“WHY DO I feel like I’m getting baptized?” Neoma asked nervously while soaked deep into the lake. “Is this really a process I need to go through?”

Yep, she stood neck-deep in the “water.”

The “water” in the question looked like a lake, but she could tell that it was actually made of divine power.

Pure divine power, at that.

“We poured all of our divine power into that lake, Nene,” Yule, who was squatting down in front of her, said. “You don’t see the Goddess of Life here because she’s already working with Drystan to bring you back to life. But rest assured, her divine power is there with ours.”

Hmm.

“Are you all trying to replace my lost Moonglow with your divine power?”

“Our Nene sure is smart.”

“This is scaring me,” Neoma said nervously. “Am I going through Divinization again?”

Yule laughed awkwardly. “Our Nene is too smart.”

“Gosh, were you planning to trick me into going through Divinization without my knowledge?”

“How can we do that when you’re smarter than the rest of us here?” Primo teased her, laughing. “But we’re sorry to say this, Neoma. We can’t stop your Divinization. It’s something that no one in the world could control, not even gods themselves.”

“We figured helping you quicken your Divinization would help you since we’re in the middle of a war,” Gwen added. “Your partner has already gone through the first phase of Divinization. You wouldn’t want to get left behind, would you?”

Neoma’s eyes widened a bit. “Really? Ruto has already started his Divinization phase?”

“Nene, he could now reproduce his organs,” Yule explained to her. “In fact, Ruto gave his heart to you since it’s one of the ingredients needed to bring you back to life.”

“Gosh, that sounds so gross yet romantic for some reason.”

Her ancestors laughed at what she said.

And that was when she noticed that aside from the Goddess of Life, some other people were also missing.

“Where are Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche?”

“You’ll meet them later, Nene,” Yule said, putting his hand in the water. “Now that I’ve regained half of my strength after resting for quite some time, I can finally help. However, there’s a downside.”

“What would it be, Lord Yule?”

“I had to give up my vision to send Aruna and Arche to where they should be at this moment,” Yule explained. “Hence, in the meantime, I won’t be able to send visions to the new Moon Saint.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” Neoma assured the Moon God. “Once I’m back from the dead, I’ll create my own reality.”

***

“YOU WOULD either die a gruesome death early or live a long and boring life– there’s no in between.”

Trevor scoffed after hearing the evil baby’s ominous prediction.

The “evil baby” would be the God of Death who was currently using the vessel of a baby that Princess Neoma named ‘Vitu.’

Hence, he couldn’t curse at the evil baby.

“I’m giving it my all to protect the Goddess of Life and the King of Hell while they work together to bring my Moon Princess back to life,” Trevor complained lightly, catching his breath for a bit. “And yet you’re cursing me?”

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he was risking his life to guard the door of Drystan’s Workshop.

He had already slain several mid-tier gods and Spirits.

It was all thanks to the Death Scythe and his Hellfire that he was still alive.

I look rugged, though. I need to take a bath and change into new clothes before I meet my Moon Princess. I can’t appear before her looking like this.

“I’m doing you a favor,” the God of Death said. “You’ll need a lot of time to think about your options, child.”

It was weird for a baby (in appearance) to call him a child.

But thanks to Princess Neoma calling everyone her “son” or “daughter,” he quickly got rid of the weird feeling.

“Are you for real, kiddo?”

“Yes, I am “for real.””

“I don’t need time to think about that, you know?” Trevor answered, shrugging. “I’d rather die a gruesome death early than live a long and boring life. Do you know how long I’ve been stuck in the Underworld before my Moon Princess rescued me? I don’t need a repeat of that.”

“You can give me your final answer later since we’ll be meeting again once you’re in the brink of death anyway.”

This cheeky brat is really cursing me…

“Why are you here?” Trevor asked, trying to keep his temper in check. “Are you not needed inside?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I was needed there,” the evil baby said indifferently, then he pointed at the gods and Spirits that Trevor had just killed. “I’m here to collect the souls of the lives you have just taken.”

