Chapter 337: End of the Tribulations - Final Part

Third chapter of the day to wrap up the Tribulations! Make sure you’ve read chapters 335 and 336 before starting this one. Enjoy!

PS: Priam Character Sheet (you can thanks the Discord guys!)

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Token - Legendary Skill used.

[Biological Virus Resistance - Rare] is ready to evolve to epic rank. Two high upgrades are available to you.

[Innate Immune Response - Epic] - The body’s first line of defense. Rapid and general, it attacks all pathogens indiscriminately. High upgrade potential. Potential Cost: 160

[Adaptive Immune Response - Epic] - The body’s second line of defense. Slower but more precise, it develops after initial exposure and generates immune memory. High upgrade potential. Potential Cost: 160

One of the reasons Priam was so insatiably curious was that he hated finding himself in situations where his ignorance caused him harm. Most people with a scientific background probably knew the difference between these two immune responses. Not him.

A few seconds ago, Priam had no idea how his body fought off an infection. Aside from genetics—which he had studied to upgrade his race—he was clueless about biology. That’s going to have to change…

Priam hesitated for a second before selecting [Adaptive Immune Response - Epic]. To his shame, his only reason was that the word "adaptive" resonated with his path.

POT -160

[Adaptive Immune Response - Epic] is ready to evolve to Legendary rank. One high upgrade is available to you.

[Fine Cell-mediated Immunity - Legendary] - Against intracellular pathogens, your T  lymphocytes become an elite force. High upgrade potential. Potential Cost: 360

[Fine Cell-mediated Immunity - Legendary]. And rename it.

POT -360

[Virus Resistance - Legendary] - Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous types of biological entity.
Your T lymphocytes recognize and annihilate infected cells with ruthless efficiency. The memories of your cells are magically synchronized: once a weakness in an infection is discovered, your entire body will know. This synergy of these two effects means that if you manage to eliminate a virus while saving the parasitized cell, your body will purge the same strain in record time.
In the event of unprotected sex, this skill protects against STDs—not pregnancies. If you don’t like your kids, you’ll have to kill them yourself.
CONST +6
VIT +15
PERC +3
MEM +3

Tier 0 Soul legendary skill limit: 3/5.

Priam scowled as he read the final line of the description. He had hoped to find a way around executing his son, but the System didn’t seem inclined to give him a choice.

“What the hell did you do?!”

His son’s outburst drew Priam’s gaze and he grinned, feeling the tingling sensation begin to subside. It hadn’t disappeared entirely, but his high constitution and newly upgraded resistance seemed sufficient to block most of the enemy’s skill.

“According to my add-on, it’ll take you about two days to kill me with this virus. And that’s assuming my resistance doesn’t level up faster than your viruses mutate. Wanna bet?”

“Shut up! You’re nothing but a man with no arms, no legs, and no dick, while I have an undead wyrm on my side!”

“You think that beast will help you win? If the System’s taught me anything, it’s that in this new world, you’d better be ready to get your hands dirty if you want to survive. And I’ll have a dick soon enough.”

With those words, Priam ripped out his right eye. He barely flinched at the wet squelch or the sharp burst of pain. The System has turned me into a monster… but I’ll do what must be done.

While the host of the [Free Will] gate, the eyeball was also one of the sources of Hecate's New Moon. The curse had kept the virus at bay, meaning the cells in this eye carried an untainted copy of his genome. If Priam could regenerate his body from this eye, he would recover his limbs. And my dick.

"Wyrm, attack!"

The draconic beast roared before launching itself at Priam. Without bothering to dodge, the Juggernaut activated his legendary kinetic skill, sweeping the creature aside with a mere thought. Like a child punched by an MMA champion, the reptile was sent flying. The wyrm’s serpentine body slammed into the bunker, scales cracking under the impact.

Priam grunted as he took a portion of the damage he had just dealt to his opponent. The wyrm must have created a karmic link between them to reflect a percentage of the damage it received back at its attacker.

A trickle of blood dripped from Priam’s nose. “Ah, of course it hurts, it’s my own attack.”

A guttural growl rattled the air. Despite the devastating blow, the necromantic creature was already dragging itself upright.

“Jasmine, if you would?”

“With pleasure.”

A shadow swallowed the creature whole, and Priam turned his single eye toward his son. “If you want to stop me, do it yourself.”

His nemesis clenched his teeth but said nothing.

Redirecting half his focus to the eye, Priam gathered his resolve and plunged into his soul space. His soul was tethered to his body through aetheric pathways, and the relationship between his brain, mind, meridians, and soul could only be described as complex. So obscure, in fact, that he doubted he could understand it anytime soon.

