Blood dripped onto the stone floor.
"Aah… how did it turn out like this?"
The young man coughed, his white hair falling across his face. His dark eyes, marked by slit red pupils, stared at nothing. Horns curled from his temples, now cracked. He clenched his chest, but the hole there was too large. His fingers could not cover it.
He looked up.
Zack Vessara stood over him. Dark hair, dark pupils, a face the demon god had known since childhood stories. The hero's arm bore a blade, still wet.
Behind Zack, four others looked down with disgust.
There was Cecilia, the saintess. Her blonde hair fell past her shoulders, and her white robes remained unblemished.
Beside her stood Sienna, the greatest sword woman. Scars lined her arms, and her hand rested on a blade longer than her own leg.
Towering behind them was Ashen, the Hammer king of red sand. His muscles strained against his armor, and his presence swallowed the light.
At the edge stood Dace, the high elf. Platinum hair was tied back from his sharp features. His bow remained drawn, the arrow aimed at the demon god's heart.
Zack stepped closer.
"Any last words, Demon God Bathomen?"
"Demon god, you say…" He gritted his teeth. "Right. I'm a demon god."
He was never a demon god to begin with.
He was just an orphan named Adam. An organization hired him to steal a special artifact from the academy. After he succeeded, they performed experiments on him for years. Now a demon god possessed his body.
He stared at the group before him.
'They don't even recognize me, their old classmate.'
"Just slay him, Zack!" Ashen yelled.
"Right." Zack raised his sword. Adam closed his eyes as the blade came down.
He wanted it to end, wanted freedom from this torment but the blade stopped.
"No," Zack said. "Let's not do that."
Everyone hesitated.
"He's already dying. Killing him would be merciful." Zack's voice turned cold. "The demons torture and kill innocent people. Let's give him a painful death instead. Let him die slowly. Alone."
Ashen stepped forward. "But by doing that—"
Cecilia placed a hand on his arm. "He's right. Let's stop this, he's badly injured and almost dead anyway."
"Ah, whatever." Ashen facepalmed.
"Pfff."
Adam laughed. It started as a dry cough then grew into something bitter.
"Ha… Hahahaha…Right…Zack, you were always this stupid."
Zack turned and his eyes narrowed. "How does he know my name?"
"Right. You wouldn't know." Adam's voice dropped. "I was just a stepping stone for the bullies at the academy. An eyesore. You didn't help me back then. You're selfish bastard as always, You only care about saving your own face."
Sienna raised her sword.
"Don't say another word, demon!"
"Heh. Right. I'm tired of this hell." Adam smiled. "That's why I'm not dying alone. I'm taking everyone with me."
"What?"
A dam broke inside him. All the demon energy rushed into his body. His skin began to crack. Light poured from the fractures.
"DEMON GOD STOP !" Zack yelled loudly trying to shield his comrades.
Adam raised his middle finger toward Zack. "I hope in your next life, you get hell!"
"RUUUUN !"
Everyone tried to run but the time stopped.
Adam's eyes widened.
"What the hell? One of his skills?"
He saw Bathomen standing before him. The real thing in Flesh and blood. The demon god knelt and stared at him.
"Kekeke. Hey, brat." Bathomen grinned. "I didn't think you'd go so far as to kill the hero of this story."
"You… is this an hallucination? What's going on?"
"Don't worry. I don't have much time, kid. Let me make this simple." Bathomen pointed at Zack. "We are under a script and we were meant to die here, Right now by that pathetic bastard."
"What do you mean, script?"
Bathomen pressed his forehead against Adam's.
Suddenly Adam saw pages. Thousands of them. Flipping fast. He saw his life written out. The ending, Zack and his companions killing the demon god.
Adam trembled. "A book. I'm a character, a villain meant to die by the main character." He looked at Bathomen. "You're saying all my suffering…"
"Now you see the truth, boy."
"Damn it." Adam punched the ground. "Who is the author, then? If this life is a script—"
"Who else?" Bathomen scoffed. "The goddess herself is the author. But it doesn't matter. We don't have enough time." He looked at the frozen world around them. Time was slowly returning to normal. "We have to face this crisis together. Defeat the hero bastard and his friends. Screw fate."
Adam stared at the demon. He did not trust a single word from Bathomen. But his situation alone explained everything.
He did not care what happened next. If he could have one more chance to change the past, to get rid of the people who used him, the organization, the script, fate itself—
"Screw it. I accept."
"Now, boy, I will give you an opportunity. I will turn back time with my last power." Bathomen's voice grew serious. "Make sure you do not become pathetic again. Not even I will save you next time."
The demon's hand covered Adam's face.
Pain surged through his body. Then darkness.
.
.
.
Gasp.
Adam gasped, he looked around, feeling as though he had just woken from a long dream. He was inside a carriage.
"Where am I?"
"Hey, you bastard. Don't make any commotion here!"
A man with a mustache shoved Adam back into his seat. His hand pressed against Adam's neck, forcing him down.
"Urk." Adam let out a groan of pain.
His eyes widened and his gold pupils finally focused on the man before him.
'Wait. Isn't this Lucas? That bastard from my childhood.'
He thought.
' What is he doing here? Why is he still alive?'
"Those stupid eyes." Lucas grabbed Adam's chin. "Do I need to gouge them out for you to learn your place?"
Adam still did not believe this afterlife effect would make him relive his disgusting past. This man was the last person he wanted to see.
"Ah, it doesn't matter." Lucas muttered. "Let me get rid of this bastard first."
Adam moved to grab the man's hand and twist it. But his arm could not do much. It was as if he was gripping hard metal.
'What is going on? My arms.'
He was confused. They were smaller. He did not have any sharp nails. He stared at himself in the window of the moving carriage. What he saw was his younger self. Age sixteen.
His eyes widened.
"What are you doing, kid?" Lucas shoved him back. "Trying to fight back? Better behave yourself, or you will end up in the slums where you belong."
'Damn it. That pain felt too real.'
Adam sat back and pinched his cheek.
"Ow."
He rubbed it. 'The pain was too real. Was this not an hallucination? A dream? The afterlife?' He did not understand anymore.
Ding.
A strange light reflected on Adam's face. A floating purple light with words written on it.
[Power of Bathomen: Integration Complete]
'N-no way.' Adam's breath caught. 'It seems I have returned to the past.'