Epoch of Apokoliptic Genetica

Johan held an injector vial filled with the golden translucent Extract of the Golden Orb fruit.

He just needed the Solaris family to come and revive Kane with their Light Elemental Energy.

But truthfully he wasn't fully confident due to how long Kane was in this- state...

Remember this was the first successful Cryogenics Experiment, but that's it, based on this method several better and safer methods had been invented, in hopes of escaping this world .

As he waited besides Kane's frozen body 👁️ j ty morgue,

The Solaris Clan had arrived and Moira sent Haytham to find out where Jiah was and 'deal' with her.

Haytham complied and asked around for Jiah indirectly without mentioning her name to arouse any form of suspicion while disguising his own face.

He inadvertently arrived at Selena's ward as she was the only female survivor they had collected on that night and she had to be Jiah.

He entered and was surprised to see Selena staring at him in a rather calmly fashion.

"Do I know you?", She asked him politely while her hand was right above the red Emergency Button beside her bed.

"You are not Jiah- I thought she was using a Pseudonym", Haytham revealed a silenced Pistol underneath his sleeve causing Selena to freeze.

"Where is Jiah, I know you are not using any Illusion or anything else, my quarrel is simply with her, you can tell anyone else what about what happened, I won't pursue ", Haytham reassured her.

"Oh... I see, you came to kill her- Well you are too late ", realisation dawned upon Selena and she calmly retracted her hand from the red button.

"How?", Haytham frowned with confusion.

"She's dead, I saw her die personally ", Selena replied with an 'as a matter of fact' tone.

"Why should I believe that?And where is her body?", Haytham quickly asked.

"I doubt you would recognise a torn up and charred corpse, but give it a shot - you can ask your people to verify while you are here, At the old Concordat Hotel - She was a real bitch you know, dragging me just because I helped Kane once...", She spoke with a bit of sadness in her voice when she mentioned Kane.

"You... helped Kane? You know Kane?! Kane Solaris", Haytham retracted his hidden Pistol and replied incredulously.

"Yeah... I didn't know him that much but he was a good man and didn't deserve that Psycho Jiah... ",Selena spoke in a low voice.

"...what do you mean was a good man? He's still alive - he's poisoned by Revenant Venom, Father knows how to deal with the Venom!", Haytham felt a sinking feeling in his heart and he swiftly retorted, no matter how much of a fop Kane was, he didn't want his brother to die, it was unacceptable!

"Is that what they told you? To break it out slowly? ... I suppose the local Authorities want to save their skins from the Inquisitor", Selena shook her head as she said that.

"It's not possible - Johan told us that Kane was poisoned and stored at the morgue I-", Haytham was still unable to process the new information.

"Johan? JOHAN! That ABSOLUTE IDIOT!", Selena exploded into fury and began to hyperventilate.

"What?", Haytham looks bit confused at her and then it struck him, her silver hair and Johan also had Silver hair... And his eyes fell briefly on the patient chart beside him.

Selena Silvervale.

This girl was Johan's Elder Sister.

Shit.

"I suppose both Lord Hadric and Inquisitor Moira have come in person... Can you please take me to the morgue? I must meet them before they kill him for his insolence, I promise you as a Silvervale to give something equivalent in exchange for my foolish brother's life ", Selena was barely able to stand as she removed the tubes off.

"I see... Let's sort this mess out", Haytham replied curtly, an actual Silvervale stood before him, even if they were a fallen and shunned clan, many people had vested interests in keeping the last 2 known living members alive, not out of any concern for the siblings wellbeing.

There was a reason why Johan had been placed in his squad, to keep him alive and safe from these foolish people.

Things would get complicated if Johan were to die.

Sigh - what a mess...

But Kane- dead? , Haytham didn't want to believe that.

He had to see it with his own eyes.

He got a wheelchair for Selena and they left for the morgue immediately.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Where's my son?", Inquisitor Moira entered the cold morgue to find Johan waiting for them.

Her eyes immediately fell on the freezer and her heart went cold as she staggered.

Lord Hadric was stunned and his eyes dulled.

Kayla looked on in horror as she watched her mother's Aura significantly weaken.

Johan kept silent and watched Moira slowly approach and rip the lid of the freezer off.

* Clank

She pulled out the tray and saw the corpse.

She couldn't cry, her heart was dead- she grabbed the stuff corpse and placed Kane's cold head on her lap as she sat on the floor.

She silently caressed his hair, not a word came out of her- but no word could convey the grief she felt.

Hadric sat beside her and placed his palm on his son's head, he remembered the day Kane was born...

It was a miracle, Kane suffered from Yellow Fever after he was just born but the child fought on instinctively for life.

Moira cried when she saw her baby suffer so much during the Yellow Fever treatment, any moment could be his last but the baby fought on and on.

The baby somehow survived through the period by sheer luck.

Her son Kane, her beautiful boy. Now Dead.

Kayla leaned against the wall with her mouth shut as she collapsed on the floor.

It was a nightmare, Kane was a stupid harmless fop that didn't really harm anyone - Kane was her older brother, now Dead.. Dead.

