Tyranny Of Steel Chapter 1258 A Dynastic Sacrifice



Hans fiddled with a spherical golden crystal at his desk. Years had gone by since his father handed him this divine artifact, yet during that span, he had never fully paid the steep price needed to unlock its power.

In truth, he had never sensed the urge to gouge out his own eye and swap it with the Eye of Horus. Lately, though, paranoia had gripped him—not just for his own safety, but for his family's as well.

The peace his father forged had endured for decades, and while one might expect this to bring the new Kaiser a measure of serenity, Hans's anxiety had only deepened over time. He started doubting who among his circle were allies and who were enemies, a torment that plagued his nights.

Aware that he possessed the means to discern true loyalties toward him, Hans wrestled with the sacrifice demanded to wield such ability. A scalpel lay on his desk beside some rubbing alcohol. If he proceeded, he refused to treat it as a proper surgery—which he certainly could. No, that would undermine the very essence of the required offering.

Rather, Hans planned to mirror his father's path to this mighty power by sacrificing his own flesh. Thus, after much deliberation and a swig of liquid courage, Hans seized the scalpel, soaked it in the alcohol to sterilize it, and steadily began excising his right eye.

The agony was excruciating, and more than once Hans believed death loomed near, but ultimately a severed eyeball dropped to the floor amid a puddle of blood. With that done, he wasted no time jamming the radiant gem into the vacant socket.

Within seconds, the injury to Hans's eye mended completely, revealing a gleaming golden orb that complemented his remaining sapphire iris. Once vision returned fully, Hans gazed into the mirror to examine his look.

Now nearing fifty, the man sported strawberry blonde hair inherited from his mother, now streaked with grey. Still, he remained strikingly handsome, echoing his father. A smile crossed his face at the sight—until a voice echoed in his mind.

"Oh, has Berengar passed on already? Odd, why was I not invited to the celebration?"

Hans whipped his head around, searching for the voice's source, only to confirm he was alone. With a sigh, he eyed the bloody chaos he had wrought and muttered about his supposed hallucination.

"I must have scrambled my brains..."

Yet the voice returned, laced with conceit.

"On the contrary, you are a perfectly sane mortal. I was once the guardian of this artifact, and I have left behind a little remnant of my soul to ensure that it passed on to a worthy successor. Tell me, what is your relation to Berengar?"

Though Hans suspected delusion, he humored the voice for some reason and revealed his heritage promptly.

"I am Berengar's eldest son, Hans von Kufstein. How do you know my father?"

The voice replied to Hans with a petty edge, as if harboring a grudge against Berengar.

"You are Berengar's eldest son? Not was? Am I to believe that he is still alive? And yet he has already removed the Eye of Horus to pass on to you? Figures he would do something like that. Well, I suppose it is a good thing he still draws breath, because I would have had to have words with that bastard Odin about not inviting me to the celebration!"

Berengar rarely spoke of gods to Hans or detailed how he acquired the Eye of Horus. Thus, Hans knew neither the speaker's identity nor if this was real. Still, he pressed for answers about this otherworldly entity.

"Who are you? You haven't answered my question!"

The voice seemed to jolt back to the present, as if lost in thought, before addressing Hans.

"I am Anubis, the Egyptian God of the Underworld. And I met your father many years ago, when he entered my domain, to claim the eye of Horus as his own. Your father succeeded where many had perished. And by right, this artifact belongs to him. But if he has chosen to pass it onto you, his heir, I see no reason to withhold its powers from you.

You have paid the price to obtain its power. Though I must warn you, due to your father's influence over Egypt and Sudan, my powers, and those of my peers are quickly being restored, and because of that the Eye of Horus will now be more powerful than it was in your father's possession. It might even drive you to madness. 

"Do you still desire its power despite knowing the risks?"

Hans answered the query without the slightest delay. The moment Anubis finished speaking, he voiced his firm resolve.

"Yes... I must discover who remains loyal to me, and who schemes against me!"

A trace of contentment echoed in Anubis's tone as he replied to Hans's declaration.

"A wise choice... I anticipate what you'll achieve with this power. Or whether it will plunge you into insanity. You have my blessing, worth as it may be. And best of luck in your coming ventures."

With those words spoken, a dazzling golden radiance flooded Hans's sight, and the mystical force rendered him senseless. He lay unconscious for almost two full weeks, yet upon stirring awake, he gained the sight to pierce through deceptive masks and perceive their Auras. He could even probe fragments of their minds. This bestowed upon him the certainty to identify those intending him ill and the precise ways they plotted to strike.

From that moment, every heir to the German Throne possessed the eternal might to foil any conspiracies aiming to erode their authority or threaten the von Kufstein Dynasty. Concerning the abrupt golden eye Hans had gained, he never breathed a word of it. Rather, he swiftly masked it using tinted lenses. To the world's eyes, he remained utterly unchanged from before.

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Gratitude to all of you for backing Tyranny of Steel this far. Moving forward to the novel's finale, releases will slow to a single chapter daily. In the meantime, I cordially invite everyone to dive into my latest creation, Interstellar Age, found at https://www.webnovel.com/book/interstellar-age_26235247006730205—this one claiming my chief focus ahead. Your steadfast support means the world, and I can't wait to keep delivering novels for years to come!