Inside the torture chamber, engulfed in white flames, two people could be seen opposite each other.
One was Lucas himself, with his disheveled snow-white hair and naked upper body covered in dried blood stains, much like his face, which almost matched his blood-red eyes with vertical pupils. He rubbed his wrists a little, as the restraints and blindfold had melted from the heat of the flames.
Yet, unsurprisingly, the white flames never reached him or the man in front of him, causing no damage to either of them.
The second person in the room was a man taller than Lucas, standing at least two meters tall. He had short grey hair and blood-red eyes like Lucas, along with a grey beard and a burly physique. There was an old cut, presumably from a blade, running from the top of his left eye to the end of his left cheek.
White flames danced around a few parts of his body, and Lucas felt as if he were standing in front of an immovable colossal mountain, whose presence reeked of authority, rivaling that of the elven king Michael.
Though most would cower in fear at such a being, Lucas wore only a silly smile as he gazed at the man, whose face was unreadable.
"It's been a while, gramps! How long has it been? Seven years since we last saw each other? Ha! To think you actually managed to become a saint,"
Lucas said, his voice still hoarse from the recent torture. Talking and moving still hurt like hell, but Lucas decided to ignore the pain as much as he could. After all, it had only been an hour since he was last tortured. The effects of all the potions that Karciel fed him would still probably take a day or two to fade away, at least physically...
Magnus Nightstar, hearing Lucas's nonchalant voice, didn't answer and kept gazing at him amidst the dancing white flames surrounding them. His face didn't show any emotions, yet Lucas didn't need to see his face, as his eyes conveyed enough of the chaos he was feeling inside.
Narrowing his eyes, Lucas scoffed as he spoke again, "Don't tell me you're feeling guilty? For what? For not arriving earlier? For taking so long to find me and save my fucking ass out of this hell I've been enduring for the past nine days? Are you perhaps feeling pity for me? Sympathy?"
"Lucas..."
Snapping out of his rambling, his grandfather's heavy yet sorrowful voice interrupted. Hearing him, Lucas couldn't help but look down in shame, gritting his teeth.
"S-sorry, I didn't mean to say all that. I am not in my right mind currently; please ignore what I said. This wasn't your fault but my own."
"Lucas, that isn't true—" Cutting him off, Lucas continued, "It is. It is my fault and no one else's. I should have known this would happen when I carelessly revealed my identity as the White Devil. I should've taken more precautions. I am only to blame for this huge mess..."
Seeing his state, all Magnus could do was walk right in front of him, attempting to grip his right shoulder gently, yet that mere action made Lucas unconsciously jump back.
Realizing what he did, both stared wide-eyed at each other.
"Ah, sorry, I—I didn't mean to..."
Magnus understood his reaction and merely shook his head, cutting in,
"It is alright. You don't need to apologize, Lucas."
As he spoke, he gazed straight into his grandson's eyes and spoke with a heavy determination that would shake many if heard.
"I promise you, Lucas, that I will find every single demon responsible for this and make them suffer for trying to mess with us Nightstars, especially that demon that made you suffer—"
"No,"
Lucas suddenly cut him off coldly, surprising him as his face changed for the first time at seeing Lucas now in front of him.
His entire demeanor changed as he gazed straight back at Magnus, his eyes now so cold that they would make most dormant and awakened freeze their hearts.
Red and black energy started chaotically surrounding Lucas's body and around him.
Heavy killing intent started filling the entire room, making the white flames dance even more chaotically.
For a few seconds, Magnus found himself surrounded by thousands of dead bodies of women, men, and even some children.
'What... just how many people has he killed... since when... and why?'
Magnus was truly startled, a mere 15-year-old boy making a saint startled by his presence alone. Something many wouldn't believe except Lucas's family and even the elven royal family.
Disrupting his thoughts was Lucas's hoarse voice, cold but so chilling that it felt like the temperature of the room was starting to freeze even amidst the chaotic white flames that were dancing around them.
"Karciel is mine. Mine alone. No one will ever lay a hand on him except for me. His life is mine to take. His death is mine to decide. I will be the one to make him suffer. I will be the one to have my revenge on Karciel. And no one else, not even you, grandfather."
