Hell.
If there was one word to describe the type of situation Lucas felt he was in.
It was hell.
He honestly thought that he died again and got sent to hell this time.
Where he probably should have been sent all along...
It had been 5 days since he had been in this hell, or at least that's what Lucas thought.
Perhaps it had been even weeks or years... he had lost his sense of time after the second day.
The blindfold and restraints were never removed.
Karciel was a demon of his word.
He made Lucas drink various different potions.
His body felt as if it was on fire 24/7.
He so desperately wanted to eat and drink something.
Just moving an inch felt like sandpaper was scrubbing violently all over his body.
After the second day, Karciel enjoyed all of his screams so much that he even stopped interrogating him.
All he did was torture him over and over again...
He couldn't fall asleep no matter how much he wanted to.
He couldn't become numb to the pain no matter how much he wanted to.
His eyes had become dry from all the tears he had shed.
His voice had become hoarse from all the screams he had unleashed.
The pain he felt was increased by tenfold.
He wanted to get a break from the pain so badly.
Even a second of no pain would suffice at this point.
Yet...
Fate was cruel to him.
"AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!! P-please...stop M-Mnggffffhhh!"
Currently, Karciel was peeling the skin off Lucas's right forearm as he relished in his screams and pleas while laughing madly, seeing Lucas trying to escape his restraints.
"Ah! to think after all of this you can still speak! It is amazing, isn't it, how your mind still hasn't been broken into thousands of pieces!"
"You are truly incredible, Lucas! Even after 9 days of continuous torture, you still haven't lost your sanity! Well, at least not all of it... but nonetheless! Be proud of yourself, Lucas! Most would've already been broken on the 3rd day!"
'W-what... 9 days... no...'
Lucas's face couldn't help but become pale as he heard that he had been here for 9 days.
No one had come to rescue him yet. Every second in this hell felt like an eternity.
His mind started to deteriorate even more as his hope was diminishing.
Suddenly, space started fluctuating inside the room, creating gusts of winds.
After a few seconds, the fluctuations disappeared, as did the gusts of winds.
Lucas, though he couldn't see, felt that something ominous appeared inside the room they were in, making his body shudder.
"He. Had your fun already, Abadux~"
'Abadux? No... does that mean Father and William...'
"No. They were stronger than I anticipated, and before I could get serious... I detected a saint heading towards where I was fighting..."
His voice made Lucas grit his teeth. His voice didn't sound alive at all. He shouldn't be allowed to talk. The voice of Abadux was so harrowing that it felt like thousands of glass shards were scraping the insides of Lucas's ears.
"A saint?"
Karciel couldn't help but narrow his red eyes at what Abadux said.
"Impossible. I planned everything perfectly. There should be no Saint at this time, this close to Moon City to make it until another 2 or 3 days. I even sent a few lesser demons to distract them so they can play detective! You must have been mistaken and got scared!"
"Silence."
Abadux suddenly commanded, and his voice shook Lucas's entire body with fear.
"Whether the person or whomever was approaching was a saint or not, I knew I couldn't fight them without destroying this body I have acquired."
"Did you at least see the saint?" Karciel asked, still in doubt that a saint was actually already here.
"No. All I saw was something like a huge star surrounded by white flames heading towards us at a speed I barely could follow. So I instantly fled here."
"It won't be long now until that saint or someone else traces me back here..."
'White flames... could it be?'
"Tch, how annoying it is to think I planned so much and all for it to go to waste because of an unexpected factor! Help me collect my stuff in the other room, and then we depart."
Karciel said as both started heading out and collected whatever stuff they needed, leaving Lucas alone in the room.
As Lucas was now left alone in the room, piecing together the conversation he heard, he couldn't help but feel a little hope ignite in his heart again. Perhaps there was still a chance for him to be saved.
It was getting harder for him to maintain his sanity in here.
There were two things he dreaded the most in his time spent in this room.
One was whenever he got tortured, no matter how gruesome, agonizing, or harrowing. In the end, Karciel would heal his body back to its previous top condition as if all of the pain was a mere dream, only for it to happen all over again.
Only he would know what he went through, as every single detail of his suffering was engraved in his mind, making him shudder each time.
The second was what he was currently experiencing. Time to time, Karciel would sometimes leave him here all alone... no one to be around him except the darkness that embraced him, making him drown in it. No one to share his suffering with, no one to console him, no one to help him.
He hated it. He hated being all alone... he felt cold.
