Chapter 1009: Remember: No matter the place, I will always be with you, my daughter. 3
Outside.
Victor, observing Nero's situation, shook his head while sighing, and his hand trembled slightly. No matter how much time passed, he couldn't completely calm down.
He wished there was an easier way to reach Divinity, but such a thing didn't exist. There was no shortcut, and even the shortcut he thought of wasn't as efficient as the traditional method of the journey.
Because of this, Victor created this method: by placing his target in a dream with the Divinity of Dreams while accessing the Akashic Records registry, he could create a false alternate reality and stimulate the 'mental' state and Soul to prepare the individual for the 'journey' that awaited.
The first requirement for Divinity was the maturation of the Soul.
Next came the second requirement, self-care, which consisted of three steps that must be completed.
The first step is acceptance.
The second step is self-understanding.
And the third and final step is overcoming.
What the individual experienced in the meantime was the 'journey' to Enlightenment.
Although it may seem simple, it was far from the truth. It was extremely difficult to achieve these requirements, especially the requirement of the Soul. Few Mortals have opportunities to enhance their own Souls, as offered in the Tower of Nightmares.
Not to mention the requirement of self-awareness that varied from person to person. For example, in Scathach's case, she did not need to go through the third step, which was overcoming.
Scathach had already accepted who she was; she had no traumas or regrets, so she didn't need to overcome or accept. The only thing lacking in Scathach was self-care.
For someone who accepted their own existence, she knew very little about herself. Due to the passage of time, she ignored many things about herself, even things related to her own past.
When Scathach overcame these trials, she achieved Divinity relatively easily since her Soul and existence were already ready. She also had her 'journey' and just needed the final 'push' that Victor gave.
In Nero's case, the situation was more complicated because she clearly had traumas from the past. Even though the presence of Victor, Ophis, and Ruby helped her improve, she had not completely overcome her past.
She had merely buried the memories deeply, and this trauma was part of her acceptance and overcoming test. She cannot completely ignore her past; that's not how it worked.
The past defines who we are in the future. Ignoring your traumas, mistakes, and who you once were is a sacrilege to the Soul. It's as if you were trying to erase half of your existence.
'I trust you, my Daughter. I know you will overcome this,' Victor thought as he assumed a neutral expression as a Father. It hurt to make his Daughter go through this, but even though he was so concerned about Nero, after all, she was the one who would suffer the most in this process, he understood that it was necessary to make his Daughter stronger.
Victor looked at the timer on the house, which marked 9481 and continued to decrease.
500 years had already passed, and their Souls were already showing traces of maturation, becoming even more robust than before.
Victor looked at Ophis. 'As expected... Ophis will finish before Nero.'
Unlike Nero, Ophis didn't have significant traumas. She had a small trauma in the form of the incident that occurred in Japan, one that was completely erased when she started training and growing stronger. Instead of dwelling on that incident and fearing those memories, she understood that she suffered because she was too weak. Her maturity helped her overcome those memories.
Ophis didn't have traumas, but she had a small regret, a regret that Victor was well aware of.
"You seem worried, Victor."
Victor looked at Kali and raised an eyebrow. "You noticed, huh."
"You hesitated for a few seconds in your composure, which was unexpected coming from someone as composed as you."
'As expected, your Daughters and Family are your most sensitive points.' Kali already knew this, as it was obvious from the way he placed so much importance on them. But seeing him briefly lose his composure only reinforced this thought in her.
"They are my Daughters; of course, I will be worried. The day you have a Daughter, you will understand."
"Maybe..." Kali briefly looked at the two girls, narrowing her eyes when she saw a white Energy mingling with them. As a Goddess who was on the verge of becoming a Primordial, her sight into The Truth of The World was quite sharp, and she could clearly see the influence of the Akashic Records on the girls.
'I completely underestimated Victor.' Kali sighed internally. Now, she could be sure that her Pantheon couldn't do what Victor was doing now. Not even she had such proficiency in manipulating the Akashic Records.
'... Manipulating is a very arrogant word; he's not doing that. He's using the influence of the Akashic Records with his Divinities to achieve a certain effect on the girls.' She didn't know exactly what this 'effect' was, but she could try to imagine its effects, although she didn't know if she was correct.
With the recent lesson, she learned that she should overestimate everything Victor did.
She turned her gaze back to Victor. "What's happening with the girls that has you so worried?" She couldn't contain her curiosity.
"A false alternate reality created with my Powers and the influence of the Akashic Records using past Records, a place where everything is real from the user's perspective."
Kali was completely speechless again. She imagined some things, but not even in her wildest thoughts did she consider this possibility... He exceeded her expectations once again.
"Just..." She sighed. "Just how did you do this?"
"I have Divine Domains related to Creation, Dreams, and Madness, Kali." Victor stopped looking at his Daughters and turned to Kali with a neutral gaze.
