Lucas found himself back in his spiritual form floating in front of the orb in the void. He'd relived the entire life. In the end, he died of some disease but not before he left his mark on that world by conquering a fifth of it.

If he could shake his head, he would. He just didn't understand how he'd gone through all that.

He always had his memories so it wasn't like this was all entirely new information. But it was like his mind had suppressed it to protect him from the trauma or maybe whatever reincarnated him had hidden it from him.

During that entire life, he had managed to disassociate from it. He had told himself that it was all fake, that only he was real. So it wasn't like he didn't know what he'd done to cope with being a toy for three whole years. He simply couldn't comprehend how he'd lived through it all.

Inwardly, he knew it wasn't something logical for him to piece apart. It was pure delusion, wasn't it? How was any of that not real? Was the rape not real? Was the betrayal not real? If so, then why did all of those moments reverberate throughout his mind constantly?

Fuck, you're pathetic.

Lucas didn't know if it was really him who had had that thought but either way, it echoed through his soul.

He was pathetic.

Delusion? It was the truth. What made him different? It was the fact that he was eternal.

He was immortal.

Everybody else, well nearly everybody else lived one life. That one life would be the sum of their accomplishments.

However, he lived countless lives. Each of them added to his accomplishments. He defied the odds and from a shitty village rat, he'd conquered a fifth of the world as Khumernai. It was him who had revolutionized the world as Gaize. In those lives, he'd responded perfectly to the abilities and knowledge of the past inhabitant. He was the only one who could've squeezed the potential out of them the way he did.

They had been vessels for him, not the real him but rather an avatar. This life, as Lucas Cazenarch, would be the culmination of all of his accomplishments, though.

The truth he had just realized was that those who did not knowingly reincarnate were below him. It was like writing a book. He could get attached to the characters and things they do could hurt him but ultimately, they became alive through him. He was still the writer. He shaped his world.

In this way, everyone who reincarnated was simply a different writer. They shaped the world to their liking. Anything that he changed could be changed by them. As such, they were people to actually be wary of. Everyone played their own game. The problem was that it was impossible to know the rules that reincarnators played by. What Philosophy did they all go by?

And how did it differ from His?

Suddenly, Lucas felt a warm feeling he couldn't quantify. It wasn't quite happiness but.. satisfaction maybe? It filled him with an odd sense of power and security, as if he'd just found something to lean on.

Before he could ponder it, he felt himself blacking out again.

He woke up, feeling the terrible sensations of a physical body. Being in spiritual form was so much better. It was freeing to be a cloud of spiritual energy that floated and took whatever form it wanted

His physical body sucked. He was starving, he was tired, he felt like pissing himself, and worst of all, his eyes hurt.

No, they really hurt. It felt like someone had taken them out, shaped them into the form of a cube before managing to smash them back into his spherical eye socket.

"Fuck, kid, you're finally awake."

Lucas kept his eyes closed to try to manage the pain they brought him, only barely turning his head towards Batain's voice. 'Guess the bastard didn't die. He should be that strong, at least. Still pathetic of him to fall into that ambush.'

"Yeah, I didn't die. I'm stronger than something that basic, at least. Still pathetic of me to fall in that ambush though, I know."

Lucas was a bit surprised at how he didn't show any knee-jerk reaction, but he supposed it made sense at this point. He'd known Batain for months; it'd be weird if he hadn't gotten used to his freaky mind reading.

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"Yeah but I got my revenge well enough."

Lucas assumed he was supposed to open his eyes and see the now sorry state of the perpetrator behind the derailing of their excursion. He just couldn't be bothered though with the state of his eyes. Even cracking them open a little just to see the light hit him with an intense pain.

"Hmm? Oh fuck, your eyes are bleeding, uh your eyes.." Batain must have looked over at him.

Lucas brought his hands to his face, and sure enough, blood was flowing down from his eyes.

He couldn't guess what else was wrong with them until he moved his fingers up, touching his eyelids.

It was as if he could feel his eyes staring at his fingers even though they were closed. His fingers had immediately stopped on top of his eyelids, as if frozen.

Suddenly, Lucas thought back to before he'd fallen unconscious. He'd been overwhelmed by his emotions but had tapped into some optical power. It had entirely stopped his opponents, to the point he wasn't even sure if they were breathing.

Judging from Batain's reaction and the effect it had on his fingers, it was clear that the ability was still active.

