17
Chapter 17
A black club falls like a thunderbolt.
It's a club that looks a lot like the one Kelth always carried on his waist.
Whoosh-!
Wait, why is that thing falling toward me?
I don't know what's happening, but I hate pointless pain, so I ducked to avoid the club.
The sound of a heavy wind brushed past the top of my head.
Whoa, I suddenly got a chill down my spine. I felt like I wouldn't survive if I actually got hit by that thing.
"You brat!"
A youthful shout pierced my ears. It was a young voice. The vocal cords of a boy who hasn't yet gone through puberty.
The club relentlessly targeted me. Naturally, I had no intention of letting it hit me, so I dodged by shifting my waist back and forth.
Whoosh-! Whoosh-!
But I can't just keep running away forever. My shortness of breath proved that.
As I looked up, I saw the face and frame of the guy holding the club. Surprisingly, it was a demon I knew very well.
My second brother, Leonard Lucifer. The bastard who bullied and despised me mercilessly when we were kids. A complete jerk.
But why am I being attacked by him? Looking at him, he seems to be around ten years old, so why are we at the same eye level?
I clearly died facing the Saint at the guillotine in the Empire's Square....
.......
Ah! It's a dream!
Or maybe a panoramic view of my life flashing before my eyes before death? Either way, it doesn't matter! This place is just an illusion! I should take this chance to beat my enemy up as much as I want!
"Aaargh! Why the hell won't you just get hit!"
Leonard screams in frustration. His movements grow wider as he gets excited.
But this is strange. Can you move this freely in a flashing-back-to-life memory? Since I've never died before, I have no way of knowing.
Well, in a dream-like time that could vanish at any moment, that doesn't really matter. For now, let's get the revenge I couldn't achieve in the past.
"You won't dodge this one!"
Whoosh-!
Having swung the club excessively high, Leonard tries to slam it down in one go. It's the perfect posture for a counterattack.
I lightly raise my fist, intending to throw a straight punch.
"Eh?"
Unexpectedly, my hand feels heavy, and as I look down, there's a club gripped in my own hand. It was a club identical in color and weight to the one the other guy was holding.
Even better. Although my timing was slightly off, the guy's large movement hasn't stopped yet.
Putting a bit more strength into my arm, I swung the club upward as if utilizing centrifugal force.
The target: his chin.
Like an uppercut, I'll strike his chin upward to shake his brain. After picturing that in my head, I immediately put it into action.
Swoosh-!
"...! T-this guy actually attacked...!"
I missed.
Why? The distance was perfect, his posture was awkward, and I targeted the opening without a single error.
The distance ended right before I reached his chin. No matter how far I stretched my arm, I couldn't reach.
The reach feels awkward.
Thwack-!
"Ugh!"
"Haha! I knew you'd be like this! Your dodging was all just luck!"
Because my attack missed, I lost my balance, and in that gap, the club he swung hit the top of my head. The pain of a beating, which I hadn't felt in a very long time, washed over my scalp. Yikes, this is way too stinging. Is this really a dream?
Of course, I'm not so clumsy as to leave an opening during a battle. I'm a guy who even has experience being beaten by the Demon King for an hour and twenty-five minutes. I won't shrink back just because of some head pain.
I can quickly figure out why my arms are short. Since it's a memory, my body must have become young again to match that era. This time, I just need to step in a couple of inches deeper and swing the club.
Whoosh-!
"T-this brat still hasn't given up...!"
Leonard truly was a novice at fighting. He became cocky and let his guard down after a single hit, as if he'd just landed a shotgun blast.
Which is great for me.
Crack-!
"...!"
I pulled the club back concisely and then lunged forward with strength. The philtrum of the guy hit by the tip of the club wavered like a wave.
Even if it's just one hit, it has to be a proper one like this.
Though I'll never be stupid enough to let my guard down like he did.
The guy staggered significantly from a single blow. I didn't let that opening go to waste.
Thud! Thwack-! Whack!
