"Oi, if you are going to die anyway, you might as well give me that body of yours."
In the dark, empty cave, Lucien heard a voice.
Lucien ignored the voice at first.
After a brief silence, the voice echoed through the cave again.
"Oii, kid! Are you ignoring me?!"
Lucien came into a sitting position and glanced right and left, looking in every direction, but he couldn't see anyone there besides himself.
Lucien said,
"Who are you, and where are you?"
The voice sighed and said,
"Kid, I am inside your mind. It means that right now, both of our consciousnesses are in the same body."
Lucien, whose remaining eye was still swollen from crying, blinked in confusion before asking again,
"Same body? So you are saying my body has two souls right now?"
Lucien was curious.
After crying alone for days, he finally had someone to talk to—something to distract him from his trauma.
The voice said,
"Correct, kid. We are two souls in one vessel."
Lucien looked at his mother's horn in his hand and asked,
"You said you wanted my body. Why?"
The voice answered calmly,
"For revenge."
"Revenge? On whom?" Lucien asked.
"Everyone," the voice replied.
It was just one word, but it was enough for Lucien to understand what he meant.
Lucien may have been an eight-year-old kid, but he had a high intellect. His mother had taught him how to read and write when he was a toddler.
Lucien looked at the ceiling of the cave and asked,
"They also hurt you?"
"What happened? Why do you want revenge on everyone?"
The voice sounded irritated.
"Oi, kid, just because I am talking to you, don't try to get close. And don't you also seek revenge on those who destroyed your world?"
Lucien gripped his mother's horn tightly.
"But... I can't kill everyone for the mistakes of one."
"You are naïve, kid. You won't survive with that type of mentality."
"Umm, Uncle, what's naïve?" Lucien asked.
Even though Lucien was smart, he wasn't even a teenager yet.
There were still many words he didn't know.
The voice was dumbfounded.
After a brief silence, the voice spoke again.
"Naïve means a person who thinks they can do this or that without taking the necessary steps or making sacrifices."
"Oi, kid, do you really not want revenge on those who killed your mother? If I were you, I would've burned the whole human civilization."
Lucien took some time to think.
He looked at his mother's horn and then smiled.
"Well, I will take revenge, but on those who are actually responsible for it. If I destroy the whole human civilization, then if their kids have survived, they would have to live their lives without their world, and their hatred will be directed at me. Then the cycle will go on."
"Heh. The cycle of hatred has been going on for years, and you think a weak-ass kid who can't even stand will make a world, the so-called paradise? Utopia? Don't give me that crap."
"Well, I want to make my mother's dream come true. I want to make a world where no one is bound by race, appearance, or anything else. I want to give this world freedom."
The voice was silent for a few moments.
Then...
"Haaah, kid, it seems you've got a screw loose! You think a world like that can exist?! My whole kin was killed in front of me. I was able to do nothing, and now they are the lowest of the low."
"Umm, Mr. Voice, were you also a demon?" Lucien asked.
"Yeahh, brat. I was. A powerful one at that. Yet I was not able to do anything. And that is what I get for being naïve."
The voice paused.
"I don't remember my past life much. I only remember the combat techniques I used on battlefields, the massacre of my kin, and that I was betrayed by my close ones."
"I remember nothing else. I just don't even know if I exist or not."
"I don't even remember my name."
Lucien thought for a moment before saying,
"Umm, Mr. Voice, do you want your memories? If you are conscious right now, that must mean that there should be your memories somewhere."
"If I take you to your old memories, can you give me one thing that I ask?"
The voice answered mockingly,
"Heh, you puny brat. What can you even do? You don't have power or influence, nor do you have money or a name. What can an eight-year-old brat do?!"
Though it was harsh, it was the truth.
Lucien, in his current state, couldn't do anything.
He was like a young lamb that had been separated from its mother, waiting to be hunted by starving wolves.
Still, the voice thought...
Maybe... just maybe, this kid has potential.
He had been thinking about taking over Lucien's body, then training himself and extracting revenge, but for some reason, he couldn't take over his body.
Hmm... let's sign a deal with him.
Then the voice spoke again.
"Okay, kid. What do you want?"
Lucien replied almost instantly,
"Strength. Power. To make a world where there is no discrimination."
"Haaah, this bullshit again?!"
The voice screamed.
"Okay, never mind. Let's sign a binding contract."
"Umm, what's a binding contract?" Lucien asked.
"A binding contract is, as the name suggests, a contract made in blood, in which both parties give their conditions and then drop their blood."
"If any of the contractors breaks the conditions, the one who broke them will cease to exist, and their soul will perish in eternal darkness. They will be alone forever in the void."
"So, kid, let's do this?" the voice asked mockingly.
Lucien said,
"Okay."
Then he asked,
"Now what do I do, Mr. Voice?"
"Give me control of your left arm, and then we will sign the contract."
"Umm, how? How do I give you control?" Lucien asked.
"Just let go of your left arm for a few seconds and think that it doesn't exist in the first place."
Lucien did as instructed.
Then his left arm moved on its own.
Or, I should say...
The voice moved it.
"Heh... after years, I finally feel the soil, the air—"
"Umm, Mr. Voice, the contract?"
"Haaah... can't even enjoy this happiness for two moments."
Lucien's left hand rose.
A red, glowing circle appeared below Lucien.
Then the voice said,
"Now, state your conditions, brat."
"I want you to teach me everything you know without hiding anything," Lucien said.
"Any other conditions?" the voice asked firmly.
"Umm... ohh, yeah. You won't hide anything about your past memories when you regain them."
"Okay, I accept."
Then the voice continued,
"Now, here are my conditions."
"First, you will help me kill all the kings of the world."
Lucien's eyes widened.
"What?! You want me to kill every king?"
"Yeah, brat," the voice stated calmly.
Thoughts rushed through Lucien's mind.
Yeah...
Kings were responsible for the imbalance of order, as well as the subjects who obeyed them without having their own opinions.
And kings should be responsible for the suffering of their subjects.
Yeahh... I'll kill those kings who think they are safe now that they are on top of the food chain.
"Okay," Lucien said.
"Now, here's my second condition. You will have to help me regain all my memories."
"Okay, I accept, Mr. Voice."
Lucien bit the thumb of his right hand, and blood began to flow.
A drop fell onto the circle.
Mr. Voice, who was controlling Lucien's left arm, also bit his thumb and pushed the blood through his finger.
Both drops of blood fell onto the circle.
The circle began glowing red and maroon.
After a second...
**CRACK!**
The circle broke.
Then Lucien felt it.
A chain surrounding his heart.