Reibar's mind had already accepted the grim truth: there was no escape. He was going to lose his limbs—maybe more.
His gaze, blurred by blood dripping into his eyes, fixed on Draven's ominous sphere of darkness. But something was...off. The sphere had stopped growing.
"Did he change his mind?" he muttered weakly.
Reibar squinted harder, realizing it wasn't just the sphere—it was everything. Draven's facial expression, locked mid-snarl, looked almost comical in its stillness. The wind that had been whipping the grass into a frenzy was frozen. Even the birds, their wings mid-flap, hung motionless in the air.
"What in the world…" His voice trailed off as he turned his head, struggling to process the unnatural stillness. The blood that had been dripping in front of his eyes had also frozen, suspended like crimson beads of glass.
Then, through the eerie tableau, a figure emerged from behind the motionless Draven. Silver hair, green eyes.
"Lucien?" Reibar whispered, though his voice was barely audible. His vision was blurry, but he could tell it was him. His brother.
Lucien strolled casually toward him, his white coat fluttering lightly, despite the frozen wind. He crouched beside Reibar, his expression equal parts amused and exasperated.
"What a mess you've gotten yourself into. Do you know how hard it was to track you down?" Lucien said, shaking his head as he pulled a flask from his coat pocket. Without another word, he poured its contents over Reibar's head.
"What—wait—is this some kind of potion?" Reibar spluttered as the liquid cascaded over him. To his astonishment, the wounds covering his body closed instantly, and the blood vanished as if it had never been there.
Reibar blinked, his mind reeling. The man before him was unmistakably Lucien Valenhart—but something was different. Older. His once youthful face carried the weight of years Reibar couldn't explain.
It was strange, but by now, Reibar had grown used to it. Every child in the orphanage was the same age, a detail that might have unsettled others but had become his norm. Even they used to celebrate their birthdays on the same day.
Weird? Definitely. But after spending 18 years in that place, he'd learned to accept it without question. Some things just didn't make sense, and that was one of them.
And now Lucien was looking like someone from his mid-20s
"Wait...did he drink some kind of ageing potion?" Reibar's thoughts tumbled into confusion.
Lucien, clearly unimpressed by his brother's dazed expression, stood and folded his arms. "Get up, man. How long are you planning to lie there looking like a squashed tomato?"
Reibar pushed himself up slightly, his brows furrowing. "What the…? You're supposed to be—what is going on?"
Lucien met Reibar's bewildered gaze and spoke calmly, almost matter-of-factly. "You were supposed to die here today."
Reibar blinked, his confusion mounting. "What the…?"
Lucien chuckled, the corners of his mouth twitching with amusement. "Yeah, I figured that would throw you off. Look, there's no time to explain everything, but here's the gist—I'm not exactly the brother you know. Well, I am technically… but not entirely. I am him from 8 years from now" He waved his hand dismissively, laughing awkwardly. "You know what? Forget it. I've always been terrible at explaining things."
He gestured toward Hamira, frozen in place like a statue. "Anyway, we're getting out of here. You want to take your girlfriend with you, right?"
"She's not my girlfriend!" Reibar snapped, a little too quickly. Then, grudgingly, he added, "But… yeah, take her."
"Alright, alright," Lucien said with a grin, his laughter bubbling up. "Relax, lover boy. I'll bring her along."
For a brief moment, Reibar stared at Lucien, stunned. Since when did he laugh like that? The Lucien he remembered from the orphanage was quiet, stoic, and reserved—definitely not this chatty, slightly smug version standing before him now. This whole situation was getting stranger by the second.
It felt…wrong. Lucien had always been the quiet, brooding type back at the orphanage—a 'kid of few words.'
"Alright, alright. Not your girlfriend," Lucien chuckled. A portal materialized beneath Reibar and Hamira, swallowing them before Reibar could protest.
The next thing Reibar knew, he was sprawled on the floor of a wooden room. Hamira's frozen form stood awkwardly nearby like a misplaced statue.
Lucien sauntered in moments later, carrying the same nonchalant air. "Okay, listen up, your dumpster fire. I don't have much time, so I'll keep this short."
Reibar, still trying to process everything, sat up straighter.
Lucien leaned against the doorframe. "Here's the deal: you were supposed to die back there. If you had, it would've screwed everything up—even the future. So now, your one job is to stay alive. Got it?"
Reibar's head swam with questions, but he managed a hesitant nod.
Lucien smirked, pulling a chair from the corner and motioning for Reibar to sit. "How many abilities do you have right now?"
"Five," Reibar said, counting on his fingers. Dolo, Eric, Gareth, Milio, Old Man Eldrin and the fire mage.
Lucien raised an eyebrow. "And if you went up against all five of those people, could you take them on solo?"
