[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-journey-to-become-the-zenith":3,"chapter-journey-to-become-the-zenith-journey-to-become-the-zenith-chapter-2":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Journey to Become the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1828539,2432,"Chapter 2: Born into Weakness","journey-to-become-the-zenith-chapter-2",2,"\u003Cp>Born into Weakness\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness without edge or end. Floating in silence so deep it presses. No up, no down - just empty quiet holding still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the endless void floated Anos, known as history’s most powerful Demon Lord.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body was gone from his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could not feel mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frozen nerves left him numb to stings, joys, warmth, even frost. What stayed was a quiet disconnect - sensation gone missing without warning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking was all he did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is how it goes once life ends\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond death, silence sat where fire should have roared. A stillness stood instead of war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No divine arena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fallen kings never meet in last battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only emptiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wrong I was, it turns out. Bitterly, he thought back on how sure he’d been - endless fights waiting beyond death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond that, a grin might’ve played on what remained - had there been skin left to stretch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, what I wanted came true after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Falling short left him breathless. Victory slipped beyond reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not by age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not by decay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet forged through iron, then broken by lies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through his blood alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the blade I stood. Through the blade I fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was enough just like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe tonight will bring real sleep. Just endless quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When that idea came into being -\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Light exploded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not gentle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not warm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lightning cracks open the dark, sudden and fierce. It cuts without warning - sharp as if forged by something beyond. The void splits apart under its edge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The darkness shattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>-\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anos gasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fire filled a space where nothing breathed just seconds ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bamboo poles blocked his sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A ceiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A roof.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What - ?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Again, feeling came back to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Legs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heartbeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Footsteps slowed. The air stopped pulling him forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shape gave way beneath him, gentle under his weight. Softness held his frame without protest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cloth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Straw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A wild storm of not knowing crashed into his newly awakened thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lay lifeless. Then - breath. A heartbeat cracked the silence. Stillness gave way to motion. The world blinked. He opened his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was back, just like that. A blink, then there - present once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Up he pushed against the ground. His arms shook like weak branches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His order met silence instead of power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Empty spaces ran through his arms and legs, like something got lost along the way. A strange lightness stayed behind, not quite real.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frowning inside, his hand moved toward the source of power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then -\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something was there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not darkness alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faint traces of every element moved in circles near his body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tremor hit deep inside his thoughts. Stillness broke without warning. Everything shifted at once. His breath caught mid-air. The world tilted slightly off balance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, magic followed fixed rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Demons commanded darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath their gaze, soil stirred without touch. Air bent slow around whispered words. Rivers followed paths they’d never taken before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beast-kin used spiritual force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Out of nature’s own rules came a strength that dragons simply had. Their power wasn’t learned - it showed up at birth, built into their bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some vampires came from small families, their life force twisted and flawed. The old bloodlines could control just one natural power, nothing more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just people managed to reach every one of the half dozen pieces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even they managed it awkwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Far off, each current came clear to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Weakly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear gripped him tighter than the thought of dying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fingers pointed toward the sky, his arms rose slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soft.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Delicate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t the form that split peaks apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were the arms of an infant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A quiet realisation began to spread through his chest. The weight of it pressed down slow, steady, different than before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...I’ve been reborn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Words caught in his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faint noise came out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Words refused to leave his throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something about him felt incomplete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unstable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something’s wrong - why is this going so badly?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sudden wave washed through, bringing panic first, then irritation tagging behind, confusion trailing last. Sharp edges cut in before there was time to look away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the first time his thoughts slipped away from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This thing inside me stirs up feelings... quite a mess. It gets tangled without warning. Hard to ignore when it shifts like that. Quiet moments turn loud because of it. Not exactly helpful, this constant push.