A gaze that, from Kali's perspective, seemed quite intense, and unconsciously, the Goddess of Destruction swallowed hard.
"To me, Reality is as mailable and fragile as a sheet of paper."
Victor looked back at his two Daughters, reminding Kali to breathe again.
"With the right conditions, creating an entire alternate reality is something very easy to do."
'... Unbelievable, he's willing to go so far just to ensure the future of his Daughters.' Kali's breathing started to return to normal. The more she interacted with Victor, the more she was surprised by his dedication.
A dedication she could fully respect.
...
With Ophis.
Ophis found herself at a much lower height, and all the Power and control she'd previously felt over her abilities was completely gone, as if it never existed; she was back in Nightingale's Castle.
"Hurry, prepare for war. Our King is calling!"
"Yes!"
'Oh, yes... I remember now... This happened when I was just a little girl, didn't it? An earlier time, before I met Father.' Ophis thought.
Walking through the long corridors of the castle, she could see several soldiers preparing to go to war against the Elder Gods.
'Wrong. Calling it a war is an exaggeration.' Ophis thought. After all, she knew that the Elder Gods weren't using their full potential from the beginning; it was more accurate to call this a 'conflict' on a small scale.
Trying to use her Powers to move around, she felt quite limited as her abilities weren't acting as she wanted. All her control had vanished from existence. She was just a little girl with great potential but no control at all.
Ophis sighed. 'At least, I wish I could control my Powers, but this body here isn't used to it.'
'Why am I here anyway? Wasn't I supposed to go somewhere to Awaken Divinity? Thinking about it, my Father didn't leave any instructions on what I should do...' Thinking of her Father, she remembered his words before she fell asleep.
"Remember, my beloved Daughters... No matter the place, or Time, I will always be with you."
When she recalled those words, a small smile appeared on her face, and she no longer worried about being in her weakest form. After all, she knew that her Father was always with her, no matter where she was.
Walking through the corridors with this confidence in her heart, Ophis spotted her other father's first, second, and third wives while they seemed to be forming a circle, talking about something very quietly.
Ophis narrowed her eyes slightly. Even though she didn't have control over her Powers, she still had knowledge of her basic training in learning to manipulate her senses, something that could be done even as a child.
Just as she was about to do this to listen in on the women's conversation, she heard.
"Ophis?"
A gentle, maternal voice, a voice she had completely forgotten until now, was calling her. With a tight heart, she turned towards the voice and soon saw a woman coming out of a room.
Long black hair, wearing an outfit that seemed like a mix of a short black Yukata and a dress, while her nine black tails swayed gently behind her, an appearance that greatly resembled her aunt Haruna, but at the same time was very different from her. While her aunt Haruna had a more severe face, this woman, her mother, Otsuki Hana, had a gentler face. And with that same gentle face, she was there looking at her with a slight curiosity shining in her eyes.
"Mother..." Ophis felt her little heart pounding, with various feelings trapped in her chest. Feeling quite suffocated, she didn't know what to do or what words to say.
Hana frowned slightly when she saw her daughter's state. She approached Ophis and squatted down. At the same time, she took the Katana from her waist and placed it on the ground.
"What happened? Are you okay?"
Listening to this gentle tone and feeling her Mother's touch on her small body, Ophis couldn't hold back anymore, and tears began to fall from her face.
Seeing her daughter react so intensely, something that was very unnatural for her, Hana did what any Mother would do in her place. She hugged her daughter, which only made Ophis cry even more.
Listening to whispers directed toward her, Hana looked to the side and saw Vlad's first, second, and third wives. Hana's eyes narrowed slightly, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Seeing her daughter's state, it didn't take a genius to understand that her daughter's current state was because of these three women.
Hana's gentle face disappeared completely, and only a murderous expression was seen on her face.
A terrible Youki emanated from her body, a Youki that smelled of Death and Decay.
Even if the target of her intentions were Elder Vampires, she didn't care. She had never been afraid of a fight, especially if it was to protect her daughter.
Gripping her Katana, the moonlight from Nightingale shone behind her, as her Youki became even more potent and aggressive, and her 9 tails bristled.
"Leave... Leave before the little self-control I have in favor of Vlad wears off, and I erase your miserable existence for what you've done to my daughter."
The first wife was about to speak up to say they hadn't done anything, but you didn't argue with an angry woman, especially a super-protective mother.
When the sound of the sheath being opened was heard, the three women felt a chill run down their bodies, and for a moment, they saw their bodies being torn into pieces, damage their Vampire bodies wouldn't be able to handle.
"L-Let's go..." The third wife spoke up.
"Y-Yes." The second one agreed.
Though displeased, the first wife simply nodded and backed away.
Meanwhile, Ophis didn't care about anything as she just hugged her mother even tighter.
.....