Ascension of the Nephilim

The Darkness Aspect hid back in his caged den.

He quickly began to pour the darkness into the Dark Head to transform it and turn it into a creature of his likeness and control.

From the cells of the evolving Okto-Khefali, the Darkness Aspect poured into his soul to make it his new body. The power of Somatous ous Thanatos had stopped the cells from evolving as the Body of Death cannot evolve.

"That power to sever...! But this could work to my advantage! The Okto-Khefali is free and will fight the Nephilim! He meant it to kill me but it seems he underestimated the curse of power limitations! He thought he could release a True Crown's Power but suffered the consequences of it! Now, I shall focus and recreate my form! A Dark Fiend Lord shall be born in Middle!" The darkness aspect laughed as his body took form.

The head turned into a humanoid form and the body was similar to that of a Thane Dragon.

The power of the darkness allowed the head to rise to the power levels of Crown.

But as the darkness continued to take form, he noticed something odd as he listened to the silence.

"Why...are they not fighting? I don't even sense the fluctuations that would attack the Okto-Khefali!" The Dark Fiend pondered.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard approaching.

Kyros finally arrived at the depths of the underground chambers and saw the room that was pitch black.

"I thought so. A Darkness Aspect. The soul of Dark Fiend Lord was sent back from the future. Destiny could not send powerful beings from the future. Even when he sent his armies, he could only limit their power to Cardinal level. But to chain, an Okto-Khefali would require a stronger cultivator. So a Dark Fiend Lord sacrificed his body and only moved here in his soul form." Kyros smiled as he took a look.

"Nephilim! I shall end you! I shall kill you and devour the body of the Okto-Khefali! You have allowed me to create this form! Severing the Dark Head allowed me to gain its full power! Eugene has already allowed me control of his head, and even the soul core had become docile! And then you severed it! Now with the soul core and this body, I have arisen!"

"I know. That was the plan. I needed to offer a crown-level being to the Fortress. It's part of the mission of the Fortress." Kyros chuckled.

"Sorry, Eugene. But I don't plan in giving back the head. You can have the soul core, though. The Fortress will disperse the soul of this Dark Fiend Lord."

"As long as my other heads survive, even the dead cores will arise. Don't worry." Eugene appeared.

"What?! You're alive?!"

"I serve the Nephilim now. I have seen the future and its oblivion. Once I kill you, I will convince all the other True Neutrals and End will have an army of Heretics to face!" Eugene declared.

"You...! How has your evolution stopped?!"

Kyros raised his shield.

"I keep telling you I killed Heralcus. Somatos Ous Thanatos was imbued in this shield. This is the Shield of the Wicked." Kyros revealed.

"With it, I have already studied the power of the Body of Death and with some genius-level mages who also live in a body of death, I use create pills through alchemy that will induce that power. I have two dragon allies that may need to use their Hyper Evolution in future battles and I naturally have to prepare to stop it." Kyros explained.

"You thought I would rage and fight the Nephilim to my last breath since you were no longer there to stop my evolution. How stupid. From here on out, the future shall change. I can't wait to see what my decision today will have in Middle's future. Will that vision of me being killed by a lowly Cardinal Necromancer continue? Or will I fight that Cardinal in the future and eat all of his armies and his family?" Eugene laughed.

"I will end you both! The power of the Dark Fiend Lord surpasses your imagination! I am-"

"-Unaffected by the limiting curse. I know! You were to become part of Heralcus's powers. I keep telling you, I fought and killed Heralcus. I know all his strengths and his weaknesses. He would have powers that will allow him to unleash Crown attacks at their full potential and would even defeat Conquerors in that way. That's why when Fate sensed that I was reaching the level of power that could challenge Commanders, he sent me to future Middle to fight him. When he received your power, it was pointless. He was still a Cardinal."

"He's immune to the curse?!" Eugene was surprised.

"Yes. That's why I am talking and waiting for him to get stronger. That way when I kill him I'll have an opportunity to see and study how he is immune to this curse." Kyros explained.

