"How did I end up here?" Antares asked himself as he surveyed his surroundings. In fact, what the fuck was he thinking when he decided to follow those two lunatics?
He was literally watching a porn movie... while Matsuda was crying.
"How much of a failure was this guy before I took over this worm's body?" he thought again, frustrated.
When he followed the two idiots, Antares just wanted to keep up appearances. But for a brief moment, he thought it might be a good pastime, as long as that red-haired woman didn't come after him. After all, he was never going to look for her. Even more so after that absurd message saying that she was his "master".
They started watching pornography as soon as they got home from school. They were really excited about the volume of videos they had found. After all, finding uncensored porn in Japan was a real challenge for anyone under the age of 18. However, as the movies piled up, something unexpected happened: they started to get... depressed.
"Why don't we have a girlfriend?" was the phrase that changed the course of the conversation.
They discussed it so seriously that Antares wondered if it was a bad joke. Matsuda had been crying since the third movie, and Motohama, even trying to hold his pose, was letting tears escape from behind his glasses. It was too pathetic. So pathetic that it made Antares seriously consider killing himself again... and trying his luck in another world.
But, knowing the shitty goddess who killed him right after his reincarnation, he knew that she would probably stop any suicide attempt.
"Self-extermination sometimes seems like the solution..." he sighed, glancing at his watch.
"Ah, good..." he muttered before getting up.
"I'm leaving."
And with that, he simply left. And fortunately, alone this time.
"Ah..." he sighed again. "I'm tired..." he said as he walked through the streets, back home.
"Reincarnating as a high school student is as bad as hiding from the rulers..." he muttered, but deep down, that wasn't what really bothered him.
"Strange energy..." he commented, as his eyes began to see abnormally clearly, almost like night vision. "That woman really gave me some power in this life..."
His body in this reincarnation was strange. He could clearly tell the difference between day and night. During the day, he felt weaker. At night, however, his power grew.
His eyesight had improved. His senses were on another level. Of course, it was still a long way from what he had as a Monarch... but he knew the differences well, even the most subtle ones.
"It seems that this strength grows a little every day. It's not just me." He murmured, observing his left arm in particular, where there seemed to be a dormant energy... always on the verge of breaking free.
Besides...
"There's someone watching me, right?" He asked himself, discreetly turning his gaze to the possible corners of an ambush.
Then a shiver ran down his spine. The air around him seemed heavy.
His body - weak during the day - began to shake instinctively. The further he walked, the more agitated he felt.
Then he saw him.
A man. Wearing a suit. Staring at him with eyes as sharp as blades, brimming with pure hostility. That wasn't mistrust. It was intent to kill.
The man was walking slowly... but towards him. Without a doubt.
"This guy... his aura is like that bitch who tried to kill me last night." Antares said, gritting his teeth. The energy in his body wasn't like the chaos energy he used to control... but he understood the basic fundamentals of any being who manipulated mana. The essence was the same. The form... was what changed.
"That's unusual. To find someone like you in a place like this." - said the man in a low but firm voice, laden with something ancestral.
"...?" Antares just stared at him. The trembling in his body had completely ceased the moment he realized that this man was going to attack him.
Antares was a warrior. A god of destruction. Even though he no longer had his powers, he still carried with him something more dangerous: experience. His current body might not be fit for advanced techniques, but his instincts remained as sharp as blades.
The man started walking again, approaching him with confidence.
"Are you trying to escape? Who's your superior? It must be someone of low rank, or with strange habits, to choose a place like this as territory. So tell me... who's your master?"
'Trying to escape? I didn't even move, man. What have you got? Dementia?" Antares thought with contempt, still analyzing that guy's every move.
In the blink of an eye, the man appeared before him. A single step. An absurd speed.
BOOM!!!
Antares flew dozens of meters after receiving the blow. He was thrown like a rag doll, spinning in the air until he hit the ground hard, bounced off and came to a stop in the center of a square.
"FUCK!!! I DIDN'T EVEN SEE IT!!!" - he roared in pain, trying to catch his breath.
Opening his eyes, he looked around, confused.
"Tch... there's something strange about this place. I've been here before..." - he muttered, forcing himself up.
The pain, strangely, disappeared with unusual speed.
