I have little reason to believe it would differ much from Zeus’s.

Anyway, what’s important is that the odds of the three of them coming to this Universe, and creating such an artifact together, are abysmally low.”

Artemisia was unfamiliar with the dynamics of Olympus, but Evan understood and nodded in agreement.

It was then that Artemisia posed a question.

“Can’t there have been some great threat that’d make them put aside their differences and Unite for a common goal?”

“Put aside their differences because of a Threat? Pfft…Bwahahahahaha!!!”

Arthur burst into laughter, leaving Artemisia incredulous while Evan wore a wry smile. With the way things were described in every Olympian Mythos Evan knew, those three brothers would kill each other the first chance they got.

“Artemisia…a Beast of the End called Typhon once destroyed nearly Half of the Olympus Universe. When it decimated the North—Zeus’ Territory—my father sat in the South and laughed while watching his brother’s subordinate gods die like flies, even when Zeus was defeated eventually.

He told me he had once considered releasing Typhon from his Galactic Prison so the Beast could beat the living daylights out of Zeus again.”

“?!”

Artemisia’s eyes widened in shock at the mention of the Beasts of the END.

They were creatures that possessed the power to bring the END. A very simple but deadly explanation.

The mention of these creatures reminded Evan about one of the Eight Disasters back on Aidos—Disaster 7: The Wolf of the END.

Unsurprisingly, that Wolf was one of these famed Beasts of the END. The best way to describe it would be a baby version of Fenrir from Asgardian Mythos.

The thought of Arthur’s father contemplating unleashing such a creature against Zeus illustrated the depth of their animosity.

“The last time the three of them united was over 200,000 years ago when they defeated their Fathe–!”

Arthur’s words cut short and he abruptly stood up, startling Evan. But a second later, he processed Arthur’s words and his eyes widened.

“”Their Father!”?”

Evan echoed, realization dawning on him as he connected the dots.

“Kronos! It was Kronos!”

Arthur exclaimed, finally figuring it out.

“Kronos once wielded all three Ruler Authorities when he was the ‘King’ of Olympus. He was also in Valmone in the past.

This Priest man was also able to rewind the damage I caused him with this staff…it makes sense as Kronos is the ‘Titan King of Time’.”

As Arthur rationalized this, Artemisia struggled to contain her shock and fear at the fact that Arthur’s grandfather was Kronos—a nightmarish figure for the gods of the Orithyia Galaxy.

Why was Artemisia’s father’s generation able to rise to the thrones of god Kings? It was because Kronos had killed off a good number of the previous generation.

Despite their attempts to bury this dark history, god lineages like Artemisia’s Delgasso family preserved records of those events.

Arthur remained unaware of this history, his mind focusing only on the reason Kronos came to Valmone.

He gazed into the distance at the giant ‘Veil’ that stretched skyward, sensing the same source of Divinity that Idrilla, the Holy Knights, and the Chief Priest were channelling.

The boy pondered how they were able to channel it, and heading there in person was the only lead he had, offering a better chance of answers than the mind-broken Priest could provide.

But still—

|¬ Time Sealing Magic: Eternal Prison. ¬|

—Arthur sealed the Priest away, tossing the Cube Crystal into his Subspace before rummaging through the boxes his mother had given him for any healing artifacts to heal his arm.

◇　◇　◇

Beatrix woke up an hour later, confused about why she had been unconscious. A moment later, her memories flooded back, reminding her of her near-death experience.

Artemisia quickly recounted everything that had transpired, informing Beatrix that Arthur was at the Veil behind Iklaque.

The Veil appeared as a shimmering, semi-transparent wall, nearly invisible from afar. However, as they approached, the divinity emanating from it became increasingly palpable, enough to suffocate anything below Level 500 within a 100-meter radius.

When they drew close enough, they saw Arthur seated at the base of the Veil, surrounded by dozens of rapidly spinning Tier 5 magic circles.

Beatrix opened her mouth to speak, but Arthur’s sword, Celestia, manifested in front of them and projected a message.

[Don’t say anything. Master’s concentrating.]

They exchanged glances, watching Arthur move his hands rapidly as he channelled anti-divinity through the magic circles, attempting to pierce a small opening in the Veil.

His hands glowed with power, weaving threads of energy into the Veil’s fabric as the circles spun faster, humming with raw energy.

The air crackled around them as Arthur focused, and gradually, a small opening began to form. With a final surge of energy, it widened enough for a person to walk through before stabilizing.

As Arthur stood up, divinity gushed from the ground, soon covering the opening, but he called them over without concern.

“Didn’t the entrance you made just close?”

“No. We can phase through it.”

Arthur replied, then he picked up a stone and tossed it to Evan.

“Right before you enter, throw that stone up into the air.”

With that, Arthur walked toward the opening and phased through it as if the Veil wasn’t there, leaving Beatrix, Evan, and Artemisia behind. They looked at the stone in Evan’s hand, then up at the sky.

“Why’d he say that?”

Beatrix wondered and Evan shrugged.

“Dunno.”

He tossed the stone into the air after responding. Then, he, Beatrix, and Artemisia stepped into the Veil.

◇　◇　◇

As they passed through the Veil, a wave of nausea hit the trio, buffeted by torrents of energy that nearly made them lose their footing.

The gravity felt twice as strong, forcing them to consume law essence just to stay upright. Arthur’s voice rang out, cutting through the overwhelming sensation.

“Don’t try to resist it. Just let your energy radiate off your body and blend in with the surroundings. Trying to resist would only get you crushed under the pressure.”

Though their first attempts failed, they gradually found their rhythm, allowing their energy to harmonize with the oppressive environment until they regained mobility.

“This reminds me of Nemo.”

Arthur remarked aloud and his Ego Sword’s voice projected outward, questioned him.

[Master, why do you keep bringing up that place where you got shot with Soul Poison?]

“Because the things that happen here remind me of there.”

[Keep your reminiscing here and don’t dare bring it up in front of your mother.]

“Haha, I wouldn’t.”

Arthur chuckled dryly, knowing better than to do that. The boy was about to speak again when Lostvayne suddenly appeared, humming loudly. Celestia responded by smacking Lostvayne’s handle.

[Shut up. I wouldn’t tell you.]

Lostvayne protested, its hums growing louder, but Celestia shouted back until Lostvayne finally fell silent, exuding a dejected air.

“What are we looking at?”

Evan asked, bewildered and Arthur responded as he grabbed Celestia.

“Swords talking, that’s what,” Arthur replied, grabbing Celestia. “I wonder why Lostvayne listens to you anyway.”

“Swords talking, that’s what.

I wonder why Lostvayne listens to you anyway.”

[Because I’m better, duh?]