LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 162: Mother!
Rex tightened his grip on the table, his eyebrows arching as he processed the question. "What do you mean, who am I?" he blurted, his voice tinged with disbelief. "I'm Rex Xander, professional trouble magnet, part-time Hydra-slayer, and occasional demi-god-punching enthusiast!"
He threw his arms wide, mock exasperation written across his face. "Seriously, Coach, we've been through so much together.....giant monsters, crazy generals, god-like egomaniacs, and now you're asking who I am? What's next? Asking for my star sign?"
Jefferson's expression didn't change, his eyes still boring into Rex like laser sights. The silence stretched, heavy and awkward. Rex swallowed hard, realizing his attempt at humor had fallen flat, or worse, gone completely unnoticed.
"Uh, Sagittarius, by the way," Rex added weakly, offering a sheepish grin. "In case that helps?"
A faint snort came from the corner of the room. Hercules had covered his mouth with one massive hand, his shoulders shaking as he stifled a laugh.
"Harbinger! Thou hast a way of handling the most choked situation with levity!" Cronus chuckled
Meanwhile, Jefferson's stoic and cold aura didn't even change a bit. His deep blue cyber-like eyes remained locked with Rex. "Cut the antics, Xander! Answer me" Jefferson replied calmly.
"Harbinger! Thou hast a rare gift for breathing levity into the most suffocating of moments," Cronus rumbled, his voice resonating like a distant storm, though his ethereal laughter softened its edge.
The air in the room remained tense, however, as Jefferson's piercing, cyber-blue eyes stayed locked on Rex, unyielding and cold as frostbitten steel. "Cut the antics, Xander," Jefferson said, his voice calm yet heavy with command. "Answer me."
The humor drained from Rex's face like water through a sieve. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest, his posture stiffening. His eyebrows furrowed, and the usual playful spark in his eyes dimmed. "Alright," he said, his voice quieter now, edged with frustration.
"What exactly do you want me to say? I'm Rex Xander, okay? Just a guy who failed his Awakening, somehow got Aether powers, and got dragged into all of this." He gestured vaguely around him. "That's it. That's the story."
Jefferson let out a short sigh, the sound more like the hiss of a blade being drawn than an expression of exasperation. His expression remained unmoving, carved from granite. Leaning forward slightly, he repeated, "That's all?"
"Yessir," Rex shot back, though his voice wavered ever so slightly. "Or do you want me to throw in that I'm freakishly good at eating—"
"What about your time powers?" Jefferson interrupted, his tone deceptively neutral but charged with an undercurrent of accusation.
Rex froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. His heart thudded painfully in his chest, loud enough to drown out the silence that followed. He blinked once, twice, before managing to croak out, "H-how do you know about that?" He had only exposed his time powers in front of Hercules but that guy would be too dumb to even remember to tell Jefferson about it.
Jefferson exhaled deeply, his gaze like a scalpel slicing through the layers of Rex's facade. "And your God's Eyes," he continued, his voice low but unrelenting.
"You tried using them on me the first time we met. How did you get them? You're not a demi-god, nor do you carry the aura of a godling. And yet..." He leaned closer, his gaze narrowing as if trying to peel back the very fabric of Rex's being. "...you possess those eyes. How?"
Rex's throat went dry, his mind scrambling for an explanation that refused to come. The room seemed to constrict around him, the weight of Jefferson's words pressing down like an iron yoke.
He opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out. For the first time in a long time, Rex Xander, the guy who could talk his way out of nearly anything was left speechless
"And that sword..." Jefferson added, his voice cutting through the tension like a razor.
Rex blinked, his heartbeat quickening. "What sword?" he asked, his voice unconvincing even to his own ears. Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire
Jefferson's gaze bore into him, unrelenting. "The sword you used during the Hydra attack. The one wreathed in black flame. Where did you get it, and how?" He leaned forward, his tone sharpening like the edge of a blade. "That weapon emits a godly aura. And more importantly... how did you summon it out of thin air?"
Rex's stomach churned as if a lead weight had been dropped into it. Dang it! I really showed too much during that fight! His thoughts raced, his mind replaying the battle against the Hydra. The desperation, the split-second decisions. It was life and death, though! What else was I supposed to do?
He could almost feel Jefferson's eyes dissecting him, pulling apart the secrets he'd worked so hard to keep buried. The Sword of Damocles, his time powers, and the truth about Cronus. They all hung precariously on the edge of exposure. If he spoke too freely, it wouldn't just be his life at stake; the delicate balance he'd maintained until now would shatter.
Rex let out a slow, heavy sigh. He was trapped between a rock and a god-killer. Telling Jefferson about Cronus was dangerous. Jefferson's hatred for Zeus was legendary, practically radiating off him like heat from a wildfire. If Rex revealed he was the harbinger of Zeus' father, the titan god of time, there was no telling how Jefferson would react.
"Harbinger!" Cronus' voice boomed in Rex's mind, his tone as commanding as ever. "Thou art in a precarious situation. Mayhap I should lend thee power to escape this mortal!"
Rex groaned inwardly. Escape? Do you even know how strong this guy is? He might kill me before I blink. And your power? Are you sure it's enough to get me out of here?
"There is a risk," Cronus admitted, his voice calm but unwavering. "Thy mortal form may indeed overload, perhaps even explode. But thou could survive long enough to flee!"
