Reincarnating As A Prince in the DC Universe

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With his mind made up on the main goal of his coming year, the next was to set out his course of action.

The saying that by failing to plan, you're planning to fail was quite right and Aiden had no room for failure in his life and a single failure could cost him dearly.

With his new understanding of the Adaptive Evolution the Force gave him, he knew he was basically invincible within the ranks of human mages not to mention the warriors.

The Knight Commander was only a Grandmaster, a level similar to Archmages. If he wasn't careful, even Mira could take care of him if need be not to mention him.

Despite this invincibility, it didn't mean he would remain content. Power was a necessity to survive in this Universe after all, and while the Trident contained Poseidon's Divine Energy, there was something more powerful than mere Divine energy in his reach.

That's right.

The Motherbox.

Unlike the Old Gods who didn't know the full story behind the MotherBoxes, the humans and the mages who couldn't activate it and the Amazons who just saw it as a potential weapon if kept together, Aiden knew their origin and their capabilities.

Created using the mysterious Element X, MotherBoxes are generally sentient, miniaturized, portable supercomputers, although their true nature and origins were never truly explored or explained. .

They possess wondrous abilities not understood even by their users, the Gods of New Genesis which range from teleportation through the summon Boom Tubes, to energy manipulation.

Mother Boxes could also heal the injured and share a mystical rapport with nature. They provide their owner with unconditional loyalty even to the point of bringing them back from death.

But the most catching aspect of this Nifty artifact was its connectivity to the Source which means…it is a Computer connected to God.

Since the Force was a Nascent Source Energy, Aiden couldn't help thinking of claiming ownership of one. After all, where else was safer for an unknown weapon than in the hands of the strongest?

Aiden smugly thought to himself and quickly dressed up before casting an illusion magic on himself before leaving the room.

…

Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, Lyra had just excused herself from the company of Finn, Jaxon and Mira, leaving the three to return to Aiden if they pleased.

This part of the castle was Aiden's afterall and she was merely visiting her little brother.

As the three friends watched her disappear from their sights, Finn let out a deep breath in an exaggerated manner. "I can never get used to that woman."

"Hey. Show some respect. She's royalty." Mira who was standing by his side elbowed him causing him to look at her with a pout.

"Aiden's royalty too." He said.

"He's different." Mira said in his defense causing Finn pause.

"Mira…they're related…by blood." Finn said as he chose his words while using his hands to elaborate. Then turning to Jaxon. "Talk reason into this one." he said to Jaxon but he just pretended he wasn't listening with his hands crossed.

"She's already married into a Duke's family." Mira said in defense.

"But..she's still… his blood." Finn said trying to make Mira see reason but Mira persisted causing the two to continue going back and forth.

"You both seem to be in a lighter mood." Jaxon said softly after a while.

"Hehe, like you aren't. Aiden finally woke up after all. Things are going to be better." Finn said in his usual happy go lucky tone.

"Yeah yeah." Mira nodded with an equally happy tone. "Now we can all go out together on missions. No one would be able to deny him any rank he desires."

"Yeah, but there's still a need to quell the unrest between the various nations." Jaxon pointed out but Mira waved off his concern.

"I alone could've wiped out Khandaq if I wanted to but there'll be repercussions. Aiden on the other hand..." Mira paused here, but her meaning was already clear to the two.

"I don't even know which one is scarier. The fact that you're so calm saying that or the fact that it's actually true." Finn said and hid behind Jaxon while peeping at Mira with a frightened expression.

Mira rolled her eyes at his antics and said. "We better return. I'm sure Aiden would be happy about this too."

"Oh-ho? Is that why you took that hunting mission?" Finn asked with a raised eyebrow.

Following the bloodshed and carnage of the war, many mages who once prided themselves on their purity of heart found their resolve crumbling.

The overwhelming might of Apokolips had laid bare their fragility, their spells and power mere whispers against the thunder of true destruction. Though they had managed to drive the invaders away this time, a gnawing question lingered: what would happen when they returned?

How could they hope to stand against such gods again?

Despair, like a slow-moving poison, seeped into their hearts. It whispered promises of freedom from the burden of strength, urging them to surrender.

What use was their fleeting resolve when survival was a gamble? Would it not be better to indulge in the pleasures and vices of life while they could still breathe?

And so, one by one, the light in their souls flickered and faded, replaced by a consuming shadow.

With this lawless mindset, these mages cast aside their oaths and embraced the path of darkness, welcoming others who had also fallen.

They no longer sought to preserve or protect; they sought only power and the fleeting comfort it could bring and the darkness did not judge, it merely consumed.

The Dark Mages went around committing all forms of crimes and lawless acts. They kidnapped individuals, particularly women for ritual sacrifices or as prisoners for use in dark magic.

They used their magic to dominate and subjugate people including sexually abusing captives as a form of control, cruelty or just as a form of twisted pleasure.

