The scheme had been carefully crafted, and now the three-person powerhouse was set in motion. Lucius, the individual stranded in a foreign world, was joined by two other remarkable figures: Schmidt, a heroically handsome figure, and a strikingly beautiful redhead. "Lucius, we're drawing near," informed Schmidt. Two days had passed since their journey commenced. Without a moment's pause, the trio forged ahead, their swift progress a race against time to rescue the oppressed. "Halt, I spot them," Schmidt declared, landing deftly on a tree branch. Lucius and Zera joined him, aligning themselves on adjacent branches. "It appears we are just in time," Schmidt added, gesturing towards the location beneath them—a presumed haven for those subjected to slavery. "Are we near the martial arts sect?" Lucius murmured, detecting a potent, ominous aura in the proximity. "Your instincts are accurate, Lucius," Schmidt affirmed with a subtle nod. "So, it's my turn to take action now?" Lucius inqu
"No! No!" The figure of a man, who was in the company of a red-haired girl, was seen crying out in sheer terror. He had bravely ventured off the beaten path in an attempt to free all the prisoners, only to be dumbstruck by an order resonating from afar. "Execute all prisoners!" echoed a distant voice. Eerily, all soldiers present instantly unsheathed their sharp swords, ruthlessly cutting down the hapless slaves and prisoners. Their bodies fell to the ground, pools of blood painting a grim scene. "Damn it! Zera, they've already started the ritual!" roared the man, known as Schmidt. He and his companion could only stare in stunned silence as the guards mercilessly butchered all the prisoners within their reach, displaying no shred of pity. "Boom!" Another crash of lightning echoed from afar, followed by a billowing mist, a consequence of the upturned earth stirred into the air. "It seems that Lucius has launched his attack," Schmidt surmised. "What should we do next, Schmidt?" "
"Where am I?" Lucius opened his eyes and was surprised to see a room that resembled a cube. It was very cramped, as if he was confined in a chest with strange walls. The walls of the room were light green in color, looking soft to the touch. Lucius woke up and reflexively held his neck. His neck hurt because of the fine hairs from the monster earlier. "What's going on? Am I in heaven?" "No, no. I, someone like me, can't be in heaven." Lucius shook his head rejecting his first conclusion. "System, can you hear me?" asked Lucius, hoping that a hologram of the system would appear before his eyes. [System hears master] "Good. Can you tell me what this place is?" "The space between the real world and the memory universe." "Memory universe? What is that?" asked Lucius anxiously, hoping that the system would not give any more strange answers. "Universal memory is the memory of a world that once existed but has been destroyed," said a young man who suddenly appeared in the room. The y
The guards patrolling the special prison wore expressions of disbelief. "General Nefion?" they stuttered out in unison, astonished at the sight of the rumored dead general in their midst. A figure who, by all accounts, should not be present in this location. The man appointed to replace General Nefion gazed at him, his face a mask of incredulity. He struggled to comprehend the sight of a man thought to be dead, now standing before him. "General Nefion, is that truly you?" he asked, uncertainty lacing his voice as if he suspected an illusion or a trick. "Do I need to bash your skull in to convince you?" replied the general, his tone sharp, the force of his martial aura palpable. This retort earned a few surprised chuckles from the others and silenced further questions. "So, were the rumors of your death fabricated?" "Clearly. Do you think I could be easily killed?" General Nefion retorted. His unexpected resurrection sent ripples of shock throughout the prison, particularly among t
As night fell, the heavens took on an unusual aspect. The moon, resplendent in its full glory, dominated the sky, its brilliance unimpeded by the absence of clouds. Like a celestial carpet, countless stars twinkled in response to the lunar glow, casting an ethereal light on the figure below. Lucius, the teenager on the run, appeared to have reached his destination—an ancient graveyard filled with thousands of tombstones. The site was often deserted due to eerie local tales and rumored hauntings that dissuaded visitors. "Huh?" Lucius halted, quickly taking cover behind a grave as he detected unfamiliar footfalls. They seemed to appear almost concurrently with his own arrival. "What was that noise?" "I'm not sure, boss. I heard footsteps too, but they've ceased," replied a lanky figure in the dim light. "Three individuals? But why did the noise suggest a greater number?" Lucius puzzled, peering from his hideout. He had expected to see more than just three figures—a large man, a slen
Lucius let out a sharp cry as his arm was mercilessly twisted by the pair that had attacked him earlier. The intense pain was unbearable, as his bone snapped and blood began to seep from the wound, soaking his clothes much like water wrung from a drenched cloth. "Hold on, don't kill him yet. He could be a valuable sacrifice," a different individual commanded, intervening and halting the violent assault. He nonchalantly swatted away Lucius' desperate attack of red and black lightning as though it was an insignificant threat. "What's happening?" Lucius cried out, retracting his injured arm and recoiling a considerable distance back, his eyes aflame with fury as he glared at the figures that his system had identified as non-human. "Who are you?" he demanded, clamping his other hand over his bleeding wound in an attempt to staunch the flow. "Ah, who are we indeed? Well, we can't reveal that. The heavens would be enraged, and it would cause chaos," retorted one of the assailants before
