Limitless The Strongest Revenant-Chapter 911: It just had to be [2/2]

Zanele furrowed her eyebrows at my response. She closed her eyes and thought in silence. After about five seconds, she continued.

"I see. No wonder. Everything makes sense. The reason you act the way you do is because you do not only know of your past. But also, of your future."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I blurted in irritation.

I disliked people trying to use complicated things when they tried to explain. Saying shit like my past and future rubbed me the wrong way.

"I misspoke. Please forgive me. Let us discuss it later. For now let's focus on Prince Olamide Ayotunde. He is the 17th prince and the only son of Adebimpe Olamide. One of the twelve queens and matriarch of the Ayotunde clan based in Nigeria."

Trying to focus on the big picture, I tried to swallow my discontent and listened in. Until I felt a soft hand intertwine her fingers in mine. I looked to my left. Jo had a disheartened smile as she said in the gentlest voice.

"Darling, please don't be angry. Be happy. It hurts to see you like this."

'How can a woman be so angelic?' I wondered.

Her innocent questions blew away whatever negative feelings I might have had. I pulled Jo's hand and brought her body closer. I kissed her lips greedily, forgetting everything else. After a few seconds, our lips parted. Jo rested her forehead on mine with a bright smile.

"Better?"

"Thank you, Darling. What will I ever do without you?"

"Hmm…"

Albeit reluctant, Jo returned to my side. I had to practically slap myself to resume listening to Zanele. She didn't seem a bit bothered and just continued as if nothing happened.

"I am sure you have noticed that it is harder to control our emotions in this place. This is a side effect of my husband nearing his limit. At the current rate, I was told that he would last maybe five more days before completely breaking down.

"When that happens, it won't be just Hellsborn coming to Earth. Demonkin and, on rare occasions, even Archdemons will. They call the ceremony in which the owner of Hannibal Mandela's name changes the Rite of the Apep."

The moment I heard the name of the ceremony, I felt all the hairs on my body stand up. I felt an immediate sensation that something was watching me. Unsettled, I sent death resonance outward to combat the feeling.

'Exa, who or what is Apep?'

[Apep (also known as Apophis) is an ancient Egyptian deity, primarily associated with chaos, destruction, and darkness. Apep is often depicted as a gigantic serpent or snake, and sometimes as a crocodile or a combination of different serpentine creatures.]

'Fuck! It just had to be a fucking snake!'

The moment I said the word serpent, I then remembered the words the Fates told me.

"Very well. The worlds in the past did not end because Hell broke open. They ended because he who slumbers awoke and destroyed it."

"The being that you are thinking of is probably correct. He who sleeps is the harbinger of the end. And the reason we are trying to stop you is because should you use {Soul Breaker} he will rouse awake."

FUCK! There was no fucking way this could be all a coincidence. Against my better judgment, I gave Exa a command I knew I was going to regret.

'Exa. The mythologies I shared with the Sirens. List down the world-ending serpents in each of them.'

[Understood. Give me a moment.]

As I waited for Exa, my mind began to remember everything that I had learned up to this moment. If what I understood was correct. Then the Serpent from my dreams was literally the one who ended everything.

[My lord, I personally find these results concerning. Of these analogies, only the Welsh version required some imagination. The rest were easy to fit. It cannot be a coincidence that a serpent is always the one to represent chaos and evil.]

'Show me.'

___

1. Tyr and Freyja | Norse | World Serpent: Jormungandr.

2. Nergal and Ishtar | Babylonian | World Serpent: Tiamat.

3. Pwyll and Rhiannon | Welsh | World Serpent: Y Ddraig Wen.

4. Perun and Vela | Slavic Pagan | World Serpent: Veles.

5. Mars and Minerva | Greek | World Serpent: Typhon.

6. Montu and Satis | Egyptian | World Serpent: Apep.

7. Takemikazuchi and Inari | Shinto | World Serpent: Yamata-no-Orochi.

___

'Fuck. Just what the hell does this all mean? Why the hell do the Africans just so happen to have a ceremony named after an Egyptian snake! FUCK!'

[Well, my lord, technically, Egypt is part of both the Asian and African continents. With regard to the Battlefront, they are part of Africa.]

"Successor, are you all right? You have been silent for quite a while now."

Figuring that it was pointless to stress about such matters for now, I opted to shelve the matter for now. All my girls were not moving and had dazed expressions. But considering the digital signals running to and fro among them. They were in deep discussions.

'I'll just ask them later.'

I shook my head and answered Zanele, "Sorry, I had a slight headache. Can you pick back up where you left off."

"I understand. What was the last thing you heard?"

"The Rite of the Apep. Tell me what it is, how it is done, and what happened the last time it was completed," I ordered in a firm tone.

"Okay, the Rite of the Apep is the ceremony in which the current Hannibal Mandela dies and gets reborn. The process is straightforward. The old Hannibal dies and a new Hannibal lies side by side with his corpse drenched in his blood.

"The two of them will draw demons during this entire period. The other clans usually manage the defense. Once the blood transfusion is complete, the old Hannibal must be torn apart and burned. The new Hannibal will then eat his ashes, completing the ceremony. The entire process takes about four days.

"Last time it happened, my lover Zwelibanzi took up the mantle and eventually died from that point on. I say that because, though his body was alive, the man I adored ceased to exist." Zanele's voice was sad as she shared the past.

She wiped her tears and caressed her beaded necklace. "A day later, the Immortal sent these as a gift of our betrothal. Unfortunately, many things happened; I was eventually forgotten. He only came back for me much, much later."

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Zanele then quickly summarized what happened afterward. Hannibal Mandela eventually came for her 150 years later. And asked for me to join the Royal Harem. Her entire clan then elevated her to matriarch to leverage their relationship.

"When the Immortal and I entered our bedchambers, I learned my lover was someone else. There was not a trace of Zwe in the current Hannibal. According to him, he took me as his lover to fulfill a promise.

"Amari was the result of that night. However, since then, I have not seen His Majesty, nor has he ever tried to contact me. I grew heartbroken and didn't try to reach out to him either. But someone told me that in over three decades since, he has not taken anyone else."

As much as I wanted to empathize. None of this information had much use to me. But as the Sirens were all holding back tears, I held off being insensitive. I didn't want to get shot after all.