MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin

Chapter 498 SIDE STORY 8: HIEROPHANT

?498 SIDE STORY 8: HIEROPHANT

[Association Headquarters]

Sitting inside her office, Medusa quietly drank a mixture of unknown origins as she rested her mind for the first time in a while. The drink was a concoction she had created for herself after years of experimentation and finalization; it had all the goods of a coffee with none of the advantages, so to speak. If she wished she could become even richer with this invention and many she had kept hidden, money had long since ceased to be anything but a string of numbers for her.

The reason she was drinking something she had not drunk in centuries was because she was happy right now. A genuine smile was present on her face, unlike the usual sardonic and mocking one that she practically plastered 24/7 over her otherwise youthful face.

She was ecstatic, dancing with joy in the depths of her heart.

Because she was finally free.

After three thousand years of searching helplessly for a way, a single way out, she finally managed to find the answer to what had been bothering her for all her life; and the answer came to her in the most unexpected way possible— something that she would have never thought of.

"Hahaha…"

Even now, just thinking about it made Medusa laugh at the wonders of this world. She had long since given up and in fact, had no hope of anymore in her heart. She had even started to wonder if she should simply stop bothering about it all.

But her stubbornness forced her to continuously erase and manipulate her own mind and memories. All this to only have a modicum of privacy to herself. All this to finally be able to keep herself sane and away from the prying eyes of those beyond.

All of this was a thing of the past now. Thanks to Adam she could now cross one of her biggest objectives from her list.

When she had recruited Adam, it had been mainly out of interest, boredom, and a desire to try for the very last time before giving up once and for all.

She had been both expecting the whole world and the dregs of nothing at the same time. She was of the mindset that it would be great if she succeeded, but it wouldn't bother her even if she failed.

This was all. That had been the case all her life after all; wouldn't be anything new.

However, this last gamble had turned out to be the single best decision she had ever made in her moderately long life.

Adam was a treasure trove with seemingly no end in sight. A being of infinite possibility and wonders. Every time she would meet him, he would be stronger, more mysterious, and even more appealing to her eyes than he had been before.

Now though… as all the memories she had sealed came back to herself in a rush, which was the cause of her headache and subsequent intake of the mixture she had taken out after centuries, Medusa finally understood.

Adam was astronomically more important to her than she would have ever imagined him to be and it was also clear that she had been placed on his road as not just a teacher but also a guide and a sage to move him forward.

"How many more?"

She looked in the distance, her eyes glimmering ever so slightly in an emerald hue.

What did it mean to be a Hero?

The definition of a Hero was something that could be discussed for years as everyone had their own interpretation and understanding of that singular role.

However, there were a few things that everyone was of the same mind about when it came to what defined a hero.

While the journey of each hero might be different, their paths diverse and unpredictable, and some might be cut short, the journey of a hero is always composed of a few grand steps.

The Call to Action — The Journey Begins.

The Supreme Ordeal — The Journey's Renaissance.

Unification — Mastering the Journey.

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She did not know much about all of Adam's adventures but she had the distinct impression that he was still at the very first step and the most important thing in this part was — A mentor, a Guide to move him forward in his path to glory.

This was the person whose words and actions determined what kind of Hero the student would eventually become.

"Someone is competing against me. One? Two? Maybe three?"

She frowned to herself at the thought. She could only truly feel one other being standing in her way of guiding Adam, the one competing for that role. The second being was too blurry for her to determine if she was there competing with her or if was she just seeing things. If it had been before her sudden recollection, she would not have been able to determine who this being was, or even if there even was such a being in the first place. But now that she knew for sure who Adam was exactly, it wasn't hard for her to determine the identity of the person blurred in the shadows of Fate and Causality.

"The Fool. The Prisoner of the Akashik Library. The True First Sinner. The Mother of Humanity."

It was quite funny to her after she had gleaned this piece of information. As the daughter of Echidna, the Mother of Monsters, she had always been on the opposite side of people from the faction of this woman.

After all, humans and monsters killing each other was a fact as old as the dawn of time itself. It was practically the way things were set to function since the beginning of existence itself.

She would have never imagined that she would be competing for the right to be the true mentor and guide of a man.

"Then again, all of this is meaningless as long as that one is still alive."

The third one or in this case, it would be more exact to call her the very first one who had been there from the very beginning.

Cecilia Gospel.

The true moral compass and spiritual guide of the man called Adam Gospel— his mother, the reason of his existence, and the true strength thriving him forward on his path. As long as this woman existed in this realm, or any for that matter, there would be some limits that Adam would never dare to cross.

But what if she died?

Medusa couldn't suppress a shudder as a vision of horror, darkness, madness, and utter chaos covered her sight and tried to blind her with its existence alone. She could not see Adam's future, she never could. She did not even need to see it for her to be sure of what would happen. Still, she could feel the destiny of the world shudder at the mere possibility of Cecilia's death.

Adam was still not particularly powerful for him to influence anything.

However, his powerlessness did not matter in the end. What he lacked in power, he made up for it with skills that defied the whole concept of understanding itself and the fabric of reality, and the laws of the universe.

Like his new Eye.

Medusa took in a deep breath when she remembered what Adam had done not long ago.

The Eyes of Truth was finally complete. This was the summit of all Observation skills known and unknown and it wouldn't be a mistake to call it the All-Seeing Eye itself.

When one reached a certain level of power to operate the Eye, wielding the capability to peer through the higher dimensions and observe the very fabrics of time and space itself was nothing complicated for the wielder of such a power.

But at the end of the day, an observer would always be an observer no matter what. Nothing more and nothing else. They wouldn't be able to influence anything with mere watching alone.

However, things changed when you also wielded the power to Kill anything and everything with a mere thought.

"Ugh…"

Her mind throbbed. Adam had managed to partially cut the link tying her to the divinity of Olympus. Thanks to this monumental task, the call toward godhood for her had diminished and it was impossible for them to search her mind without her permission like they did in the past.

Even so, it had not been easy. Adam clearly still lacked skill in handling such subtleties, however, things would change sooner or later. With the speed of his advancement, he would be able to use the full capabilities of the Eye sooner than any reasoning would dictate.

Just imagining what he would be capable of doing made her laugh in anticipation.

But now, she had to work harder than ever before. Taking her phone, Medusa called a friend— perhaps her only friend in this world.

"[~S.K~], where is the armor you promised me? I think I will change my order. I have more information now. I also obtained a few samples from him."

[Oh? Very well. Now you are talking. Making me intrigued, kinda…]

This was going to be fun.

At the same time, she was sure of one thing.

"By the way… You should call that stupid girl who likes resolving crimes and warn her. Paris is definitely going to be in danger of eradication pretty soon."

There was one law in this world.

Wherever the Hero traveled, the wisps of Chaos followed and unraveled.