"Things may not be as bad as you think," said the Dragon Lady. "Although you carry the curse, you must also bear the luck of the chosen one.
Anyone who bears the chosen one's luck is loved by the world. Although there has never been a case like yours, one of the great rarities has also happened to you. Normally, anyone chosen by a mark—except by the Primordial Sword—was solitary. They rarely had bonds that held them back.
Only the First Blade chooses those who are capable of attachment. After all, only someone who has loved and been truly loved understands hatred. One who has known justice knows the pain of injustice. And one who has known peace understands the horror of war.
"The chosen of the Primordial Blade, according to history, is the one with the greatest capacity to love. The greatest of heroes. Because, unlike the others, he understands the true meaning of love."
"Enough!" Danilo shouted, interrupting her.
"Stop with that nonsense! Are you trying to tell me my family's death is inevitable and that I should accept it because it's fate? Because I supposedly have the greatest capacity to love in the whole world? What kind of stupid logic is that?!" he yelled, looking at her with bloodshot eyes.
"That's not exactly what I meant," she replied, her voice firm but not aggressive. "You didn't let me finish."
"The First Blade does that, as I said earlier. The mark of the left arm grants incredible fortune. It turns its chosen and those around him into children beloved by the heavens.
"What remains to be known," she concluded, staring into his eyes, "is what will prevail: the luck of the mark or the curse of the First Blade."
After hearing that, Danilo calmed down, but the countless questions, doubts, and uncertainties left him horrified. Despite all the power he had gained, after listening to the Dragon Lady, he once again felt small and powerless.
Unlike before, when he felt crushed by the Afonso and Santos families, there was still some hope. He could flee abroad, build a business, make a fortune and return home triumphant. There was always a way out. Always.
But now… now it was different.
He was powerful. Incredibly powerful. But what did that mean against an immutable fate? Beings thousands of times stronger than him had just confessed that they too were powerless before destiny. That even they, with all their glory and strength, could not face it head-on.
Danilo felt trapped. A prison without locks, bars, or doors. A prison called fate.
There was no escape. Everything seemed to unravel to the dreadful melody that fate played. There was no middle ground—no dances, no compromises.
The impotence suffocated him. There were no keys to free him from that invisible cell.
Then a gentle hand rested on his head.
He looked up—and found Eve. Her golden eyes watched him with tenderness. Her maternal love could not be hidden.
"Calm down, child…" she said.
Her voice was so soft and comforting that, for the second time that day, Danilo began to cry. He was frightened—lost, not knowing what to do.
"It may not make sense now, what I'm about to tell you," Eve continued. "But everything will be all right. I won't lie and say nothing will happen. But you must think from another perspective."
She leaned in, placing a hand over his heart.
"Besides the curse, you now have luck. Luck can cancel the curse. You have to believe it will."
"Another important point," she went on, "is that, based on what I've seen, you are the most powerful being on Earth right now.
"Catastrophes… always happen at the beginning.
"And your mother has a Chaotic Heart, a body blessed by fortune. She is also a chosen one. You have several factors favoring you, child. So the probability that the curse will fall on your family is very low."
Eve smiled.
"And even if it does… you have the strength to fight it."
"So," she concluded, caressing his face, "calm down."
After hearing Eve's words, Danilo drew a deep breath, wiped his tears and forced himself to steady. After all, nothing had happened yet. And when it did… he would fight. With claws, teeth and whatever else was needed—to protect those he loved.
He was probably the strongest on Earth now. Not even a system could rival him at this moment. Much less a reincarnated or reborn.
"When you return," Eve said serenely, "pay attention to your family in these first days. The curse almost always strikes early. If you can neutralize it quickly, things will likely be fine."
She forced a smile and shifted the tone.
"Now let's talk about something cheerier," she said, with a hint of irony. "Your life will be truly wretched, child."
Danilo raised an eyebrow.
"Wretched?"
Eve crossed her arms and looked him up and down.
"You're excited at the idea of having many women, a harem, right?" she said playfully. "But do you know what it's like to deal with one woman?"
She chuckled.
"If dealing with one is already difficult, imagine many. And worse, the women destined for you will mostly be proud, powerful, born into influential families or fearsome guilds. All with egos higher than mountains—used to commanding, not obeying."
Eve tilted her head provocatively.
"Have you thought about how you will manage that?"
Danilo blinked, confused.
"Won't it be like palace harems, where they fight for the master and do everything to please him?" he asked earnestly. "Like the palace harems in Chinese dramas?"
The silence that followed was so deep you could hear the echo of his foolishness.
Everyone stared at him in shock and disbelief.
Nzinga Otchali, who until then had only looked at him with contempt, felt that contempt evolve. Now it was contempt mixed with pity—one level higher. She watched him as one watches a pitiful fool.
