Being fully aware of your death.
“Uncle.”
Opening your eyes again.
“Hello?”
…And reuniting with the person that had killed you was certainly a unique experience.
“Umm.”
Lukas looked at the face of the woman who had killed him —not metaphorically, really.
In fact, even if he didn’t want to look at her, he didn’t have a choice but to look at her.
This was because Lukas was laying on his back in the desert and Pale was standing above him.
“Uuu— nnn— cleee—.”
Blue hair, gaunt face, and shabby clothes. If there was one thing that didn’t match that appearance, it was her eyes.
Pale’s eyes sparkled as if they were filled with stars. Was that light also a lie? She tilted her head to the side and looked at Lukas with those innocent, or seemingly innocent, eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
Lukas thought that the voice that had come out of him was surprisingly calm.
Unlike before, Lukas was no longer more wary of Pale than he needed to be. Of course, it was impossible to completely ignore her presence, at the very least, he didn’t have to be filled with worry before something actually happened.
This was also something that he knew in his previous life, but he hadn’t been able to mentally apply it at that time. This proved that he hadn’t had much composure.
It was different now.
Lukas had become stronger, gained confidence, and more importantly, he’d managed to learn a bit more about Pale.
At the very least, this woman wouldn’t use rudeness as a pretext to kill Lukas.
“By the way, what was that just now?”
“…”
“You killed the monster falling from the sky without even touching it!”
“It’s something like magic.”
“Huh?”
“Personally, I like to call it void.”
Lukas got up from the ground as he replied. Pale’s expression became a bit strange at that. It was a subtle expression that made it hard to read what she was thinking. Perhaps her wariness was rising.
Nevertheless, he didn’t regret bringing it up. He had no intention of hiding it.
Even if he were to reveal the presence of void, Pale probably wouldn’t become openly hostile towards him. She might feel interest and suspicion, but she wouldn’t directly cause him harm.
-If you meet ‘me’ again, you better hide your current condition. Because, to be honest, the current you looks really appetising. That ‘me’ might not be able to hold back since I wouldn’t know the circumstances.
He recalled Pale’s words.
Now that he thought about it, she’d spoken as if she knew about Lukas’ regression. He still wasn’t sure why. No one, not even the Lightning God or the Demon God, had noticed his regression.
Did Pale have more insight than them?
Or.
“…”
Lukas subconsciously rubbed his neck.
The feeling of Pale cutting his neck without hesitation in his previous life was still vivid. He now had an idea as to why Pale had killed him without bothering to ask or answer.
She was probably disappointed.
The reason Pale had been by his side from the moment he opened his eyes in this world. He wasn’t entirely sure about the details, but it was probably because she thought of him as a Void King Candidate. In fact, she had even said the words ‘my King’*. (*: Chapter 426, aka the first time she killed him)
So, she must have been incredibly disappointed when she saw him give up his responsibilities to Sedi and choose to live a peaceful life. She’d probably cut his neck without bothering to listen to his excuses because she was filled with anger at him.
In any case, his crime had been reset(?).
Although it wasn’t intentional, Lukas no longer had any bad feelings towards Pale.
So he’d laid down and thought. About what he would do from now on.
He still had more than one scattered issue to deal with.
Although he no longer had any problems meeting Sedi, it would be impossible to meet her in a different way. The current Sedi was mentally broken and showed an excessive obsession towards Lukas. Moreover, she had a bomb by the name of the Demon God, so if he approached her too carelessly, the only outcome would be his destruction.
‘Of course, that bomb won’t explode unless she meets me.’
Kasajin’s response had truly been superb. He’d probably realised just how dangerous Sedi’s condition was. Even the fact that it was dangerous for her to meet Lukas.
And yet, the reason why he was unable to fully express his feelings was probably because Sedi was his unconditional superior.
Demonsio.
It was a place that he would return to one day, but not now. He lacked preparation.
‘Then where should I go?’
Lukas’ consciousness reminded him of a certain being.
About the being who had helped him when he was imprisoned in the castle’s dungeon.