Thus, he wasn’t sure if his plan to recreate a perfect body would work. However, Priam knew that if the slightest possibility existed, his Potential would bridge the gap between theory and reality. Let’s do that.

The first step was to update his soul’s anchor. Rather than being bound to his corrupted body, he had to tie it to the untainted eye. Opening the wellspring of his Potential, Priam was surprised to find an obvious solution waiting for him.

His eye contained the gate of [Free Will]. Under the Juggernaut’s design, each gate represented one of the Seven Concepts, and by a fortunate coincidence, this one corresponded to Soul. For this reason, his Potential effortlessly established a connection between his eyeball and his soul.

POT -50

What Priam hadn’t accounted for was that his consciousness would follow. He barely had time to command his body to prepare a Breath before his ego was sucked into the eye. A strange and wholly insufficient new vessel for a human. Without [Tenacious Spirit], Priam would have died instantly. Fortunately for him, the Title saved his life by allowing his thoughts to temporarily run on a spiritual brain.

Wasting no time, Priam activated the restoration effect of [Three-Headed Hydra]. Ambient aether gathered around the eye, before transmuting into a fresh, living head. Priam blinked—and would have laughed if he had possessed a throat.

That thought snapped him back to reality: a head alone wasn’t enough to survive. Priam began burning what remained of his lifespan to regenerate his body, only to run into a problem. Unlike certain Titles, his vitality couldn’t conjure matter from nothing. He needed nutrients to generate blood, organs, bones, and muscle tissue.

Refusing to contaminate his new body with elements from the old one, Priam created a minuscule portal inside his mouth to access Concepts Archipelago—his internal world. In preparation for his Tribulations, he had purchased a few miracle pills from the Sun Shop. The most numerous were Hydra pills, the same ones Jasmine and Myuri had taken to rebuild their bodies during their evolution into Homo Elysian.

Placing three of them in his mouth, Priam chewed them and then tucked the resulting powder under his tongue, where it could quickly enter his bloodstream to hasten their effects. A few moments later, the mage exulted as he felt his neck begin to take shape—his gamble was paying off! Thanks to Micro, he could feel his veins and arteries swelling with blood while the first vertebrae of his spine aligned to protect the delicate nerves of his spinal cord.

“As if I’d let you,” spat his son, settling into a cross-legged position with a wicked grin. “Let’s see what an undead virus can do to your vitality.” He began to chant, and his Aether resonated with the virus infecting Priam. 

The Champion winced as his regeneration slowed. “Motherfucker,” his lips mimed.

“I wish.”

Despite the dire situation, Priam chuckled. Still, if he didn’t restore his torso before [Tenacious Spirit] went on cooldown, he would die. For all his resilience, Priam couldn’t survive without a heart. Worse, every second his body remained incomplete wounded his soul.

With no other choice, Priam burned through even more of his lifespan to counter his son’s interference. His regeneration became visible to the naked eye, but the cost was staggering—months of his life vanishing with every heartbeat.

His trachea and esophagus reappeared, quickly concealed by two lungs and two hearts. These, in turn, were encased within his ribcage, soon covered by layers of muscle and skin. Simultaneously, his black hair fell away, replaced by stark white strands, and his face became etched with wrinkles and age spots. His lifespan burned fiercely, but promised to be as fleeting as a shooting star.

“You’re insane,” his son whispered. “You’ll die of old age…”

As yellowed nails sprouted from his fingertips and his vision dimmed behind a milky veil, Priam smiled at his son.

“The difference between a madman and a hero is that the hero creates a miracle by defying the impossible. Watch,” he chuckled, savoring his final notification.

[Three-headed Hydra - Silver] becomes [Four-headed Hydra - Gold] !

[Four-headed Hydra - Gold] - A newborn hydra has one head. At one year, they acquire a second. At ten, a third, and so on in multiples of ten. It has been a hundred years since your body acquired this Title, and the frailty that comes with age is offset by the growth of the Hydra slumbering within you.
Your vitality allows you to regenerate any body part as long as you have the time and energy. You may restore a limb or organ once per day; this bonus doubles if the missing part is your head.
The toxicity of your blood increases and gains corrosive properties.
VIT +20% (NEW: +10%)

There were undoubtedly countless ways to upgrade this Title, but the simplest remained aging. Priam could age faster than anyone and he intended to exploit that glitch.

“...What glitch am I talking about? My memory’s failing me,” he murmured, searching for a seat. His back ached, and he was tired of standing.

An arrow of bone halted less than a centimeter from his left eye, and Priam blinked. Old age had dulled his reflexes, and only his add-on’s intervention had saved his life.

