Parallel Memory - Chapter 680: The Shadows of Defiance

Takahiro Nao, a 25-year-old drowning in debt and despair, lives only for his struggling family. Every sacrifice he makes is for them—until a selfless act costs him his life. Instead of the end, Nao encounters a Goddess of Benevolence who offers him a miraculous deal: “Live in a new world, and your efforts there will support your family back on Earth.”Reborn into the dead body of Naoki von Blackmore, the so-called “Failed Hero,” he finds himself burdened with the daunting task of saving the world by defeating the Demon King—all while supporting the family he cherishes. Armed with formidable powers yet haunted by his past failures, Nao steps into a dangerous realm of swords, magic, and ferocious monsters. Facing relentless enemies, harrowing trials of life and death, and an unyielding fate, he’s forced to confront the ultimate question: how far is he willing to go to protect the people he loves?Filled with emotional struggles, determination, unexpected humor, and a touch of romance, this story asks a powerful question to the readers: What would you sacrifice for the people you love?

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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Before the rebirth, Gu Qingyao wanted to marry him but did not dare to marry. After the rebirth, Gu Qingyao, with the space materials in hand, all day planning to marry him with a huge dowry.

The Immortal caressed my head, tying my hair and receiving longevity.A lone girl, Jiang Yuebai, ascends Ninefold Mountain to the Azure Clouds, only to seek the Immortal’s path, wandering the world and Cloud Stepping.The path of Immortal Cultivation defies the heavens.Compete with the heavens, compete with the earth, compete with people, compete with oneself.Senior sister recites ten scrolls daily; I read books until dawn.Senior brother swings his sword hundreds of times; I return amidst the stars with my lance.Master refines elixirs sitting overnight; my Pill Furnace Fire stays unextinguished!If I don’t exhaust myself through cultivation, I’ll exhaust others, aiming to make the entire Cultivation Realm cry from cultivation.[Focus on alchemy, due to excessive refinement, the pill furnace can’t withstand the pressure and explodes, Alchemy Skill Level -1][Continue alchemy with an iron pot and unexpectedly find fire control easier, herbs heat more evenly, Alchemy Skill Level +5][Congratulations, your Alchemy has leveled up!]Note: Early stage involves Immortal Cultivation Data Panel, has a satire attribute, no point addition, no rewards, no tasks, low appearances, discarded later stages, dislike, please do not disturb, abandon the book without notice!No CP!