The Dawn of the New World



"Noted. The host previously mentioned that it was of demonic origins. Since its effects seem quite powerful for a demonic ability, what is the drawback?"

This was the one thing all demonic abilities shared. The more miraculous or powerful it was, the higher the price the user would have to pay to use it.

Hao Xuan went silent, pondering the decision to share the information or not.

'Better to let him know. I don't want him to get suspicious just yet.'

"When I die my body will turn into the next version of the book, making it stronger and more powerful for the next person that comes across it."

"But it won't have any side effects while the host is still alive?"

"No."

"Noted. A good trade it seems."

"Yeah..."

Hao Xuan smiled inwardly.

Baracus had believed him so the plan worked, even if the information he gave out was incomplete in both regards.

'If only that was true. Not only does [Regis Officium] make me clear-headed and immune to all forms of manipulation, but it also gives me complete control over my emotions allowing me to control my mental state at all times regardless of what happens. I can push it all down and box it away for a while but sooner or later it will need to be released.'

'And when that happens it will be several times stronger, all those emotions will erupt at once with an intensity I have never seen before. But as long as I keep them stored away, it will make me leagues smarter than I ever was before. The more I push it down the smarter I will get, there is no limit to this.'

[Regis Officium] could essentially be broken down into three parts.

1. Immunity to all forms of mental manipulation

2. Complete control over the mental and emotional state

3. Intelligence far beyond his station, improves with emotional suppression with no limit

It was pretty easy to see where the trick lay. Because there was no real limit to how smart a person could become, they could keep putting themselves in distressing situations to then suppress all that emotional trauma to directly increase their intelligence.

But at some point the trade-off would become too much and there would be no way to survive it. It would explode, leaving nothing more than a walking corpse behind. And then the book would take over and the user would be destroyed in every sense of the word.

But by some miracle Hao Xuan had caught a break.

The book cleared his mind and suppressed all unnecessary emotions but it did not lock them away because they were already there from the start. But for some reason, he could still feel himself getting smarter.

[Regis Officium] had begun increasing his intelligence based on his emotional state and all that trauma that he had amassed until now, of which there was plenty.

Every misdeed and transgression that had involved him in any way counted towards this. Twice, thrice, over ten times, and still climbing.

Hao Xuan felt like his brain had physically expanded. He could see and understand things that were happening behind his back, come to conclusions that should not even be possible or feasible, and fill in the missing parts of things he didn't know.

Rather than saying he got smarter, it would be more appropriate to say he was half-omniscient at this stage. If it had anything to do with him he could extrapolate information directly from the ether and come to conclusions that bordered on the divine.

He got up, looking at the clear night sky that had gotten brighter and somehow prettier.

'I can almost see the end. Just need to know the last piece of the puzzle, I'm coming, Emperor.'

**

Within the great pyramid beneath the ruins, a darkness stirred.

Mr. Hyde who had become its prisoner after arriving within the inner chamber was the only witness to it.

The floor opened up in the middle and a rotating dial ascended to the surface. Across from it was a figure of blinding white light, his true appearance hidden behind the heavenly glow.

'It is...near...' a disembodied voice echoed within the chamber, 'The time...is nigh...'

Hyde slammed his fist against the barrier that surrounded him, screaming at the figure, "STOP THIS, HOW MUCH MORE CARNAGE WILL YOU UNLEASH BEFORE YOU GIVE UP?! YOU- We...we already lost, Father. There is nothing left to protect..." his voice falling to a mere whisper.

He didn't believe it at first but with enough time he had come to accept it.

Their world was gone, everything he had done was wasted. Too much time had passed and now everything was falling apart.

The Emperor turned towards him, 'My son...there is still...hope. The final piece...he comes.'