Adam's laughter shattered the atmosphere. He laughed so hard he doubled over, clutching his stomach.
"Hahahahahahaha!" his laughter echoed. He wiped tears from his eyes from laughing.
"A palace harem, he says!" he repeated between laughs. "Oh, my son, you have no idea the hell that awaits you!"
"The saddest thing of all," said the Dragon Lady, in a calm but loud voice so everyone could hear, "is that you actually believe what you're saying."
Danilo frowned, confused by their reaction. What was wrong with what he'd said? In the novels he'd read, the plots were almost identical: the king had a harem, the women vied for his favor, and in the end they all bent to his will. Though there were intrigues and betrayals, the king was the center—the strongest, the wisest, the most political. He decided who ate the cake…and who watched.
"What you think, in a sense, is correct," the Dragon Lady said after rifling through his thoughts as if flipping through an open book. "The king must be the most powerful, strong and manipulative."
She crossed her arms and continued, her voice ringing with authority:
"But you must stop thinking like an ordinary human."
Danilo's eyes flashed with a spark of doubt, and she went on:
"How long does a common human live? A hundred? Two hundred? A thousand years?" she sighed. "You will be involved with terrifying existences. Women who have always been at the top, born in sacred realms, with egos larger than mountains. Women who are literally daughters of the heavens."
She paused, measuring him with a look.
"And you, although you know the leader controls the cake…" her lips curved in an enigmatic smile, "…you currently have no cake in your hands."
The elders present chuckled quietly.
"The best way to put it," she continued, amused, "is that they ordered the most expensive, delicious cake in the world for you. But that cake hasn't arrived yet."
She raised a finger, giving a lesson.
"It's a cake everyone desires, made especially for you, but no one knows if it will truly be delivered in your name. And even if it is, these powerful people will want a larger slice than yours."
Her expression grew serious.
"After all, you're still green. Many will try to control you."
Then she concluded, looking straight into his eyes:
"Your potential is infinite, Danilo. But potential, in the end… is only a promise for the future. It's worth nothing in the present."
So stop thinking so childishly. Many of your women will refuse your touch, your intimacy. Many will despise you; after all, you are still very weak, and weakness is man's greatest sin.
Look at your woman. Since you met, she has never looked at you with anything other than hatred, contempt and pity," she said, pointing to Nzinga Otchali.
When the Dragon Lady finished speaking, Danilo breathed in and froze in astonishment. She had been logical and concise in her speech, but the last line chilled him. She really said the Amazon Hound is my wife, he thought. He looked at the Amazon Hound, who also had an astonished, confused and disbelieving expression. He looked to the elders expecting the same reaction, but what he found was a complicit look of agreement, as if their union were the most obvious thing.
"What the hell," he thought. Although the Amazon Hound was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, the things that had happened between them had created a huge barrier. He would always hate that bitch, he thought—but damn, she is beautiful.
The torture she subjected me to is one of the cruelest I have ever endured. She threw me into that world of darkness and broke me; it was truly brutal. Only the length of my immortality and my supreme regeneration saved me. Otherwise I would be long gone. Even so, damn, she is really beautiful and alluring.
If she becomes my wife, how will I get my revenge? I would be forced to cast aside hatred and forgive for the sake of the couple. I'm not foolish enough to deny such a beauty. But still, I must find a way to take revenge.
She must have family—relatives who matter. I will turn her father into a complacent man, and as for her mother and sisters, like her, they are likely powerful and influential in their own right. Danilo smiled as he thought about it.
Then an angry voice rang out.
"—You filthy scum. You dare speak of my mother like that? You pathetic inferior." The voice bellowed, heard by all.
Common: Strength 5+ | Agility 5+ | Intelligence 5+ | Vitality 5+ | Energy 5+
Baron: Strength 50+ | Agility 50+ | Intelligence 50+ | Vitality 50+ | Energy 50+
Count: Strength 100+ | Agility 100+ | Intelligence 100+ | Vitality 100+ | Energy 100+
Marquis: Strength 150+ | Agility 150+ | Intelligence 150+ | Vitality 150+ | Energy 150+
Duke: Strength 200+ | Agility 200+ | Intelligence 200+ | Vitality 200+ | Energy 200+
King: Strength 250+ | Agility 250+ | Intelligence 250+ | Vitality 250+ | Energy 250+
Emperor: Strength 300+ | Agility 300+ | Intelligence 300+ | Vitality 300+ | Energy 300+
Saint: Strength 350+ | Agility 350+ | Intelligence 350+ | Vitality 350+ | Energy 350+
Divine: Strength 400+ | Agility 400+ | Intelligence 400+ | Vitality 400+ | Energy 400+
Super divine: Strength 600+ | Agility 600+ | Intelligence 600+ | Vitality 600+ | Energy 600+