Success

"Ahhhhh!" A piercing scream echoed through a large stone room, dimly lit by a few glowing rocks shaped like lights.

The source of the sound was a rabbit-man with light blue hair, strands of white interspersed, pressed against a pristine white stone wall. His hands and feet were strapped down, and his face displayed a mix of panic and pain.

"P-Please! Stop! Stooop!" The man yelled once more, his voice filled with agony that seemed to ripple through his entire being.

A gentle "Shh." sound responded to the man's pleas. The origin of this sound was a man exuding an air of authority, seated in a metal chair across from the screaming man.

His long, jet-black hair fell in a void-like cascade, a stark contrast to his fair skin. His eyes, a brilliant crimson, were captivating, almost pulling you into their depth with their intensity. Dressed in the functional garb of a scientist—a crisp white lab coat that fit him impeccably—he caught the light with a subtle sheen.

It had been three days since Lucian gained the rabbitmen as his followers, using them as willing test subjects under the guise of enhancing their powers.

He had gained both knowledge of himself and his powers during these three days. Though more of his powers than anything.

If before, he felt like he was simply using his power instinctively... Well, now it was the same, except he had some practice doing it.

A slight smile appeared on Lucian's face. "Come on, Ollie. Didn't you say you wanted to be powerful enough to protect your wife?" Lucian asked, continuing to rearrange Ollie's insides as he did so.

Ollie's eyes, red with both stress and pain, stared into Lucian's glowing crimson orbs. He gritted his teeth, seemingly accepting his fate.

Almost as if sensing this change, Lucian's smile widened slightly, the muffled screams echoing out like music to his ears. He flipped the last metaphorical switch in Ollie's body, anticipating the inevitable combustion and the room to be painted in a bloody red mist like every other test subject.

However, it never came. Ollie merely passed out, his body still intact and looking the same, save for his red eyes and white hair.

"Did it work?" Lucian murmured, standing up from the oddly comfortable metal chair and walking towards the unconscious rabbitman.

Lightly flicking the forehead of the sleeping rabbitman, he awoke with a start, letting out a startled, "Huh!?" as he jerked violently against the bindings that held him against the cold stone wall, effortlessly breaking them in the process.

Lucian tilted his head, a small smirk forming on his face. "Looks like it did," he uttered, letting out a small chuckle of happiness at his success, not even minding the seemingly panicked and disoriented Ollie.

"Where am I!?" Ollie exclaimed, taking in the dark stone room, seemingly carved to perfection, as if by the very hands of a god.

Before uttering again, "Wait! No! Who am I!?" as if coming to the realization that he couldn't remember his own identity.

Lucian raised an eyebrow in a mixture of amusement and curiosity at Ollie's words. He never intended to erase Ollie's memories with this procedure; he was merely trying to strengthen him by condensing his organs and bones, making him physically more robust.

'Maybe he's trying to suppress the pain and agony I put him through?' Lucian mused. After all, the human brain is a fickle thing.

"You!" Ollie called out, seemingly coming out of his inner turmoil and noticing Lucian's presence.

Approaching Lucian with a desperate expression, he continued, "Do you know where we are? Who I am?" Almost relieved not to be alone in the plain white room.

Lucian responded to Ollie's panic with a calm, contemplative smile. "Not worth the risk," he said before Ollie's body exploded into a bloody red mist, splattering everywhere but on Lucian.

"He could have been faking it after all," Lucian murmured, amused, as he clapped his hands together in a motion as if to dust them off. His clothes seemed to dissolve into particles of shimmering light at the motion, scattering and reforming into a stylish black and white suit.

'And it would be troublesome to deal with an insider for what I have planned for my followers,' Lucian mused, not liking the idea of having a disloyal follower among his closest henchmen.

After all, he only experimented on the least loyal beastmen—individuals he could afford to lose in the long run.

"Looks like I can start phase two," Lucian murmured. A slight smile adorned his words as he turned around, the faint clack of his black leather shoes echoing against the hard stone floor. In an instant, his presence seemed to vanish from the dimly lit room, leaving no trace behind.

...

A delicate beauty, her form bathed in the soft, silvery light filtering in through a nearby cabin window, lay gracefully on a large bed with pristine white sheets. Her presence exuded an air of elegance and otherworldly beauty. Long, golden locks cascaded down her back, glimmering like strands of spun gold. The golden hair contrasted beautifully with her fair skin, giving her an ethereal, almost celestial quality.

Her captivating blood-red eyes seemed fixated on the white and black pages of a manga resting in the delicate fingers of her two hands. While her attire was simple yet elegant, consisting of a flowing, white gown that draped gracefully over her slender figure.

Puffing her cheeks, Yue murmured, "What even is Christmas?" as she observed the black and white pages before her. The scene depicted a teenager with brown hair and eyes sitting in an office adorned with Christmas lights, accompanied by another boy with black hair and black eyes.

"Why put this chapter here? It was just getting good," she complained, not seeming to like the Christmas OVA.

"Oh? But I happen to think that Light and L's romance develops quite nicely here," Lucian chimed in from behind Yue. His voice startled her, causing her to jump up like a startled cat and throw the manga across the bed.

Lucian amusingly grinned at Yue's startled expression. "What? Are you not rooting for them too?" he asked, his voice calm despite his expression.

Yue smiled, seemingly finding his words funny as well as she jumped towards Lucian and into his chest, embracing him, her arms and legs both wrapping around him as she murmured, "Did you finally finish?"

Lucian gently returned the hug, looking down into Yue's ruby orbs as she looked up into his. A happy smile played on his features as he spoke, "Yep," leaning down to plant a kiss on her lips.

Yue, too, happily returned the kiss as they intertwined their tongues and spit for a moment before separating.

Licking her lips to remove the leftover saliva, Yue asked, "What now?"

Moving towards the large plush bed Lucian had created a few days ago, along with numerous other houses in the village he created for the rabbitmen, he sat down on the smooth silk white sheets. Yue remained comfortably situated in his embrace, looking up to him.

"I create my underlings before I send them off to do my bidding," Lucian said, his voice calm as he gently stroked Yue's golden locks.

"So, you're really doing it?" Yue asked, not seeming bothered by the idea, just curious.

Lucian amusingly smiled as he said, "Of course."

"After all, I can't help but wonder?" He muttered, his red orbs seeming to glow as he grinned.

"What would it be like to own a World Tree?"