[Revival Complete]
Leo gazed at the System display before his sight pierced through the screen and looked at the night sky where the moon hung above him.
The moonlight loses its luster and becomes dark as if it's resonating with Leo's emotion. The moon no longer gives its soft radiance. It was lost and became a dim floating rock in the sky that almost disappeared.
It felt hollow…so hollow. The void that grows and gnaws at his heart.
He never realized it. Their constant presence in his life. He never appreciated their presence in his life.
How many times had he almost succumbed to the madness of the Hunt and held on because he had a home to return to.
How many times had he almost succumbed to the beast chained inside him if not because of their presence that reminded him who he is.
How many times…
'How many times have I been saved by them?' Leo wondered and he took a dive into all the unforgettable moments, experience and memories.
Yet he never realized it… until now.
Ophis, the Dragon God Ouroboros. An innocent and gluttonous little dragon with an insatiable appetite. An innocent little girl that asks nothing more than his presence that seems to comfort and bring her peace.
Mittelt, the Fallen Angel. A dishonest girl with her feelings and devoted despite all of them started by a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding he selfishly allowed to continue to gain power from raising her affection. That's why he felt he was not worthy of her love and devotion. But she knew it all along. Since when? He cannot even give a definite answer.
Ravel Phenex, the Devil of the Phenex Clan. Another case of a girl dishonest with her feelings much worse than Mittelt, a bonafide Tsundere. However her innocent love and devotion to him is also no less than Mittelt. Yet the reason he didn't accept it is the same as Mittelt. He feels unworthy for using her for his selfish desire for power.
Leo stopped looking into his memories. It's too unbearable.
Truly they said, only when you lose it does you start to appreciate it. By the time you realize it, everything is already too late.
He in fact can feel Mittelt, Ophis and Ravel. He can vaguely feel their presence but it was far away. Too far beyond the distance he can comprehend.
"Hey, System. Can I return to that world? Is there any possible way?" Leo pinned his last hope on his system. His almighty helper.
[It's possible if the Host is willing to kill himself repeatedly and revive in the next world. Although the chance is incredibly slim. There are countless multiverses, parallel universes, higher dimensions, etc that Host are more likely to live a million years before even covering a small pocket of the omniverse.]
"So there is a chance…" Leo ignored the rest of the explanation and focused only on what he wanted to hear.
[Please do not be hasty, Host. There is countless oddity and danger in the Omniverse. There exist many worlds that can trap and even harm Host's soul if unprepared. Jumping randomly and recklessly is a quick way to die even for the Host's special soul.]
"So it wasn't possible then…?" Leo's voice died down in a mutter that turned into murmurs.
He quietly went through all five stages of grief before he accepted the fact there is nothing he can do now. There is nothing his powerless self can do but to accept the outcome.
"Ha..Haha…Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" Leo stares at the night sky, the previous dim moon turning into brilliant red filled with divine radiance.
He laughed but his tears couldn't stop flowing down his cheek.
"It felt so empty. Everything felt so meaningless." Leo laughed and savored the heart-rending pain in his twisted joy bereft of satisfaction nor joy.
"The same power I coveted so much all amounted to nothing." He mutters the words filled with irony as he closes his eyes.
He wished everything was just a nightmare and when he woke up, he would return to the same apartment. Spending his leisure day dealing with their antics, cooking foods and enjoying the meal together on the dinner table.
A simple wish that seems so far out of reach.
(Inspired by Do You Remember Love scene in Macross Delta. Idk how it became this dark tho. Man, my head is ducked up.🦆)
———
"This… What terrible authority could have distorted the moon into this." A feminine figure staring at the moon and then on a figure laying on the ground, in the clearing of a small forest far away from the city.
"It felt otherworldly yet it beckons my presence." The figure mutters. "Perhaps he is the one that called upon me."