“Oh, I thought you were pretty useless now after you were half-killed by Helstor.”

“I got my one eye back, and the other is in Princess Neoma’s possession,” the evil baby explained. “The older Princess Neoma had retrieved my other eye. In my knowledge, she left it in the current Princess Neoma’s care. I’ll get it back later.”

“Okay~”

“Think about what I said,” the God of Death said in a serious tone. “Trevor Kesser, you’ll be forced to make a heavy decision soon.”

Ah, he’s dead serious.

To be fair, Trevor had already accepted the fact that he wouldn’t die painlessly.

Or live a happy life.

After all, he wasn’t a good person.

Sure, he may not be as scummy as Princess Neoma’s enemies.

Even so, he still had blood on his hands.

Everyone and anyone who has taken the lives of others should be prepared to die horribly. There’s good karma AND bad karma, after all.

Even Princes Neoma knew that.

We are all sinners, after all.

“Stop cursing me,” Trevor complained. “The “heavy” decisions I should be making in the future will depend on my Moon Princess’ situation.”

***

“IT’S FINALLY done,” Drystan whispered proudly while looking at the Core that he succeeded in recreating. “Princess Neoma’s Core has been put back together successfully.”

A Core was something almost impossible to put back together.

Moreover, a Core was special as Princess Neoma would be 100x harder to fix.

Fortunately, the ingredients were available.

Princess Neoma was cursed with bad luck in the first timeline. But her bad luck turned into good fortune when time turned back for her.

Anyway, the little princess’ Core was the most beautiful Core he had seen.

It was like a huge diamond.

Pink diamond, to be precise.

“Are you going to put the Core in the heart now?”

Drystan nodded at the Goddess of Life’s question, then he looked at the glass jar sitting next to Princess Neoma’s Core.

Commander Ruto’s heart was frozen safely in the glass jar.

“Yes,” Drystan answered the Goddess of Life politely. “After I put the Core in Princess Neoma’s new heart, I’ll send it back to her physical body. Since Princess Neoma’s a Roseheart, we can send her heart through the dimension that souls used to travel to the human world.”

“We can use the River of Life,” the Goddess of Life said. “I will guide the Core back to Neoma’s heart using my power.”

***

TSK.

White hair, red eyes, pale skin.

Nero was sure that the man standing in front of him was another de Moonasterio, but he couldn’t tell if the ghost in front of him was an important figure. The ghost’s clothes were simple, and his face was covered by a mask.

I’m so sick of meeting my ancestors I do not care about.

The dead should remain dead except for Neoma.

“Out of all the emperors I’ve crowned before, you’re the only one who ascended the throne without a wife.”

“So what?”

“And you’re the grumpiest, too.”

Nero just rolled his eyes.

He was pretty sure that he had safely gone out of the Cage with Commander Ruto, Hanna, Dahlia, and the demon cat.

However, when he opened his eyes, he realized that he was physically unconscious.

Right now, he was in his Spirit form while facing a literal ghost.

“I believe this is the last time I’m doing this, so let’s get this done and over with.”

Hmm?

The ghost suddenly turned serious as he opened his hands.

Then, the de Moonasterion crown materialized.

There it is.

“This is proof that the throne has acknowledged you as the new emperor, Nero de Moonasterio,” the ghost said while putting the crown on top of his head. “Now, for you to return to your physical vessel, say the name that appeared in your mind. It should be the name of the first emperor–”

“Neoma.”

The ghost looked flabbergasted by what he said.

“What?” Nero asked defensively. “You told me to say the first name that entered my mind.”

“But the first name that should have entered your mind after getting crowned was the name of the first emperor,” the ghost argued. “It’s the tradition for the new emperor to say the name of the first emperor. After all, it’s the rule that will complete the internal coronation. Only the newly crowned emperor must know the name of the first–”

The ghost suddenly stopped talking.

It was because Nero’s Moonglow leaked out of his body and engulfed him.

