Past Life Returner

“Guide…”

What nonsense. That asshole is not the fucking guide.

One of the Awakened muttered as he saw the tiny bastard being dragged out. The voice slipped out while everyone was holding their breath. Lunea was limp in my grasp. I wanted to tear it to shreds immediately, but it wasn’t the right time yet.

Lee Tae-Han and Seong-Il noticed my intention and left with everyone else. Now, only Yeon-Hee, the tiny asshole, and I were the only ones left in the room. I had learned how to inflict pain on Lunea during the meeting with other Dooms.

[Ugh… Aaaaaaah!]

The bastard repeatedly shivered, screamed in pain, and went limp.

[* Storage box]

[Lunea’s Light has been removed.]

As soon as I equipped it…

[You have used Lunea’s Light.]

The bright light scattered before my eyes. Although it was named after the motherfucker, it was the spoils of war I had obtained earlier that worked the best to remove debuffs or strengthen the mental system.

I then retracted the lightning bolts that were striking Lunea. It didn’t let out a scream, but its helpless movements were mixed with groans.

The asshole was not clueless, so it definitely had realized the reason I had strengthened my mental system even more. Its eyes, which were staring up at me, widened once more.

[You…you don’t have to find a way in the mental world.]

Its gaze shifted to Yeon-Hee, and the fear on its small face deepened.

[I… Lune-ah can treat Doom Man’s priestess with my ability…]

‘Treat Yeon-Hee? Is that what you are saying?!’

…This bastard was trying to deceive me until the end. I was confident that it didn’t have the ability to bring her back to life. Her mentality had been completely destroyed, and her brain function had stopped in terms of modern medical perspective as well. The trait Revival was simply sustaining her vital signs like pulse and respiration, but that would soon fade away.

Yeon-Hee had already died even though no official declaration had been made yet.

I screamed inwardly, and it made me feel as if my entire skull quivered. The mounting fury threatened to erupt into a violent rage. Releasing even a fraction of mental restraint would cause me to burst the tiny creature in my hand. It felt like that would actually happen if I allowed my anger to spill over.

[Keup!]

Lightning bolts pierced Lunea’s body nonstop while I was attempting to suppress my anger. The pressure within my grasp must have intensified as well.

All Lunea could do was scream as it couldn’t even plead for its life. In such a precarious state, I needed to maintain my composure.

I said as I eased my grip, “Do not provoke me. I am barely…barely holding back.”

I continued, “I will enter the mental world, making my memories as the stage.”

However, the bastard had the same reaction as the previous Awakened with mental attributes as expected. Furthermore, it understood the perils it would encounter by entering into the mental realm of a transcendent like me.

[...]

I smiled grimly. “If you desire me to end your life, I will grant your wish.”

[I am…sorry, but do you intend to slay a lord without the judgment of Doom Kaos?]

It was not worth replying, and I had no more time to squander on this son of a bitch. I planned to eliminate this motherfucker and bring back the mental Awakened I had expelled. Even though entering the mental stage would be unstable without Lunea, this was the optimal choice for now!

It was agonizing that I could make this bastard receive the sufficient punishment for what it had done. I was supposed to see it begging to spare its life before giving the most painful death in the world…

I said while looking at it, “I will annihilate your entire clan after killing you. Now, get the fuck out of my face.”

[W…wait! Please!]

It immediately burst out its startled voice.

[I, Lu-neah, was not mentally prepared… Fine… Fine… Where do you want the stage to be?]

“The moment when I got the Time Reversal insignia.”

[Okay, sir! Wait…what? What did you just say? Time…time reversal? What the… Is there such a thing? Oh, no. Never mind. Please ignore what I have just said. The stage is ‘the moment you obtained the Time Reversal insignia.’ Yes, sir. I, Lu-neah, will follow your command.]

The tiny creature’s eyes clearly showed that it didn’t want to follow my order. Though it was exhausted and powerless, the desperation it had at that moment seemed more intense than ever.

I closed my eyes and opened my mental world to allow the asshole to enter.

***

Past memories were flashing by like a panorama, proceeding in reverse from the present. Some memories went by like a single photograph, while others flowed like short videos. This phenomenon occurred as the bastard began to rummage through my memories.

It was tracing back to the beginning, even further up to the time of my death fighting Doom Dejire in the Final Stage. Since the speed of the asshole searching through my memories was incredibly fast, the time it took to reach there was practically instantaneous.