After a while, the woman left the treelines and faced the man dressed in all black with an odd three pointed hat. Her presence despite not being hidden was completely ignored by the man who seems to be absorbed in his own world, mumbling so softly that even she cannot make out what he was saying.
Her face immediately turned into a frown. She finds herself offended by this…mortal? Yes. This mortal's lack of reaction to her. A dignified being like her had rebelled from her mythology to answer this call yet when she arrived, she was being ignored.
"Cease your insolence, mortal." She said, yet the mortal did seem to hear at all but the annoyed expression appeared on his face told otherwise.
"Don't pretend to be deaf. I know you hear me, mortal." She immediately turned angry and cast a spell without incantation or words.
When the magic shot toward the human, he rolled to the side and quickly stood up. He looked annoyed and furious as he aimed his gun at a clearly hostile target.
She knew what the gun was and found it ridiculous to even imagine a mortal creation to even be able to hurt her. Much less the very outdated ones that belong only in museums in the present day. Though her opinion quickly changed when the human pulled the trigger. The sound of burning gunpowder followed by an explosion which creates a plume of smoke.
*Thump*
*Crack*
'What just happened?' The woman's eyes bulged and looked at her left, which cleanly hacked off.
A body of a deity, no matter how fragile, is impervious to mortal means due to their Divine Protection. Yet, the grotesque tool of murder cut into her flesh without resistance like cutting a smooth tofu. She turned her head from her left to her front and stared at the man not in fear despite the injury. Instead, she felt more curious, like a moth to fire.
"You are no mortal. I definitely felt a trace of divine power. Not a Heretic God nor the Bastard of that Witch Pandora."
"What an intriguing existence you are." She said with her right arm raised, trying to touch the man's face which earned her a confused look.
"I can see blood. Countless blood that bathes the sky, land and sea. What a dreadful fate. Yet within all of it is a silver moon shining brightly among the bloody world." The woman said cryptic words which the man continued to frown upon hearing.
"Ah! Where was my etiquette? I am Hecate, a goddess of many domains but I mainly govern the crossroad of boundaries, new moon and magic. I hope you will entertain me more than just this." The Goddess smiled and used magic to rewind the injury she sustained.
The man understands the meaning of her gesture. He took off and brought his hat to his chest before leaning slightly to bow.
"I am Leonis Ashford, the Hunter of the Dream."
"A Hunter… What a fascinating occupation. Yet let us not dally any longer."
"Indeed." Leo said with his body tensed and his gaze sharpened on Hecate.
A tense second later, all hell broke loose. Rain of spells, curse and an array of magic showcase by Hecate with incredible mastery. Leo releases a barrage of silver projectiles and his blade chases his prey relentlessly like a wolf in a hunt. Like a symphony, the sound of spells and explosions, gunshot and blade clashes filled the air. But in the end only one emerged victorious.
"It was an interesting performance, soon-to-be Campione." Hecate said with a satisfied smile before her eyes turned lifeless and her head fell off her body to the ground before vanishing along with her body.
"Campione?" Leo mutters before his body jolts like he was struck by lightning.
Black and red tornadoes form around him. All of them are Blood Echoes. Blood Echoes of a Goddess that lived from the first Aeon. Blood Echoes are fragments of the soul. It contains memories and power of the slain opponent. Now imagine trying to fit the fragments of memories of someone who lived billions of years. Even just small fragments will contain millions of years worth of memories and he will have to experience it to 'channel' the Blood Echoes to strengthen his mind and flesh.
Leo fell to the ground while his body was spasming and convulsing from the overload of Blood Echoes trying to strengthen his body. His mind is even worse, he feels like his brain swells into a giant balloon while being flayed open as foreign memories try to etch themselves into his brain. The only reason why he hadn't died yet is because his eldritch heritage allowed him to withstand the process.
———
"Oh! A new child of mine!" A girl with purple twintail hair wearing a white dress with a detached sleeve. Calling her a child is more appropriate with her height. She squealed with excitement as she saw a man appeared in her realm of white void.
