Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Chapter 166: Chapter 21 Son of Light

At the center of the continent, by the ruins surrounding Mount Othrys, a remarkable transformation was unfolding within Cohen.

Upon his body, flames of light inched across his flesh, searing it without causing the slightest damage. Instead, as the light passed, Cohen gained an affinity for positive energy and resistance to high temperatures.

Even if his transcendent physique had not already been strong, he would have acquired an exceptional constitution. Likewise, it was the same with his lifespan; were it not for the Golden Human King’s lifespan already measured in ten thousand years, any ordinary being would have seen their life extended by hundreds of years at least.

However, unlike the pure enhancement of his physical body, within the realm of the spirit, Cohen faced real trouble. He felt as if he was transforming into the Sun, traversing The Sky, everything in the starry vault recoiling before him.

Yet, from the Sun’s perspective, everything he ‘saw’ was firmly imprinted in his mind. Every minute, every second of transformation observed by the Sun was forcibly ‘remembered’ by Cohen; he felt as if he was starting to forget who he was.

Human memory is inconsequentially meager compared to nature; there was no foundation for comparison. However, at a certain moment when he was about to completely lose himself, within the depths of Cohen’s thoughts, the image of a stele he had once seen in a dream slowly emerged. It served like an anchor, staunchly securing his past memories and personality.

The deluge of information from ‘becoming the Sun’ could not shake it in the slightest; even as just an image, it could still reveal great power. Eventually, as the onslaught gradually subsided, Cohen awoke from this dream-like scenario to find Lady Night’s hem had enveloped The Sky.

“…ah…I…”

Briefly bewildered, in the next moment, Cohen felt as if he ‘understood’ something. Among the information that had been infused, beyond the useless parts, there were many useful things.

Lying on the ground, he stretched out his hand, almost instinctively, and the stars converged to form a sphere of light that rose and illuminated everything around him.

Control Light, in Cohen’s perception, the natural light seemed like a part of him, easy to direct and control at will.

Even the light possessed different abilities; some starlight had special effects, while other light could combine with ever-present particles in the air, becoming more violent or aiding in healing wounds.

“…It seems to be a rather impressive thing, no wonder that beast became so much stronger all of a sudden.”

Taking a moment to recuperate, Cohen could feel he had gained many more abilities, but these were not the most pressing matters; right now, he needed rest.

Having just withstood such a mental onslaught, though he had persevered, he was extremely exhausted. Moreover, even though he had weathered the crucial moment, the forces affecting his spirit had quieted down considerably, they had not disappeared but were still present.

“Thank the Divine King’s protection, thank Her Highness Yvonne’s benevolence and power.”

Murmuring in his heart, Cohen knew that if it were not for the shadow of the stele deep in his memory, he might have lost himself already, degenerating into an existence like that beast.

Regrettably, he had no idea which deity ‘The Divine King’ that Yvonne spoke of referred to, so he simply followed through with a prayer.

Standing up, Cohen took another look at the carcass of the beast.

While he had been hunting it, Cohen had been puzzled by the sudden appearance of this strange, indiscriminate beast that attacked everything and could Control Light. Now, it all became clear.

It was probably due to that unknown gelatinous substance, yet the beast hadn’t survived. It lost itself in madness, but at the same time, it had become stronger through the mysterious substance’s transformation.

“That side seems more suitable.”

The night was deep, and Cohen walked toward the distance, discerning his directions by the stars.

The following day.

Leaning against a broken circular pillar, Cohen woke up from his slumber.

The sun was high in the sky, but in reality, it was morning, because in recent years the sun had not moved at all.

In Chaos, the dominions of the Ancient Gods of Eternal Night and Lightless actually pulsed like the tides. When their power rose from beneath the ground, the sun would be obscured, and night would come. The initial division of day and night was like this, since in the beginning of creation, there was no sun.

So, there hadn’t been dawn or dusk for some time, just as when Hyperion was still around, the day would arrive, and the sun would directly shine upon the earth with its most intense light. Fortunately, the sun was somewhat weak now, so it didn’t add any more burdens to the already disaster-prone climate.

However, unlike before, now as Cohen gazed at the sun in the sky, he felt an innate sense of kinship along with repulsion. The former came from his newly acquired power, while the latter because the mental impact grew stronger under the sun.

“It seems that this thing is best integrated at night, or even to find a way to block the light. If I had touched it in the evening, perhaps even my own will might have been able to hold on.”

While he still had a slight headache, after a night’s rest, Cohen had recovered quite a bit.

With the haphazard knowledge that had come to him inexplicably, he roughly figured out the abilities that the gelatinous substance had granted him: immunity to high temperatures, Control Light, a peculiar panoramic vision, and influence over certain emotions. Even for the Cohen of today, these were significant aids.

He even faintly sensed that he could momentarily transform into a ‘miniature sun,’ but intuition prevented him from trying.

He had a premonition that if he dared to do so now, he might once again experience the feeling of nearly losing his self.

“Let’s try the other abilities instead; perhaps they can help me excavate the ruins.”

Following the information in his mind, Cohen raised his hand toward the distance. As the light fluctuated, a beam of light sliced through the air, piercing a small mountain that was over a dozen meters tall.

“The power is indeed substantial!”

Nodding, Cohen knew he could cause the same effect by exerting the energy that stemmed from his own body. However, this newly acquired special ability seemed to not consume his physical strength, which pleased him greatly.

“The progress of the excavation can be accelerated now… I wonder just how deep beneath the earth the Temple of Corolla is buried?”

“Fortunately, with the protection of the Divine King, it must still be intact.”

He smiled and walked toward the distance.

It was hard to say exactly why, but although he kept telling himself that excavating the Temple was for the god, deep inside he couldn’t deceive himself; in fact, Cohen felt he was doing it more for those beings buried in the ground, and for the stone tablets that documented their lives.

But no matter the reason, finding the place was always the right move. So after eating a little, the Golden Human King continued with his work.