Chapter 124
by 
Jojoo763
Nero's corruption attracts the Abyss Hunters' attention
Stefano returns back to Torino, the Orsini clan's trap springs to life
The Road to Power: A King’s Refusal
The Orsini Clan’s offer had been delivered on gilded parchment, sealed with the blood wax of their patriarch.
"Become our Mind Master. Name your price."
He wasn't going to lie, it had been quite tempting.
"No wonder they let us host this auction, the old patriarch was trying to get a look at our skills... Competition is fierce in the underground world."
Stefano had let the parchment burn in his palm, the ashes scattering across the obsidian floor of his hotel suite.
"Neutrality," he murmured to the shadows, "requires more than wealth. It demands fear."
Now, as the armored Bentley roared down the A4 Autostrada, Milano’s skyline shrinking in the rearview, his fingers drummed a war rhythm against the Ouroboros-engraved armrest.
The driver—a former Spetsnaz operative turned temple acolyte—flinched as Stefano’s violet irises flickered black for a heartbeat.
Impact.
The Ambush: Steel and Shadow
The reinforced MAN truck struck with mathematical precision, its military-grade grille crumpling the Bentley’s titanium frame like origami paper.
The world upended.
Glass shards became diamond rain.
Seatbelts snapped like dried sinew.
Then—silence.
From the wreckage, a hand emerged. Unscarred. Unshaken.
Stefano rose, his Brioni suit immaculate, his posture that of a man stepping off a yacht, not surviving a kill-strike.
The Colombians froze.
"Mierda..."
Their Barrett anti-materiel rifles—trained on the wreck—trembled.
Only one didn’t falter.
Johan Neumann.
The blonde spiritual master stood ankle-deep in diesel and debris, her ice-blue eyes tracking the first ripple in Stefano’s aura.
"Rama sends his regards," she said, voice colder than a Bavarian winter.
Stefano’s lips curled.
Then—
His spine cracked.
The Incubus Unbound: A Demon’s True Face
Skin split.
Muscle reconfigured.
Where Stefano stood now loomed a three-meter colossus of living shadow and ember.
Incubus transformation: Monster form.
• Onyx Claws: Each talon weeping molten gold, the nails etched with pre-human hieroglyphs.
• Eyes: Twin event horizons, pupils shaped like the Eye of Horus.
• Voice: A subsonic growl that vibrated teeth loose.
The Colombians vomited.
Johan smiled.
"Tanzil'Uddunya," she whispered. "First Form: 1000 Thorns Garden."
What's next?