"Ack! Cough! Urgh!"
I beat him relentlessly, like someone wrestling a Cerberus on a hot summer day. I hit his vitals and focused my attacks on the areas that would cause the most pain.
Thump-thwack! Crack-! Thud!
"Aaargh! Stop! I surrender! I surrender!"
Surrender? Why the hell is he talking about surrendering in a fight?
When we were ten and faced off with clubs, it meant we were sparring. Naturally, in a spar, surrendering determines victory or defeat. But this is a dream! A place where I can do whatever I want without any consequences!
It's practically a heaven designed by God just for me!
Bam-bam-bam-bam-!
"Gah! It hurts! I said it hurts!"
"Oh, I love this. If I'd known, I should've died sooner. Now I can finally get the revenge I never got while alive."
With him face-down on the ground and losing consciousness, I beat him evenly from his toes to the top of his head. I hit him with such a rhythmic pace that I could've danced a flamboyant dance to the sound of the beatings.
In the past, I was the one getting beaten like a dog, but hitting him even in a memory feels incredibly refreshing.
Bam-bam-bam-bam-! Crunch-!
"Please stop! Hey! Oscar! Are you crazy!?"
"Ah, this is so satisfying. Is this what catharsis feels like? Your mouth is too noisy; maybe I should pull out your teeth first?"
I didn't talk to myself for nothing. I boldly raised the club high, preparing to bring it down like a bolt of lightning from the sky.
"Oscar! Stop!"
Grab-!
I couldn't do it because a commanding shout echoed out of nowhere, and at the same time, something gripped my wrist. It was a fair and delicate hand.
The grip was so strong that I felt like my entire body, not just my arm, was frozen. I hurriedly turned my head and saw a demon woman.
A woman with eyes full of a dark red glow and a face so white it was almost pale.
With deep black hair that reminded me of myself, she was one of the people I could never forget.
My one and only sister, Adela Lucifer.
- Oscar...! Your sister will buy some time...! You must run away...!
- Can't you just come with me? Nothing but death awaits you if you stay here.
- I will follow shortly... You are the only eldest son of the Lucifer Family...! Only if you survive can the family lineage be maintained......!
- Tsk, then I'll be going. Let's meet again later with smiles on our faces.
Years before the war between the Demon Realm and the Empire, she resisted alone to ensure I escaped the surrounding Imperial army.
In the end, she met a gruesome end, her body riddled with holes, and her head was displayed in the square—my pitiful sister, Adela Lucifer.
The woman who would later become the reason I slaughtered the arrogant citizens of the Empire in droves.
Why is she here?
Ah, right. Whenever Leonard and I sparred, Adela always acted as the referee. Since this is a memory, she was manifested here as well.
"You've hit him enough, Oscar. You win."
"Huh?"
"Look ahead. Hitting him further won't be good for you or Leonard."
"...??"
But are memories usually this vivid? Damn, I've never died and I've never seen anyone who has, so it feels like I'm pioneering a new continent.
Leonard, who had been beaten senseless and was barely standing, was biting his lip in rage and sobbing.
"D-damn it... Why... Why did I lose to a piece of trash like him...!"
Leonard was covering his face with his arms. I leaned over slightly to peek inside, and I saw a face that existed clearly in my memory. No doubt about it; it was my second brother, Leonard.
Leonard and Adela are both dead, but meeting them like this is truly heartwarming.
"Just you wait...! I will never let this go...!"
"Now, Leonard. You shouldn't hold a grudge over something that happened during a spar."
But their voices are a bit too vivid. Is this really just a memory? Could a world created by imagination before death be this realistic?
......Ah, I think I get it. This isn't some memory.
"It's a surprise party, isn't it?"
Since I died, this must be the afterlife.
My family must have prepared a surprise party to welcome me!
To bring back childhood memories! Even though Leonard and I got along terribly in the living world! I guess they wanted to reconcile in the afterlife!