“Even now, you continue to elude death,” a familiar voice said.

[Phase 3 initiated.]

A token materialized in his hand and it took Priam a few seconds to realize what he had to do.

Reborn Token - Reset biological lifespan (Legendary) used.

Note: This effect will not result in any Titles or Achievements. No skills will be granted for unearned feats.

A fountain of youth erupted within him, and the old man groaned as his strength surged back. Thanks to [Homo Elysian Obsession], his soul began rejuvenating as well. Priam closed his eyes, savoring the sensation. If aging was a blight capable of breaking even the most serene of monks, its opposite was pure bliss. The only comparison he could make was a prolonged orgasm—one devoid of any sexual connotation.

Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, the Juggernaut cheated death. Once more. 

When the rejuvenation finally ebbed, leaving him in the body of a twenty-five-year-old, Priam exhaled in quiet disappointment. The experience transcended anything he had ever known, redefining the word ‘bliss’.

“As a teenager, I hated you.”

Priam opened his eyes. “Why?”

“You crushed all my dreams, burdening me with impossible expectations.”

“...”

“Like any kid, I wanted to be a hero. My father was one, and everyone said my natural gifts made even geniuses despair. I became an Ace at eight. Earned my first Mythic Achievement at fifteen. From dawn to dusk, I trained—to be like you, to surpass you. I had the best teachers—including you—guiding me every step of the way. Then, at seventeen, right before I Tiered up to try for Ace II, I faced the echo you left behind in the Colosseum. A mere copy of you, wielding the System for less than six months.” His nemesis paused, staring at his hands. “I should have won. My Supremacies, attributes, and bloodlines were superior… Your phantom annihilated me.” He swallowed. “That night, when I came home, I told Mom I was quitting the path of a warrior. I became a healer instead.”

The Juggernaut had always known his shadow would eclipse others. He never imagined one of them would be his own son.

“I don’t know what to say… but I’m sorry my other self never noticed.”

His son burst into laughter. “Father knew—little escaped him. Deep down, he was relieved I didn’t become a warrior. He worried a lot about his family.”

“You too.”

“Hum?”

“I obtained [Twisted Soul] because my soul followed the alteration of my body. If you had tampered with my genome in a bad way, you could’ve forced my soul to become apocryphal.”

A shiver ran through the nemesis. “If I had ever considered it, the System would’ve turned me into a puppet and I would’ve welcomed that fate.” He clasped his hands to stop them from trembling. “We emigrated to Elysium because of an Apocryphe… and the memory of that abomination still haunts my nights. His Story was wrong.”

“I thought you and Vic left when the Depths drowned half of Sector Hope?”

“It’s connected.”

“How—”

“I refuse to discuss it further. Let’s end this,” he said, spreading his arms wide.

“Just like that?”

“Mom is dead, my siblings don’t exist, and my friends were never born. I despise this world.”

Priam summoned Promesse. “You’re not even going to fight back?”

His instincts screamed that his son could be an exceptional opponent if he wanted.

“What’s the point?”

His son’s sorrow struck Priam, and he sighed before leaping forward. At the last moment, an immense shadow blocked his path. Priam rolled aside, dodging the devastating sweep of a massive tail. As he regained his footing, a colossal maw lunged at him. Smirking, the Juggernaut shoved his discarded body into the beast’s path and vanished into mist. He reappeared a few meters away—just as the draconic lung of his former vessel exploded from the pressure it had accumulated. Holding a Breath for several minutes made for a spectacular finale.

The detonation ballooned the wyrm like a birthday balloon. For a heartbeat, Priam thought it might withstand the blast—but then flesh gave way. The shockwave shredded the creature, scattering putrid entrails across the bunker. The nightmarish head crashed to the ground.

Straining his ears, Priam detected a steady pulse deep within the skull. A heart was still beating inside.

“Fucking beast,” he muttered, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The wyrm’s ability to reflect a portion of the damage it took was a real pain in the ass.

Leaving his natural regeneration to handle the rest, the Champion turned and walked toward his nemesis. Father and son stared at each other for a long moment before the latter exhaled sharply.

“Your final Tribulation will strike in less than a minute. Hurry up.”

Ignoring the goosebumps prickling his arms, Priam nodded. If his son had the courage to face death head-on, then he would be brave enough to deliver it.

He raised Promesse. “I think I made a mistake. About Vic.”

“...Mom would have sacrificed humanity’s future for you.”

“I... The Tutorial was hell.”

His nemesis clenched his jaw before locking eyes with his father. “Only a King can petition for the resurrection of someone who died in an Impossible Tutorial. I don’t know if you’ll ever reach that rank, but if you do, bring her back.”