The figures swathed in red shared glances among themselves, their eyes exchanging unspoken confirmations sparked by Lucius' previous statement. "Where did you hear that?" A frosty question hung in the air, the speaker's tone implying a strong aversion to dishonesty. "I can disclose that, provided my safety is ensured," Lucius proposed. The red-robed figure sneered, pointing a callous finger towards the human-filled cage. "How selfish of you. You don't seem too concerned about the rest of the livestock." Lucius met the statement with a steely gaze. "I have my own priorities." "Your safety is dependent on the value of your information," the figure stated, almost threateningly. "I can retrieve the fragment of the Dead King's system." "You can do what now?" Before Lucius could clarify, a cloak-swathed figure lunged at him, seizing him by the throat and lifting him off the ground. Lucius writhed, gasping for breath as the strong grip strangled him. "I am not lying," Lucius choked o
Lucius arrived at the location, which resembled a cave adorned with stalactites and stalactites at its top and bottom. The spiky rocks glowed an eerie green, adding to the haunted atmosphere of the place. "I feel it, the fragment is really here," Lucius muttered to himself. He was trying to recall how the future King of the Dead had used the power of the fragment to raise a terrifying corpse army. "You said you could retrieve it, right? Do it," ordered the woman. Lucius immediately began to move forward, each step measured and careful, as if afraid of treading on something dangerous. When Lucius reached the center where the energy was pulsating, he bent down and began to dig. His movements were quick, like an animal, which caused the robed figure watching him to occasionally chuckle. "He seems to really know the location of that thing," one of them remarked. Beneath Lucius was a dirt floor littered with human skulls, indicating it as the dumping ground for the victims of their ri
Lucius knew that the energy in his body was limited, despite having obtained energy absorption techniques from the painting world."How do I gather that much energy?""I will teach you... but you'll need to do something in return later.""Do something?"Caught in an intense situation, Nio, the girl, blushed slightly."I know this world will be destroyed. All I want is to experience love-making."Lucius' mouth gaped open, not expecting to hear such a request amid the chaos."Are you... serious?""I'm serious," she replied firmly. Lucius sighed, considering the bizarre world he found himself in to be part of an unreal memory."Alright... then how do I harness this cold energy?""Follow me!"Nio swiftly took Lucius's hand, leading him away. Lucius was speechless; Nio seemed to be driven by a passionate desire.Not far away, the rampage of the rat-headed nega continued. As it ravaged everything, Nio guided Lucius to an underground cave.Inside the dimly lit cavern, Nio swiftly threw somet
"Red Lightning!" he shouted, stomping his foot to create an enormous repulsion force, launching them far from the hill. They spun several times mid-air to maintain momentum before landing near a dense forest. "Is it due to the cold core? I feel my technique is improving," Lucius mused, feeling his power increase. "Graahh!" "Damn it!" Lucius cursed, quickly surrounding himself and Nio with black lightning to shield them from the blazing flames that incinerated the surrounding trees. "Why is it so fast?" he growled, glancing upwards to meet the creature's gaze, seemingly tracking them with deliberate intent. "Wait, if I recall correctly, the painting world was similar. Each world has a hero," Lucius considered, clutching the agdis. "Does that mean Nio is this world's heroine?" he thought hard. But his pondering was interrupted as he had to dodge a thrown stone from the monster with the help of his Red Lightning. "Booommm" Trees were uprooted and the bizarre fire's heat intensified
The magic of ice seemed to cause several glasses of water to freeze instantly. The ice was shattered by a woman, none other than Nio's mother, and mixed with the fruit juice they had on hand. "Unique, and fresh," said Lucius. The man and woman who were Nio's parents, smiled widely. "So, when are you getting married?" Nio's father asked again, causing Nio to puff up her cheeks in annoyance. "Dad, don't ask me that again," she huffed, quickly grasping Lucius' hand to leave the room after finishing their drinks made by Nio's mother. "Where are we going?" asked a surprised Lucius. The girl just smiled mysteriously. However, not long after that, Nio finally disclosed their destination. "Do you see that hill over there? That's my favorite place. I'm going to show you something interesting from there," the girl announced cheerfully. Lucius, whose hand was being eagerly tugged, felt like a boy being dragged into play by a friend. "From what I've seen, there doesn't seem to be anyone th