Some Dark Mages, in their quest to quickly empower themselves, conduct horrific experiments on their captives, testing various magic's effects on their bodies and minds.

These tests often involve prolonged pain, suffering and physical mutations in the end.

The list went on and on without end.

Prior to Darkseid's invasion, the Dark Mages weren't this rampant as the Magicians of the Magic Towers were United against them to a certain degree, but now, not to mention the shortage of mages due to the numbers lost during the war, the ones that survived weren't all in their right minds.

This was also why the group were worried about Aiden after he awoke, but seeing him still capable of making a funny quip, they knew he was alright.

"They are worse than trash and should all be erased from the face of this planet." Mira said with a cold killing intent that made Finn and Jaxon halt for a moment. "I'm sure Aiden would share the same sentiment."

"For some reason, I don't doubt you on that front." Finn said as he followed behind her and Jaxon nodded in agreement.

The very thought of it irritated and angered them greatly.

The thought that these mages went around committing such acts against the humans and other living beings of the planet they had all gone to war to protect was a cause for anger.

To Mira who almost lost Aiden, she felt an immense desire to kill anyone related to these Dark Mages. Additionally, for some unknown reason, she could feel the very earth weep as the many crimes and atrocities committed upon it persisted.

…

In a dark, cold room, the flickering light of a single dim candle cast a long shadow across the stone walls, its jagged edges seemingly alive in the unstable glow.

The air was thick with an oppressive silence, broken only by the faint sound of a man's breath.

He was cloaked in dark robes that blended with the shadows, kneeling in reverence before the unseen figure who commanded his presence.

"My Lord," the man whispered, his voice low and filled with both reverence and uncertainty, "the Third Prince has awoken."

A deep, gravelly voice echoed from the darkness, filled with disbelief. "Impossible... How is that even possible? Wasn't it said that no force, no magic, not even the Gods themselves, could heal him?"

The kneeling man hesitated, his heart racing, unsure of how to deliver the next words. He had heard it from trusted sources, but the news felt almost like a curse.

"That is what our people inside reported, my Lord. But... no healing spells, no potions, no divine intervention made a difference. Nothing touched him... until now."

The silence in the room thickened. The voice was quiet for a moment, as if considering the magnitude of the news.

Then, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed, growing louder until a masked figure materialized from the shadows, stopping mere inches from the kneeling man.

The figure loomed over him, his presence suffocating. He bent forward, his voice like the cold winds of an approaching storm. "Then, how is he suddenly awake?" There was a sharp edge to the question, and the man's heart skipped a beat.

"It's possible that his body healed naturally," the messenger said, his voice faltering slightly. He hesitated before continuing, unsure of how to proceed. "Anyone who witnessed his battle that day should know..." The man paused, searching for the right words, but he couldn't shake the unease of praising someone who had once been an enemy.

"Know what?" The masked figure's voice was a growl as a palpable pressure filled the room, as though the very air had frozen in place.

"The Third Prince of Atlan... has the bearing of a god, even though he is still a man," the messenger managed, his breath shaky, but he stood firm beneath the intensity of the masked man's presence. "It is rumored that the Trident itself was bestowed upon the kingdom... as an acknowledgment of his strength."

A brief, haunting silence followed. The room seemed to close in, the darkness growing more oppressive with every passing second.

The masked man's voice, barely a whisper, broke the silence. "Is that true?" His words were laced with a chilling calmness that contrasted sharply with the ferocity of his presence. "Why wasn't I informed of this sooner?" he asked, his tone now unrecognizable, quiet, but there was a dangerous edge to it.

His fingers twitched as if grasping at something invisible. The air around him thickened, the oppressive weight of his mana smothering every breath.

"If I had known," he muttered, barely audible, "I would have made... preparations. I would have ensured he never woke. Not even in his sleep."

"Forgive me for saying this… but the previous Dark Lord… had a similar idea, however…" The messenger's voice wavered as he spoke, his breath coming in uneven gasps.

"However?" The masked man pressed, his voice cold and demanding.

"He… never… made it… back." The messenger's words barely escaped through his ragged breaths, his body still trembling from the earlier pressure.

"Oh?" The masked man raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued, and with a small flick of his hand, the suffocating pressure in the room dissipated. "Tell me more."

The messenger, relieved by the sudden lift of the tension, spoke quickly. "This wasn't in our original intelligence, but according to our people inside the Tower, it seems there's a powerful wood elemental Archmage protecting him." The man hurriedly spilled the rest of the words in one breath, almost as if fearing the masked man's reaction.

"A wood elemental mage…" The masked man muttered, his voice tinged with surprise. "That's the first I'm hearing of this. I didn't know there were still Unique ones among the Archmages."

A brief silence hung in the air before the masked man stood his posture commanding, his next words filled with certainty. "It's decided then."

"My Lord?"

"Summon every available Dark Lord In the Council, tonight, we assassinate the Young Prince and rid this world of any elements of hope."

"Understood." The messenger said and disappeared from the room.