Right then, the progression of memories being reversed came to a halt and started rewinding in alignment with the normal flow of time. This happened due to my deliberate intervention in its control. As I witnessed a frozen image of the moment when I returned to the mainland after completing the Stage of Advent, Lunea reached its breaking point and set a stage at that point.

Swoosh-!

“Attention, this is an actual emergency. All remaining citizens, please follow the instructions of the military and police for evacuation. This is an actual emergency. All remaining citizens…”

The sound emanated from the military vehicle equipped with a loudspeaker.

“Ah, it’s good to see you, military bastards.”

Seong-Il mumbled, gazing at me. The announcement stopped after repeating three times. Among the Awakened who had returned, there was someone who didn’t exist in that timeframe. A black-haired female student clad in a blood-soaked school uniform. It was the son of a bitch.

That fucking piece of shit used the appearance it had when we first met in the mental realm. However, it looked to be in a terrible condition, as if it had engaged in a life-and-death struggle. It was sitting on the ground, with blood continuously seeping from its skirt’s hem. When it raised its head to look at me, its face was as ruined as a ghoul’s.

“Would…you like…to change the…stage? If not, please open your mental world. So that… I… Lu-neah…can search through your memories… You must let me…in order to find the memory you ordered…then I can form the stage…”

The bastard was powerless even in the mental world. It had many scars from being cut and stabbed by sharp objects through its torn school uniform. Particularly, the stab wounds reminded me of the dagger used by Yeon-Hee.

It became aware of my gaze and wrapped its arms around its body. However, there were too many scars to be hidden.

“I was going to tell you when we arrived at the stage you ordered. It is something that will be revealed anyway.”

Then, it suddenly lifted its head and squeezed out, “Entegasto ordered me to do it. As you know, Doom Man, I, Lune-ah, am a weak and pitiful monarch. How could I have defied Entegasto? I had no choice but to do as I was told. I really didn’t want to…”

Lunea even began to sob disgustingly. Tears dripped from its chin as it lowered its head.

I snarled, “Who said you could use the appearance of our human? You disgusting asshole.”

[Disgusting asshole Lu-neah. ゜゜(｣｡≧⊿≦)｣ I changed it right away.]

It changed to its original, tiny form, which would be crushed if stepped on.

[I, Lu-neah, will explain everything without leaving out any detail. So, please forgive me.]

“Shut the fuck up. I will check it with my own eyes.”

[Oh… You should not misunderstand it, okay? I, Lu-neah, was truly not sincere about it.]

When it had no choice but to enter my mental world, it would have expected this from the beginning. Therefore, it must have planned to blame everything on Entegasto.

[Please keep in mind that…the conversation I had with Entegasto took place only in front of him. You understand, right?]

[I, Lu-neah, really had no choice but to follow his coercion.]

[Really. Truly.]

***

Entegasto had used a certain ability to make the bastard invisible to Doom Kaos’s gaze. That was why this bitch was able to approach the Great Black and plan to go against me. Their interests had coincided.

Lunea’s plan was simple. First, it needed to prepare firepower with the Great Black and its group to face me. Second, it would lure me into an ambush and destroy the Life Vessel on the day of the attack. Before this, it needed to know where I hid the Life Vessel to carry out its plan, so it targeted Yeon-Hee.

Nonetheless, that was a fatal mistake in its plan from the beginning. Yeon-Hee. It had underestimated her abilities, and the result was completely different from what it had expected. In a mental battle, it barely managed to defeat her.

After that, it couldn’t handle her alone in the real battle after the trait ‘Revival’ was activated in her. Therefore, it ended up throwing her into a den swarming with orcs. Moreover, it couldn't stop Yeon-Hee from escaping to her mainland. Then, the news about her was delivered to me.

This was the whole story of the incident.

[As you can see, I, Lu-neah, had hesitated at the last moment.]

[That could have been my mistake. If I hadn’t hesitated at the end to stop your priestess from fleeing to her mainland, then you would have been confronting the Great Black right now. However, I, Lu-neah, am filled with loyalty towards you…]

[See? That is how your priestess could return to your arms.]

I needed to tolerate it somehow as I had to deal with this motherfucker after reviving Yeon-Hee. If possible, by reversing time. Or, at the very least, by duplicating the Revival insignia.

[Would you like to check it again from the beginning…? If not, then…I will move the stage to ‘the moment you obtained the Time Reversal insignia.’]

[I, Lu-neah, will do my best even though I am in a bad shape now~ ٩(๑˃0˂๑)و ]