2 The Request of a Madman  

"What is this place? Is it hell?"

It was only natural for him, who had committed great sins in life, to think, like any human would, that he would find himself in hell as soon as he regained consciousness in this place.

He had died; there was no doubt about it. He wasn't alive because he had felt, in his own flesh, how he was crushed until he became paste. But he wasn't precisely dead, and the place where he was felt exactly like how many people have described hell.

"You..."

At that moment, a whispering voice emanated from the blood-red sky.

Anton stared directly at the enormous, dark figure that rose like a mountain in front of him. It was indescribable, lacking the presence of something alive but feeling like something heavy pressing on him solely with its omnipotent figure, giving him the sensation as if he were in front of a god, one never acclaimed by humans and very ancient.

"Look at me directly, surrender to me, and finally merge with me. You will attain infinite truth and have a new chance to exist. Immerse yourself and crawl out of the darkness; only then can you save your soul." The murmur of what Anton believed to be an ancient god echoed in his mind; the tone was very light and confusing, almost like a whisper.

Anton wanted to move, but he discovered that he couldn't. However, the whisper of that entity, which hadn't introduced itself yet, lingered in his mind.

Looking at the sky as it burned with flames and ash, Anton felt, for the first time in his life, an internal crisis that was leaving him terrified.

At this moment, he felt increasingly tired, but his eyes couldn't look away from the scene that he was sure he would never be able to forget if he had another chance. Before he could do anything, that entity approached closer and closer to where he stood fixedly.

Fear...

Adoration...

Faith...

Although he never believed in a specific god, he knew that there was a being that was perfect above all humans on Earth, and that being could under no circumstances be known.

That was Anton's creed until a few minutes ago, when he could swear through tears that he was in the presence of something divine.

"Surrender to me..."

In that whispering tone, the enormous dark figure slowly extended a dark halo towards Anton, who watched all of this without offering resistance.

He didn't want to move; he had even forgotten how to breathe, so he stood still, feeling how that dark halo enveloped him.

"I want another chance."

"Pray for it!"

"If there truly is a heaven, I want to cleanse my sins."

"Pray even more for it!"

"I will change the world; I can promise that."

Like any ambitious man, life was the only resource he had to invest time and money in. But now that all sense of reality had changed for Anton, he was more than willing to beg for that opportunity the entity spoke of regarding heaven.

If there truly was something after death and he had a new chance to cleanse his sins, he was more than willing to do whatever it took.

He just needed something—a purpose to prove that he could be as good as he could be bad.

"Then wake up..."

Staring into the abyss of darkness that had enveloped him, Anton, who had lost all traces of reality, closed his eyes without knowing where he was taken or what would happen next.

The infinite darkness was what dragged his consciousness into nothingness.

As light and suffocating as the mist...

At that very moment, but in an unknown place, that same darkness descended upon a young man asleep in a seat on a train carriage.

"Passengers of the Eco-45 train are about to reach their destination, Wisdom Springs City!"

"You should be as good as your father!"

It was the only sentence that came to the mind of a young man sitting in the seat of an underground train traveling at high speed before waking up.

"Once again, those strange dreams. Who is that man, and why do I keep dreaming of a vast forest?" murmured the young man as he rubbed his forehead, trying to alleviate the headache tormenting him.

The dreams had started recently, approximately a few years after completing high school at the age of fifteen. As one of the last sons of the great exorcist of the ShadowBane family, who served directly regardless of any religion, he had lived under rigorous training to become a powerful exorcist.

"You are the son of the great exorcist ShadowBane; you have to be stronger than him and surpass his legacy!"

"You will inherit your father's position as the next Grand Exorcist of the Association of Light. The world depends on you, young ShadowBane!"

But with every passing second in that strange environment, he felt like he didn't belong to that world. He sought something calmer, a place where perfection and training weren't demanded of him. Bleeding until he had a body suitable for battle against the enemies of humanity, learning battle tactics, reading procedures, studying various types of dark entities, and reviewing reports on exorcisms—that was just the tip of the iceberg of what he had to do as the successor to the legacy of not only a family but also his famous father within the world of exorcists.

"You've failed. Don't disappoint me in that way again!" His father's words ten years ago were extremely cruel and severe, as if he were not merely ten years old at that time.

Anton ShadowBane?

Yes, that was his name, the same as the man whose life appears in his dreams. Could that man be one of his past lives, as mentioned in history books? Yes, he had read many of them, but no dream haunted him like this. It was more like he remembered small fragments of a movie and didn't know the title.

"Forget it; thinking about that won't give me anything but future problems." After being puzzled for a while, Anton slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he looked at was his face.

Seated in a private-class seat, he was traveling underground to a small city where he would serve as an exorcist priest. Similar to a newly graduated hunter who would eliminate the evil plaguing this uncultured and unaware world.

As a young exorcist priest of the Association of Light, he was the only one to take on the role of the eradicator of evil at the age of twenty. The war with dark entities like werewolves, vampires, cursed spirits, demons, or fictional beings such as mythological creatures was real in this world, meaning there were numerous unexplained deaths every day.

"All of this would be better if they announced it to the whole world. Being considered a father when we're not tied to a religion is something that will prevent me from ever having a girlfriend."

The reflection in the brightly lit blue window showed Anton's slightly wavy hair down to his chin, very penetrating dark eyes, and abnormally pale skin.

The stereotype of modern beauty, but Anton didn't care about this with the life he led. Nowadays, singers and dancers who blow into a microphone are famous. Everyone continues to live their lives as if nothing in the world is happening, and now, with the reach of social media, every person in the world has the possibility of reaching hundreds of thousands of internet users, and that was concerning.

