The Ripple of Fate had reached Kyros and has bestowed a stronger curse on him, and Calaminus was looking at the notifications trying to understand what was happening.

But just as Kyros was reading through, another force struck him.

The invisible, unstoppable, and unexplained powers of Destiny reached Kyros.

"Ugh!" He felt a strange sensation gripping his soul.

"What is this?!" He shouted at Calaminus.

"Destiny! Why is Destiny moving?!" Calaminus cursed.

The gripping sensation disappeared, but Kyros knew that something in his very being has changed.

"Young Hero?" Stoph asked.

"I'm fine... Just keep moving." Kyros urged.

Kyros felt great fear in his heart. And then he began to look at the full list of notifications once more.

---

Success Purging Trial Passed!

Kyros has successfully subverted Fate!

Rewards:

Fate Challenger Status

De-Magic Curse weakened.

Magic Lock Curse removed.

---

All members of the Steele Family are now cursed with Bloodline Success Limiter. 

All members of the Steele Family are now cursed with Bloodline Apathy of Fate.

All members of the Steele Family's Limiter and Fate Curses increase as Kyros's curses increase.

---

Fate Challenger Level 1:

Challenge of the Lizard Lords Activated.

Okto-Kefali Whelpling Eugene will be unsealed in: 12:23:59:54.

---

Curse of Destiny activated.

Mechiel Bloodcrest will die in the arms of Kyros Soter Vasilius Tyrannos Kyriachos.

----

Blood Calamity Queen released.

---

The last entry only appeared when the second force struck him. The words made Kyros's heart stop, and pain in his soul appeared because he could tell what that curse meant with his high INT stat.

"Alright!" Kyros slapped his face with his two hands to wake himself up.

"No time to worry..." Kyros said with his hands still shaking from the shock. He took a deep breath and decided to go through everything one step at a time.

"In short, I have received a Fate Challenger status which allows me to challenge Fate. And it looks like this is a challenge that pits me with more problems. The Challenge of the Lizard Lords ought to be something related to the Lizard Race. It seems that allying with the Golems were within Fate's expectations..." Kyros focused on the first points of interest and brought up the description of the Fate Challenger.

---

Fate Challenger Level 1: Challenge of the Lizard Lord

To fight and subvert Fate, Kyros must face the hordes of the Lizard Race locked within the Nephilim Sealing Mountain.

---

"Nephilim Sealing Mountain? Does this mean that this entire mountain is still part of my seal? Then my alliance with the Golems must have been something that should naturally happen even if I wasn't thrown there because I breached Fate's Success Limits!" Kyros concluded.

"It looks like we can't just pack up and leave... Not unless you upgrade the Temple." Calaminus suggested.

"Right. This entire mountain seems to be mine. The Golems are guardians of this place. And it looks like my alliance is necessary. While I have subverted Fate, it's still within the expectations of Fate. I thought allying with the Golem and convincing them to be our allies would be tantamount to outsmarting Fate. But it seems this was still within Fate's expectations! And here I thought my plans to ally with the Golem, my schemes to topple the lizard squad, and even how I used Avary to kill Zid Blood Blade was surpassing Fate! But it was still among its expectations!" Kyros cursed.

Kyros knew that Fate would do something to help the wounded Zid survive. And not just survive, but he would be able to escape and inform the vampire family about this. And so, Kyros calculated everything and made Avary kill Zid Blood Blade.

To resolve the concern about being detected by the Dark Bond, Kyros made Avary laugh and say those words to redirect the attention to other areas.

Kyros even used a Human traitor family, the Knights of Perragrim as a scapegoat. They were the perfect scapegoats as Kyros knew the history of these knights through his future hunting of this group after his squad died. The family resided in the Lowlands and was one of the families that aided the spies of the Unhuman Races to enter the many human kingdoms.

And to make it all the more believable, Kyros made Avary say a secret that he only knew as someone from the future. And that was the Eldrich. They were a mysterious race that only appeared and became a powerhouse decades later from the current year. Only then did the world realize how many vampire kingdoms had already severed them even before the Eldrich appeared.

The words Avary stated would definitely attract the vampire's attention and carelessly send their forces in this place. After all, if a mysterious group knew about the Eldrich and the servitude of their clan, it would invoke fear. 

But all of Kyros's clever tricks and schemes were just something Fate expected. It was as if Fate was just giving Kyros a perfect grade in this harsh test. Kyros simply knew the answer to Fate's tough question.

"How many times until I learn my lesson! Fate is not easy to beat!" Kyros cursed.

"We're still falling in Fate's hands... But this looks better. It's like Fate is still giving us a way out. The appearance of this Challenger of Fate may have come as a blessing."

"How so?"

