This was the day our plan would begin.
Anser got me a dagger, which I currently have hidden in my pants.
I would be in charge of entertaining Randy for a while while Renato evacuated the people.
And how will I do it?
Making him talk. Now that I've recovered all my memories...I'll make him talk.
"Oh, Mr. Ji Noo!" Randy's secretary saw me in the hallways, but when he saw that I didn't stop, he started chasing me. "Wait! You can't come in right now! Mr. Randy is busy—"
"I don't care."
I slammed the door open; inside was Randy, who was drinking tea, sitting in his office. He didn't even flinch, since he had surely already seen me coming through the eyes of his sect members.
"Let him in." Randy ordered, and reluctantly, the secretary agreed. The door closed softly, and it was then that Randy spoke again. "What brings you here in such a hurry, Jeon Kwonoo?" He took one last sip of his tea. "Are you finally going to put the plan for the new ending to this story into action? Do you need help?"
"I've come to kill you."
Randy's eyes slowly opened; a pair of golden eyes, devoid of any shine. Didn't I write that his eyes were blue? Why has the color of his eyes changed?
Suddenly, that...made me more alert.
"Kill me?" Randy got up. "Fun." As I walked towards the window, he really wasn't taking me seriously, he wasn't treating me as a threat.
"I know it was you who murdered Elmetron," I started to speak, and I could see that slowly, Randy turned to look at me. "I also know that you were the one who wiped out Vulpecula's clan, that you kidnapped and killed Renato, and that you also destroyed Shu'al's hidden village."
Randy looked at me; I know he was surprised at how I had managed to find all that out. "It's a lie."
That was a stupid tactic.
"No, it's not a lie," I started walking towards him. "You didn't reincarnate Mandeleine when he died despite him being your best member, you created the Lahn Scroll, and you used Elmetron as a weapon for many years!" I stopped behind him, seeing his terrified face after confronting him with the truth. "You were the one who changed history in the first place, you are the problem here, you were the one who caused all this mess, and for what? To see an ending where you could be happy?!"
Randy slapped me.
My body felt the blow as a very familiar one. Poor Elmetron, he must have been slapped by Randy so often that it didn't hurt anymore, it just reminded me of his power, but that doesn't matter anymore.
"You'll never know what it's like to reincarnate multiple times in the same fucking life," His sudden, serious voice made me shudder; before I drew my dagger, he gripped my neck. "Yes. I did all those things you mentioned, and you know what? I've done more than you have since you came into this world, Jeon Kwonoo."
Then he let go of me, throwing me to one side.
He walked slowly towards me, his presence keeping me on the ground. "But what do you know? The useless author, despite having recovered those memories, still doesn't know what ending he gave to this story…" And he smiled, a smile that was not at all friendly. "Just by creating this story, by creating me, you claim to know me and read me like the back of your hand, but don't you know everything that really happened before we got to this point?"
Perhaps he's right; however, there's no way his actions can be justified. Even if he can't be judged for them because he's almost a god, he can still be killed like a human.
"…So," He moved his hand, that movement causing my body to crash against the wall. "The last thing you will know about this world will be about me; meanwhile, I will kill you."
***
I should have sent Sherly an invitation; tea time is very lonely when no Sect Leader is around. Although he probably would have refused, he is naturally that evasive, but it's endearing that he's like that.
A small, almost unpredictable gust of wind blew my short hair a little.
I turned around, and found myself facing Anser Ciro's sword; Astral pointed at my neck. "Oh?"
Anser Ciro had never threatened me in this way before, considering how dependent he is on his people, I thought that instead it would be one of his members who would come to attempt the murder.
"Ciro, if you try to kill me, all the sect leaders will kill you~" I warned him, though, knowing this guy who not many years ago rose to become one of the best cult leaders in the world, that he wouldn't care.
"They asked me to kill you."
I felt my heart beat. I put the cup down on my desk, opened my blue eyes, and looked at Anser. "…Who?"
