Wicked Reincarnation - Chapter 199

However, the Z family didn’t stop here. They also wanted, in their own power-hungry thirst, to get rid of the other families.

They started with the H family but luckily the remaining 5 families of the Immortal King helped. This had the H family be forever indebted to them.

Mani managed to stop his family from harming the council but he still couldn’t stop what followed next.

In one of the council meetings Mani held without his family, everyone assembled around the stone table.

“Mani,” Elder D greeted but it was clear he didn’t hold any joy in his greeting nor in his face.

“Everyone, thanks for coming,” Mani knew the stances of the old families and the ones that were close to the previous Ghost King Theo.

The Elders of the Immortal King’s families still remained the same but they were long tired and disinterested in the affairs of the Immortal World. It was obvious why the old Elders remained and not sent any of their offspring. They had no intention to continue serving the Ghost King Mani but they let the Z family run around wildly.

Mani secretly sighed and sweated. Right now it wasn’t hard to guess what most of them thought. He was a shameless bastard who took advantage of Theo’s benevolence and love towards him and ultimately betrayed and killed him to take the spot of the Ghost King. No matter how Mani justified himself, it was useless because the evidence was there and what he did couldn’t be changed.

However, the truth was that Mani truly loved and cherished Theo as his father and sole family, but he was too weak, too much of a coward, so who would believe him?

“Is there a need for the meeting?” Elder I spoke up and her piercing eyes made the whole room tremble. It began. Mani would’ve to endure many more of these meetings and hatred of the families towards him.

“I know, you don’t support me because of… the past, however, I’m still new to the duties of the Ghost King, so I hope for the sake of the worlds, you can continue helping me,” Mani tried not to sound too nervous but he hoped, no begged, his words weren’t met with too much adversity.

“You can talk,” Elder T snorted and wanted to say more but Nick stopped him, “T, it’s enough. Mani’s helpless and needs our support more than ever.”

“Thank you, Elder A,” Mani was glad that at least Nick was giving him face.

Although Nick has long lost his cheeky chattiness and seemed like an old man with no aspirations anymore. Nick just weakly smiled at Mani.

“Then is this a meeting to discuss if we support the current Ghost King?” Elder U spoke up and the intimidating aura he exuded, made not only Mani flinch but many of the new families too.

“I was hoping we could discuss how we handle the affairs,” Mani finally found his voice to talk.

“Before that shouldn’t we discuss something more important?” Elder P, a middle-aged male with short hair and an arrogant look, interrupted, “The tension here, shouldn’t we acknowledge it?”

Elder P’s words made everyone aware that he really wanted to talk about the incident when everyone tried not to mention it.

“C’mon don’t look so depressed,” Elder P grinned, “Theo was a good friend to me, what happened, we can’t blame it on Mani. The Z family’s vicious, alright but we shouldn’t forget that we as the families should support the Ghost King regardless of what has happened,” Elder P’s grin grew wide, “Theo would’ve wanted it too.”

It was clear what obvious intentions Elder P had. On the surface, it sounded like he was Mani’s saviour when in truth he was a rotten snake trying to control the Ghost King as his puppet by taking advantage of the pit Mani was in.

Thinking that if he whispered empathising words, the helpless Mani would fall into his arms and listen to him unconditionally.

The majority of the families sneered but didn’t say anything. The awkward and tense atmosphere of the meeting continued until the end.

The only thing that came out was that the 8 families supporting the Ghost King have also split internally, into the pro and neutral faction.

The pro faction consisted of the P, G and C family who were of the same opinion. While they mourned Theo’s death, their goal was still to remain in the council and support the Ghost King for their own desires. Their bonds weren’t as close as once the Immortal King and his families were. Ultimately, the Z family would also be a part of the pro faction.

The neutral faction was the rest of the families, K, L, H and M while they couldn’t forgive what had happened, they didn’t want to cause a bigger internal strife and continued supporting the Ghost King. Especially the K family as the personal attendant of the Ghost King had no other choice.

Once the meeting was over Elder K went to find Mani. Inside the rooms where Mani grew up in, Mani sat on the bed and buried his head in his hands. The once happy fleeting past was only a distant memory now. Theo was gone and Mani, all on his own, had to bear the fate of the Ghost King. Mani was still in his teens, he was too young to take up on the challenge.

Max quietly knocked on the door before entering. Seeing how vulnerable Mani was and how he scrambled to look fine, Max let out a sigh and his heart felt heavy.

