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
"You've failed!" The speaker was no longer recognizable as human. His face was a network of cracks filled with flames, reminiscent of ocean waves, but aflame. "Why have you betrayed mankind?" "Why did I betray mankind? Isn't it obvious? Because I want to become a god," the figure declared arrogantly. He lowered his gaze to the man sprawled before him, bloodied and battered. The man was in his sixties; his hair had turned white, and wrinkles lined his face. But there was something remarkable about him, a defiant spark in his eyes. "God? Do you think you're a god now?" the man rasped, seemingly stalling for time against the menacing figure. "Ha, of course not. But I'm on the brink of gaining that immense power." "Ah, Lucius. I know you cherished this land. You fought for forty years, serving the people. Now look at us, the last humans on this planet. Everyone you loved is dead, Lucius." "To hell with you." Mustering the last of his strength, the elderly man tried to rise, reac
"Argh!" "What happened?" the young man looked up from his bed. A seventeen-year-old teenager, drenched in sweat. His breathing was ragged, and he seemed to be grappling with his reality. "Didn't I already die?" "Why am I here?" He vividly remembered how the monster came and crushed his head. An action that was too swift for the young man's eyes to track. Lucius, the old man who had been killed earlier, seemed to have unexpectedly traveled through time. "What happened to the artifact he was seeking? Was the underground bomb I set up able to destroy him?" He was immensely confused about it all. Especially since Lucius didn't live to witness the final outcome. He was the last human left, the one who should have stopped the world from being destroyed. But Lucius was merely an old man, and his opponent was a monster that had almost wiped out the entire human race. It was a one-sided battle that ended in a massacre. "Did I really travel through time?" he continued to question the b
"Bzzt!" With a swift jerk, Lucius roused from his apparent reverie. His hair seemed to stand on end, as if touched by an invisible current. The young man who had been nonchalantly lounging at his desk was now alert, his attention snatched by the unidentified pandemonium unfolding around him. "What's going on?" He mumbled, his brow furrowed in confusion. The clamor, while undeniable, held no discernible source or explanation. [System birth detected in the vicinity] The holographic message hung in the air before his eyes. An added feature of his holographic device, post consumption of the pearl-like artifact - the Eye of Time. "Thud!" In his haste, he knocked against the desk, rattling it. The abrupt noise pulled the attention of the entire class towards him - Lucius, the recent cynosure of all eyes due to his striking transformation. Post ingesting the Eye of Time, Lucius' skin had become as smooth as a newborn's, while his physique had grown more muscular and defined. He was alm
Lucius effortlessly avoided the initial attack with a slight shift of his posture, his movement as graceful as a feather riding the wind. "Assist Hari! Don't let this scoundrel get away!" Nevan, the thin, skeletal student acting as the brains of the gang, commanded his friends to coordinate an attack on Lucius. "Ah!" One of the attackers wailed as Lucius' powerful punch landed squarely on his chest, sending him flying backwards. The display of unexpected martial prowess had the gang's leader, Hari, blinking in stunned disbelief. "Since when did he become a warrior?" Hari whispered to himself, shocked at Lucius' agile maneuvers. "Poww!" The air echoed with the impact of Lucius' spinning elbow landing on Hari's face. The leader of the mischievous group crumbled to the ground, his nose bleeding profusely. "This is illegal!" Nevan shrieked, his skeletal frame trembling with rage. "Ah, your name is Nevan, correct?" Lucius strolled towards the frail boy, stepping over the groaning bodi
A cacophony of footfall echoed louder and louder, an ominous sign of the swarm of people rushing towards the school's roof. The ear-piercing wails of agony that they had heard multiple times appeared to originate from that place, like a gruesome theater of torture nestled above their heads. "Is this place devoid of life?" A teacher, first to arrive, remarked in disbelief. He surveyed the school roof that stretched out immaculate before him. It was deserted, not a soul in sight, as if the bone-chilling sounds they heard moments ago were mere hallucinations. "Sir, there is no trace of anything unusual," confirmed another teacher, who had painstakingly inspected every inch of the rooftop. Not even the tiniest speck of dust could escape his keen eye, yet he failed to find any signs of abnormality. "But there were unmistakable cries of pain. You heard them too, didn't you?" the principal appealed to the students who seemed equally intrigued by the mysterious sound. "This couldn't possib
"That pest of a gym teacher. He really has me pegged as the prime suspect," Lucius muttered under his breath, finding himself in a dingy interrogation room. The room was a cramped square, barely spanning two meters in length and width. Its only source of light was a single, dim lamp suspended above two facing chairs. "You were missing from class when the incident occurred, weren't you?" probed the interrogating officer. He was a man of medium build with a distinctive curved mustache, apparently not holding a high position within the precinct. "Indeed, I was," Lucius responded nonchalantly. His breath remained steady, demonstrating his lack of concern over the ongoing interrogation. "Son, I know you're looking for an alibi, and you probably have a plausible story ready. However, I want the truth. Where have you stashed those missing students?" "I have no idea. I pay little attention to such things," Lucius dismissed the officer's concerns with a casual shrug, clearly enjoying the s
Every nation hoards its secrets, and the tropical country where Lucius resided was no exception. A fortified structure, ringed with layers of razor wire and security patrols, stood imposingly in the distance. The intense vigilance suggested that the place was far from an ordinary dwelling—more akin to a maximum-security prison. "Has our latest subject arrived?" asked a middle-aged man, identifiable as a high-ranking official by the array of stars adorning his shoulders. "Yes, Mr. Nefion. The new subject was delivered minutes ago," replied a busy woman, juggling documents and persistent phone calls. "If it wasn't for my military career, I'd find it hard to believe these anomalies," the man mused aloud, "the existence of superhumans, just like in the films." His voice carried across the room, the woman catching his words. "But this case is particularly intriguing. Such a young boy possessing this...gift," he continued, eyes fixed on the large monitor displaying the live feed from an