Hearing his words, which felt like a statement, an order, a command, just like that of a king, Magnus couldn't help but narrow his eyes and ask his grandson, as he tried his best to suppress the grin that was threatening to form on his face.
"And... what if I refuse and go after him myself?"
"I wouldn't let that happen."
"And how would you do that? I have, after all, just become a saint. So how will you manage to stop me, my dear grandson?"
Magnus said, greatly anticipating Lucas's answer, while he heard the loud thumping of his heart against his chest.
"Isn't that answer simple?"
Lucas declared.
"I would become stronger than a saint."
******
Currently in the rebuilt mansion inside the Nightstar Estate were Alexander, Violet, William, Lucielle, Luna, and Lena.
The fight where Alexander, William, and Dylan fought against Abadux and the viscount destroyed the entire Nightstar Estate. Luckily, unlike Lucas's previous world, this world's technology was so advanced that it didn't take more than a few days to rebuild everything, which should have taken years.
Dylan was currently patrolling Moon City with other knights and calming the citizens down, as all were still quite shaken up from finding out about the demon attack. Such a large-scale attack hadn't happened in a long time inside the human domain, which required the immediate attention of the royal family and the government. They were sending their people, who should be arriving in a few days, to find out more about the situation.
All the public knew was that demons had attacked the Nightstars, and the king was being extremely quiet, not giving any public statement for the time being. Alexander knew, though, that it was because they were all in chaos and setting up countermeasures everywhere inside every city to prevent such an attack from happening again.
Naturally, the meeting with the king had to be canceled due to the attack, but also another thing which the public didn't know about except for the king or anyone similar in status: Lucas Nightstar was kidnapped and missing.
Nine days had passed since he was kidnapped right in front of Alexander's eyes. All he wanted to do was go and shred every single demon in Myrniel until he found his son, but he knew he had to stay calm as his father was currently tracking the wraith that fled three days ago.
They were in a stalemate in their fight, not because of the viscount but because of the cunning wraith, who was almost as strong as a Marquess-ranked demon. It was extremely hard to touch a wraith who could teleport around everywhere and was highly resistant to magic.
They were lucky though, since Alexander's father arrived on time. He broke through the Saint stage finally and felt the commotion going on in Moon City. The wraith sensing him and seeing a white flaming star charging directly towards the battlefield instantly fled. The viscount wasn't so lucky, as he got cut down by William at that instant.
When his father arrived, Alexander instantly just told him about what happened to Lucas as fast as he could, instead of greeting him. Hearing what happened, his father luckily didn't waste any time and left as well, chasing after the wraith.
The atmosphere currently was extremely somber. Everyone's faces were grim as their heads were down.
All of them were sitting on the couches as Lena and Luna were asleep on Lucielle's lap, and Violet was crying while being embraced by Alexander tightly.
"My son... please be alive..." She kept weeping the entire time, the moment she found out what happened to Lucas.
All the rest could do was hang their heads down and wait for some news.
Luckily, as if the gods had heard their prayers, they felt the atmosphere heating up and heard the sound of something fast and extremely loud shooting through the air.
They didn't wait for a second as each of them instantly ran towards the front yard of the mansion as Lucielle gently placed Lena and Luna without waking them up on the couch and followed.
As they all arrived, they saw a white flaming star descending straight towards the front yard as well.
Honestly, Alexander and William were worried that it might destroy everything again upon impact like last time, but luckily, the moment it was getting close to the ground, it slowed down considerably.
As the huge white fireball finally landed on the ground, the white flames dissipated, revealing the figures of two people they hoped to see so badly.
As each one of them looked towards the two, they all fell on their knees out of extreme relief and the fatigue that had been building up for the past three days, as they were in the same room waiting for any news, not knowing if Lucas was alive or not...
"T-thank the gods..." Violet said under her breath, yet everyone could hear her relief as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Seeing Lucas's current appearance and the blood stains, each of their hearts felt like it was broken into thousands of pieces. They couldn't and didn't dare to imagine what he must have been through.
Yet...
At the very least...
Lucas Nightstar is Alive.