"Mr. Lucius, where are we going?" the girl finally asked. It had been several days of travelling with Lucius, and their destination remained unclear. "We're looking for artifacts," Lucius answered. "Artifacts again? But how?" The girl was confused by Lucius' plan because she knew that artifacts were not easy to find. Lucius just shrugged, almost as if he wanted to say, "I don't know either". He had only heard from information in his previous life about an extraordinary fighting technique. "Amia, do you know what is important in a fight?" "Fighting techniques?" "They're important, but you won't be able to fight continuously if you only rely on them," Lucius said, his tone and smile mysteriously aloof. "I only heard this in my previous life: the story of a young man who drowned in a lake and gained terrible power." Of course, he could not share this story with the demon girl who had become his slave this time. "What if there is a power that can restore a person's energy every ti
"Miss Celestial Messenger, I apologize for my son's actions." "There is no need to apologize to the village chief. I heard that he doesn't believe in the existence of Gods. Is that so, young man?" she walked over and lifted her cloak, revealing long fingers with nails colored jet black. "I do believe in the existence of Gods, but not in the way that you suggest," the teenager tried to stand, but his legs suddenly felt heavy as if they were being grasped by those mysterious hands. "You know, boy, you have no right to trivialize the existence of gods." "Smack!" She slapped the boy's cheek, making him immediately fall down, followed by a change in expression from the village chief who led the ritual. "Miss Heavenly Messenger, please... please forgive my son," he pleaded, prostrating himself for forgiveness while the teenager was grimacing, wiping the fresh blood flowing from his nose. "Father, don't be foolish. She's not a heavenly messenger! She's just a twisted witch!" "Gross,
The men marched around, holding and lifting the young man who was chained and tied to a large log. A woman wearing a robe and headdress walked in front of them, displaying the difference in their status. "Lord, we will sacrifice the one who mocked you. Forgive us all," she announced after stopping by a clear lake strewn with floating buffalo heads. "They are completely corrupted," muttered Lucius from a distance. "Throw him, and may God accept and forgive all his sins," the village chief commanded with a heavy heart. Regardless of his damaged state of mind, his affection for his son remained, evident from the unceasing flow of tears from his eyes. "Wait," he spoke softly, which was met with a sharp gaze from the woman. "Village chief, what else are you seeking?" she asked, losing her patience. "Miss heavenly messenger, can't I take his place?" he asked again, softly, desperate to persuade the woman claiming to be a holy messenger from heaven. "Father, what are you saying?" The
The middle-aged man sat pensively in his house, serving as the village head of a remote settlement far from the bustling city life. Despite the country's advanced technology, life there retained its traditional essence. "Gross, why did you even do that?" he murmured softly, rubbing his forehead. There was no one to offer him comfort in this moment of distress. He continued to gaze at an old, grey picture frame which captured a woman holding a newborn baby, his long-deceased wife. "Why did everything turn so complicated and bad? Where did I go wrong in my past decisions?" he lamented, eyes puffy and filled with sorrow. The daunting condition to save his son, which required him to procure a hundred more sacrifices, seemed impossible. "Village chief, come out!" A voice echoed, accompanied by the sound of dozens of footsteps, disturbing the man's contemplations. "Why are they here?" he wondered, peering through a crack in his wall. He saw his villagers approaching, brandishing fresh
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
"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
"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
"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