Anon shouted, "Albert! Albert!" walking toward where Albert was lying.
He called out many times about the arrival of a group from afar that was likely the main force of King Ceamiato Wenthoriz.
Albert didn't hear Anon.
Anon reached him, knelt, and pushed him, trying to wake him up.
"Snap out of it, young Albert!!" he shouted.
"We need to survive, for our lives," he said.
He raised his head and stared at the approaching herd of soldiers, thinking they might be reinforcements for them.
But as they drew closer, Anon's expression transformed into shock and fear.
His body trembled, his fingers shook, and he was unable to move, even to blink his eyes.
The strong storm began to calm, making them clearly visible to Anon's sight.
They were not the main unit or reinforcements of the king.
They were the group who followed the one who waged war against the world to become its only ruler.
THE ABADDON.
Not only were the three thousand undefeatable soldiers present, but also the generals and their leader, the Wielder of Life.
Anon, beside Albert's unconscious body, froze, losing all hope to live.
"This is the end for me... but..." he murmured. Then he stood and said, "but not for this young man."
Standing straight, he gripped his blade tightly.
He saw one person in the group speak, though he couldn't hear the words. After that person spoke, a woman whispered into his ear.
That person was a man wearing golden long-collared clothing. He had shiny white hair and waving black cape, a typical main character look.
He smirked after the woman whispered to him.
And then, Anon heard a booming voice echoin the sky:
"You... old weak man, I shall bless you with an easy death."
Seconds later, one man suddenly appeared at Anon's side.
His arrival created a shockwave so strong it almost threw Anon into the air.
Anon didn't even have a chance to speak, he already knew he had no hope of defeating even a single ordinary soldier of Abaddon's army.
The man who appeared radiated such pressure that Anon sweated despite the freezing weather.
The man spoke calmly, neither fast nor slow:
"How sad it is, sent to this war only to die for their experiment."
Though Anon couldn't move a finger out of fear, he forced himself to raise his blade, his artifact, pointing it at the man.
The man wore only red pants with many blades in their design.
He had blonde hair and a scar on his forehead shaped like a dragon with eight limbs.
"Before you die... let me introduce myself. I am General Carl Aithon."
He then revealed a weapon.
"This is my precious artifact. It gives me the power to bend distance and ignore time itself."
It was a long iron needle-like artifact.
"If you don't believe me, then let me show you how it's used," he said.
"POINT ONE!! END TWO!!"
At once, the world Anon perceived shrank into something small, yet stretched into something endlessly long. Its sides bent unnaturally the mountains, the sky, everything was too close, twisting straight.
He couldn't see the General anymore, only himself remained in his sight.
In the deepest part of Albert's consciousness,
letters began to glow.
[New Spell Created Successfully]
He had created a new spell using the soul of Swan.
The storm stopped, and the footprints of his group, the fellow prisoners who were with him to fight on the frontlines had already vanished, for they fled when they saw the power of Swan.
Albert was deep in thought about his situation, unaware that Abaddon had already revealed themselves, and that Anon was in danger, facing General Carl Aithon.
"They said we are fighting in the frontlines… Frontline, they said, yet no one is at our back," Albert thought.
He couldn't hear anything, as if he were living inside his own mind.
"I should've woken up.
That old man is still fighting that wielder," he said, worried.
And then, as he finally opened his eyes,
the first thing he saw was the very thing he feared to happen.
Anon, the old man he had known for only two days, but who had given him the strength to move on from the past,
was standing lifeless, pale as snow.
Albert's eyes widened. The wind whispered in his ears, chilling his body.
His heart pounded so hard he could hear it.
"W-What is h-happening?"
he muttered.
When he turned to the right,
he saw, from afar, rows of soldiers with one man standing in the middle, smiling.
"D-Did… they kill him?"
His voice trembled in panic.
He clenched his fists and stood up.
His face darkened.
Hatred began to engulf him.
He gritted his teeth.
His left hand subconsciously reached for the artifact of Swan.
The artifact, nearly buried in thick snow, began dissolving into tiny black particles. As they floated toward him, they sank into his body.
Until the artifact completely vanished.
Albert felt his body completely healed, as if he had just awakened with newfound strength.
And then, before his eyes,
words suddenly appeared.
[New System Functions Added]
[Soul Reading Eyes]
[Absolute Ego Raiser]
[System Hacking]
[The Librarian]
[A Deleted Function Is Retrieved]
[Morphing]
[Item Manifester]
Albert smirked and walked closer to them.
As he approached, one of them raised a hand. The soldiers quickly surrounded those with a different outfit from the rest, who were in uniform armor and weapons.
"I didn't expect that I would stain this white snow with their blood myself, without a second thought," he said, stopping when they blocked his way.
Their swords pointed at him, their faces carefree, filled with confidence that they would not die, after all, he was the only one who would fight.
"Past is past, and there is no turning back, right?"
His voice mixed with a quiet laugh.
He stood smiling.
The soldiers stayed silent, waiting for him to attack first.
"It seems I have my own goal now, unlike when I was…"
He chuckled as he stared at his palm.
Then he raised his head and saw glowing holograms above the soldiers' heads, even those in the back.
"Hahaha… What the? Do they think I am on the same level as these pitiful soldiers?" he said.
In those glowing blue holograms were their names, ages, heights, current weight, condition, emotions, thoughts, everything about them.
"How convenient this is," Albert said.
[Function Using: Soul Reading Eyes]
Albert realized that he was one with the artifact, which was why he could use its functions as his own.
"Hey!!! Cowards!!!"
he taunted.
At first, the soldiers ignored him. But one person in the back grew angry and commanded them to attack at once.
"FOR ABADDON!!!"
the soldiers roared.
Albert smiled menacingly.
He spread his arms wide.
And then, at the same time, he spoke and thought two different lines.
"Spell One!!!" "Spell Two!!"
He pointed his right hand at them, firing a massive ball of dark energy.
It was slow yet they couldn't dodge.
Because, out of nowhere, dazzling golden chains had tied them all.
Every one of the three thousand soldiers.
All fifteen generals were shocked.
But their leader was the one most shaken, and Albert read his thoughts using the system.
[Shit, how is he able to cut the thread of life of my soldiers?
Setaria!!! Use your ability!]
"Huh? What is he talking about?"
Albert wondered.
He grew curious about what the leader meant by "thread of life" and what kind of ability Setaria had, but it didn't matter. He was swallowed by his emotions.
Every face of those who died in front of him flashed in his sight.
Every word they left him echoed in his heart.
"Al… I'm sorry…"
"Past is past, and there is no turning back."
From above, they looked like ants trapped in a pit with no escape.
The giant ball of dark energy drew closer to the soldiers at the front.
"Brace yourselves!!! We are not going to die here! We are!!!… We are!!!… Not gonna die!!"
they shouted almost in unison.
Albert spat at their words. He simply stood there, watching them about to be swallowed by death.
"Ahhh!!! …hahaha, looks like I am getting used to being a real murderer now," he said.
The ball he unleashed consumed everything in its path, leaving not even a drop of blood behind.
"Ahahahaha!!!"
Albert laughed maniacally.
Then he read a thought from the back:
[I can only use this with my remaining two life points.
But whatever, if you can't revive them, then I have no choice.
I'll spend one more point.
What a hassle.
REDO!!!]
Albert's eyes widened as he read it.
He knew something unexpected would happen from that single word: Redo.
The world began spinning like a clock.
He couldn't move or speak.
His vision darkened.
Until...
He woke again.
To his shock, the same pale, lifeless Anon was the first thing he saw.
As if he had returned to the past, to the very moment he first woke up.
"What the…"