Chapter 205: The Forge of A Mother

Clink!

They say that a journey to greatness begins with a single step. But mine was different, it began with a knife, a hammer, and white flames.

The blade cut through the skin like butter, a clean and swift incision. The skin was sliced open and peeled off like the cover of a book, exposing the muscles, the bones, the nerves, and the veins underneath. The faceless judges didn’t hesitate a second and kept working like machines, their actions were flawless, no hesitation and no mistakes.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

After the skin was removed, the judge standing at my feet wielding the white flames burned the exposed muscles, veins, and blood, melting them to ash, leaving only the bones. Then the judge wielding the hammer used it to smash the bones like a blacksmith making a sword, but instead of turning my bones into something else, they simply got deleted from existence.

‘UGH!… I must… endure.’

The whole process was slow and painful. Not even a minute had passed, yet I was already sweating, panting, and breathing heavily. My eyes were watery, and I felt like screaming and begging for them to stop. The pain was simply unbearable. I endured a hellish torture for ten years under the hands of that demon governor and I uttered no sound or beg, but this… this was so much worse. And it was only the beginning.

‘Fuck…’ I gritted my teeth, enduring the pain, and keeping my focus. ‘It hurts…. it really fucking hurts!’

Finishing with my right foot, the faceless judges turned to the next, repeating the exact same process: cutting the skin, burning the flesh, and shattering the bones.

Clink!

“…” I was about to lose it and scream. My sanity was slipping away, the pain was unbearable, and the heat from the white flame was also unbearable. Everything was simply too much. However, something suddenly expanded inside my throat, stopping me from screaming.

‘What is this?’ I thought, confused, but that confusion didn’t last because of the pain. And to tell you the truth, I’m grateful for whatever that thing was. Without it, I would have failed, and I’m not even three minutes into the ascension process.

“Good job,” one of the judges spoke, his tone was soft and gentle. “Not many people can endure such pain.”

“Yes, you’re really brave,” the second faceless said. The judge who was burning my flesh. “Not many can go through what you did and stay sane.”

“You have the strength.”

“You have the heart.”

“And the will.”

“That’s why she chose you.”

‘She?’ I blinked, confused, but the pain didn’t allow me to think, and a second later one of the judges placed his hand on my eyes.

“Now, close your eyes and focus,” the first judge spoke. “It will be over soon.”

“…”

With a strong effort, I somehow managed to keep myself awake and aware, enduring the burning of my flesh, the slicing sensation, and the sharp stings as well as the shattering of my bones, just to survive. Just to reach greatness, just to reach her. My dear wife, Lilith.

Maybe that was the only good thing about my suffering all those years inside the body trial; it gave me somehow the mental strength to endure this pain, or else I wouldn’t last a second. I learned to shift my bad thoughts into more good ones or bring some good memories of my time with my daughters, especially Luna and Ember, my firstborns.

‘I miss them all.’

“Queen Morgana,” the faceless judge called, removing his hand from my eyes. “It is almost over, just one last step.”

I didn’t dare to open my eyes since I had a feeling that what remained of my entire body was only the head and a part of the neck. But after hearing this, I had to take the risk and raise my eyebrows. And surprisingly, I could still move them.

That’s why I opened my eyes slightly and saw nothing but redness and darkness. Instead of flesh and bones, my entire body was transformed into something… ethereal. A body composed of pure crimson mist and energy lines that I guessed were a replacement for my veins. The only exception was the upper half of my neck.

“Close your eyes,” the judge on my right said, his tone was quiet but firm, gentle but also frightening. Since all I could see was the silver hammer high in the air, ready to descend on my face.

“Don’t look,” the one in the middle agreed. He raised both fiery hands towards my face and slammed my eyes shut. A second later, I felt an intense amount of pressure building inside my mind. And a strange and alien instinct prompted me to clench my jaw and bite down as hard as I possibly could.

‘AHHHHHHHH!’

A piercing agony lanced throughout my head and mouth. The bones of my teeth felt like they were bending or cracking in response to the immense force they had to endure. A moment later, I felt my jaws pop free of my head before the silver hammer slammed downwards.

BANG!!

For a long moment, I heard and felt nothing. There was just silence. The kind of silence you only get when you’re really, really deep in the ocean and not a sound is able to pass through the water. That’s how it felt. As if I was engulfed in total silence, a comforting kind of quiet, unlike the outside world where all you hear are the screams, the laughs, the joy, and the anger.

‘I like it.’

But the next thing I knew, I could feel my body again. No! That’s wrong. This body didn’t feel like mine. I wasn’t supposed to have a body! Yet, here I am, in some kind of an unidentifiable vessel. And I knew deep down that there was a certain power running through this form—the ethereal one. A strong, potent power that I could sense flowing through me.

“Open your eyes.”

Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was the three faceless judges standing at my feet next to each other. Ignoring them, I looked down at my own hands and gasped in astonishment. The sight was simply surreal and beautiful. My body transformed into a thick layer of red mist, a mist that seemed alive. And the energy coursing through it was so powerful that it felt as though a single touch could destroy the world.

“W-what is happening,” I asked. My voice was weak and hoarse. The words barely came out.

“We successfully shattered your mortal form,” the right judge spoke. His tone was devoid of emotion. “The tough part is over. Now we must forge a new body.”

“I see,” I nodded, understanding the concept. Then I saw the three judges move, approaching the three glass tubes—my reward for completing the trials. Using telekinesis magic or something, they first pulled out the reward from the trial of the mind, the doll-like body, and placed it on a table that materialized out of thin air.

“Hmmm… Hmmm… Hmmm.” Two of the judges approached the body, their hands crossed to their chests and their heads lowered as they hummed some kind of prayer. After a minute of chanting, the two judges stopped and raised their hands, their palms pointing towards the body.

‘Is this some kind of ritual? And what are they going to do with the doll’s body?’ I thought, staring at the strange actions of the faceless judges.

“Oh, Infinite Universe, Weaver of Existence,

From the vastness of your stars to the smallest flicker of flame,

We beseech your boundless essence to shape this vessel anew.

Imbue it with the echoes of all creation,

Grant it strength forged in the crucible of chaos,

And a wisdom drawn from the eternal flow of time.”

They spoke in unison. Their voices sounded like multiple people talking at the same time.

As their prayer concluded, the third judge stepped forward, his hands glowing faintly with arcane power. With an almost casual wave, he summoned the second glass tube, its contents—the blood I collected—floating free from its confinement. Slowly, almost reverently, he directed the sphere toward the doll-like body.

The moment the crimson liquid touched the surface of the doll, an audible crackle filled the air. The lifeless form twitched violently, its pristine exterior absorbing the blood like a sponge. Veins of glowing red began to pulse beneath its surface, spreading rapidly across its body.

I watched in awe and unease as the transformation unfolded before me. The doll was no longer just an object—it was coming alive as the crimson sphere from the third glass tube drained into the doll.

“Oh, Eternal Forge of Life and Death,

Bearer of Blood and Bringer of Vitality,

Through your crimson tides, we summon the spark of existence.

Flow into this vessel, the essence of beginnings and ends,

Bind it to the rhythm of the cosmos,

And ignite the fire of purpose within its core.

Through blood, we create; through life, we ascend.

May this body rise, a fusion of form and eternity,

A harbinger of destiny, shaped by your boundless will.

A Mother of All.”

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