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slow breaths came only after he pushed through the tightness in his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hold still. That’s right - it’s me, Anos. Ruler of demons once. My own child ended me. After that, I floated through endless dark. Then came a glow, sudden and sharp. Here now, inside a baby made of flesh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if it seemed ridiculous, nothing else made sense like this did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could the gods be behind this suffering?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Footsteps ago, he’d killed more people than cities hold. A quiet number, really - just one after another until it wasn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, he was called the monster who wiped out humankind - even though they struck first, century after century.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He started by holding his ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, he retaliated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, he eradicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fake ones, he figured, quiet inside. Always beginning fights - yet somehow shocked when things go wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dragon - that’s what he’d pick if coming back were certain. Reincarnation never felt like a choice, yet dragons always caught his eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fighting shaped their beginning. Warriors emerged right away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A truth held tight in strong hands. Power shaped by silence, not words. Strength built where deception failed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fragile they might be, humans also hungered for more than life offered. Greed curled around their choices like smoke. Brief as sparks, their years flickered out too soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fake kindness made him sick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet now -\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sharp ache curled through his gut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Real pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sharp, urgent, humiliating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>True physical hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minutes stretched like hunger pains, though Anos needed only milk - no battle lasted that long anymore. Milkless moments bit deeper than past famines ever did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Falling apart once more, his own flesh turned against him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Out of nowhere, a scream ripped loose from his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was his attempt to halt things. Still, he moved too late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sound pressed its way from his lungs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This - what it felt like to live as a person. How strange, yet familiar, such a quiet truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fragile when facing your own self.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Footsteps hurried in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Out of nowhere stepped a woman, her dark hair spilling past calm eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Into her arms she took him, gentle as breath. Carefully lifting, she held his weight like a secret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warmth surrounded him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His eyes stayed fixed on her features. She stood still under his gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was... beautiful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quiet strength lives here. Not breakable, just gentle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time around, she probably stood as his mom. A familiar face from the start of his days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holding him near, her body knew just what to do - no thought needed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fabric slipped down as she leaned close. A quiet moment passed between them when he began to drink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fingers trembled as he lifted the glass. A sip slipped through, cool against his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without thinking, his muscles moved into place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear held him tight, unable to pull away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, there’s heat. Food spreads through the body. Bodies near one another. Moments stick like sap on skin\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Comfort settled in an odd way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quietly, he ate without speaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Afterward, indignity followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something inside him let go on its own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crying returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Again, unstoppable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fingers moving slow, he watched her wipe his skin - suddenly it hit him, cold and clear\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Living as a human was irritating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being a newborn felt like endless struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness pulled him under once more. Then a second time. Each pull deeper than the last.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faint sounds reached him, muffled like echoes through fog.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A single term spoken out loud again on purpose\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Victor.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That became what he answered to now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time lost meaning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was hoisted suddenly by powerful hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Foolish was the grin on his face, clutching the bow and knife tight. He stood there smiling, weapon in one hand, blade in the other. That look he wore - empty, almost silly - while gripping both tools of the hunt. A smile too wide, perhaps, for what those hands held.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man leaned down, touching lips first to the woman’s cheek, then brushing softly against the baby’s forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could only be his dad - some kind of explorer, maybe a tracker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something strange moved inside Anos’s chest while he lay there. He had never felt it before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warmth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warmth spreads without sound. Stillness holds it close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not reverence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not ambition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Affection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, people followed where he led - his strength made them listen. Power kept them in line, nothing else held sway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Folks held him dear, just for being there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something he hadn’t thought of in years. That old idea surfaced again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmph...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Few might think it, but life as a young human could have its moments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darkness pulled him under again, without warning. He had no say in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus began the second life of Anos Superbia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reborn as Victor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most powerful demon lord ever known\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Starting again as the weakest of infants.\u003C\u002Fp>",1568,"2026-06-09T06:06:36.650Z",1,"novelbin.me","b6bb4c54d37ecbab7c3022ed9c0a04d5568c3847d7b78a54cd859b77b2d91307","journey-to-become-the-zenith-chapter-3","journey-to-become-the-zenith-chapter-1",253,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fjourney-to-become-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]