Theo adored Mani as his own son, even if Theo’s intentions at first were different. Max has been there the whole time with Theo and Mani, so he couldn’t be too angry at Mani.

This boy himself knew what he did wrong. He didn’t need any patronising adults to rip open more wounds. Max could clearly remember how Theo went through the hardships of being the Ghost King himself but compared to Mani’s situation Theo was a bit better off because he still had people who cared and supported him.

While Mani had no one. Only enemies, including himself.

“Uncle Max,” Mani bit his lips, not knowing if he was still allowed to call Max this way.

“Yeah?” Max smiled and rubbed Mani’s head. The eyes of the boy widened and he seemed to be on the verge of tears. Mani didn’t think anyone would still show him affection.

“I’m sorry,” Mani was barely able to stop himself from crying, “It’s all my fault, if only-”

“It’s ok,” Max took Mani into his arms and coaxed him. That was when Mani finally broke down and couldn’t control himself. Mani knew painfully that Max was only staying by his side because it was Theo’s last wish.

Mani knew that in this lifetime he’d have to be all alone. The curse just worked like that, with no regard for anything, especially not feelings.

Over time, the rest of the 5 families have slowly started to distance themselves. Their influence over the council has grown weaker while they slowly withdrew. The constant internal war in the council led by the Z family made them aware that in the end, Mani could not exert any power without the Z family interrupting.

Even when the K family helped, it was useless. The Z family was too greedy, too power-hungry to deal with and no one wanted to stand against them as it was too troublesome. So the pro-faction gained a visible advantage in the council.

Many years have gone by and Mani knew himself that this couldn’t go on, he had to put a stop to his family himself. The Z family urged him on to get married and bear an offspring. They constantly introduced him to women they chose.

Mani grew very exhausted and not a single day passed by where guilt didn’t eat him alive. Mani chose to look for a successor just as Theo did because Mani didn’t want his successor to have any affiliation with the Z family, so that they couldn’t exert control like they did with Mani.

However, then a tired thought came over Mani and he secretly went to meet the A family. Nick was surprised to see Mani. Nick did feel sorry to have left Mani on his own but after hundreds of years, Nick also wanted peace and not fight for dominance in the council. The beautiful and peaceful days of the council it once was under Lin was long gone.

“Mani, what did you come here for?” Nick beckoned Mani to his studies and poured him some tea.

“Elder A, I’d like to get to the point. I’m sorry for being rude but I don’t have anyone to turn to else.”

“What about Elder K?” Nick knew that Max felt a certain responsibility towards Mani.

“What I want to talk about, he can’t help.”

Nick saw the serious expression on Mani’s face and for once thought that this boy’s started to think on his own, “Tell me.”

“Can there be a new Immortal King?”

Nick briefly widened his eyes before nodding, “Maybe but he will never see the heights Lin had.”

“Then Elder A please be honest, do you think it’d be possible for the Immortal World to be kingless?”

Nick’s hand that grabbed his teacup froze, “It’s impossible. I’ve witnessed it, immortals will just lawlessly slaughter each other.”

“But that’s if they have powers, right?”

Nicks stared into Mani’s eyes and in an instant could guess what Mani’s intentions were, “You!”

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

Mani didn’t need to say more. After all, despite what Lin tried to do, no king would ever be able to escape the curse. It was truly an impossible destiny.

Mani has chosen to sacrifice himself, to plunge the might of the council held by the Z family and hopefully pave a future for the Immortal King to come again. His wish to create a peaceful era saw fruits after Mani absorbed all the powers and destroyed them, leaving power only to the K family who continued to do its service.

Then Mani was buried in the same grave as Theo, next to his parents in the abyss.

The 5 Immortal King’s families decided to take the blame for the Ghost King’s death and have hidden themselves away, branded as traitors, they became the hidden families. In exchange, Mani destroyed Mistand and Neverland to create a place where the hidden families can hide.

Without the help of the hidden families, the original families and powers, a Ghost King and Immortal King couldn’t be born again. And so, the Immortal World started its long hundreds of decades without the reign of a king and powers.

As the Immortal King was forgotten so were the hidden families. Only the council, especially the K family spread word of only one king: The Ghost King.

A true peace overcame the Immortal World but the curse still lingered and sought its target and heavens couldn’t forgive.

That was until Lia came and crowned a new Ghost King.