Free Web NovelChapter 3: 03: Reincarnation
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A few fractions of a second later, Lucard’s soul drifted into darkness. There was no sound there. No land, no sky, no blood, no smell, and no shape. It was a place so empty that even his divine senses could not find the edge of it. He could not feel his body. He could not feel his old chaos energy core. He could not feel the power which once made gods lower their heads when his name was spoken in public. For the first time in trillions of years, Lucard felt almost weightless, it was like a drop of blood falling through an endless black well.
Then he saw something.
It was a small red dot far ahead of him. At first, it looked no bigger than a spark from a dying candle. But when his soul was drifting closer and closer, the red dot began to shine brighter. The light was weak at first. Then it became stronger. After that it became so bright that it filled the darkness around him. Lucard tried to look directly at it, but the red light burned his vision. He lifted his right hand by instinct to place it over his eyes to block the light.
Somewhere in the multiverse. In a lower world far below Null. A young man’s lifeless body was lying on the ground in the same pose.
The body was surrounded by tall trees. The branches above it were broken in many places, and smoke passed between them like dirty gray snakes. The ground was wet with blood. Some of that blood had already gone cold. And some was still fresh enough to shine under the weak light coming through the leaves. The young man’s right hand was raised over his eyes, it was as if he was trying to protect himself from a light only his soul could see.
Slowly, Lucard removed his right hand from his face.
Then he froze. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
He saw a hand.
It was not his old hand.
It was not the hand that had held divine blood, crushed stars, and pointed at gods before they died. It was not the hand of an ancient being who had lived for trillions of years. This hand was young. It was thin, it was weak, and it was covered with dirt and blood. The fingers were long, but they did not have much strength. The skin was fair. But it had scratches all over it. Lucard stared at it for a long moment. Then he moved it right and left to make sure the hand truly belonged to him.
It moved exactly as he wanted.
Lucard sat up slowly.
His head was in pain. His chest felt heavy. His muscles trembled with weakness. The body he had entered was so pathetic that even sitting up felt like war. For a god who once fought ten gods at once, this feeling was very insulting for him. If his old body had been a divine war of fortress. Then this body was a broken cart with a broken wheel and a donkey that had already given up on life.
Lucard looked around.
There were dead bodies everywhere.
Some of them were wearing knight armor. Their metal breastplates were dented. It was cut, and burned. Some of them had swords still in their hands. Others had fallen with spears stuck through their backs or arrows in their necks. A few bodies wore long coats. By the mana residue around them, Lucard could tell they were mages. Their fingers were burned black from casting spells until the last moment, and several of them had broken staff lying near them.
The battle was brutal.
Lucard turned his head to look beyond the trees.
There was a medium-sized mansion in the distance. It was white in color. Or at least it had once been white. Now the walls were covered in smoke. It also had blood, and burn marks. Some parts of the mansion were broken. Tall tower-like structures had collapsed from the main building and were lying on the ground like the bones of a dead giant. Fire burned through the upper floors. The black smoke rose into the sky. Around the mansion, there were more dead bodies. They were servants, knights, guards, and attackers. All mixed together in the dirt.
Lucard narrowed his eyes on the scene. This didn’t feel like a normal robbery. This felt like the destruction of a noble family.
Near the closest dead body, something flashed under the light. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Lucard looked down and saw a knife.
It was not a great weapon. It was only a small dagger with a narrow blade. But its edge was still clean enough to reflect light. Lucard tried very hard to push himself up from the ground. His legs shook the moment he stood up. He almost laughed from anger because his body was so weak that standing felt like climbing a mountain. Still he forced himself to walk toward the corpse then he picked up the dagger.
The blade showed his reflection.
Lucard looked at the face reflected on the metal.
His face was different now.
His red hair was gone. In its place, he had black hair that was messy. It was also dirty, and stuck to his forehead with sweat and blood. His face looked young. It looked around eighteen years old. He had fair skin but half of it was covered with dried blood and dirt. His eyes were dark, it was not crimson like before. His body was more or less five feet and ten inches tall. His shoulders were not that wide. His arms looked weak. His legs still trembled from exhaustion and pain. He was wearing simple clothes which were torn in many places.
The clothes did not look like a true noble’s clothes but they did not look like commoner rags either. They were somewhere in between. They were simple, plain, and without pride. From this alone, Lucard could guess that the body he had entered was not important in this family. But he was not a commoner either. He belonged to a noble house but not as someone respected.
Then a flood of memories rushed into his mind.
