Crown of Thorns - Chapter 13

Johnathan, an old man with an extraordinary past but an ordinary end, gets reincarnated in a dark fantasy world full of magic, darkness, and mysteries furled.

However, he committed a grave blunder by taking the fiction he had read as a reference. Reborn as a baby, he hoped to be deemed gifted by speaking early.

One thing led to another, and tragedy struck. The villagers declared him a demon-possessed and called the church. Johnathan, now known as Sylvester Maximilian, realized that he had messed up.

When the church's inquisitors came to judge him and burn him on a pyre. As a last resort and to welcome his soon to arrive second death, he started chanting holy hymns as his last breath.

Overwhelmed, they kneeled, thinking he was a messenger of Solis.

From there, the story of how Sylvester Maximilian rose through the ranks to sit at the top began.

But his life won't be ordinary, as he uses his cunning and the tag of 'God's favored' to his advantage. Fighting treachery, unearthing secret plots and world mysteries, facing the darkness around him and creating his place in history, engraving his name in the annals to be forever remembered as the—Immortal Pope, The Young.

[A/N: To not mislead you, the novel's name does not mean he instantly becomes the Pope from the start. The story will follow the life of MC. Though he will become the Pope at a pretty young age. 40% of the novel will be based around MC fighting to sit on the supreme throne.

If you enjoy world building and lore building, then you will like this story.]
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***Main Tags: FANTASY, ADVENTURE, MAGIC, DARK, STRONG MC(Weak at the start because he's a baby. Not an instant OP though.), WHOLESOME, COMEDY, KINGDOM BUILDING. MENTALLY OLD MC, Politics, Backstabbing, World Building.***

[WARNING: MC will not go around saving everyone. Absolutely not if it puts him in danger. But if he can save someone using his status or position in the church, he will. He will kill innocent people if he has to. MC is not crazy, cynical, or unsociable. The world at some times may seem very DARK.]
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[DISCLAIMER]
The religion will be fake. I won't make it similar to those existing in our world not to trigger anyone. However, the Church terminologies and designations may feel identical as they are simple vocabulary words.

Again, everything you read in this novel is fictional and has no relation to our world.

I hope you enjoy my work. Stay safe and eat healthy bananas.
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“I was born as a princess in the most powerful lineage in the world… but that lineage is now on the verge of collapse.”In a kingdom where strength is everything, royal blood has long ceased to produce true powerhouses. Sects and clans are just waiting for our family to show weakness so they can tear us apart.But this lineage is not dead yet.He is still here.A being feared even by the strongest cultivators.The only reason this kingdom still stands.And me?If I want to survive in a world where only power matters… I must become a monster feared by all.

ExcerptAristia could not help but stare at the platinum blonde a few steps in front of her. She seemed to sparkle with a glow that drew people in around her. Something that only happened to the main character of a novel.[Is that stupid book sure I'm the female lead?] She thought, her jaws almost going slack.At this point, she was sure she was deluding herself— or the book was deluding her.She didn't know why, but she already disliked the girl.[This is definitely not jealousy.]She rubbed her brows, watching how the innocent, naive looking girl exuding female lead aura was being flocked around already by others.“Fuck, I'm in deep shit!”—Excerpt Two“What do you mean this is where I belong?!!!” She asked incredulously.“It is the truth. It might sound extremely absurd and unbelievable, but it is the truth.” He said, his voice tinged with helplessness.“Hell, it is absurd.” She threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly. The seriousness in his eyes told her he wasn't at all joking or messing with her. He was damn serious.“Ugh. What shit am I involved in?” She asked frustratingly to no one in particular at the news she was still trying to wrap her head around.***Aristia Andrews had just come back home from work and prepared to go to sleep, when she was given a novel.Nothing strange about that though, huh?But just after she had completed the novel, she woke up to find herself tossed into a whole new world. Taken from her world and the life she deemed perfect, and tossed into a not-so-ideal world.Now part of royalty, she has to get accustomed to living in a backward world of Kings and Queens, Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts and Barons. Just the titles and hierarchy were enough to make her smart head spin.With beautiful and loving parents and relatives, a cute younger brother, loyal servants and a smart brain, join Aristia as she enjoys eating and making new and delicious cuisines, forms unique friendships, and creates successful businesses.However, she finds all is not as she thought it was; there just might be something bigger than she expected, that the book did not reveal.Now... she has a lot of mysteries surrounding her to unfold, and secrets to uncover, and perhaps she'll find a dash of love along the way.

She woke up from her sleep to the divorce papers that the original owner’s husband tossed at her.