Chương 347: Chapter 337: End of the Tribulations - Part 4

Token - Legendary Skill used. [Biological Virus Resistance - Rare] is ready to evolve to epic rank. Two high upgrades are available to you. [Innate Immune Response - Epic] - The body's first line of defense. Rapid and general, it attacks all pathogens indiscriminately. High upgrade potential. Potential Cost: 160 [Adaptive Immune Response - Epic] - The body's second line of defense. Slower but more precise, it develops after initial exposure and generates immune memory. High upgrade potential.

Potential Cost: 160 One of the reasons Priam was so insatiably curious was that he hated finding himself in situations where his ignorance caused him harm. Most people with a scientific background probably knew the difference between these two immune responses. Not him. A few seconds ago, Priam had no idea how his body fought off an infection. Aside from genetics—which he had studied to upgrade his race—he was clueless about biology. That's going to have to change…

Priam hesitated for a second before selecting [Adaptive Immune Response - Epic]. To his shame, his only reason was that the word "adaptive" resonated with his path. POT -160 [Adaptive Immune Response - Epic] is ready to evolve to Legendary rank. One high upgrade is available to you. [Fine Cell-mediated Immunity - Legendary] - Against intracellular pathogens, your T lymphocytes become an elite force. High upgrade potential. Potential Cost: 360 [Fine Cell-mediated Immunity - Legendary]. And rename it.

POT -360 [Virus Resistance - Legendary] - Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous types of biological entity. Your T lymphocytes recognize and annihilate infected cells with ruthless efficiency. The memories of your cells are magically synchronized: once a weakness in an infection is discovered, your entire body will know.

This synergy of these two effects means that if you manage to eliminate a virus while saving the parasitized cell, your body will purge the same strain in record time. In the event of unprotected sex, this skill protects against STDs—not pregnancies. If you don't like your kids, you'll have to kill them yourself. CONST +6 VIT +15 PERC +3 MEM +3 Tier 0 Soul legendary skill limit: 3/5. Priam scowled as he read the final line of the description.

He had hoped to find a way around executing his son, but the System didn't seem inclined to give him a choice.

"What the hell did you do?!" His son's outburst drew Priam's gaze and he grinned, feeling the tingling sensation begin to subside. It hadn't disappeared entirely, but his high constitution and newly upgraded resistance seemed sufficient to block most of the enemy's skill.

"According to my add-on, it'll take you about two days to kill me with this virus. And that's assuming my resistance doesn't level up faster than your viruses mutate. Wanna bet?"

"Shut up! You're nothing but a man with no arms, no legs, and no dick, while I have an undead wyrm on my side!"

"You think that beast will help you win? If the System's taught me anything, it's that in this new world, you'd better be ready to get your hands dirty if you want to survive. And I'll have a dick soon enough." With those words, Priam ripped out his right eye. He barely flinched at the wet squelch or the sharp burst of pain. The System has turned me into a monster… but I'll do what must be done. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

While the host of the [Free Will] gate, the eyeball was also one of the sources of Hecate's New Moon. The curse had kept the virus at bay, meaning the cells in this eye carried an untainted copy of his genome. If Priam could regenerate his body from this eye, he would recover his limbs. And my dick.

"Wyrm, attack!" The draconic beast roared before launching itself at Priam. Without bothering to dodge, the Juggernaut activated his legendary kinetic skill, sweeping the creature aside with a mere thought. Like a child punched by an MMA champion, the reptile was sent flying. The wyrm's serpentine body slammed into the bunker, scales cracking under the impact. Priam grunted as he took a portion of the damage he had just dealt to his opponent.

The wyrm must have created a karmic link between them to reflect a percentage of the damage it received back at its attacker. In everyday language, it was called a thorns effect. A trickle of blood dripped from Priam's nose.

"Ah, of course it hurts, it's my own attack." A guttural growl rattled the air. Despite the devastating blow, the necromantic creature was already dragging itself upright.

"Jasmine, if you would?"

"With pleasure." A shadow swallowed the creature whole, and Priam turned his single eye toward his son.

