Rise of a Football God - Chapter 384: Semifinal clash; Senegal vs Nigeria [1]

Johnathan, an old man with an extraordinary past but an ordinary end, gets reincarnated in a dark fantasy world full of magic, darkness, and mysteries furled.

However, he committed a grave blunder by taking the fiction he had read as a reference. Reborn as a baby, he hoped to be deemed gifted by speaking early.

One thing led to another, and tragedy struck. The villagers declared him a demon-possessed and called the church. Johnathan, now known as Sylvester Maximilian, realized that he had messed up.

When the church's inquisitors came to judge him and burn him on a pyre. As a last resort and to welcome his soon to arrive second death, he started chanting holy hymns as his last breath.

Overwhelmed, they kneeled, thinking he was a messenger of Solis.

From there, the story of how Sylvester Maximilian rose through the ranks to sit at the top began.

But his life won't be ordinary, as he uses his cunning and the tag of 'God's favored' to his advantage. Fighting treachery, unearthing secret plots and world mysteries, facing the darkness around him and creating his place in history, engraving his name in the annals to be forever remembered as the—Immortal Pope, The Young.

[A/N: To not mislead you, the novel's name does not mean he instantly becomes the Pope from the start. The story will follow the life of MC. Though he will become the Pope at a pretty young age. 40% of the novel will be based around MC fighting to sit on the supreme throne.

If you enjoy world building and lore building, then you will like this story.]
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***Main Tags: FANTASY, ADVENTURE, MAGIC, DARK, STRONG MC(Weak at the start because he's a baby. Not an instant OP though.), WHOLESOME, COMEDY, KINGDOM BUILDING. MENTALLY OLD MC, Politics, Backstabbing, World Building.***

[WARNING: MC will not go around saving everyone. Absolutely not if it puts him in danger. But if he can save someone using his status or position in the church, he will. He will kill innocent people if he has to. MC is not crazy, cynical, or unsociable. The world at some times may seem very DARK.]
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[DISCLAIMER]
The religion will be fake. I won't make it similar to those existing in our world not to trigger anyone. However, the Church terminologies and designations may feel identical as they are simple vocabulary words.

Again, everything you read in this novel is fictional and has no relation to our world.

I hope you enjoy my work. Stay safe and eat healthy bananas.
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Five years ago, humanity’s strongest Tower Climber was betrayed at the peak of his conquest.Rael Arden, known only by his codename Phantom, was the silent genius who cleared impossible floors, crushed monsters with forbidden magic, and shaped the rules of Tower exploration. No one had ever seen his real face—yet his legend was feared across the world.But at the Tower’s summit, the teammates he carried to glory stabbed him in the back. For power. For godhood. For fear of what he might become.They thought he died.They were wrong.Reincarnated in secret, Rael awakens in a modern world that’s on the edge of collapse. Dungeons bleed into cities. Monsters evolve. The Tower is no longer just a gate—it’s infecting the world. And the very ones who betrayed him now rule from the shadows, hiding behind titles, guilds, and lies.But Rael isn’t alone. His soul split across hidden clone bodies, each designed to infiltrate, gather information, and prepare for war. As each clone reawakens, his power grows—and so does his rage.With him are three women tied to his fate:Selene, the shadow rogue who never betrayed him.Lyra, a curious researcher drawn to the legend of the Phantom.Aeris, the sword saint who still mourns his death… and may not be as loyal to the enemy as she seems.Now, Rael hunts the seven betrayers who destroyed his past.One by one, they will fall.But revenge is just the beginning.Because deep within the Tower, something else is waking—an ancient force that even Rael feared. And this time, the world may not survive unless the Phantom reigns again.

In a world where 99.9% of all men were wiped out and future births only had a 0.1% chance of being male, the role of men in society became that of celebrities graciously donating their seed to the masses. With the world population declining, pregnancy has become a social status, affording women government assistance, health insurance, and citizenship should they find a man to bless them with seed. With an only 1 in a 1000 chance of finding a guy, many women will do anything it takes to get close to a man and become pregnant. And should those women bear a male, it’s like winning the lottery, the remainder of their lives set as they receive massive stipends and no responsibility but to nurture their sons. Clyburn was reincarnated into such a world. Can a former unsuccessful business man properly navigate a female-centric world full of woman who just want to use him for his seed? With an overprotective mother, two caring sisters, and the mind of an adult, he might just.

First Arc:“Don't leave me! Just look at me and stay awake!” Words that haunted Ariana's dreams for as long as she remembered. Dying in the arms of her lover as they both are surrounded and engulfed in flames.However Ariana's quirks never stopped her from living her life. Her journey starts from when her adoptive mother sells her at the tender age of 12, afraid that she was stealing her adoptive father's love. A blow to her head unlocks her past life's memories and life skills.Any object she touches relating to her past life unlocks her past skills and education. Using her memories she changes the brothel she's sold to into a maid cafe, and slowly changes her community.While creatures called Lumas are born from her powers to protect Ariana but who are the Lumas really protecting? Especially when she gets her period on her 13th birthday and it morphs her into a humanoid garnet dragon.Second Arc:In a world full of magic, beast men, warriors, adventurers and elementals could there really be something more frightening then a girl with mixed blood? Garnet dragon, child of the jewel eyed priestess and the soul of someone who was summoned from Earth.Ariana is fully awoken to who she is and has started her life in St. Verusha Academy as their perfect score student. She will have to grow into the young lady she wants to be while trying to unravel the mysteries of her life.With the help of Cayden, her childhood friend and the the Lumas, Ariana will discover the roads she can walk down. The only problem is will she choose destruction or human evolution? Love or world dominance? Revenge or forgiveness? Or will she allow her human mind and heart to be devoured by the darkness inside of her because of a massive betrayal from the one person she thought meant the most to her?Third ArcThe bells of war have been wrung and Ariana has now chosen to save all of humanity. Though she has come to know many truths she still trusts in the relationships she's made and is willing to put everything on the line to become stronger. Her Lumas are evolving, Cayden is her true love that she will never let go, the Goddess of Creation needs her to complete the mission given to her and above all else Ariana is determined to survive.Now with her new knowledge she abandons everyone from their own safety and travels to the Animus, the beast Kingdom to learn how to control her garnet dragon powers from her blood family and hoping that they wil aid her in the fight against Lord Romanoff, the robed army and the twisted church.