Still, it wasn't like he had consciously activated it. It had been more of an instinctual action. Basically, he didn't know how to turn it off. At the very least, he could move his head back so Batain wasn't frozen.

"Hold still, I'm gonna look closely at it."

Lucas suddenly felt a hand on his head, the fingers reaching over his forehead to pull his eyelids open. Instinctually he tried to move back, the pain causing him to flinch. But the hand kept his head in place and light began to flood Lucas' eyes.

Lucas was going to try to pull Batain's hand off his head until all of a sudden, his eyes stopped pulsing in pain and he could actually make out images.

After a few seconds of rapid blinking, he looked around to see they were in the carriage they'd used to get to Heussel in the first place. Right in front of him was obviously Batain but he could see two children maybe a little older than him on the sides and two women behind Batain, both tied up.

Just as his eyes rested on the children, the boy's eyes lit up. "Soyou're Lucas Cazenarch. Batain told me that you're actually his nephew. What's it like living in the castle? It lookssuper big. D'you just..."

Lucas couldn't be bothered to listen after that. Not only was the kid speaking way too fast but he was asking a bunch of asinine kid questions.

Next to the boy was a girl that looked somewhat like him. There was a little resemblance though it was mostly in the reddish hair they both had. She didn't say a word and only silently watched him, her brown eyes trying to envelop him.

He didn't linger on her, turning to the two women. One was clearly covered in bandages and unconscious. The other one didn't stare at him but at Batain who had sat back down.

Unlike the unconscious woman who was only loosely tied up, this woman was fully bound, her hands tied together, and her mouth gagged. Still, her gaze spoke volumes about what she'd do if she wasn't in bondage.

He looked up and out of the carriage, realizing they were almost at the castle gate. They hadn't needed to go through the entire town. There was a gate that led directly to the castle from the back. This path was, of course, exclusive to the noble family.

Lucas continued to tune out the boy, evaluating his condition. His eyes still ached but when they got better and he didn't feel like a log, he planned to try to use that freezing ability at will. It was strong enough to stop those men and maybe even Batain?

He looked over at the man who looked back at him. A rare smirk lit up Lucas' face. "When do you ever look worried about something? Are you afraid my mom's gonna get mad?"

Batain sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry. I could've gotten you killed. I fell for some stupid peasant trap and nearly got myself killed. I'll make it up to you, sometime, okay?"

Lucas' small eyebrows would've raised the hair off his head if it was possible. Batain apologizing was something rare, especially when it was Lucas' fault for coming in the first place. Sure, you could say that since Batain let Lucas on the trip in the first place, it was his fault but the man usually thought in a careless and ruthless fashion.

Lucas came. He did not have to come. Lucas got hurt because he came. Therefore, it's his fault he got hurt. That was the sort of simplicity Batain liked. The nuance required to say that Batain should've been more careful considering he had a child with him should've been beyond him.

Lucas nodded after a few seconds. It was a little odd and sudden but he should, at least, appreciate Batain's sincerity-

'Wait, he's not being fully sincere. There's a hint of apprehension in his eyes.'

First, Lucas was stunned at the observation his mind made without his knowledge. It had been entirely subconscious like looking up and knowing the giant light in the sky was the sun. Then, he was stunned at what he had observed. Batain being insincere was nothing new but what was the point of lying in the first place? He had nothing to prove to Lucas.

Before he had time to think about it, Batain got up to get the guards to wave them through the first gate. A couple seconds later, they were stopped at the second gate by a male guard in almost a full set of steel armor.

"My lord Batain, your father, the count, requests your and the young lord, Lucas', presence."

Batain silently nodded before driving the carriage through. He stopped it outside the castle where it'd be picked up by someone else. It wasn't his anyways. Regis owned nearly all the castle's carriages and only rented them out, though Batain didn't have to spend any money since it was Regis who sent him.

He got out before picking the unconscious woman up with one arm and lifting her on his left shoulder. He, then, picked up the conscious one before tucking her under his arm The scene of him holding her like a football would be hilarious to Lucas if it wasn't for the tension in the air. The two kids didn't seem to sense it but he, who'd spent tons of time with Batain, saw it almost immediately.

Usually, Batain had tiny mannerisms like cursing a little under his breath when getting up or scratching his chest. Yet now, he was entirely silent and his actions seemed almost robotic with how smooth they were.

He turned back to Lucas and the kids. "Let's go,"