“I will,” Priam vowed as the air around them crackled with raw energy. The final Tribulation was preparing to execute the slow candidate.

“Any last words?”

“I was born eight and a half months after your Tutorial.” The world might as well have crumbled beneath Priam’s feet. “You never asked for my name because you didn’t want to humanize me, did you? To be honest, I don’t remember it myself. I guess my whole life has been a lie—a simulation of your nightmare. Still, I want you to know that I’m not just a figment of one of your dreams. I existed. And now, kill me!”

Thunder roared, heralding death’s arrival. With a cry of rage and sorrow, Priam brought Promesse down.

The wyrm bellowed in its death throes.

*

You have gained the skill: [Karmic Consequence Resistance - Epic].

Jasmine didn’t need the notification to know that something terrible had just happened. A moment ago, all had been still. Now, her instincts screamed as above her, Priam’s spear descended upon his nemesis with terrible finality.

A glance at the reptile’s carcass and the young woman understood. The wyrm had woven its karmic powers to entwine her fate with that of the Tribulation. If Priam killed his son, Jasmine would die as well.

The Juggernaut’s Shadow closed her eyes, accepting her fate.

[Host death imminent. Emergency signal sent.]

The traitorous add-on alerted its master, and at the last possible moment, Priam halted his strike.

“No!”

He looked down, and Jasmine was almost glad to see anguish in his eyes—a torment proportional to the love she bore him. For all his power, Priam was drowning in the horror of this event.

A thunderclap without lightning made the nemesis flinch, and Jasmine felt the System’s attention settle upon them. Priam hesitated, then shook his head. When he lowered his gaze again, he was smiling at his Shadow.

Jasmine’s heart clenched, and a single tear slipped from her eye. He’s ready to kill his son to survive... but he refuses to let me die because of him.

The Juggernaut threw his head back and roared at the heavens. Of course, he had no intention of dying without a fight. Jasmine had no doubt the battle would be spectacular... but Priam would lose in the end.

She would not allow it.

“I became your Shadow to protect you, not the other way around,” she declared, stepping from the darkness. A dagger materialized in her grip, and she struck at the nemesis.

“Jasmine, no!”

The System’s wrath fell upon the one who dared attack a Tribulation.

*

A bolt of lightning struck Jasmine down before Priam’s eyes, shredding her cloak of shadows. Seeing her naked body collapse to the ground, he roared in fury.

“I didn’t control the wyrm,” a soft voice murmured.

Blinded by rage, furious at the world, the mage turned on his son. Promesse followed, obliterating the heart of the innocent Tribulation.

As the System’s presence faded, Priam fell to his knees. He gathered Jasmine’s body in his arms, pressing a trembling hand against the tattoo adorning her neck. Beneath his fingers, there was no pulse.

And so, without shame, the Juggernaut wept.

*

Status: 

PHYSICAL:
Strength 915
Constitution 1 624 (+8)
Agility 1 256
Vitality 1 643 (+106)
Perception 884 (+3) 

MENTAL:
Vivacity (D) 634
Dexterity 787
Memory 979 (+5)
Willpower 1 221
Charisma 894 

META:
Meta-affinity (O) 1 103
Meta-focus 633
Meta-endurance 1 122
Meta-perception 558
Meta-chance 678
Meta-authority 555 

Potential: 26 669 (-566)
Tier 0

Sun points: 1 143 444 

[He Who Eludes Death] charge: OFF. Reloaded in 17 hours 41 minutes 6 seconds.

Concepts:

• Breath (T0): 100% / Harmony

• Fire (T0): 100% / Unity

• Pyro (T1): 100% / Unity

• Mist (T1): 100% / Symphony

Bloodlines:

• Phoenix: 3%

• Dragon: 2%

Rewards standing: 

• Fusion Token - Skill (Epic) 

• Affinity Token - Tier 1 (30%)

• Alien Concept fragment (7th Terror)

• Talent Token - Upgrade (Seraph)

• Revelation Token - Ideal Prerequisites (Epic)

• Colosseum VIP Token

• Minor skill Epiphany

• Seed of Potential

• Trophy Compass

[Tribulation]: Two Tribulations pending.
Future Tribulations delayed until:
Time: 29 days 19 hours 41 minutes 54 seconds.
Next thresholds: 12 attributes > 900 / 6 attributes > 1 200 / 1 attribute > 1 800

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Well, I pulled two all-nighters to write all of this, but I think it was worth it!

PS: If you're sad about Jasmine, reread chapter 334 ;)