'Just... hold on... I need to hold on... just a little more...'
As he started resolving his mind a little and clung to the last bit of hope he had in the vast darkness, he suddenly heard an extremely cold familiar voice that made his heart tremble.
"Pathetic."
His eyes suddenly widened behind his supposed mask as his face shot up in the vast darkness around him.
Even though it hurt like hell moving even an inch of his body, he tried his best, gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain.
As he gazed in front of him, even though he wasn't supposed to see anything or anyone, he saw a person.
The last person he ever thought he would see in his entire life.
The person he hated the most in both of his lives.
The person he wanted to kill the most.
The person had black clothes on, ensuring no one should be able to see him in the dark.
Though that didn't matter, since Lucas could see him perfectly even in the dark surrounding them.
The person had pitch-black eyes as he coldly gazed straight down into Lucas's eyes as he wasn't wearing a blindfold anymore.
He felt as if he was gazing into the abyss.
His hair was the same as his eyes, matching each other.
The person standing in front of him was Lucas himself.
The person he was in his previous life...
"What... how?"
Lucas couldn't help but ask in his hoarse voice as he was shaken to his core.
Never did he think that he would have to see his old self again.
This entire time he tried to get rid of his past and now...
Now it's standing right in front of him.
"Pathetic. to think we have fallen so low"
"How else? we are currently inside our mind"
His former self said while shaking his head in disappointment
"Just a few years of a little happiness and this is what we become after a little bit of suffering?"
"Pathetic"
"Shut up..."
Hearing Lucas's hoarse voice his former self couldn't help but look at him in disdain
"Tch. honestly just what am I seeing. You are just a former shell of what we used to be"
"no... I am tryi-"
Before Lucas could finish talking his former self cut him off as he coldly venomously spat
"Trying what? to become a kind person? please what a load of crap! you have already changed in the worst possible way!"
"no that is not..."
"Not true? please not once have you considered a way to get out of this mess. Every single time you only begged for fucking mercy and clinged to some pathetic hope that someone will come rescue us!"
"You haven't even tried to think how to get out of this situation yourself! back then no matter how screwed we were we would find a way no matter how hard to get out of our troubles! no matter the cost!"
"no... the cost we paid was... too much"
"Too much? was it really? at least no one dared to mess with us back then. what? don't tell me you still regret your actions back then?"
"no...shut up..."
"Do you regret what happened to Aushburn?"
"shut up..."
"Do you regret what happened to Frederick?"
"shut up..."
"Or what happened to Jeanne?"
"Shut-"
"Ah no it must have been Victor?"
"no stop talk-"
"Wait! Now I get it!"
"No... don't you dar-"
"It was Alicia!"
"SHUT UP!"
"DONT YOU DARE SPEAK OF HER NAME!"
Lucas suddenly shouted at himself with bloodshot eyes as his throat felt like it was being set on fire yet he didn't care he was too angry to care right now
"You have no right to speak that name ever!"
Seeing his crazed state his former self just scoffed without an ounce of fear as a grin appeared on his face
"We know you claimed not to know anything about love... yet what is this state you are in then? just merely mentioning her name makes you go this crazy."
"NO! i-it wasn't like that! I never loved her!"
"Really? tell me who are you trying to fool here?"
"N-no I..."
"Stop this. stop trying to fool yourself any longer!"
He suddenly coldly shouted at Lucas
"you are no kind person!"
"no i am tryin-"
"stop trying! stop trying to reject yourself stop trying to run away from who you really are!"
"You are a monster! even this new life recognizes that and gave you the chaos element which only meant for destruction!"
"We, who have killed 26 people, and at least 18 of them were children who were innocent just because of a fucking dog we considered as a friend and some bullying!"
"no... that..."
"That what? There is a reason why you only posses the abilities meant for destruction. it is because that is all we are capable off!"
"You are not meant to be a hero a savior. You are meant to be a villain a destroyer."
"That is who we are."
Lucas couldn't say anything anymore. all he could do was grit his teeth with his head down as every word that was spoken by his former self felt like lightning that struck him.
'no matter how much I try to run... isn't what he says the truth...'
"Good. don't reject yourself anymore. show these people who we are. even if it takes a thousand years have your revenge on everyone who made you suffer! no matter the cost!"
'No I-i don't want that anymore... not again.... again?'
"Stop running away. have you ever wondered why there are 2 progenitors of chaos instead of one? have you ever wondered who was pulling the strings behind your back? you have noticed right? the blade of chaos and the dragon egg it wasn't just a coincidence. Stop running away from all of this even if your enemy is stronger stop running away and face him head on."