‘The Beginning Wizard.’
Among the Twelve Void Lords, who were shrouded in mystery, he was, without a doubt, the being that attracted the most of Lukas’ attention. Of course, in his previous life, the reason he’d gone to Demonsio was to meet him, but there was a clear difference with his mindset then and now.
It could be said that it had changed from ‘I should go at least once’ to ‘I have to go’.
‘I might know him.’
It wasn’t just someone he met in passing or something like that.
Lukas was certain he knew the Beginning Wizard. But the more deeply he thought about it, the more clouded his mind seemed to become.
Would all of those problems be resolved when he met him in person?
“…”
At that moment, he suddenly felt a gaze on him and came back to his senses.
Pale was looking at him with her hands on her hips. She still had the subtle expression from before.
“I want to go to the Magic Planet.”
Lukas got straight to the point. While it might seem impulsive, it really wasn’t. This wasn’t an assumption. Instead, it was something that he’d carefully calculated.
Pale’s eyes went wide like saucers. Now that he thought about it, her eyes were really large. When she widened her eyes like that it looked like they would roll out.
“The Magic Planet?”
“Right.”
“Mm.”
“I think you know how to get there.”
“Mmm.”
Pale held her chin as if she was thinking about something.
Then, as if she’d made up her mind, she turned to Lukas and smiled.
“Of course I do. If you want, I can help you get there, but it would be dangerous for you to go alone.”
“Dangerous?”
“Yes. You should have at least one more person you trust to accompany you.”
“…”
It was dangerous.
The Rulers’ puppets were all over the World of Void.
In all honesty, from Lukas’ perspective, they were the only ones that were much of a threat to him now. This was because he was certain that he wouldn’t easily be beaten by any of the Twelve Void Lords.
But this advice had come from none other than Pale. Naturally, he wouldn’t ignore it or dismiss it as nothing.
‘A person I could trust.’
The first person he thought about was Kasajin. Power aside, it was clear that he was the person Lukas could rely on the most in this world. However, it was too risky to sneak into Demonsio and steal Kasajin away.
Regardless of how much control over space he had, Demonsio was Sedi’s territory. It would be incredibly difficult to avoid her gaze and deceive her.
‘Underground City?’
In that place was Michael, Schweiser, or… Lesha Trowman, his blood relative.
However, that begged the question of if she was a reliable person or not. After all, she was probably different from the person Lukas knew.
‘Lesha.’
Now that he thought about it, he had to save her in this life as well.
She was probably being chased by the members of Flower Mountain at that exact moment.
“…”
Lukas froze for a moment. Even Pale called out ‘Uncle?’ when she saw his expression changed. But he couldn’t answer. The moment he thought of Flower Mountain, a ridiculous plan had taken root in Lukas’ mind.
It was only ‘ridiculous’ at the beginning. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that it wasn’t completely unrealistic.
“I formed a plan.”
“Huh?”
After saying that, Lukas used space movement.
This ability allowed him to instantly reach any place he’d been to at least once. He instantly moved to the destination he wanted to.
“Wow. How did you do that?”
Pale called out in an admiration filled voice, but this time, he didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked directly ahead.
The thing that immediately caught his eye was the figure of a woman moving along with staggering steps.
“Wh-, ho…”
Lesha called out in a cautious voice, but she was already on the verge of losing consciousness. She couldn’t even see Lukas properly, let alone try to stop him.
Lukas put his hand on her shoulder and spoke.
“Restore.”
There was no particular meaning behind this word. He didn’t need to use any sounds or actions to use void. Nevertheless, he decided it was a good habit to cultivate.
“Ah…?”
Lesha blinked and fully opened her eyes. He could clearly see that she was confused and surprised.
It was inevitable. Just a moment ago, her consciousness had been fading and she was exhausted to the point of collapsing, but now, her wounds, pain, and fatigue were all gone in an instant.
“What is this… How…”
“I healed you.”
He directly spoke the truth.
Lesha seemed to normally have a calm and cool personality, but now, it seemed that she had trouble properly understanding the current situation.