Reibar hesitated. "No…"
"Exactly. Numbers matter. Brains working together, you know? So, first rule: don't kill your allies. Not that you're the type, but it's worth saying. Make sure you make some good friends you can rely on"
Lucien's casual tone clashed with the gravity of his words, leaving Reibar more puzzled than ever.
"And here's an idea," Lucien added. "You ever think about hitting up a dungeon? Maybe make friends with some of the mobs there? Gain their abilities? You're wasting potential, man."
Reibar blinked. "I—what? That's…that's possible?"
Reibar was dumbfounded. The idea had never crossed his mind before. Sure, he knew he could gain abilities from animals, but he had never considered using them as a deliberate strategy like this. It was as if a whole new perspective had opened up before him—one he felt foolish for not seeing earlier.
"Of course it is," Lucien replied, grinning. "You've been thinking too small."
He leaned closer, his tone shifting. "Listen carefully. That guy back there? He's one of Beelzebub's kids. Same as her." He gestured vaguely toward Hamira. "And there are thousands of them. Oh, and Beelzebub's not the only demon king. There are fifteen more."
Reibar couldn't even fathom it. If just one of Beelzebub's daughters could summon endless hordes of zombies and another could wield such devastating dark magic, what kind of nightmare would unfold with a thousand of them? And now Lucien was saying there were other Demon Kings like Beelzebub? The sheer thought was absurd—no, it was terrifying.
His mind raced as fragments of history resurfaced. He remembered reading about the Great War in the orphanage library. Sixteen Demon Kings had once plunged the entire continent into chaos, leaving countless species and kingdoms extinct. It had taken the combined effort of an entire generation to seal them away.
Yet here they were, their offspring running rampant, wreaking havoc. And if the seal was breaking as Lucien claimed…
Reibar's stomach churned. The situation wasn't just bad—it was catastrophic.
Reibar's jaw dropped.
"The war is coming soon, the seal is going to break soon," Lucien said, his tone heavy with urgency. "And every one of our brothers will have a crucial role to play. I can't give you all the details, but what I've told you must stay a secret. You can't share it with anyone—not even the version of me from this timeline."
Reibar swallowed hard and nodded, the weight of Lucien's words pressing down on him like a boulder.
Lucien's voice softened, and for the first time, Reibar noticed the dark circles under his brother's eyes. He looked…tired. Haunted.
"My dear brother," Lucien began, his voice softening but still carrying the weight of urgency, "you need to stay alive and be far more cautious. Strengthen yourself as much as possible before the war arrives. And I mean it—you'll need to be a lot stronger."
As Reibar processed his words, a shimmering 2D portal appeared in front of Lucien's hand. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a book bound in weathered leather and handed it over. "Keep this with you. It'll guide you… a little."
Reibar stared at the book, his mind spinning with questions. Where had it come from?
Before he could speak, Lucien reached into the portal again and retrieved a ring, tossing it casually to Reibar. "Wear it. It's a dimensional pocket. Trust me—it'll come in handy. Consider it a gift from Eryindor."
Eryindor Valenhart. Reibar's other brother, the master of spatial abilities. If Lucien was the keeper of time, then Eryindor was the one who could bend space itself.
Reibar slipped the ring onto his finger, glancing at it with curiosity. But he couldn't take his eyes off Lucien for long—there was an air of urgency and mystery about him that demanded his full attention.
"Ah, one more thing," Lucien said, his tone shifting back to a more casual one. "Don't trust anyone too easily. She was emitting her mana signature the whole time—that's how your 'in-law' managed to find you."
Reibar blinked. "In-law? She's not—"
Lucien smirked, cutting him off with a wave of his hand. He was already back to his nonchalant demeanour, leaving Reibar equal parts frustrated and bewildered.
Lucien looked at Reibar seriously. "She's not a bad person. In fact, she could be the reliable comrade I was talking about earlier. So, don't kill her. I know her older version."
Reibar clenched his fists, still torn. "But she killed my friends... and she betrayed me just now."
Lucien raised an eyebrow, almost amused. "Of course she did. Were you not torturing her enough? And seriously, you need to work on your communication skills. Though I'm not one to talk, I guess." He shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips.
Reibar didn't know whether to punch him or listen, but Lucien kept going, unbothered. "Alright, I've gotta go now. Good luck, and remember—no dying. If you die, the timeline has already changed by visiting you, and I won't be able to come back next time."
He paused, glancing at Reibar one last time. "By the way, we're in an inn in the capital. I booked it earlier under your name—' Mr. and Mrs. Reibar.' Pretty cute, huh?" He laughed at the awkward silence before continuing. "And whatever you do, don't tell anyone about your second name—Valenhart. Not even in your thoughts."
With that, Lucien vanished into thin air, leaving Reibar alone in the room.
As soon as he disappeared, the world around Reibar snapped back into motion. The clock began ticking again, as though time itself had never been interrupted.