He don't answer directly who gave the order; instead, he made another accusation. "You are a suspect in the death of Joakim Hans. I've been investigating, and with Layla's help we were able to determine that all the clues to her death pointed to you as the prime suspect, and now, I've confirmed that you are the killer."
He threw a pen onto my desk, accompanied by a rose brooch.
"…"
That pen was the pen I had always used whenever I signed a document that the president of Anarxie asked me to, and that brooch was mine, the one that belonged to my boot.
"…"
I thought no one would find out; I thought everyone would be just as happy as I was after getting rid of the most unbearable member of our group.
"You tried to shift the blame onto Elmetron, when he was the one who murdered my entire clan...and who wanted to kill me, he never showed any interest in killing anyone other than me or my girlfriend," His heterochromatic eyes met my blue eyes; he had a serious, and very angry look. "Although it pains me to admit it, Elmetron wasn't to blame for that, even in death, you tried to blame him, why?"
I suppose it was a mistake to believe that the famous Mr. Detective wouldn't be able to uncover my crime.
"Joakim Hans was always rude, from the Pandemonium War until the moment I killed him," I smiled at Anser, a way of seeking mercy. "This world couldn't have a sect leader who was capable of killing innocent people if they got in his way; at least Miss Karmen is doing a better job than him."
"But Joakim Hans was still your ally, he was still human."
Do you think that would have stopped me?
He was annoying. Very annoying.
"I don't regret killing him, Ciro."
"You should."
I moved my hand toward his neck, but something repelled my attack; a shield.
Both Anser and I flew off in opposite directions, crashing through walls and starting to fall from the building. I became a burst of light and went towards Anser, who managed to fall onto a rooftop, and when he saw me going towards him, I raised my hand to penetrate the shield.
It only took an amount of energy equal to that used by Sherly to undo it; it was that simple. But Anser began stabbing my arm, and just as he was about to stab my chest…
"Leadership Skill: Eye of God."
The sword flew out, landing a few meters away from us; that was my chance.
"…!"
But perhaps I was too confident in my abilities and forgot that Anser Ciro could have already deduced my attacks from the beginning. So when I turned to see who had pierced my chest with that spear, I saw Sherly on the roof of my sect's building. My rival, my...enemy?
"I will never forgive you for trying to kill Ciro...Bornman!"
Ouch.
Slowly, my body began to fall down the building's precipice; as I fell, I saw Sherly for the last time, the man I believed was my ally instead of just my enemy. But I was wrong.
In the end, it was Anser Ciro who won this battle, who was able to live a normal life with his girlfriend, until having children, until Liam Yoon Hee's old age, and until the death of said person.
And...I...died.
Or so I thought. Until I was reincarnated again.
"You're a beautiful baby...I'll call you...Randy Bornman..."
Randy Bornman? Why did that name sound so familiar?
And why...was my death this time so similar to the previous one?
Again.
This time, as I died, I saw that Sherly looked at me for a few seconds longer than in past lives.
Again.
This time Sherly smiled when he saw me fall.
Again.
I think Sherly fell in love with me. Nobody can look at me the way he does.
Again.
I wish things had changed a little with him.
Again.
I would have liked...to live happily too.
Again.
…
"Randy?"
Sherly's voice snapped me out of my sudden trance; we were about to enter the Pandemonium War. "Yes?"
"Don't die."
"…" He didn't say that in my past life, did he? "…I won't."
Eh? Something is starting to change...
No, rather, can I change what I already know is going to happen?
"…"
Perhaps this time...I want to die in the war.
What other endings can my life have?
Again.
Sherly looks very cute at this age in our lives.
If I kiss him...and die again in the war in this life, he'll never claim me, right?
"What are you doing on top of me, Randy?!"
Again.
Perhaps I can even change my whole life...right?
I just need to find the necessary things for it.
"I will never forgive you for trying to kill Ciro…Randy!"
Perhaps...
The answer lies in forbidden knowledge.
Agai■.
"What did you do, Randy Bornman?!"
Anser Ciro's furious voice was what made me realize what I had just done; I killed Liam Yoon Hee in this life. Just as Anser was about to attack my base, I went ahead and went to his and assassinated Liam Yoon Hee while she was resting.