"Augh," the young man squealed as the girl's hand pressed against his back. A terrible cold aura seemed to enter every cell in his body, causing the young man's lips to suddenly turn purple. His vision blurred, but he could still hear the girl shouting repeatedly, "Control that energy. Otherwise, you'll die!" As she shouted, she continued to pump cold energy into his body. "What the hell?" Lucius inwardly grumbled, looking at his fingertips which had started to turn black earlier, his fingernails and toenails now turning purple. "Do I have frostbite?" he pondered as he lost the feeling in his hands and feet. "Control it, control the aura, and form a new core in your body," the girl hollered once more, causing Lucius to risk his life yet again. -- "Augh," the two people collapsed under the hot sun, drenched in sweat, the girl's curves made even more evident. This seemed to be a terrifying journey for Lucius, who was practicing this cold energy technique. Several times, he felt
If Lucius thought everything was fine, then apart from the oddity where the right and left of his body were switched, he began to realize that his guess was wrong. Suddenly, four strange figures appeared around him. They seemed to smell the scent of Lucius' body, and the four figures that were clearly not human looked at him lustfully. Their heads resembled the heads of large rats, with small and slender bodies that looked emaciated without clothes. Even their breastbones were sticking out, as if the creatures had been starving for a long time. "This is disgusting," Lucius muttered in amazement at the sight of such figures. They looked like large rats standing on two legs, with red eyes that flashed Lucius' shadow as if they were stalking him. "Grrrr" "Rowwrr" The monsters suddenly jumped at Lucius, trying to slash his neck with sharp claws. With practiced instinct, Lucius tried to dodge to the right, but it was his left foot that moved this time. The young man tumbled and almos
"Damn, this experience again," Lucius cursed after he was absorbed by the purple pearl. It placed him back into the pitch-black void, where no hint of light existed. "I can't even see my hand this time," Lucius muttered, lifting his hand only to see the encompassing darkness. "Augghh." "What's going on?" Lucius screamed, as if a foreign entity had awoken within him. A wave of fear washed over him, making him feel strangled by unseen, ghostly hands. The sheer terror of total darkness quickened his breathing. "No, what's happening?" Lucius yelled, trying to run aimlessly. His hands flailed about, but they touched nothing. The overwhelming darkness was all he could see. His anxiety peaked as his greatest fear was unearthed from deep within his psyche. "Total darkness," - it's not death that humans fear, but rather the loneliness and solitude in the complete darkness that follows. Trapped in this oppressive darkness, Lucius felt a greater pain than he had experienced when being t
"Splash!" Two young figures, Lucius and Amia, immediately plunged into the lake as though they were searching for something beneath its surface. They seemed to disappear into the darkness of the night, relying solely on their instincts and extraordinary abilities to discern what was transpiring in the depths. "What is it?" Lucius questioned himself as he spotted a light source below. Amia also seemed to see the light, and, in silent agreement, they both swiftly descended towards it. Their movements were so quick that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to compare them to two racing dolphins. "What is it?" Lucius thought again. His mouth was shut tight due to being underwater, but his brain was tirelessly processing the information it was receiving. For instance, a strange blue object appeared like a large glowing sphere with what seemed to be a young man sleeping within. It was an unfamiliar sight to Lucius, potentially housing thousands of mysteries he had never encountered in his two
"The red and black lightning roared, emitting a profoundly unsettling sound. The energy surged through Lucius' hands, causing the pointy-chinned demon to recoil. "Human, where did you get that much power?" The demon questioned, visibly astonished by Lucius' remarkable combination of attack and defense. "Those who are about to die need not know," Lucius responded defiantly, stomping his foot on the ground. The ground erupted, obstructing everyone's view. "Foul human, you think I can't track your location?" The demon retorted, flaring its nostrils in an attempt to detect Lucius' current whereabouts. "Above!" "Whack!" Lucius' heel kick, imbued with the terrifying red and blue lightning, was parried by the demon. "Aughh," the demon screeched, its arm visibly shocked by the lightning. It swiftly tilted and shifted its body to avoid the crushing force of the kick. "How is that possible? How?" The pointy-chinned demon wailed, waving its arm as if it were crushed. "How can this be? I
The chains finally broke, instantly drowning the young man, as the cloaked woman looked on with evident pleasure. "Soon, soon I can make a pact with the devil," she stated, her goal explicit, unaware that she was being observed by two pairs of eyes. "Mr. Lucius..." "Just call me Lucius," he said, interrupting the girl who seemed to have misnamed him several times. "But..." "There are no buts," Lucius interrupted again. "Then Lucius, why didn't we save that man?" "I believe there's a destiny that's protecting him. I'm more interested in seeing what that woman will do next," Lucius replied. The woman appeared to be hustling back and forth with the corpses that she had laboriously pulled out. It was clear that she was breathing heavily due to the strenuous work of carrying the bodies of villagers who had been slain by the village chief. "Damn, this guy should have left one or two slaves alive," she grumbled in annoyance, but she couldn't stop herself from continuing her task unt