A warm breakfast.

"Whoa!?" Leonard rose up with a start.

It was the familiar ceiling of his bedroom.

'Was it a dream? The day hasn't even begun?' Questioning If it was all a dream Leonard frowned when a different feeling stole his attention.

Muscles, skin, joints, and senses, it all felt different.

He looked down and was shocked out of his mind; he was younger. His skin was the same as anyone in their mid-twenties.

'I went back in time-?' Anxiety threatened to take over, as thoughts flashed in his mind. 'There's nothing good about going back! I was weak then, and would still have to endure until that day!'

His insides were drenched in adrenaline that sent his mind thinking a million thoughts a second. Until he raised his head and looked through the window.

The black pillar of light that was his inner core explosion was still high--piercing the clouds with rings of smoke around it.

Relief washed over him. He thought of how beautiful the view from his window became, completely overshadowing his panic and slowly calming his mind.

'I have revived?' He touched his body and found another surprising change. His body was in top-notch condition. When he started in the church, his body was crippled, when he learned how to heal, his body was already in tatters from the way he needed to use spiritual powers. So it was like he was in an entirely different body.

'Was it that voice that revived me? But how could it restore my soul?'

Leonard stopped moving, his eyes slowly opened wide as a crippling headache followed.

"W-What's this? Even if you're giving me information are you carving them on my mind with a spike!? Damn you!" He cursed with bloodshot eyes, as he felt knowledge being stuffed inside of him, with even less care.

[You're the champion of the one who reigns over spirits.--Death.]

The grandiose voice sounded on Leonard's mind. He felt it was the same one who enlighted him at his very end in the dungeon.

[Because you have the trait of chaos that allows you to break any barrier without punishment; you were chosen as my champion despite of your race. You're dark and light, water and fire. Like the yin and yang, you're whole. Beyond good and evil. But don't be conceited, you're not unique. Each god will have and bless as many champions as they wills it. One who's a champion can only die or become the emperor, such fate cannot be changed. Do not forget.]

Blood seeped out of Leonard's mouth

'That was all?' Annoyance crept up

'The intensity of pain to the amount of information is completely disproportional!'

He gasped for air while on the ground.

Rattling noises came from outside.

He woke up from his pondering. His mother must still be with Maria!

Leonard jumped up and ran.

As he passed by the leaving room, clear marks of blood-forming a dragging trail was dry on the ground. his pupils shone black and he reinforced his body, in two wide steps he was at the end of the trail, by the end of the corridor. The blood trail ended beneath the bathroom door.

From the small openings of the door wafted a smell of urine and blood. Leonard didn't hesitate any more and entered after steeling himself to whatever was behind the door.

A swelled pale white face with busted lips and haunting wide-open eyes stared at the ceiling from the blood-soaked ground. But it was not Eleonore.

"....Maria...?"

She had a pool of blood on her back but no visible wounds in front of her, judging by the state of her face and the bits of blood on the toilet bowl; she was drowned to death.

"H-How, Who?"

"Oh, I heard a noise in the bedroom and you running, I thought you'd come to the kitchen where I was. I guess I forgot she was here too."

A gentle tone answered his mumbles.

Leonard turned around.

A woman with young skin and a snow-white hair, wearing thick orange-colored glasses smiled at him while drying her soap-soaked hands on her white apron.

She slowly eyed the boy in front of her, as he slowly recognized her new younger face. He went from stunned to smiling widely. Her eyes reddened at his childishness.

Tears slowly ran down her cheek.

"Welcome home, brat."

*****

The nostalgic smell of a sizzling hamburger filled the kitchen. Leonard leaned back on the chair while staring at Eleonore cooking with extreme carefulness, he lazily sipped on the cup of orange juice with a smile.

"Two hours to make a simple hamburger... that's some next-level cooking skills..."

"It's my specialty, It needs time!" She snapped back while cleaning the sweat off her forehead.

"How is that specialty If it's the only food you can make!"

"One should master one issue before going to another!" She retorted

For a second they were back six or five years.

"... How did you do it?" Leonard asked after a moment of silence.

Through the reflection, he saw an eerie smile form on Eleonore's lips.

"When you left in the middle of the night, Maria dragged me to a ceremonial circle, she said that I'd be a pill for the Saint knight to stabilize his foundation after his promotion."

Leonard's eyes narrowed into slits, as she continued.

"But I regained my movement, I was weak and she was a third tiered knight. So she just left me sprawled on the floor and turned her back to fuss on her phone..." Eleonore chuckled.

"It's been only five years, yet they all forgot I was once called the Ice witch."

As she spoke, a one-meter long spike of ice condensed in front of Leonard. Unlike the common spells, it was abnormally thin. From the tip it was as like a needle then it thickened to the size of a thump on the back, it danced on the air as she willed it.

"I'm a biologist, even though knights are superhuman, the weakness of humans still remains. Puncture the spine of a distracted knight with three of those and they will be paralyzed like any other..."

Seeing her dazed on her memories, Leonard wondered if that was how they paralyzed her.

"As a third-tier magus, it's easy to condense something this thin without the brittleness of ice, and for an unprotected back, it was easy. The hard part was dragging her and keeping her head on the bowl."

She finished speaking and took the burgers out of the frying pan.

"....."

The woman had always been playful and focused on her job, violence, rarely passed her mind, the only reason she became a mage, was for the sake of os studying magic. But after those years, she can kill and talk about it without being fazed..

....

"I can finally become an adventurer now!" Leonard suddenly slammed the table and spoke excitedly. breaking the stiff atmosphere.

Eleonore jumped and almost let the burgers fall.

She stared at him and stomped on the ground with anger. Then she realized what he said and widened her eyes.

Everyone in the church died. She didn't ask what happened, but she knew they both couldn't casually stay at their home and live normally, people will investigate, questions will be asked. But even so, Leonard spoke like that.

He grew up and wouldn't speak so casually if it wasn't true. but still, she was worried then ecstatic.

"Leo, are you sure it's for the best?"

He got up from the table and held her hand and flashed her a smile. "Do you trust me?"

Her eyes reddened again "I do." And hugged him.

In the house with a body on the bathroom and blood trail on the floor. The mother and son shared a warm breakfast.