Perhaps, by doing something I've never tried before...I can gain...new things, no, new experiences.
"This will be fixed in the next life…" Yes, surely everything would return to normal.
I could see Anser's confused face, and then— "■■■■ ■■ ■ ■■■■."
What...did he say?
This had never happened to me in past lives, never, never…
[Return it.]
Time seemed to stop, and instead, the room we were in began to fill with blue flames, third world flames.
"Who…are you?"
[You will never find what you are looking for.]
However, the demon's voice did not seem to want to answer my questions.
[Because this story will repeat itself until the last reader finishes reading it.]
Story?
This world—no, my world—is it a story? One of those same stories that are told to children?
"…What?" But this time the demon didn't speak; instead, his flames began to absorb me; they didn't burn me, but they stole all my pure energy.
I had to free myself somehow, to free...
So, I simply chose to absorb the flames and burn myself out; a painful death, but not as painful as all the betrayals I experienced in past lives.
And that was the way I died in that life.
But that demon said something interesting.
Story.
Ag■in.
A small animal bit my hand while I was analyzing the pure energy of the ground; it was similar to a rabbit, but this one had a long horn.
"Eh?" I grabbed it by the ears and lifted it up. I must kill it.
"Wait!" Sherly's voice stopped me, and I turned to look at him. "It's a poisonous demon!" He snatched it from my hand, and instead of killing it, he let it escape.
Demon? In all my past lives, they were...rabbits, the last animals that didn't have mutations.
"Poisonous demon?"
Sherly took my hand, extracting the poison with his mana.
"Did you skip all the theoretical lessons Mr. Renato gave us, huh?"
Yes, I did; I had repeated my life so many times that I understood it as well as the back of my hand.
Although I suddenly remembered that in my previous life, I threw the body of a demon into a nest of rabbits, I saw that they were feeding on it, but they did not suffer any mutation.
"…"
So why did they do it in this lifetime?
"There it is, and from now on, don't miss Renato's theory lessons." Sherly stepped aside and continued chopping down the surrounding trees with his mana axe.
I looked at my hand, and then at the place where that little rabbit ran away, no, demon.
Perhaps there is something I haven't seen yet.
That night, I went to the mountain that survived the world's reset. I climbed to the top, dug a hole, and left Sherly's pack of cigarettes inside.
Once I did that, I went down to the entrance of the mountain cave, and I cut my throat.
My death was instantaneous.
But I just wanted to check if, in some way, the world was disconnected from my eternal reincarnation.
And what do I mean by 'disconnection'?
My life is linear, and when I die, it repeats itself infinitely. If the world were connected to my life, that incident with the rabbits would not have been possible, and they would not have suffered mutation.
In the event of that disconnection...that means that while my life repeats itself, the world remains linear.
And he would soon discover the truth of that theory.
■■■■.
I was able to use my powers at a much younger age; at ten years old, and later, I was able to climb up the mountain where I left the cigarettes.
With one hand on the ground, and with a flick of my left wrist, a burst of light appeared, and I dug a hole, until I could detect the pack of cigarettes.
So, there is a disconnect.
"…"
I picked up the pack of cigarettes; it looked very worn, but there were still the cigarettes I had left behind.
Perhaps this will help me discover what that demon had told me in one of my past lives.
I placed my hand on the ground, and recited: "Pure Energy: Birth of a Rose." A rose of pure energy began to grow; once it bloomed, it faded away.
'Birth of a Rose' served as a point where I stored my pure energy.
I will join Renato's sect in a few years; once I have completed all my skills, I will gather them in this rose, so that in case of emergency...I can use it.
Again.
I used the rose to bring my birth forward a few years.
At this point, I was even able to make my birth independent; I no longer needed my mother's womb.
So in this life, I set out to explore; to find a way to enter the third world, the same entrance that Anser Ciro had used in previous lives to search for the soul of Liam Yoon Hee.
However, I ended up losing myself, and instead…
I found myself in the middle of a town; people didn't seem to pay any attention to me, which was strange, since I doubt they had ever seen someone like me before.