Explode? Rex clenched his jaw, his palms growing clammy. He still had plans for his life, things he hadn't done, people he hadn't saved, and, frankly, food he hadn't eaten. Dying wasn't exactly on his to-do list. "Cronus," he sighed aloud.
"Harbinger!" Cronus' tone was tinged with something almost like disappointment.
"I think... I'll just tell him," Rex muttered, his voice carrying the weight of reluctant acceptance. He turned to face Jefferson, whose piercing gaze hadn't left him for a second. "Alright, Coach. First off, the answer to your question lies in another question."
Jefferson's eyes narrowed. "Spill it."
Rex inhaled deeply, steadying himself. "Why do you hate Zeus so much? What did he do to you?"
The question hung in the air like a thundercloud about to burst. Hercules, who had been silently observing, instantly snapped to attention, his expression frozen in shock.
His hand slipped, and the weight he had been holding crashed to the ground with a deafening thud. His wide eyes darted to Rex as though he'd just broken an unspoken law, poked the sleeping lion, or worse, prodded a god's reverse scale.
The atmosphere shifted violently. The air grew suffocatingly heavy, charged with an ominous energy that pressed down on Rex like a tidal wave.
A deadly chill seeped into the room, and Jefferson's aura darkened, becoming almost palpable. His eyes began to glow faintly, no longer the deep blue of before but a swirling, volatile purple, like a storm of raw power brewing behind his stare.
Rex felt a shiver crawl down his spine. Whatever he'd just unleashed in Jefferson, it was beyond anything he'd anticipated. I really did poke the lion this time, didn't I?
The tension in the room erupted as Jefferson's Aether began to seep out, an invisible dam breaking under the weight of his barely contained fury. The color of his aura shifted completely, from red to an ominous, swirling purple, the glow emanating from his eyes brightening with each passing second. The air crackled with energy, and the pressure bore down on Rex like an unrelenting storm.
"Mother!" Jefferson growled, the word torn from his throat like a primal roar. His voice was layered, distorted by the overwhelming surge of power coursing through him. Aether flowed outward in a thick, tangible haze, licking at the walls like hungry flames.
"Harbinger! I'm about to grant you power!"
"Hold on, Crony!" Rex replied
Rex braced himself as a low, rumbling vibration began to emanate from the floor. The energy pouring out of Jefferson wasn't just oppressive—it was violent, unrelenting, and uncontrollable. Purple arcs of raw Aether snapped through the room, ripping through furniture and carving jagged scars into the walls.
"Mother!" Jefferson's voice boomed again, this time louder, more guttural. He clutched his head as if trying to wrestle control of himself, but the storm inside him only grew fiercer.
Rex's instincts screamed at him to move, but his body was frozen, the sheer weight of Jefferson's aura pinning him in place. His pulse pounded in his ears as he tried to shield himself from the onslaught. Aether lashed out like a living entity, one stray bolt striking the table he'd been gripping, shattering it into splinters.
Then came the storm.
With a deafening roar, Jefferson lost control completely. A shockwave of pure Aether exploded outward, sending Rex hurtling backward. His body slammed into the far wall with bone-jarring force, and a sharp, burning pain flared in his side. He crumpled to the ground, coughing and gasping for air, blood trickling from a gash on his forehead.
The room was chaos. Purple tendrils of Aether spiraled upward, forming a vortex around Jefferson. Furniture disintegrated, walls cracked and buckled, and the very air seemed to howl under the strain. At the center of it all, Jefferson stood, his figure barely visible through the storm, his screams of "Mother!" echoing like thunder.
"Jefferson! Stop!" Hercules' voice cut through the cacophony, loud and commanding. He dashed into the vortex, his massive frame unaffected by the raw Aether tearing through the room. His eyes burned with determination as he reached for Jefferson.
"Jefferson!" Hercules bellowed again, his hands gripping Jefferson's shoulders. He shook him roughly, his voice rising over the chaos. "Listen to me! This isn't you!"
Jefferson's glowing eyes locked onto Hercules, but they were wild, unseeing, and consumed by anguish. Another wave of Aether pulsed outward, threatening to tear everything apart. Yet Hercules held firm, his feet planted like roots against the storm.
"Don't let it control you, Jefferson! Don't let him control you!" Hercules' voice cracked with desperation. "You're stronger than this! Remember everything we've been through! Remember who you are!"
For a moment, Jefferson's gaze wavered. The glow in his eyes dimmed slightly, and the storm around him faltered. But then the name spilled from his lips again, softer this time, laden with pain. "Mother…"
"I know, Jefferson," Hercules said, his voice breaking as he pulled his friend into a firm, grounding grip. "I know what you've lost. But this… this won't bring her back. Don't let your hatred for Zeus, your pain, take everything else from you. Not again."
The storm began to dissipate, the swirling Aether retreating like a tide. Jefferson's breathing grew ragged, his body trembling as the glow in his eyes dimmed completely. The room fell silent, save for the faint crackle of residual energy.
Hercules held Jefferson steady, his face etched with relief and exhaustion. "We're here, Jefferson," he said softly. "I'm here. Let it go."
Jefferson slumped forward, the weight of his power and his pain crashing down on him. For a long moment, he stayed silent, his shoulders rising and falling with heavy breaths. Then, quietly, he whispered, "I'm sorry…"
Rex, still sprawled on the ground and nursing his injuries, stared at the scene before him with wide, disbelieving eyes. He coughed, wincing as pain shot through his ribs, but he couldn't stop himself from muttering, "What the hell did I just survive?"