BOOM!

"I'll kill you know Nephilim!" The Dark Fiend Lord raged as he harnessed a powerful dark sword and prepared to attack.

The darkness gathered around him.

But Kyros stood up and released his power. The Celestial Code appeared and numerous wraiths flew out of Kyros.

The form of the Light and Shade appeared on all his weapons.

"That will not be enough, Nephilim!"

"I wasn't also delaying and ranting just to make you strong. I delayed so that my spell would be complete. Eugene..." Kyros then revealed all the Cores that once belonged to the other Okto-Khefali.

"I covered it with Mysterion to an extent that you won't suffer the backlash of meeting it again. Use these cores..."

The eight cores gathered around Eugene and with Kyros commanding the Celestial Code, it merged with Eugene.

Eugene felt the connection and it was as if he could command all the other Cores at will.

Some of the Cores were indeed dead. But they were still the Cores of Eugene. And as Eugene said, as long as a head was alive, the other cores could gain life.

A great mystery occurred. Though the cores were coated in mystery, Eugene already knew the truth. This was his soul core! This was an Okto-Khefali's core! The power of Mysterion kept this secret to the Universe, but he that knew the truth, or who already received Revelation was able to fully take advantage of it!

The eight cores merged with Eugene and the power of the Celestial Code erupted.

Eight avatars appeared. Heraclus had used this power with his Commanders and Eugene used this same power.

"Let me lend you my Dark Core." Kyros laughed as the Dark core appeared.

Several energy conversion circles appeared written as the numerous wraiths completed the writing of the seals.

The dark core linked with Eugene and the form was completed.

With the dark core of Kyros, Eugene and Kyros managed to combine and share their energy!

A few cores of Eugene already had housed the power of the Celestial Code. And as it was his soul, Eugene was able to access it and harness the same power.

"The Celestial Code! I can see it! I can harness it!" Eugene felt his heart racing.

Eugene was amazed as he could feel a merging and union that was far stronger than what he and the Darkness Aspect once could do!

"This...! This was his plan! This is why he recruited me!" Eugene realized what Kyros aimed to do.

"Celestial Form! [Andromeda!]"

Sixteen heads of the Okto-Khefali peered down on the Dark Fiend Lord.

Kyros stood at the front and harnessed the Celestial power.

"No! Impossible!" The Dark Fiend Lord felt the power of the two combined. If it was two separate attacks, then he could block it. But the Crown powers combined and through synergy, the combined equation of Kyros and Eugene's power surpassed what two separate Crowns could do.

A massive crown appeared on top of the two of them. It was bizarre. In all of history, never before has a Crown recognized two separate beings as one. But the link of the Celestial Code connected the two.

"Ha Ha Ha! Nephilim! I'm starting to like this deal! This Celestial Form, Andromeda is quite a beautiful form!" Eugene laughed. He could imagine what power he would have in the future!

"Fun Fact: Andromeda is a constellation with sixteen main stars. In Greek mythology, Andromeda was so beautiful, that when her mother boasts that she is more beautiful than Nereids, Poseidon sends a sea monster Cetus. So Kyros used this naming scheme because of the Sixteen stars and the fact that there is a sea monster involved. Cool, right?"

"Who?!" Eugene was surprised at the sudden commentary.

"Oh. That's Time God Calaminus. Looks like he's ok now."

"No... I'm not! But without the darkness that you keep purging, It's much better now." Calaminus grumbled.

"Time God Calaminus?! That eccentric crazy god who would whisper 'hail hydra' in a low voice every time he meets an Okto-Khefali?!"

"...Damn, Calaminus. You must have been so annoying..." Kyros shook his head.

The power of Time surged out and hastened the merging power.

"What?!" The Dark Fiend Lord saw how the power gathered faster and faster.

"Shadow of Hyperion!" As he had no choice, the Dark Fiend Lord slashed out his sword.