Chapter 83: Birth of a Manas [Part 1]

Returning to my castle after my talk with Guy, I started prepping for what I like to call The War Before The War.

[Notice. It's a stupid name.]

My eyes twitched, 'I didn't ask you, Athena..." I said with a forced smile.

[Notice. That's just the truth.]

"Athena..." I muttered, still with a forced smile.

[Heh.]

"Did you just 'heh' me, Athena?"

[Notice. No, Master, it's just your imagination.]

That answer again, 'You're enjoying it, aren't you?'

[Notice. No, Master, it's just your imagination.]

"Hah," I sighed and dropped the topic, knowing it wasn't worth it.

To prepare for the attack, I must decide who to bring with me, who will delay Feldway, and who will handle the Insectars. I have options like Igris and Beru, with their divisions specializing in close-quarter combat, and Tusk, with his division specializing in magic and long-distance combat.

They can handle the Insectars while Mio, Seris, Luca, and Ari stall Feldway until I'm finished with Michael. Once Michael is dealt with, then it's Feldway's turn. On second thought, I should also leave someone in the castle, just in case.

Then there is also Ivarage. It was sealed inside the Spooky Palace by Veldanava after it caused mayhem in the Central World. I also remember that while it's referred to as a Dragon, it has no relationship to dragons or the dragon race.

I continued finishing my attack plans for the next few days as I didn't want to rush it and make a mistake.

While I'm confident in my current strength and that I could take them out, I need contingency plans in case something goes wrong.

One is Guy, but he would be my last resort if everything else failed.

I also need the Ultimate Skill: [Lord of Hope: Sariel] for my plan to work. I know where to find it so I will copy it before the war.

...

..

.

I made different simulations of everything that could happen in my head, and Athena was also helping me. They ranged from things like the possibility of Michael being able to take control over me or any of my shadows to smaller stuff like him escaping me.

So the plan is to trap them in the Land of Repose. An infinite dimension that only my shadows, me, and the people I allow can enter or leave. In that dimension, I can do almost everything I want.

While I can manipulate everything about it, I wouldn't be able to trap him there and then delete his existence.

There is also the possibility for me not to kill him but trap him in the Land of Repose for eternity without him being able to leave. But that would be too risky.

'Athena, what would be the chances of him leaving the Land of Repose on his own?' I asked

[Notice. The possibility is 0.0000001%]

While a small number, it's better to just eat him. Yes, eat him.

But would [Beelzebuth] be enough, or should I attempt to evolve it into [Azathoth] or something similar at least?

The Ultimate Skill: [God of Void: Azathoth] is a skill that was created by combining four skills: [Beelzebuth], [Raphael], [Veldora], and [Velgrynd].

While the last two aren't necessary for the creation of the skill, I don't know if [Athena] could be used instead of [Raphael]. If anything, I would consider [Athena] the next evolution of [Raphael].

Now that I started thinking about it. I need a name. I went through different names in my head, but in the end, only two remained: Nyx and Persephone.

Nyx was the first name that came to my mind. It's the name of the goddess in Greek mythology. Nyx is the goddess and personification of the night.

The other name, Persephone, came to my mind after I remembered the first time I heard the Voice of the World. My current Ultimate Skill: [Shadow Monarch: Ashborn] was the downgraded version of Ultimate Skill: [God of Dead: Hades].

While I don't think it would become the same skill if it evolved now due to the changes I made to it. Like merging my Unique Skill: [Black Heart Reactor], into my Ultimate Skill: [Shadow Monarch: Ashborn].

That skill was a mix of [Satanael] and [Black Heart], so who knows what could happen now.

But still, the name Persephone wasn't that bad, even if my skill became something different. Persephone, the Queen of the underworld. Goddess of spring, the dead, the underworld, grain, and nature.

It's decided.

'Athena, I have maybe pushed back this for a while, but I think it's time,' I paused and thought about the ego inside [Athena]. At first, I thought it was the copied ego of [Great Sage], but that wasn't the case.

The ego currently inside of [Athena] is the ego that was part of my system when I still had the Unique Skill: [Shadow Lord].

It integrated itself into [Great Sage] when I copied it and allowed it to talk with me, and I think that after over 300 years together, I think it's time, so from today, "Your name will be Persephone."

[!!!]

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Athena POV:

Going through the plans running thousands of different calculations, I was going through every possible scenario that could happen.

My Master, whom I have been with ever since he re-reincarnated into this world, at first, I started as the ego in his Unique Skill that only managed his status points and answered simple questions.

But then, after the Harvest Festival, his Unique Skill evolved into an Ultimate Skill, and I've become a useless ego just sitting in the skill without anything to do.

That was until he gained the skill [Mystery] and used it to copy the Unique Skill: [Great Sage] from the slime named Rimuru Tempest.

I used all my will to integrate myself into the skill, and I could finally speak with my master.

Then, for the next two years, I've been helping my master by managing his skills, running different calculations, and becoming Athena.

For a while, his thoughts were blocked from me until he spoke to me, "Athena, I have maybe pushed back this for a while, but I think it's time," He paused before he said five words that changed the whole world for me, "Your name will be Persephone."

!!!

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Author's Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter.

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