"It doesn't matter if I'm attractive; in a few days, I'll start working as an exorcist priest. All to follow the wishes of the ShadowBane family." Anton's cold tone reflected a bit of his rough personality.

Putting aside his appearance, thanks to his long hair, he could be considered quite ordinary within certain standards. Looking at his simple body under a set of completely dark clothes, he thought about gaining volume to improve his muscles and have more mass to protect his organs.

Anton, who was awaiting the arrival of the train, thought, "Since I am an Exorcist Priest of the Association of Light, the last thing I need is to have a weak body, as a damn werewolf could kill me with one blow."

Diverting his gaze from the mirror, he could check the latest news with the help of his smartwatch. Just as he was about to send a message to his father that he was about to arrive, a sharp headache caused his vision to blur once again.

Argh!

"That damn headache again..." Anton held his head with both hands, letting out a sharp groan from his mouth, when suddenly he felt dizzy. A pain that traversed his entire mind, the intense pain moved from his forehead to the back of his neck, and then every muscle in his body began to cramp.

"Huff... Huff..."

Anton felt as if years had passed, then hours, and by then, after thirty minutes of real-time, he could sense his pain beginning to diminish. From the outside, it might seem like he was having a simple nightmare, but from within, he had witnessed the life of a child flash through his mind as if it were a series of lived memories.

It was only after half an hour that he managed to return and wake from the stupor. When Anton was about to examine his surroundings once again, a hand lightly touched his shoulder, and then a voice spoke to him with some hesitation: "Young man, sir? You have arrived in the city. Please wake up."

When Anton opened his eyes again, he could see a man who seemed to be from the train staff speaking to him with concern.

"I see, so I've incarnated into a world plagued by werewolves, ghosts, and vengeful spirits, and it turns out I'm someone extremely important." After murmuring that, Anton sighed in a very murky manner.

Upon hearing those words, the worker beside him wore a surprised expression and asked with doubt, "Young man, are you okay?"

"Eh? Yes, I'm fine." Looking at the man in front of him, Anton let out a bitter laugh.

"It seems I was sent to an extremely unsafe world; there's no chance to survive in the business world here, so I must work at what I'm good at." Right now, Anton couldn't be bothered about not having the opportunity to be someone important in this world, as his current body had a background and a story so powerful that it would make anyone who knew it tremble.

And he, someone who had fully recovered his memories from his past life, needed to first be fully aware of how dangerous and powerful he could become in this world.

"The memories of this world's Anton are becoming a bit blurry; they are being replaced by mine, so I must remember the basics to not seem like a madman." After organizing his memories of the old him and the new Anton, he got up from his seat and walked towards the exit.

"Oh, sir, you forgot your bag!"

When Anton heard the voice that had awakened him again, he turned back and took the bag from the worker's hands. After that, with a slight smile of gratitude, he said, "Because I slept quite a bit during the journey, I'm a bit dazed. Thank you."

"Oh, have a safe trip!" said the worker before stepping away.

Exiting the train, a hallucinatory but strangely familiar sight appeared before his eyes. With every step he took, his body pulsed with youth, and a strange sensation ran through every corner of his muscles.

With that feeling, Anton perceived that something sudden had invaded his body, and he momentarily felt tired. But as he moved, the familiarity and that sensation slowly disappeared, making him feel more comfortable.

"Don't tell me I'm sick." Anton wanted to think that maybe it was because he wasn't used to walking with this body, which had different characteristics from the one he was familiar with.

Well, setting aside that strange sensation and the new appearance of his body, there was an important thing he needed to confirm urgently before making any moves.

He had a hunch from the memories he observed a moment ago of his life as this world's Anton, but he needed to confirm it, and what better way than through his cell phone?

"Does this thing have facial recognition?"

After calming down, Anton looked at the tools projected and, with a single thought, carefully directed himself to the information displayed in front of his eyes.

This cell phone was different from the rest; it wasn't programmed for normal user use but strictly for exorcists.

"[User ID: Anton ShadowBone]

Age: 20 years

Occupation: Member of the Association of Light

Rank: Exorcist Priest

Rank Potential: First Level.]"

"That explains the memories I had on the train." Anton muttered as he turned off his cell phone and walked towards private transport. As he approached, the driver nodded and opened the door.

"What is your destination?"

"To the Orion Hotel..."

"[Transport mapped, remaining time: 30 minutes!]" After the driver set the route, the car moved slowly.

Being a businessman, luxuries like these were natural to him. At least, in that aspect, he wouldn't be caught during his stay in this city, and he wouldn't be afraid of his work.

Putting aside his personal life as the old Anton, his background in this world was truly powerful, and his mere identity was terrifying.

He was the only son of the leader of the ShadowBane family, who was also the Grand Exorcist of the Association of Light, known to be the most brutal in exorcisms.

But setting aside his personal life.

In this world, they, as exorcists, acted solely on their own will and abilities to hunt those who were not of this world; that was what had kept humanity safe up to this day.

The priests of the Association of Light blended in with those of other religions, but they were responsible only for eliminating threats in cities, towns, and areas where real danger existed.

Although they had a Grimoire to proceed cautiously, most of the time, this was resolved with the appropriate tools and skills necessary for the level of threat.

But still, Anton could sense that something was wrong with his body. "First, I have to be in a quiet place to avoid drawing attention from strangers."

Now, with his mind focused on his upcoming goals, he began to develop his plans for the future.

"Unfortunately for my enemies, I'm a person who does everything possible to achieve my purpose, even if I have to sweat blood or kill." Anton smiled coldly, but that same smile distorted when his eyes saw a screen in front of his gaze without anything projecting from it.

Now, what the heck is that?