Persia's Return

The two finished drinking their drinks. After they finished taking a quick break, they started to leave to go outside. They walked through the halls and out of the building, and they kept on walking until they eventually reached the exit. There were a lot of people there from various different backgrounds, and they all seemed to be enjoying the time they were talking ro their family. Some people were selling food and drinks, while others were playing games and dancing.

William seemed to be excited as well, and they decided to explore the whole school together before deciding to go out to the city.

Arriving at the city, the two saw many colorful, beautiful and unusual designed lamps hanging around on the streets even though it was still day. However, none of these lamps are lighted up by flame as they were only left hanging as a design outside the buildings and street lamps.

"Let's go check that store! I heard from some people that it was quite popular for having some unusual yet good-looking clothes." William pointed his index finger toward an odd yet elegant clothing shop in the middle of the town. Unlike the usual clothing shops, which only sold regular clothes, this clothing shop was specialized in selling stylish, more modern perhaps, yet also elegant clothes at the same time. It was an interesting and unique shop, and it caught the Deus' attention immediately.

"Why don't we take a look?"

"I have no problem with that."

Athan nods.

They walked into the store and explored all of the different items that the store had on offer. There were many different kinds of clothes available, from shirts and pants to jackets and sweaters, to even dresses and skirts. The variety of clothing available was incredible, and Deus found the store to be unique for it's clothing design.

Almost every design seemed futuristic, or more likely, similar to the designs back in Athan's previous world before reincarnating.

"These two looks cool." William picked up a two sweater. On his right hand, he held a black turtle-neck sweater that had about three pockets in total; one his chest while the other two was on the usual spot. It also had unique red color lines on the side, and it looks cool and all, however, Deus didn't find this one in his liking.

"I like the other one better." He pointed his finger to the left jacket. The design of it could be considered as casual, however, it still had some cool color combinations like black and blue.

"Why don't you try putting it on?"

It took them a few minutes to finally pick clothes that'll suit Deus. After they were done, they went to the cashier to pay the clothes before leaving.

"That jacket cost around 6 silver and the black pants is 4 silver. In total, it should cost you around 10 silver for the two." The beautiful cashier who had a pale white hair smiled at Deus, making his heart skip a beat. He didn't know why, but the cashier in front of him was giving him a weird look.

𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥...

Even though Deus never simped on someone once, he couldn't help but feel this new emotions without knowing why. He already liked someone in his first life and promised to continue loving her until they met again if possible. Even though he often joked to Athan about messing with other girls, he never actually had the guts to do it as a virgin and loyal himself... How could he cheat to her like this?

Ultimately, it isn't actually cheating since the two never dated in the first place as they usually hang out by trying to kill each other.

"Y-yes..." Stuttering through his words, Deus swallowed his saliva as he took 10 silver from his pocket and placed it on the table.

The woman's smile didn't change as she took his change and placed it inside the counter, "Thanks for buying in this shop, Mr. Athan." She said, bowing her head slightly.

As soon as they were done, they left the shop to continue to wander around the city more.

However...

Before leaving, Deus suddenly had a quick realization about something.

"How did she knew Athan's name without someone even telling her who he is?"

He abruptly stopped walking and turned around. Once his eyes landed to the cashier, his eyes widened in surprise.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰...? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦?

"Did something happen, Athan?" William noticed the expression Deus was making, so he couldn't help but ask, "Do you perhaps find the black haired lady on the counter hot? If you want, I can set up a date for you."

William was grinning as rested his chin onto his finger.

"It's not like that, but... Wait a damn minute." Deus turned his head towards William as his right eyebrow raised. "Black haired? Isn't that girl we saw earlier had pale white hair?"

"What? Did you hit your head or something?"

"If I hit my head earlier, you would have seen it since ultimately you are currently you are too close to me before we came in and out, idiot!"

"... That's a good way to counter my words."

Deus ignored his reply as he shaked his head.

Later, they happened to come across a peculiar, odd-looking shop. They went inside and found that it was filled with many strange and unique items, such as jewelry and antiques. The shop seemed to be odd and had a mystical aura to it, while at the same time it also felt like there was something mysterious and otherworldly about it. It was an unusual and interesting place to visit, and Deus and William left the shop with the feeling that this was the type of place that would be perfect for buying special, magical items or treasures.

As they were walking around the center of the city, William's phone suddenly rang inside his pocket.

"Ah! It seems like my first match is about to start."

"I see... Break a leg."

After the two parted their ways, Deus went to the opposite direction of where William was heading. He walked passed few people, and when the people behind him began to decrease the more he went away from the crowds, he abruptly stopped after entering the dark alley.

"They should be here by now..."