"Excuse me, sir…" I heard the voice of a child, accompanied by the impure energy of a demon. I turned around and it was a human child, accompanied by a hybrid child; perhaps, cursed from birth. "Could you move from this place? Ghosts pass through here to Yomi."
However, my gaze was drawn to that hybrid child, who was hidden behind the other human child.
"…" This was strange. Never before in all my lives had I witnessed the existence of a hybrid child. "I'm sorry." I will kidnap him and dissect him; learning about the anatomy of a hybrid will help me later. But I'll do that later. "What do you mean by ghosts, little one?"
And then the human child was kind enough to show me the way to this 'Yomi' he mentioned.
"That's the entrance to where the demons live!" he explained, and then flee the place holding the hand of the hybrid child.
Then I looked at the big door.
Perhaps the compass built into my pure energy was not wrong. Actually, I did reach the entrance to the third world, but...what kind of town is this, exactly?
There was no sign, no villager mentioned the name of their village, other than the fact that it was 'the last village in Anarxie'.
And even less so, were there people from the capital.
"Weird."
I had found what I needed, and that was all that mattered to me.
I walked through the ghost-filled place until I reached a door; at the entrance there were blue flames, and a strange sign on the ground with letters I couldn't understand.
"…"
I opened the door and went inside; there were millions of demons inside, attracted by my pure energy, and they began to chase me.
I ran over them, at the speed of light, and then I found a tunnel.
Before entering, I pointed my hand at the tunnel entrance; a beam of light shattered the floor below, sending the demons that had been chasing me tumbling down.
"They are still controlled by their instincts, apparently…"
I entered the tunnel at the same speed; the further I advanced, the bigger and stronger the demons tried to kill me, but I didn't have time to kill them; I had to keep exploring.
I still remember the flames from that time, maybe, if I ever meet that same demon...I can discover something more.
And suddenly, I felt everything around me turn black and white.
"…!"
My body was suspended in the air; I couldn't move.
Literally, time stood still.
[I haven't seen pure magic this close up for centuries.]
A female voice was heard behind me; I couldn't look back, but I knew that eyes were watching me.
I don't yet have Renato's borrowed powers, so I can't use my mind control on demons to drive her away, so right now... I'm in danger of being killed.
[You possess a rather unique blessing; I would call it a curse.]
Curse? Blessing?
[The last human who possessed it...still wanders this world, reincarnating, repeating endlessly due to his own unhappiness.]
And suddenly, my body was able to move, however, I turned around; a pair of giant orange eyes were watching me.
"Who are you?" It might cost me my life to speak to a demon, but perhaps she knows the demon I'm looking for.
[My name is Agares. I can see the past, the future...and your heart.] She laughed. [Your body is a container of the original pure energy of this world, but your heart is beating with impurity because of the times you have returned to this world.]
Is she referring to my reincarnation? Are my reincarnations draining my pure energy? "Impossible. I am and always will be pure energy."
[Being so sure of something is a very human mistake.]
Agares mentioned that she could see the future, right? "You know of a demon who calls this world a 'story'?"
[Yes, I do,] She replied. [But in this world, information comes at a very high price, and you, Randy Bornman, are being far too risky by simply talking to a Duke of Hell.]
But who cares? I just want to know about a different ending than the one I'm destined for. "I want to change my ending; if this world is really a story, I'd like to know a way to rewrite it."
And the demon began to laugh; cruel laughter, worthy of a demon.
[So, let this demon feed on your pure energy, and you will get everything that is at my disposal.]
"…" So in the end, this demon is just like the others; it only wants pure energy to corrupt. "Deal."
My eyes took on an unnatural orange glow, and I felt pure energy beginning to leave my body.
[Randy Bornman, you're the only one with the power to change your future; play your cards right, do what I tell you, and this time, you'll never die.]
Never die...that would mean I could live longer with Sherly...right?
"What do I have to do?"
Repeat.
[Nobody should know that there is an entrance to this world. No one should know of my absence.]
