James was still struggling.
His left arm hung limp, blood dripping from his fingertips. His chest heaved as he gasped for breath, trying to manage the pain.
Taking the full brunt of the Blood Shadow’s attack had nearly crippled his left side.
But that wasn’t the worst of it.
Draco, his protector, had succumbed to madness, attacking everything in sight.
Even the Demon Cult members were struggling, caught off guard by the Blood Shadow’s indiscriminate assault.
If Richard Sterling had remained sane, with his talent and abilities, he could have reached Lord tier within 500 years!
But now, as a Blood Shadow, he had shattered the Guardian Shadow’s limitations, breaking through from Chief to Lord tier!
Under normal circumstances, ignoring the minor detail of him being a Blood Shadow, this would be fantastic news.
But they were in the middle of a battlefield, and Draco’s reckless attacks were taking a toll on both friend and foe. James was caught in the crossfire, barely holding on.
Draco grew stronger with each passing moment, the blood-red aura surrounding him intensifying, almost solidifying.
“Kid!” one of the Demon Cult Lords roared. “You’re on a special mission. You must have a Guardian Shadow protecting you. Tell him to intervene!”
“If we wait any longer, we’re all going to die!”
These human traitors knew the inner workings of the human leadership better than anyone.
They assumed James, on such an important mission, would have at least a Lord tier shadow accompanying him.
James ignored their pleas, focusing on healing his arm and finding a way to escape with Draco.
But no matter how he tried to communicate with Draco, he couldn’t get through.
Frustrated, the Demon Cult members cursed.
“Damn it, did they abandon this kid?”
Facing a fully Blood Shadow-ized Draco, they wanted to cut their losses and flee.
But the surrounding demon creatures wouldn’t allow it.
Their intentions were clear: either the Blood Shadow died, or the Demon Cult members died.
Or they all died together.
“It’s now or never!” a Demon Cult Lord roared, his voice a feral snarl. “Restrain the Blood Shadow! Kill James first, then deal with the shadow!”
They had initially hesitated, fearing a hidden Lord tier Guardian Shadow.
But now, it was clear there was no such backup.
If a human Lord were present, they wouldn’t stand idly by while Draco transformed into a Blood Shadow.
“Attack!”
With a plan in place, the Demon Cult members moved swiftly.
On the battlefield, hesitation meant death.
They had delayed their attack for two reasons:
Firstly, they feared a hidden Lord.
Secondly, they wanted to minimize their losses.
But now, facing a mindless Blood Shadow, they exploited its weakness, easily trapping it with illusions and hallucinations.
Without the Blood Shadow’s interference, James was a sitting duck.
“Get him!”
Several figures lunged at James from different directions.
Facing such overwhelming odds, James was powerless to resist. Even self-destructing to take them down with him was impossible.
An arrow, fired by a Demon Cult member, pierced James’s heart. Death seemed inevitable.
As his life flashed before his eyes, time seemed to slow down.
He had lived a short, uneventful life, like a flower withering before it could bloom.
In his final moments, he saw the instructor’s face, his words echoing in his ears. “Study hard and be a decent person.”
The sensation of time stretching and distorting faded, and James returned to reality.
He was alive!
A young man in black stood before him, stretching casually.
Instructor Michael smiled, his expression a mixture of relief and excitement. “Haha, I’m the protagonist after all! Reincarnated into a fantasy world! Praise the Goddess of Luck! She has smiled upon me!”
“Instructor Michael?” James stammered, his voice trembling.
Michael’s smile froze.
That voice sounded familiar.
He turned stiffly, staring at James. “Where are we?”
“The Fifth Abyss,” James replied.
Michael’s body shook uncontrollably. He let out a primal scream. “Kill me! Now!”
He hadn’t been reincarnated into a fantasy world. He had been reborn into the same damn
world!
A familiar figure, wielding a hammer, appeared in the sky.
“Are you sure?” Mike asked. “You want me to kill you?”
Michael instinctively took a step back. He could sense the immense power radiating from that hammer. If he said yes, that weapon would obliterate him without hesitation.
He chickened out. “Can I rephrase that?”
Mike put away the hammer, settling back into his rocking chair.
The others, witnessing Michael’s sudden appearance, were confused.
They hadn’t met Michael before.
But Mike knew.
Shortly after awakening his talent, he had uncovered clues linking Michael to the former
Fourth Demon Cult Leader, Terenas.
Terenas had reincarnated as Michael, encountering Thor at the summer camp and triggering
the previous war between humanity and the Abyss.
Mike had thought that was the end of it.
But Michael was back!
“Something’s not right…”
Mike stared at Michael, searching for answers.
He activated his remaining Sage Mode (official version) charge.
[Analyzing…]
A new prompt appeared before his eyes.
[This individual was once Terenas Phantom. Now… as you can see, a healthy human.]
???
Mike gasped, his mind reeling.
Terenas wasn’t even human to begin with?!
Suddenly, countless pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.
The Terenas and Michael storyline had been a long game, orchestrated by Apollo.
It was all an experiment!
An experiment in resurrection!
Taking a deep breath, Mike calmed himself, his thoughts becoming clearer.
The version of the story he knew was that Michael was Terenas’s reincarnation, and Terenas
had been killed by Shadow Nine.
But that wasn’t the truth.
Michael had been Terenas’s shadow all along!
Just like… Shadow Nine was Nathan’s shadow.
Nathan had died, but Shadow Nine lived.
Terenas had died, but Michael lived.
They were perfect parallels, a controlled experiment orchestrated by Apollo.
Terenas had been aware of this, even cooperating with Apollo.
But Shadow Nine, Mike… even Michael himself had been kept in the dark.
And now, the experiment had reached its crucial stage.
Michael, who had died, had been resurrected by some unknown means.
So, the next step… was Terenas?
If Terenas could also be resurrected, Apollo’s experiment would be a success.
Shadow Nine and Nathan could both be brought back to life.
Understanding the truth left Mike speechless.
Shadow Nine, trapped within the Supreme Abyssal, was unaware of these events.
Only two individuals knew the full story:
Mike and Apollo.
Realizing this, Mike froze.
He “saw” a butterfly fluttering before him.
The world around him seemed to stop, leaving only him and the butterfly.
The butterfly flapped its wings, “seeing” Mike.
“You understand now?”
Mike nodded.
The butterfly flapped its wings again.
“Don’t tell.”
Mike nodded again.
Apollo’s message was clear: don’t tell Shadow Nine.
Mike wouldn’t dream of revealing this secret.
In fact, there was only one person he needed to keep this from: Shadow Nine.
Satisfied with Mike’s response, the butterfly turned to leave.
Then, it paused, returning to Mike.
After a moment of silence, Apollo spoke.
“Do you have any questions?”
Mike hesitated, then asked the question that had been weighing on his mind.
“How was Michael resurrected?”
“I don’t know,” Apollo replied, his voice a gentle whisper.
After a moment’s thought, he added, “Morpheus once said… ‘The living are the only
connection between the dead and the world.””
Mike understood. “So… Michael’s resurrection is a result of Dream Come True?”
The butterfly flapped its wings. “Yes.”
“I have no further questions.”
The butterfly flew away.
The world around him returned to normal. No one had noticed the butterfly’s presence.