"It redirects the Curses. Unless you make a shocking breach of the limits of the next Limiter, you won't be sent like we were earlier. Whatever challenges and dangers we will be forced to face will be coming from the direction of whatever lies beyond this Golem City." Calaminus assessed.

"Then Fate is trying to help me. Its curses and its rewards all follow the same line of thinking. It's like she's heating me up and then quenching me and then hammering me. It beats me up and forces me to strengthen myself!"

"Yeah... But I'm curious... Fate Challenger. Does this mean Fate is training you on how to overcome it?"

"That seems to be the case. But that was just too dangerous! And it seems that Eugene is just a cute title. What's an Okto-Kefali Whelpling?"

"Erm... Yeah. About that... I know of an Okto-Kefali Prime Devourer. It's as large as this Planes World. And it devours planets. It was the creation of the Fallen."

"He's a what, and he devours what?!" Kyros was shocked.

"That was the main ship that the Fallens used back in those wars. As for the Prime Devourer, we thought we killed him. He's actually one large planet floating in the War Realms. His name was Bob. So it looks like Eugene is a Whelpling. Sounds cute and all, but the adult form is a Planet Eater. That's gotta be something terrifying."

"What exactly is an Okto-Kefali?"

"An eight-headed serpent."

"A hydra?!"

"Hydras are serpents which have tasted the blood of an Okto-Kefali and evolved. So you're facing something much more terrifying done a hydra."

"Great. How am I supposed to face it?"

"Look on the bright side. You now can do magic!" Calaminus cheered.

"Is magic effective against Okto-Kefalis?"

"No. Okto-Kefalis usually are born with eight elements, and their heads are immune to it."

"..."

"Well, we have a Golem Army, right?"

"I guess that's something. Then let's move to the most important part. What is Destiny? What is its relationship with Fate? I can see that Fate is associated with Destiny? Is Fate Destiny's child?"

"No. Destiny's Child is an amazing girl group which the author is definitely not a fan of, nor does the author know their songs or jam on to them while writing his sci-fi story."

"Be more serious!"

"Alright! Alright! Jeez. Ease up, will ya. Let me put it this way. Fate bends the direction of actions, events, and circumstances. It bent the direction and led me to you prior to our reincarnation. It changed how the wind blew and allowed us to fall into the specific circumstances that Fate wanted us to be in. But Destiny is much more cruel and mysterious. There are no Ancient Gods that have the Power of Destiny, unlike Fate."

"Then what does Destiny do?"

"We get the word 'destination' from destiny, right? If Fate makes us go to the path it wants us to take, Destiny is a specific location. It isn't as broad as Fate. It is set. You could say that Mechiel's final and ultimate destination is what you read in that curse."

"So you mean to say... that Mechiel will die in my arms? No matter what I do?"

"Yes. She WILL, and she MUST. We haven't even outsmarted Fate yet. Destiny is much more ruthless, Kyros. It bends and alters the will of the Universe. It's as if the Universe won't be right unless that happens. And look at the last notification. It appeared right after the Destiny notification. That Blood Calamity might be the one that will ensure it!" Calaminus added.

Kyros's expression turned sour. He gritted his teeth and bit down on it in hatred. And then, a strange thought emerged.

Kyros recalled his past life and how Mechiel died on his arms. They had an ingenious escape path. And after learning and discussing with Calaminus the many artifacts of the world during the 2-year class, he knew that an artifact that could bend space was so rare that the Eldrich race shouldn't have access to them. Much less an Eldrich race at the level of Vicarous.

"So that Eldrich Vicarous who killed Mechiel and me... His acquisition of that item that allowed him to teleport to us... Was that Destiny's work?"

"Of course not! Destiny's curse just... Wait... You could be on to something. Destiny is not bounded by time. That's how even I can't escape my Destiny. That ripple we felt earlier. It felt so clear. Even without your notification system, I could sense what it was trying to say." Calaminus was lost in thoughts.

"Hmp! That means that Mechiel's Destiny has always been this. Destiny is just informing me of it. This notification could be a reward because I fought Fate."

"Right. I'm sure the gods and the fallen could sense it. They hear Destiny's whisper demanding someone must die..."

"Then... if that's the case... What if... the destinies of my loved ones are...?" Kyros guessed. He then could see the dying faces of his family and friends in the past life.

"Like hell, I'm giving in to that! Be it Destiny or Fate! I will conquer them! They won't have their way!" Kyros vowed.

The Golem city was now visible.

"Calaminus... We have work to do!" Kyros turned to see the Golem City. What once was his proud achievement now looked like one of the many rewards the Temple has given. He thought the weapons, the swords, and every advantage he had from the Temple were great. But now, he knew they would be barely enough for the coming storm.