At a single glance, both Moira and Hadric could see the severe extent of Kane's wounds and scars...

He was brutally tortured.

It was then the guilt struck them.

Kane had called them, all of them.

But they all dismissed it as one of his usual Shenanigans.

Unfortunately the wolf had indeed come but no one could hear the boy cry.

Such was life.

They blamed themselves.

Who else could they blame?

Their dead son?

....

"Can you leave us ? Just leave", Hadric spoke with a hoarse defeated voice to Johan.

Johan knew that the next step he took would decide his life or death.

And he decided to do it anyway.

"He's not dead", Johan cleared his voice and felt 3 pair of eyes locking onto him with Killing intent.

"LEAVE", Hadric snarled.

So what if his son was a fop? He wasn't going to let anyone insult Kane now.

Kayla gazed at Johan coldly, they still hadn't settled scores with him about Kane and he was still trying to start shit?

Moira gazed at him silently but her killing intent was palpable.

" Before you kill me- this is a Silvervale Family Secret - I am willing to stake my life on the fact that Kane is not dead yet! I know how to bring him back!", Johan spoke with sincere eyes- Honesty and Sincerity was required to deal with members of House Solaris - he knew his in laws well- too well.

Hadric stared at the young man silently and retracted his killing intent.

The young man genuinely believed in what he was speaking, that much he could see- though it was unbelievable.

"If you can't bring him back- then you shall join him", Moira spoke after a moment, the killing intent in her eyes replaced with desperateness.

"Rest Assured I will - Lord Hadric I know you doubt me because you know how terrifying revenant's Venom is- but your son's case is unique", Johan spoke patiently.

"And that is?"

"Lightning - Am extreme burst of Natural Negative Lightning during the red storm - it fundamentally alters the Venom's properties - turning it into a kind of a 'potent' cryogenic fluid that slows the body functions to an extreme crawl, that's why you can't sense any heartbeat or life force... The people here stored his body into a freezer which significantly extended time to save him"

" And to bring him back to life we need to use the extract of the Golden Orb Fruit which I have prepared in this vial", He handed over the vial to Hadric who stared at it dully.

"We need a powerful Light Cultivator to charge the extract - though I must warn you, while his Soul is still tethered to his body- the results might be unpredictable since this state is the closest to death, I am telling you to prepare for any side-effects in personality"

Moira frowned and asked," what kind of side effects are you talking about exactly?"

" Memories maybe scrambled sometimes, he may have seen some things not meant for the Mortal mind, he might go a bit crazy or come back with memories of past lives... Being so close to death can do some weird shit to the Soul - So you should prepare - Just in case", Johan spoke a bit awkwardly as the couple frowned for a moment but then nodded at eachother.

Lord Hadric injected the Vial into Kane's heart and Sent immense light elemental energy into his body.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Kane stared at the Gate above the Steps of Mortality without flinching.

*Hisssssssss

Light flickered as the Gate opened and Kane saw his body glow slightly and then heard hundreds of hungry growls surrounding him.

Well the skeleton did warn him about the dangers here.

It was his cue to leave.

He immediately took a step on the Legendary Stairs...

*BOOM

It was the sound of 'Taandav'- the Cosmic Dance of Life and Death- of Creation and Destruction, the energy from the Step seeped into his Soul.

Kane felt his Soul shake and a presence locking onto him- observing him.

It was a Powerful force, seeking to make him comply to Fate and accept death, clashing directly with his will to live.

But since his will had been honed over several lifetimes, his soul shook briefly only for a moment before turning placid.

Kane sensed something amusing though, the shadowy creatures that were preying upon him had immediately scurried off upon hearing the sound released from the step.

This was convenient.

He took another step forward and the same thunderous sound struck his soul and clashed with his will with an increased intensity and duration.

It took a little longer for him to recover, but he sensed the changes taking place in his substructure of his soul.

It was the first time he sensed such powerful shackles placed within him- almost intangible.

The Sound shook the shackles - his logical mind came to quick analysis - his will wasn't protecting these shackles - they weren't part of him at all, foreign to his soul.

So... Why were these shackles there? And the Shackles had gotten loose because of the Sound.

There were 108 steps he could see and he had stepped on two so far.

He then stepped on multiple steps and was hit by waves of the Tandav sound - each wave stronger than the Last.

*Chink

Cracks appeared on the shackles,

Maybe reaching the top could shatter the shackles instead of simply loosening them.

Kane leapt off the stairs.

Then in a single sprint he rushed straight to the top of the Steps of Mortality.

The skeleton who was secretly watching this cursed out inwardly.

He had told the kid to climb the steps do that those shackles could loosen and when he couldn't climb anymore, the skeleton would snip the threads of fate and throw the kid's soul into the Gate.

As for Kane's current actions - it was suicide!

Flames erupted from his skeletal frame, he would absorb most of the impact.

However his Jaw dropped when Kane reached the last step and staircase reverberated with immense Energy...

Waves of the Thunderous Tandav Sound hit Kane one after the another.