“But how?” the ghost whispered in disbelief. “Saying the name of the first emperor should be the only way to return to your physical body.”

Wasn’t the answer obvious?

“The de Moonasterion rules have changed when Neoma and I were born,” Nero said confidently. “Since Neoma is going to be the first empress regnant, then I’ll begin the tradition of saying the name of the first empress regnant instead of the first emperor’s.”

Yes, he should do that.

The ghost looked stunned at first, then he laughed.

And then the ghost’s appearance suddenly changed.

The casual clothes the ghost was wearing changed into fancy clothes– clothes that came with the royal robe.

When the ghost’s mask disappeared, only then did Nero recognize him.

“The first emperor…?”

“Can you say my name now?” the First Emperor asked, smiling at Nero. “I want to hear my name for the last time.”

Well, it wasn’t hard to do.

The name of the first emperor flashed through his mind.

“Kronus,” Nero said indifferently. “Goodbye, Emperor Kronus.”1

***

“AH.”

“What’s wrong, my dear?”

The First Emperor smiled at his dear wife’s worried question. “I finally remember my name.”

Gwen looked very surprised. “But how? You left a piece of your soul in the crown. In order to protect it, you had to sacrifice your name.” Expectedly, fear crossed his wife’s eyes. “The fact that you remember your name…”

“It means the end of the empire is near,” Kronus said, smiling. “The Great Moonasterion Empire is destined to disappear at the hands of the perfect Imperial Twins.”

*** .

JUST LIKE how Neoma and Nero’s birth changed the de Moonasterion laws without anyone’s knowing, Neoma and Nero had their final awakening at the same time– altering the entire world this time.

The Imperial Twins weren’t aware of it yet.

But there was a reason twins born in the Imperial Family had always made history.

It started with Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio– the first Imperial Twins who dealt serious damage in Callisto de Luca. The two had a good sibling relationship, but their abilities weren’t equal. One was inferior and couldn’t keep up with the other. Hence, both failed.

A few more twins were born in history, but the female royal always died before they could even walk.

And then Nichole and Nikolai de Moonasterio were born, both possessed equal intelligence and strength. The two were supposed to continue that legacy. However, unlike Aruna and Arche, Nichole and Nikolai de Moonasterio had a terrible relationship as siblings. Hence, they failed. They failed without even knowing their purpose.

But, finally, the perfect set of Imperial Twins was born.

Neoma and Nero de Moonasterio.

Both intelligent and cunning, just like Nichole and Nikolai de Moonasterio.

Both were too self-confident to feel inferior to the other, unlike Aruna and Arche de Moonasterio.

Most of all, Neoma and Nero loved each other genuinely.

The only thing the new Imperial Twins needed was to pass the test of their final awakening.

When Emperor Nero opened his eyes, the first person he saw was Neoma.

When Princess Neoma came back from the dead, the first person she saw was Nero.

The Imperial Twin’s glowing red eyes met, and the two instinctively knew: they had to get rid of the other.

“Fuck this **.”

“What in the world?” 𝑖.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Anyone could guess who between Neoma and Nero de Moonasterio had cursed.

The newly crowned emperor stood up, his red eyes still glowing.

The Imperial Princess then asked her father, now known as the Emperor-Father, to put her down.

Everyone in the throne room was anxious while watching the Imperial Twins approach each other.

They reacted that way because neither Neoma nor Nero looked happy to see each other.

And then the unexpected happened.

“Zeru,” Nero called his Soul Beast, the spot he was stepping on getting covered in a thin layer of ice. “Come out and show my beloved twin sister who owns the throne now.”

“Tteokbokki,” Neoma called her Soul Beast, her hands now engulfed in flame. “Come out and show my not-so beloved twin brother that you don’t need a stupid throne to slay.”

***

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1 ngl, this is a rare ocassion where neoma’s naming sense works. ‘primo’ is definitely better than ‘kronus’ in my opinion haha

𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