"Are you just going to use this half dragon prides of yours as an excuse to come up for yourself?"
"Tell me. What is our no your name?"
Hearing his question he couldn't help but grit his teeth harder and his body started to shake
"Lucas Nightstar..."
"no. not that name. our original name. our first name."
"I-i don't remember..."
"stop lying."
"I am no-"
"I said stop Lying! if you cant remember make yourself remember! have you forgotten what they used to call you!?"
"You were known as the infamous Reaper of Night!"
"In this life you are known as The white Devil!"
"You who is meant to conquer all! Stand above all! Rule all!"
"Who are you!?"
"My n-nam-"
"WHO ARE YOU!?"
"N-NOAH!"
"D-dammit my name is Noah! Noah reaper of Night killer of thousands! the most dangerous human alive! Hunted by the entire damn fucking world!"
Lucas shouted from the top of his lungs with his eyes wide open as his body trembled his breath became short and laboured. his body was covered in cold sweat as he grit his teeth and clenched his hands until they were pale white.
Seeing Lucas now his old self couldn't help but smile for the first time, a smile that would make almost any human terrified.
"good. remember that. remember our no your past and never forget that ever again. make everyone understand who they are messing with even if it takes thousands of years."
"Lets meet each other one day again..."
Those were the last words Noah left behind before disappearing in the darkness
**********
Karciel didn't have much time anymore as he realized what Abadux said was true. He felt a huge spike of mana suddenly in the area he covered with his space element, making sure nothing escapes his senses.
Even though a saint was currently rushing towards them, he wasn't afraid since he could just teleport to another place he marked in time.
So right now, he was standing in front of Lucas, who had his head down.
"Ah! It looks like our date has to come to an end, Lucas! Alas, I can't take you with me due to some circumstances, but do not worry. Fate will have it we will meet again in the future!" Karciel said as he gently brushed his sharp, grotesque fingers across Lucas' cheeks.
"Have you finally gone crazy? I heard you shouting some weird things in the other room," he asked Lucas.
He couldn't help but be disappointed as Lucas wasn't responding to him and just had his head down.
'Has he finally been broken?' he thought, sighing in disappointment as he started to head out. But right before he was about to exit the room, as he was about to open the door to leave, he heard Lucas' hoarse voice speak to him.
"Karciel."
Surprised at Lucas suddenly mentioning his name, which he thought he must have forgotten, he turned around with a smile on his face, which quickly froze, as did his entire body.
With his disheveled hair, his naked upper body covered with dried blood stains, and his face as well, he still relished how he broke every single bone in his body and the screams he made. If it wasn't for the blood, he was sure that most females would start drooling at his current appearance.
That same Lucas was currently looking straight into his eyes, even though he was still wearing a blindfold. He still felt Lucas' gaze through it. And what was most disturbing about all of this was...
He was wearing a menacing grin like some psychopath, with his face covered in dried blood.
Seeing him made, for some reason, Karciel's entire body shudder, as his heart started beating louder in his chest. He narrowed his eyes at the current situation.
'Something happened... he changed... his entire demeanor just changed...'
Before he could think of what happened to make him change so drastically like that, he heard Lucas chuckling.
"What... why are you laughing? Have you gone mad?"
"I have always been mad, you see... but that doesn't matter anymore."
"I swear on my name. You better fucking kill me right now, Karciel. If you don't, I swear... I will hunt you down, no matter the cost... even if it takes me a thousand years, I will hunt you down to the ends of this universe. I will make you fucking pay everything a thousand folds for every single bit of suffering you have made me experience. I will make you beg for mercy as you grovel beneath my feet, not knowing anymore if death would be a mercy or not," Lucas spat with a mad grin on his face, making Karciel's entire body turn cold.
"You..."
Before Karciel could even finish speaking, the entire room and the area he was in started trembling.
Everything became warm as the heat started to melt a few of his empty potions on the ground.
'Shit, he is already here.'
before he left he turned towards Lucas again and spoke.
"Seeing you... I can't help but think which one of us is the actual demon here..."
Those were the last words he said to Lucas before he teleported away.
And then...
Everything was engulfed in white flames...
[AN: Ah, what an intense last few chapters we had. Well, it was necessary for Lucas. I think I like it when he suffers... perhaps I am a sadist. Suffer -> Character development -> Repeat!]