Yet at the same time Kane's Will resisted the each wave with equal strength, refusing to die and instead growing stronger and stronger.

What was this guy?

The Skeleton had only seen tremendous amount of Anomalous Energies surrounding this kid and so he had tossed this kid to accomplish the mission.

He never expected success and was prepared for another Epoch to go by...

Yet this Kid... did not disappoint him and so the Skeleton peered further into the kid's fate- only to see the kid would brush with Death incredibly close.

He decided to turn the Kid into a Chaotic Variable by cutting of the cursed threads of Fate...

However as he could see, the kid surpassed his expectations.

Just look at the Will- he had never seen any mortal will honed to such a level.

What kind of Monstrous Paragon did Nomos create this time?

Kane on the other resisted the first 40 waves with ease, the next 50 waves with a bit of increased effort.

But the next 9 waves were incredibly powerful and he didn't dare to take anymore lightly.

Each wave was like a Tidal wave crashing upon his will, so much so he forgot about the state of the shackles and focused on resisting the waves influence.

The next 3 were particularly difficult to get across and his soul became incredibly faint, yet Kane refused to submit.

Then another 3 nearly battered him to the brink of exhaustion.

He really felt the urge to surrender grow extremely strong...

But he couldn't die, not when his mission was yet to be accomplished.

The 106th Wave forced him upon his knees with such mind numbing pain, he almost lost all rationale.

The 107th wave nearly won him over and Kane almost fell into the Temptation - yet... He couldn't give up.

Not yet.

It was then the 108th Wave hit him and his mind almost went blank, the urge to submit and surrender was undeniable...

Yet just as he was about to finally give in, Memories of countless past lives sifted through him, all of his accomplishments, training, few friends... All beckoning him to join them.

Then he saw Selena's smile, the first honest smile he had received after waking up...

It was such a brief moment yet he remembered it the most...

Her beautiful smile and her unconditional trust, yet something else flashed in his mind, he saw her dead... Alone in a frozen morgue.

'I didn't save her?', for a moment, Kane couldn't believe his eyes and then reason kicked in...

Illusion, it was an Illusion but it pissed him off.

He saved her, he knew he saved her! Despair would not claim him, his efforts were not in vain!

Lies!

A few seconds prior, right before the last wave -

A Shadowy Veil Daemon arrived with a vile grin beside Kane.

It then began to whisper and send illusions right as the last wave hit Kane.

The Skeleton however arrived and caught Veil Daemon with a red flames surging out of his eyes...

But he turned to see Kane who suddenly seemed to be charged with immense WILL!

Kane seemed to be very... Angry?

The Skeleton turned to look at the confused Veil Daemon with incredulity.

"You were trying to crush his will"

"Yes- I was trying to show him the futility of his actions - but I seemed to have... angered him"

*CRACK

*POOF

The Skeleton crushed the Veil Demon into ash and simply uttered," RIP Bozo" and returned to the Lethe River with a very unique expression.

The kid didn't need his help or intervention.

"Ah- AAAAAAAAAARGH!", Kane roared out in defiance and several invisible shackles within his soul began to shatter one by one.

*BOOOOOOOOM

Vast amounts of Searing Golden Light erupted from his Soul!

Black threads of cursed fate that had been wrapped around his soul exploded in an instant.

*KICK

A skeletal leg Kicked Kane right into the gate just as everything around him began to glow and sizzle.

"Damn", The Skeleton muttered in the depths.

He truly did not know what was going to happen - A Human Soul without the innate shackles? And that glorious amount of Anomalous Energy bursting out of his Soul and burning the cursed fate threads.

No one else needed to see this kid go all Jingly and shit.

But man, Realspace was going to be in for it, who knows, An Unshackled Human Soul like that of an Ancient - returning to the world in the flesh...

The Chaos would be Legendary...

The Skeleton sighed and truly prayed for Kane to never return.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Haytham brought Selena into the Morgue where they saw Hadric infusing Light Energy into Kane.

Selena gazed at her dumbfoundedly as he sat by Hadric's side along with Moira and Kayla.

Haytham wanted to speak but seeing his older brother, he was surprised too.

Kane was truly dead and Haytham could not hear any breathing or heartbeat.

Yet life force, tremendous life force was growing in the body, dead - static cells reviving fast.

*THUMP

Everyone heard the heartbeat and except Johan who sighed in relief - everyone gasped in shock.

*THUMP *THUMP *THUMP...

Kane's heartbeat shot up, the black veins disappeared and Injuries across his body began to heal rapidly.

*Breathe

"GAHHH", Kane's eyes snapped open wide and he immediately sat up and gasped for breathe.

He took deep breaths and his eyes met with Selena, as a tear rolled down hers.

"I knew it- You survived, those fuckers lied to me and got me so mad",Kane smiled as he spoke and felt a deep headache.

He was tired from this adventure.

But honesty he was very glad that she was alive, he then felt different pair of hands and gazed on him and he turned to look at the different people staring at him with with Tears...

It was at this time Kane realised that things had gotten more complicated.