As Zachery slowly opened his eyes, his vision became fuzzy. He winced, noting that the pain that had threatened to overtake him was still coursing through his body, albeit in a milder form.
With a grimace on his face, he carefully rose up and examined his surroundings.
He noticed the four unfathomable pillars of strength staring at him with great interest and... what was that?
Was there respect hidden inside these monsters? For him?
Zachery shook his head.
He wasn't some outlandish hero who could do the impossible in the midst of nowhere. He'd done the impossible many times before, including his last fight with Elsa. But that was always grounded in reality.
The quick corruption of a Mind Type Devourer was theoretically impossible for Zahcery's spirit to withstand. He should've been corrupted in a matter of seconds.
But he did not.
The reason could only be fate on his side, but he would not have seen fate on his side if he had not had the courage to oppose the corruption. It would have acted on someone else who was capable of doing the work that had been assigned to him.
That only meant that Zachery was special.
But that was clearly it.
He had read numerous novels both before and after the arrival of the Axis. But they all had protag's declaring that they had no luck or fate on their side while being blind to their fortune, and the other being fully dependant on their luck and talent to progress forward.
To this, Zachery only had one question.
Where were the middle-class protags like him?
In truth, most of the population wasn't useless and talentless like how a web novel would dictate.
If he would have to classify it in an alphabetical rank, then most of the population would have talent up to an A grade.
It would have been extremely silly to suppose this at first, and even the Mother System's scholars had sneered at this discovery. However, when they conducted a large-scale investigation, the outcome was not different.
Consider Zachery's world: there were up to S-rank supers in Kelion who could terraform a country. Those S-rankers, on the other hand, could be counted on two hands.
And the truly A-rankers with tremendous destructive ability would be less than 200.
The C-ranked supers were the most populous rank, but the truth was that if these C rankers committed their 100% to improving their talent, they would 100% attain the revered A rank.
And when they had exhausted their talent but still had the drive to progress, fate would find a way for them.
So, Mother System finally arrived at the "Postulate of Moving Fate," which basically said that the harder you worked, the more fate you would draw.
Zachery shook his head, letting go of these pointless notions. He had also been one of the beings who had not lived to their full potential.
Why should he?
Was there anywhere he could truly call his home to come and lie his head?
Was there anyone he could trust with his whole heart?
The answer had been no, so there was no need to struggle for a better future when he had a satisfying life.
However, now... As he gazed at the monstrous forms bending their heads in respect, Zachery's eyes shone with ethereal light. This was simply the regard they showed for the rightful owner of the Inheritance.
The one who had practically constructed this power from the ground up into a towering castle, quite literally.
Maybe...
Maybe he would now have a place to call home...
Zachery shook his head again as he cleared the filth that was running in his mind. What was causing him to become emotional now? Didn't he come back in time to make amends for his mistakes?
Wasn't he here to fully invest in things that mattered while discarding things that didn't?
Zachery took one step forward, but he stopped himself and stood strangely still. There was no unbreakable will or heaven-searing resolve.
It was nothing more than a single second of prayer to The True God, The One. He was the God who was the genuine Overseer of the Omniverse and, to some extent, true to the word's Omnipotent.
He didn't want to think in his last second that God had decided to kill him just so for the fact that he had not prayed from the start, so he prayed to The One for one second. A prayer to give him strength on the path that he was going to walk. A prayer to guide him to the right path and not let him astray.
He chuckled quietly as he opened his eyes. He was already a heretic, according to several religious books. He had technically followed the precepts of Buddhism.
He had also studied the Light Gods' arts in order to achieve healing power. So he had been a partial believer in them as well.
But it no longer mattered. This was his first prayer, and it would be his final.
He wasn't the type to put everything in the hands of a higher power. He was a firm believer in what you do, that you get.
Zachery took a deep breath, allowing air, Mana, and Force to enter his lungs. He could feel his inner flow of energy had already reached a point where he could practice a breathing technique at a reasonable pace.
He took confident strides ahead, satisfied that he had made his final prayer. Even if he died, he would not hold it against him for failing to pray when his life was flashing before his eyes.
He would greet lady death with a kiss of his own.
Zachery narrowed his eyes sharply for a second. He'd 'heard' from inheritance holders that inheritance wasn't just passed down and kissed goodbye.
It also had a drawback to ensure that fate did not drown the Inheritance holder in misfortune. And the more powerful the inheritance, the more difficult the so-called downside.
Zachery suddenly was covered in a cold sweat. He had read a novel where there was a similar situation happened.
The inheritance that MC received was very high, but so was the downside. The downside was to never lie...
Zachery gulped.
If he ever got something like that, it would be very impossible for him to complete the objective that Hel and Grendum had set.
To become a conquering power, he would have to lie and plot his way through as well. Diplomacy was more than flowery language from vassals and spitting from envoys.
[The Inheritance of Grendum, The All-consuming has been acquired.]
[Objective of the Inheritance: Conquer Everything]
[The Title of Inheritance has been activated - Lord of All that is Undefeatable has been activated.]
[Lord of All that is Undefeatable
Prerequisite:- Never lose a single battle that is related to you.
Effect:- Nil
Penalty: Death]
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