As soon as he muttered this under his breath, two shadowy figure appeared in the darkness from his shadow.

"What a peculiar ability you both have... You guys are really meant for each other!" Deus turned around and saw the two looking at him with annoyance.

"When will you ever stop with that..." Jack, who sat at one of the barrel, removed his mask and heaved out a deep exasperated sigh. Behind him, Olivia also let out a sigh at the same time.

"Seriously though, there's no way I would fall for a stick."

"Hey! Who are you calling stick, you gorilla!"

"Haaah?"

Olivia grabbed Jack's neck and gripped hard that her handprint became visible on his neck... Surely, it was probably painful for him to endure.

Thud-!

Jack couldn't even let out a single sound as he fell unconscious, his body dropped on the ground like as if he just died just like that.

Seeing their antics, Deus lightly shaked his head in contempt.

"What should I do with you love birds..."

A few minutes later, Jack finally worked up. Patting the dust on his shoulder, he acted as if none of that ever happened.

Clearing up his throat, he began to speak to Deus, "So, why did you call us today...? You're not the type of person to call someone just to annoy them. Knowing you, you would probably thinking of how to create a big mess."

"You're right in track!" Deus flicked his fingers and grinned. The two just heaved out a sigh upon seeing expression, they already expected this to happen in the first place as well as they knew that they could do nothing except to obey his orders.

"We'll be destroying a while family tonight."

"...What?"

"...What?"

The two tilted their head in synchronized manner.

"You heard me right. We'll be destroying a whole family tonight."

Upon hearing him repeat his sentence, the two once again heaved out sigh as if they were resigning themselves to fate.

Without even letting them sat something, Deus continued, "Our target will be the Broaden family. Since the two of you already did everything that I've ordered you to do, we already have enough information about their secret and the human trafficking they carefully hid from the public's and royalty's eyes. Not to mention, the illegal transactions they had with the True Demons, the royalties from this kingdom would probably not let them peacefully off the hook."

Since her family was meant to be destroyed in the first place according to the novel, Deus thought that it wouldn't hurt to erase them all by myself.

"So, today's will be their last day as a noble, huh..." Olivia mumble in her breath. She's probably still sticking to her ideal as some 'Justice' or 'Punisher' from the look of her expression that she was making.

According to what Deus found out about Olivia's grandfather (Old man with a top hat), she got traumatized when she was a child where she almost got raped by some fat noble. Thankfully, her father got there on time and stopped it from happening.

Just when the two were about to escape, unfortunately for her, her father got stabbed with a sword by one of the guard of the noble son of a bitch.

It was also at the same time when her grandfather finally found them, however, it was already late for her father. He died from losing so much blood.

After killing the noble including the guard, her grandfather decided to take care of her. Since his son wasn't originally a good fighter or assassin, it was obvious that his granddaughter would also be the same.

Anyway, after her father's death, her innocence disappeared and was late replaced by a cold facade. It was probably thanks to her justice ideal that she managed to survive the harsh training of the assassin's guild to prepare her.

Although her grandfather was against her joining the group, he had no choice but to accept it upon seeing his granddaughter's determination.

"Why bother changing some unnecessary things? They deserve it, so it shouldn't hurt me letting those things happened to them. This should be their punishment to atone all of their heavy sins." Deus said to himself, with the side of his lips curling up into smirk.

When Jack noticed his smile, he shivers down in his spine. He said while hugging his shoulder, "I don't know if you're talking to us or to yourself, but can you please not smile like that...? It's hell'a creepy!"

However... Olivia was also showing the same smile Deus have on his face.

-----

At the academy...

William's fight had finally begun.

His first opponent for today is a senior, a boy who was only 3 years older than him. Meaning, this boy should be graduating the academy next year.

The boy was lean, tall and had a fairly nice body balance. His face couldn't be called handsome, however, he couldn't also be ugly either.

"I won't hold back just because you're a prince." The boy announced, preparing his fighting pose by crouching his body a little and pointing his spear toward William.

"Uh hu..."

William nodded and held his sword with both hands.

"The rules are still the same. Either make your opponent give up, make him fall unconscious, or attack the most vulnerable part of his body that isn't protected."

"Are both competitors ready?" The referee raised his right hand above his head ad waited for their reply.

"Yes!"

"Yes."

Chopping his hand down, the referee began the match.

"You may begin!"

At this moment, William exploded in great speed.

"I'll finish this fight quickly!" Raising his sword above his head, he slashed downward.

However, before his attack could reach his opponent, the lad leaped backwards a few meters away and began on stabbing his spear multiple times.

"Huup!"

Thanks to his reflexes, William had successfully dodged his attack.

Swoosh-!