"This square... where that son of a bitch killed me," he said, narrowing his eyes.
I shivered.
A brutal shiver ran down his spine.
It's already behind me. I can feel it...
He turned slowly. A black feather floated in the air and landed at his feet.
"Did you really think I was going to let you get away? That's why I hate dealing with the rabble." said the man, now with huge black wings spread out like those of a demonic raven.
Antares remained silent. He knew that fighting was inevitable... so he used every second to absorb as much information as possible.
What's around? Can I use something? Is anyone around? Any escape routes? Any sign of that red-haired woman? Is his power... focused on strength or speed?
These are the questions a true fighter asks before acting.
"Tell me your master's name. It's a pain in the ass having to deal with your garbage. That's why we're going-" The man stopped. "... Wait a minute... Are you an 'independent'?" he tilted his head, curious. "Come on, answer me."
"If you look so worried, it could be because you don't have a master." He muttered to himself.
"Hmpf. I don't sense the presence of a master... or any of your colleagues." - the man muttered, closing his eyes for a moment. His countenance was that of someone judging an insect before crushing it. - "I don't see any hidden signatures of magic either. No nearby summoning circle. Nothing at all. Everything indicates that you really are an... independent."
He cracked a smile. A sharp, demonic smile, full of scorn and superiority. Despite the chill that spread through the air like a suffocating fog, it wasn't fear. It was a clear demonstration of the difference in power.
"Then it won't be a problem if I eliminate you."
Antares' body reacted by instinct. Tremors. A shiver. A reflection of a fragile human shell faced with the presence of something much bigger. But inside? His mind was pure steel. An unbreakable wall. He felt no fear. He felt no dread.
Only contempt.
'Too weak to kill me. And too arrogant to realize it.
The man slowly raised his arm. The air around him vibrated. Lights began to condense above his palm, spinning in perfect spirals, as if the sky itself had been pulled into that point of energy.
The light shaped itself. It grew. It twisted like a flaming serpent until it took shape: a divine spear, pure, brilliant and lethal.
Antares opened his eyes wide. 'The same shit that killed me...'
That light... that pain... the memory of the spear in his chest. The abrupt end to his previous life. '...But not this time.
The man threw the weapon with a firm, quick gesture. The spear sliced through the air like a comet, tearing through space with a high-pitched hum and an absurd wave of heat, aimed straight at Antares' heart.
BOOOM!
The explosion that was supposed to come... didn't.
What came was silence.
When the dust and shards of light cleared, there he was. On his feet. His arm outstretched.
Holding the spear. His hands bare.
His hand burned. The skin fried. Steam rose from his fingers, and the bones in his palm crackled under the weight of the holy energy.
But he didn't scream.
He smiled. "Funny how this world works... Demonic Power works just like the Chaos Energy I used to use..." He muttered quietly and read the message...
[Demonic Touch: This ability makes a person able to move or reinforce with just the power of their mind]. [The user created this version based on the principles of the Dominator's Touch, this is an inferior version, but still usable]
A crooked, disdainful, dark smile, after all...
"What was that?" Antares spoke between his teeth, blood dripping down his hand as his eyes burned like embers. "I was hoping it would at least be different from last time."
He raised his head, staring at the man like someone watching an insect trying to attack a storm.
"Do you want to know what I am?" his voice, now lower, seemed to echo. "I am someone who has been burned by a thousand suns. Who has fallen in wars that have destroyed worlds. I am Antares. And you..."
He crushed the spear in his hand. Shards of light flew in all directions, and the silence was swallowed up by a dry, metallic sound - the sound of faith breaking.
"...you're nothing but a pawn."
The man took a step back, for the first time. His eyes widened.
"But... that's impossible. How did you-!"
"You think you know what power is just because you hold a shiny gun? You haven't even begun to understand," said Antares, stepping forward. His eyes were now those of a predator. His body, even bruised, exuded something ancient. Something that couldn't be measured in levels or energy.
"Now it's my turn to ask you a question..." he said, closing his burnt fist, which was still smoking. "Do you want to die as an insect or as a warrior?"
[The system has identified that a being wants the Player to die]
[Targets 0/1]
[Eliminate the Enemy, otherwise you will be punished]