“Uh. That, tha-, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
After giving her a chance to say her thanks, Lukas asked.
“Do you want me to send you to the Underground City?”
“Huh?”
“It’s the territory you’re affiliated with.”
“Ah, yes. Yes?”
The moment Lesha, who had replied almost subconsciously, belatedly answered his question, Lukas drew a line with his finger. Juwok, space split apart as if it was cut by a knife, and the scene of the Underground City could be seen through the opening.
“Uh, uh…”
For a while, Lesha stared at this scene. Lukas chuckled.
“Off you go.”
“E-, excuse me… you…?”
“I’m not going.”
There was nothing more for him to see in the Underground City.
Whenever he regressed, he’d always go to the Underground City and exchange questions and answers with Michael, but at this point, there wasn’t any information that he really wanted to hear from him.
But that didn’t seem to be what Lesha wanted to ask.
“Who are you? By chance, are you a Wizard from the Magic Planet?”
“…”
This wasn’t the first time he’d been mistaken as a Wizard from the Magic Planet.
Lukas stared at Lesha for a moment before giving her a gentle push.
“Aht.”
Lesha, who was pushed through the gap, turned to look at Lukas bewilderedly.
“No.”
He replied late. Coinciding with the gap which was beginning to close gradually.
Just before Lesha’s bewildered face disappeared completely, Lukas continued.
“My name is Lukas Trowman.”
“Trow-, man…?”
As the gap closed fully, Lukas tilted his head to the side.
Why did he give her his full name?… There probably wasn’t a deep meaning behind it.
Shaking his head, he drew a line in space once again.
This time, the scene beyond it was, of course, not the Underground City. Before stepping in the gap, Lukas turned to Pale and said.
“I would like to go alone this time, can you wait here for a while?”
“Whatever you like~”
After saying that, Pale lay down on the sand. Then she stared up at the sky with her eyebrows slightly furrowed. Looking at her, it looked as if she was imitating Lukas’ earlier behaviour.
Without paying her any more attention, Lukas stepped into the gap.
Then his vision seemed to completely change. The first thing he felt was a gentle breeze. And the first thing he saw was a tall, beautiful, sheer mountain.
This place was at the top of the mountain.
A pavilion was erected here.
“…”
Lukas walked up to the pavilion. Then, he opened the door without knocking.
Creak-
The first thing he saw was a man’s back. He seemed to be admiring the scenery of the mountains with his hands behind his back in a neat manner.
Lukas looked at this scene for a moment before sitting down in one of the nearby chairs. Then, he waited quietly without talking or announcing his presence.
The man enjoyed the scenery for a long time. He didn’t even move. If one were looking on from a distance, one might have mistaken him for a statue.
After a while passed, he was the one that made the first move.
“You are an uninvited guest.”
Without turning around, he simply let out his voice.
“Is that rude?”
“A bit.”
After saying that, the man finally turned around to look at Lukas.
His clear and deep eyes were reminiscent of a flowing river at night. He walked over to Lukas and sat in front of him.
“It seems you were waiting for a while, why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t want to interrupt your appreciation.”
Hmm. After a soft sound, the man added briefly.
“…that’s new.”
“…new?”
“It’s rare to get both a feeling of rudeness and politeness at the first meeting.”
His voice was still indifferent, but his tone seemed to carry a hint of pleasure.
It seemed his first impression of Lukas wasn’t bad.
Now. What was going to happen now was the most important.
He’d only left Pale behind for one reason. Because he thought that if she was with him, he wouldn’t be able to see this man’s sincere attitude.
Lukas looked at this man.
He looked at the man who was called one of the Twelve Void Lords, the Sect Leader of Flower Mountain, or the Everlasting Plum Sword.
“Yang In-hyun, I’d like to make a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
“Right. Firstly…”
His goal, of course, was conciliatory. For that, he needed to proceed with the negotiations first.
With a smile, Lukas spoke.
“Do you know about the Ruler, the Thunderous Lightning God?”
(TL: This really is a speed run.)
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