"Eh? So your name is Lahn! What a beautiful child you are!" This little one is the legendary exorcist Lahn, so I'll keep him until he finishes writing his parchment, steal all the information, and destroy his village, and him along the way.
The parchment mentions Agares, so I'll have to make some modifications in my next life.
Repeat.
[From now on I will feed on your pure energy. If you murder, threaten, or lie, your pure energy will be consumed faster, and will eventually cause your death.]
The entire town of Delta was destroyed by an...'accident'.
"…"
I lured all the demons to Delta Village using the fairies. I didn't cause it directly, so my pure energy remains intact.
And it was there, where I was able to find Elmetron.
A small, and...pathetic, child.
"You'll be safe with me, I'm your savior, so...repay my kindness by doing everything I tell you."
Elmetron would be the perfect antagonist; my weapon, my...mask.
Repeat.
[You will not be able to reincarnate your...friends, or they will turn into demons.]
"You will die soon, Mandeleine," I left my teacup on my desk; I could see Mandeleine's surprised face. "Jefferson will reveal herself to Layla, and you will be the one affected because of your binding regeneration spell…" A spell that binds the life of the cursed to that of the exorcist; the exorcist's pure energy will absorb the curse, but, if there is a disturbance...both die. "Even after death, you will continue to serve me."
Mandeleine couldn't say anything, even if I never told him directly, he knew the consequences of disobeying his god.
"…Yes, sir."
Repeat.
[And to ensure your plan works, you'll need to remove your main obstacles from your path.]
"Vulpecula?" Renato asked, confused. "I went to see her not too long ago...but…"
"She is pregnant again, Lord Eternal," I mentioned, maintaining my smile, as Renato put his books aside to look at me. "On one of my missions with Sherly, I happened to see her collecting white rose petals…and judging by the shape of her stomach, perhaps this time it's a boy."
No man could be born into the Vulpecula clan; it was a condition imposed long ago by the legends of La Vie en Rose.
If Vulpecula finds out about a future child in her all-female clan... she'll go crazy, and Renato will help her point the finger at Anser's mother.
I will get rid of Anser Ciro before he is born, and at the same time, his sect will continue to live.
"Mrs. Vulpecula, I am sorry to come suddenly without sending you a letter beforehand…" And my plan worked perfectly. "This time I came with my two closest disciples, Layla J. Everest and Randy Bornman. However, this will be the first and last time you see him, as he will soon be forming his own sect."
After a while, several women, accompanied by Vulpecula, took away a woman who was training with her sword.
«See you later, Ciro.»
However, after the Pandemonium War, I realized that Anser Ciro's mother was still alive; that idiot Renato, with his white heart, decided not to properly betray the right woman.
That's fucking fantastic.
I'll have to take care of it myself.
While Elmetron was busy exterminating the clan, I sealed away all of Renato's power to bring to life the scroll I stole from Lahn in one of my previous lives.
Renato died, but only I knew.
He died because of me, so that caused my pure energy to drain a little faster, but I was able to fix it by absorbing the pure energy of one of my newest members.
I was flying through the sky, and when I saw a poison spreading throughout the village of La Vie en Rose, it only made me want to go and congratulate Elmetron for such excellent work, but I was on a mission.
Sherly and I were going to 'rescue' that innocent town of women.
Pft. Little he knows.
"Randy!"
It was Sherly's voice; before going towards him, I found myself under the body of a woman. I stopped.
"…"
Beneath her was a pool of blood, as well as from her belly.
Initially, I believed that all women were infertile, except for Vulpecula and Anser's mother, but surprisingly, the women who are not warriors are fertile, of which there are only two per generation.
And it was because of Renato that I had to send my servant to such an act.
I just wanted to do this without killing an entire village—again—it was Renato's fault that he was unable to kill a moon sinner!
"Disgusting…bitch."
I released my pure energy, and one of the demons ran towards me. I shielded my energy and disappeared; and that demon ended up eating Anser's mother's body, erasing the only evidence of her.
However, I stopped behind a tree.
"…"
Sherly was carrying a baby.
Why is he alive?