"He has a lady killer look on him too." The girl positioned herself near Leo's head and lifted his head to her lap.
She gently caresses his hair with motherly love as she looks at his body from head to toe.
"Odd. He is already strong even before becoming a Campione. Strong enough to win against a Heretic God on an equal fight." The girl said while curiously felt his chest and his biceps. "Maybe he can overturn the fate of Campione." She whispers before granting him her blessings.
She continue to caress his silvery white hair while inspecting his body and found something very wonderous is happening. His body despite without the need of Circle of Usurpation, already in the process of strengthening his body. However, it seems his body cannot withstand it.
Whatever that is happening can be described as trying to create a skyscraper by piling up bricks without proper plan and structure. Sure, it ca happen. But his body which is the foundation of his strength, cannot support the power and instead destroying the body while something else is rapidly repairing the body.
There is only one thing she could do to lessen his burden. The ancient covenant that she held dominion to.
"I am Pandora, the All Giving Woman, has bore witness and acknowledged your valiant effort to slay a Heretic God. I am the Witch that brought forth all the evil of the world and the glimmer of hope. I declare you as my new son!"
A howling torrent of wind ripped through the void threatening to rip Leo apart but the wind could never touch him. Instead, the wind envelops him and bestows him with new power and strength, a new existence.
His flesh is no longer mortal. He had become the Slayer of Gods, a defiance to the natural law. He is reborned as Campione, a Devil King, the King of King that brings forth annihilation to the divines.
A soft motherly smile appeared on the girl's tired face as she gazed at Leo.
"Leonis Ashford. The mortal man who felled the Great Goddess Hecate, a mortal whose strength matches the gods. Let all present grant their blessing and hatred to this hero." She announced grandly with both her arms raised to the air.
Dull roars resounded across the void as if in response to the girl. A roar of hate and love. A roar of pain and joy. All came across time and space. Across the reality and timeline, carrying its illusive meanings known to none.
"Hence, I declare. The eight Campione, Hunter of the Nightmarish Dream?" The girl paused for a few seconds after announcing his title. "I bestow upon you these sacred spell words as the shred of hope that remains when all evil has vanished from the world."
The little girl becomes more confused and doubtful as the Circle of Usurpation allows her to take a glimpse at his significant past, present and future. But his past is strange. His present is well, present. His future is nothing unusual for a Campione. However, the girl didn't allow a momentary distraction to stop the ritual.
"Be reborn, Leonis Ashford. As my son and as a Campione. May you seize your future and break free from the machinations of your past."
The girl then lowered her body and gave Leo a kiss on his forehead. A warmth spread from his forehead to all over his body. The blessing from the Witch Pandora had finally been attained.
Leo opens his eyes in a daze and looks at the girl with confused eyes. His body had fully refined the Blood Echoes and removed all the unnecessary memories he absorbed. But what remains is still big enough to leave him confused for a good while.
However, Leo didn't need his mind for this. His instinct is plenty enough. He can feel the new bond forged within his soul. He lifted his hand to grasp what he had always wished yet unattainable.
"Mother…?" Leo mutters and his unfocused eyes look at the girl grinning happily above him.
"My, what a strong son indeed. Normally, they cannot even be conscious in the Netherworld. Yet your soul is powerful enough to resist the rejection force." Pandora said and brought Leo's hand to her face. "Indeed, I am now your mother."
Pandora can feel the deep longing within Leo. A longing for a mother which she somewhat understands the reason why when she had already seen fragments of his past memories.
"Although I would very much love to have you accompany me here. You cannot stay for much longer, lest you become trapped in here." Pandora said regretfully.
Pandora then gives Leo another kiss on his forehead before she personally sends Leo off the void of nothingness.
"This is my little gift for you, my new favorite child." She said and then Leo vanished, returned to the overworld.
Pandora is incredibly happy. This is the first time one of her children calls her mother. So, she gives Leo an extra gift before she sends him away.
—————
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