"Oh, then I think I hit him too hard. Are you okay? I think a couple of bones are broken."
I genuinely believed that, until I saw Adela looking at me with a concerned expression as if I were a psychopath, and Leonard glaring at me with murderous intent.
"Oscar...? Did you... hit your head just now...?"
"Do you think I'll let this slide just because you're pretending to be crazy!"
"What should we do about this...? Should I report it to Father first...? Of all the places to be hit, why the head...."
"I will not let this slide! You'd better be prepared! You insolent brat!"
*****
Something unbelievable has happened.
Something more absurd than the Demon King losing to someone, and more unbelievable than the Saint succumbing to a devil's temptation.
As I silently held up my palm, a small, soft white hand appeared.
This is my hand.
That's not all.
Removing my hand from the air, an elegantly decorated ceiling came into view.
This is my home's ceiling.
Specifically, the ceiling of the Northern Grand Duke's Residence, the second largest building in the Demon Realm.
A silver lion is yawning wide with its mouth open. Ugh, how cliché.
"Hehe."
It's been about two hours since my head was severed at the guillotine. And during those two hours, I discovered one truly astonishing fact.
This is the past. To be precise, the Imperial Year 214, when I was only nine years old. The reason I was fighting my brother Leonard was that we were in the middle of a spar.
In the original history, I was the one who got beaten.
It's roughly 500 years before my execution day.
At first, I wondered if it was a dream. Then, I wondered if the 500 years I experienced were all just a delusion.
After letting two days pass, the conclusion I've reached is this.
"My life is... truly spectacular."
I've come back to the past. Or perhaps the world itself was rewound. All the way to 500 years ago. And for some reason, I have all the memories of my previous life.
Regardless, the conclusion remains that I've been given a new life I never expected.
The words the Saint said at the end—those words I can never forget—now make sense when applied to the current situation.
[Therefore, please do not forget and come to me in the Imperial Year 701.]
[To the reading club at Eden Academy.]
The instruction to come to the reading club at Eden Academy in the Imperial Year 701, about 500 years from now.
I don't know how the Saint knew.
One thing is clear: the Saint knew something I didn't. That I would regress. That the world would wind back.
Perhaps the Saint was the one who caused all of this. Considering the pure white light aura that covered the world when the guillotine blade fell, it's not an entirely forced delusion.
If so, the most important thing remains.
What should I do?
I, the joker Oscar Lucifer, who knows everything that will happen over the next 500 years.
What kind of life should I lead in this lifetime?
"Ha... what a funny situation."
Actually, the answer is practically set. The regrets that overwhelmed me just before the guillotine blade hit my neck are still vivid.
The beautiful light the Saint showed me. The great truth she taught me. That noble radiance I thought a foul and corrupt demon like me could never reach.
I want to chase that light, even just a little bit.
One thing is fortunate.
[If you wish, I will help you with all my heart.]
[Even if I have to bet everything I have, I will help you. I swear in the name of the majestic Lord.]
The Saint declared that she would help me.
The problem is that the time she mentioned is 500 years in the future. Moreover, Eden Academy, the greatest academy in the Empire, hasn't even been built yet.
There is something called causality in the world. This means that if I create a huge variable, something that was supposed to happen in the future might not occur.
For example, someone who existed in my previous life might not be born in this one.
The larger the event I cause, the greater the ripple effect. I might accidentally harm the birth of the Saint on the continent 500 years later.
"Now this is quite troublesome."
One might ask what the hell I'm talking about since I already beat Leonard like a Cerberus, but I cannot move recklessly without knowing the full situation.
Maria.
The Saint of the Hero Party.
My peer at Tartarus.
A black nun's habit.
White hair.
Two gently closed eyes.
A black rosary.
Lips curved into a soft arc.
A bright smile, a radiant smile, a benevolent smile, a hopeful smile, a generous smile.
Now, the existence of a certain woman has become an inseparable part of my heart-.
'So, what should I do first?'