With a low hissing sound, he quickly went behind his opponent to attack.

Clenching his fist, William held his sword tightly and slashed it continuesly.

"Damnit!" The boy continued moving backwards in order to dodge William's attack. He couldn't think of a proper way to counter, so he decided to move further away from him.

"I got you now-?!"

When William stabbed his sword forward, the boy redirected the blade away from him and enhanced his palm with mana.

"It's you who are about to be defeated."

Mumbling this in a low tone, he palmed William on the chest as he flew back a couple of meters away.

Before he knew it, he felt a tremendous force crashing in his chest that forced him to let his air out of his lungs from the suddenness.

"Gu-ah!" He groaned painfully, covering his mouth to prevent himself from vomiting his saliva as he held his chest with his other hand. Unfortunately, he accidentally let go of his sword the moment he was thrown back.

"This is your lost, prince!"

Without wasting any opportunity, the boy once again prepared his fighting stance and stabbed his spear forward. The more stab he did, the faster his attack gets.

Of course, William couldn't dodge this on time. However, he did barely managed to survive the attack. The referee, on the other hand, was about to announce his lost when he noticed in William's eyes the determination that he could still fight. It was because of this that he decided to let the match continue.

"Just give up already!"

"I'll make sure to win this fight, not you!"

"You brat!"

While the fight was happening, Persia was finally back at the academy.

She walked through the hallway of the school, trying to find anyone, however, after a few minutes of strolling, she heard a loud cheering and bang in the arena.

She hurriedly ran towards the opposite side of the school because of this, and she finally saw William fighting a student.

"Go William!" She cheered happily with a brightened expression.

At this very moment, when William heard her voice, he turned his attention towards Persia and looked at her from below.

Seeing her cheering for him, he felt that the whole world stopped for a second before moving once again.

"I should finish this already..." He said this under his breath and hopped backwards, ignoring even if his body was hit nor get scratches.

Shiiiii-!

[Thunder Clap • Rising Dragon]

His body emitted reddish lightning as he exploded in great speed.

Compared to his original speed earlier, this time, it was on a whole new level.

Zuuuup-!

He left a trail like red carpet with his glowing eyes.

With a sudden bursting noice, the air rippled and the effect was dispersed. William's fist moved towards the boy more faster, forming a dragon like image in the air behind him.

Without even having any time for the boy to react, William reappeared a few meters away behind his opponent as a loud struck sound like lightning echoed the whole arena.

"Wh-What the hell... is he...?"

The lad's vision became blurry.

However, before passing out, he managed to turn his head slightly to the side and saw the boy before him had his upper body covered in red scale. His left hand seemed to release a red glow, as the boy noticed that the scales around William's body was described entirely similar to a mythical mythology creature from the story he read.

This creature was called...

Dragon.

As he saw this, a story from the old suddenly crossed his mind.

«Once upon a time, there was a brave boy who fought in the old time while accompanying the hero.

This boy wasn't born ordinary, no... he was truly special.

He born with a curse.

A curse that will slowly eat away his humanity.

He was cursed by a being strong enough to alter the 'Rule', and was later adopted by the hero.

A few years later, after being trained by the hero himself, the boy was now finally able to control his curse.

Although it was still slowly eating away his humanity, he was able to use this curse to his advantage to get stronger after years of being taught by the hero.

In the later of the story, the hero and the boy, along with their gathered companion came across the person who created the curse.

After a harsh battle and many lost of their friends, the boy used his sharp claws that was covered in red scale to pierce through the being's heart.

Even though the creator of the curse was killed, the curse didn't disappeared...

However, it changed.

Instead of draining the boy's life, it helped his body grow stronger than ever before.

With the help of the curse, the boy and the hero continued their journey with their companions to defeat the unidentified beings that come to the world.

A few years later, when the hero died of old age, the boy, the boy decided to found a kingdom where he buried the hero's body in the center of the city.

Later in his life, the boy was later called...

The Founder, Dragon King.»

According to the story, it is said that his bloodline was continued to be pass through generation after generations.

It also mentioned that the curse gets stronger the more generations pass, and the stronger the curse gets, the stronger it's holder became.

"I thought that the fairytale story isn't true..."

The boy mustered his remaining strength to speak before falling unconscious.

***

As soon as the dust cleared up, William's body turned back to normal.

Nobody seem to have seen almost everything that happened in the battle, as the people merely did nothing except for cheer for his victory.

Raising his hands, William looked at his Persia from below.

"I'll win my next match too!"

He proudly announced, with a cheeky grin on his face. His father, upin seeing his son's arrogant attitude, merely rolled his eyes. However, he still clapped his hands anyway.

"My son is slowly becoming my past self..."

Which is a bad thing...