"If you want to stop me, do it yourself." His nemesis clenched his teeth but said nothing. Redirecting half his focus to the eye, Priam gathered his resolve and plunged into his soul space. His soul was tethered to his body through aetheric pathways, and the relationship between his brain, mind, meridians, and soul could only be described as complex. So obscure, in fact, that he doubted he could understand it anytime soon. Thus, he wasn't sure if his plan to recreate a perfect body would work.

However, Priam knew that if the slightest possibility existed, his Potential would bridge the gap between theory and reality. Let's do that. The first step was to update his soul's anchor. Rather than being bound to his corrupted body, he had to tie it to the untainted eye. Opening the wellspring of his Potential, Priam was surprised to find an obvious solution waiting for him. His eye contained the gate of [Free Will].

Under the Juggernaut's design, each gate represented one of the Seven Concepts, and by a fortunate coincidence, this one corresponded to Soul. For this reason, his Potential effortlessly established a connection between his eyeball and his soul. POT -50 What Priam hadn't accounted for was that his consciousness would follow. He barely had time to command his body to prepare a Breath before his ego was sucked into the eye. A strange and wholly insufficient new vessel for a human.

Without [Tenacious Spirit], Priam would have died instantly. Fortunately for him, the Title saved his life by allowing his thoughts to temporarily run on a spiritual brain. Wasting no time, Priam activated the restoration effect of [Three-Headed Hydra]. Ambient aether gathered around the eye, before transmuting into a fresh, living head. Priam blinked—and would have laughed if he had possessed a throat. That thought snapped him back to reality: a head alone wasn't enough to survive.

Priam began burning what remained of his lifespan to regenerate his body, only to run into a problem. Unlike certain Titles, his vitality couldn't conjure matter from nothing. He needed nutrients to generate blood, organs, bones, and muscle tissue. Refusing to contaminate his new body with elements from the old one, Priam created a minuscule portal inside his mouth to access Concepts Archipelago—his internal world. In preparation for his Tribulations, he had purchased a few miracle pills from the Sun Shop.

The most numerous were Hydra pills, the same ones Jasmine and Myuri had taken to rebuild their bodies during their evolution into Homo Elysian. Placing three of them in his mouth, Priam chewed them and then tucked the resulting powder under his tongue, where it could quickly enter his bloodstream to hasten their effects. A few moments later, the mage exulted as he felt his neck begin to take shape—his gamble was paying off!

Thanks to Micro, he could feel his veins and arteries swelling with blood while the first vertebrae of his spine aligned to protect the delicate nerves of his spinal cord.

"As if I'd let you," spat his son, settling into a cross-legged position with a wicked grin.

"Let's see what an undead virus can do to your vitality." He began to chant, and his Aether resonated with the virus infecting Priam. The Champion winced as his regeneration slowed." Motherfucker," his lips mimed.

"I wish." Despite the dire situation, Priam chuckled. Still, if he didn't restore his torso before [Tenacious Spirit] went on cooldown, he would die. For all his resilience, Priam couldn't survive without a heart. Worse, every second his body remained incomplete wounded his soul. With no other choice, Priam burned through even more of his lifespan to counter his son's interference. His regeneration became visible to the naked eye, but the cost was staggering—months of his life vanishing with every heartbeat.

His trachea and esophagus reappeared, quickly concealed by two lungs and two hearts. These, in turn, were encased within his ribcage, soon covered by layers of muscle and skin. Simultaneously, his black hair fell away, replaced by stark white strands, and his face became etched with wrinkles and age spots. His lifespan burned fiercely, but promised to be as fleeting as a shooting star.

"You're insane," his son whispered.

"You'll die of old age…" As yellowed nails sprouted from his fingertips and his vision dimmed behind a milky veil, Priam smiled at his son.

"The difference between a madman and a hero is that the hero creates a miracle by defying the impossible. Watch," he chuckled, savoring his final notification. [Three-headed Hydra - Silver] becomes [Four-headed Hydra - Gold]!