The first solution that comes to mind is, naturally, the Southern Grand Duke.
Known as the 'King' among the four Grand Dukes, he is considered the oldest demon in the Demon Realm. Some say he's lived for a million years, and some analyze that he was the very first demon created by the Demon God at the beginning.
Nothing is certain, but it's undeniable that he has lived for a very long time. Having endured such an era, he naturally knows a great deal.
This means it's worth seeking his advice regarding what I've experienced.
The only minor issue is... that man's personality is incredibly eccentric. He's not exactly rough or active; instead, he shuts himself inside his residence and refuses to come out.
The Southern Grand Duke, like me, is full of 'artist' tendencies. In my previous life, when the Empire was conquered, while the Eastern Grand Duke treated humans as tools and the Western Grand Duke, Lilith, left them alone, the Southern Grand Duke King used humans to create and exhibit artworks.
But it's fine. It's just a very small personality flaw.
In fact, because of that personality, he will show a pure academic curiosity if I ask him. While other demons would dismiss it as useless.
Right, let's go visit him first. I need to know everything before I can set goals and prepare for life.
I won't make a concrete plan. Nothing is as uncertain or as prone to collapse as a plan. The fact that this truth is absolutely correct is proven by the countless beings in this world who failed after making plans.
Having made a brief but important decision, I tried to get out of bed.
Knock, knock-.
A low knocking sound is heard.
In my heart, I want to use a skill like sensory perception to figure out who is at the door, but at only nine years old, I don't have such an ability.
"Who is it?"
Instead, I chose to ask with words. The response was a prickly retort.
"What time is it? Why aren't you coming to eat?"
An answer that unilaterally ignored my question. Since the source of the voice is someone I know, it's not a big problem.
It's just that my mood has soured a tiny bit.
"It was you, Second Brother."
Leonard, that damned demon.
If Noonim Adela died to save me, this guy was the complete opposite.
Being a demon obsessed with money, fame, and power, he was very interested in the Right of Succession. Because of that, he often committed shameless acts against me, his younger sibling.
"Hurry up, everyone is waiting."
"Oh, of course. Let's go."
I threw on a coat and left the room, and Leonard was already far ahead. What an obnoxious fellow.
"Brother, let's go together."
"Hmph."
"Is it right for siblings to be this distant?"
"Who said I was siblings with a brat like you?"
He must have thought the world revolved around him as a child; despite being beaten so much, he hasn't learned his lesson.
Looking at his huffing steps, it's clear he's angry because he can't accept the gap in our skill levels. Narrow-minded, stingy, petty piece of work.
Once you've seen someone in a bad light, it's impossible to see them any other way. I'll have to deal with him soon.
"Let's go in."
Entering the dining room, a long room filled with luxurious decorations and a table in the center came into view. Every dish on that table was glistening with high-grade oils.
My father was not visible. Instead, my mother, aunt, second mother, eldest mother... and the rest were sitting around the long table. My sister, Adela, was also sitting in the seat of honor with perfect posture.
"Oh, it's been a while, everyone. Wow, how long has it been since we all ate together?"
"...?"
When I gave a light greeting, they stared at me blankly as if I were a weirdo and started whispering.
"W-well... at the spar earlier...."
Adela kindly explained afterward, saying things like 'please understand, as he hit his head during the spar with Leonard,' but I wasn't actually interested.
"Wow, how long has it been since I've had turkey made by my aunt? My mouth is already watering."
Why?
"Oh, look at that color. This is how turkey should be. It'll just melt in my mouth."
Sssrip-.
This turkey dish I'm currently tearing into, with its plump meat. In truth, it contains a potent poison.
Placed there by my aunt, Leonard's mother, who is keeping me in check for the sake of the succession.
A poison that suppresses mana unnoticed and makes growth impossible during the period of intoxication.
One that made me a cripple who couldn't handle a single grain of mana as long as Leonard lived.
Naturally, in this life, I'll be the one utilizing it instead.
That damned poison.