Chapter 7: New life, New Beginnings

Chapter 7: New life, New Beginnings

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

The nearby mountains were completely blown apart as a massive wave of energy tore through the land.

Steve didn't block nor did he even move out of the way and simply took the full brunt of the attack head on.

His entire body was engulfed in flames, but he was fine as a dense layer of heroic energy protected him.

Steve was very annoyed right now.

He was on his way to the Pethnor's castle when suddenly these pesky demons blocked his path.

When the first few demons attacked him, Steve simply beat them and tossed them aside before continuing, but over time, stronger demons started showing up.

Eventually, one of Pethnor's 8 demon generals showed up.

Zich, the abyssal dragon, was now trying to kill Steve.

Unlike the other demons, Steve couldn't so easily beat him up.

Steve also didn't want to kill Zich either, as one time in his previous life, Pethnor and Steve got drunk together and Pethnor talked a lot about his old companions.

Despite being a ruthless demon lord of the time, Pethnor trusted those who worked alongside him and treated them quite well.

Although Steve wasn't certain, he did sense a bit of sadness when Pethnor was talking about his dead companions.

As such, Steve wanted to be considerate and not kill the generals, but Zich was not a opponent that he could go easy on.

"I'll say it one last time you oversized lizard. Move."

Steve was already running out of patience.

"Ha. As if I'd let some random intruder into our lord's territory. Also, aren't you also enjoying our battle? Hee!" Zich said as he let out a toothy grin.

A vein bulged on Steve's head.

"Fine… You made me do this. Don't you fucking regret your decision."

Steve's eyes glowed white as he raised his hand and then plunged it deep into his chest.

Instead of blood coming out though, a bright light shined out of the hole as he slowly pulled out the hero's legendary blade from within his body.

Steve jumped forward to collide with Zich.

Their battle raged on.

Explosions rang out all around them, and the damage extended to miles away.

But it was a stalemate.

Neither of them could inflict any significant damage on each other.

'How did I beat this annoying asshole in my past life?'

Before regression, Steve remembered defeating 3 of the demon lord's generals, Zich being one of them.

Steve looked through his memories, trying to find a clue on how to defeat this damage sponge, when it suddenly came to him.

'Oh. That's how I beat him… oh… well, I feel bad… but he won't move…'

Steve stopped fighting for a moment and then asked once gain,

"Are you… really sure you don't want to move? I am asking very nicely right now,"

Zich's response was as expected.

"Oh? Are you finally giving up after realizing how powerful I am? Heh, you flatter me, but no, I will not move!!!!"

Steve just let out a pitiful sigh.

He extended his open palm forward… and then clenched it suddenly.

The world abruptly came to a stop.

Zich let out a single squeal, before he collapsed onto the group foaming out of his mouth. His eyes rolled upwards as his giant dragon body twitched on the ground, creating minor tremors.

What happened?

Well, as a hero, Steve knew how to use every single type of magic to a certain extent.

What he just used was telekinesis magic, an ability to move objects without physical touch.

He used telekinesis to destroy a certain part of Zich's body.

The amount of force his telekinesis magic could produce would normally be unable to injure Zich as he was protected by the toughest scales and organs.

However, there was one part of him that was extremely delicate.

His testicles.

Steve had crushed Zich's testicles.

Dragons are known as one of the supreme races and the most powerful, as such, they also have the biggest and glorious balls, so it wasn't too difficult to locate them.

Using telekinesis, Steve bypassed the various layers of meat and scales protecting Zich's groin and precisely targeted his most precious part.

Steve simply shook his head and patted Zich's unconscious body.

He wasn't dead, but Steve pitied Zich more than if he had been killed.

Steve turned around and was about to leave the area when suddenly another demon landed nearby.

"Oh, fuck me man… another one?"

Steve angrily turned around and turned his heroic magic back on.

"Wait. I'm not here to fight… unfortunately. Anyways, my brother, you know him as the demon lord Pethnor, says he wants to meet you. Something about regression or something. I don't know really, I'm just here to escort you. I've been explicitly told not to fight you," the female demon casually explained.

Steve's eyes widened.

His prediction was right! Pethnor had indeed also regressed with him!

"Hm. But couldn't you have come a little bit sooner? If you had, he wouldn't have ended up like that…" Steve said as he pointed over at Zich's body.

"Oh. I was just watching. It was a fun fight, so I thought it was going to last a while longer, but I didn't expect you to do that. Are you sure you're the hero? Because from my perspective, you look like you have the qualities of a great demon general. You should've seen how your face twisted up from fighting Zich. Damn freaky. Have you considered joining us? You seem more fitting as a demon than a hero."

"…just lead me to Pethnor…"

'I need to work on my patience and anger issues' Steve thought to himself as he followed behind.

"So… you called Pethnor your brother?" Steve asked on a whim as they were running.

"Yeah. Surprised you didn't know that since you also came from the future."

"I didn't know much about Pethnor's acquaintances. By the time I got to the demon world, most of his generals were dead… including you, so I never got to meet you myself."

There was a silence between them for a moment.

"What the fuck happened in the future? Pethnor hasn't told me yet but considering how the evil demon lord and the righteous hero decided to work together, something drastic must've happened."

"It's… weird. There were some strange circumstances. It's a very long story."

"I would assume so. Whatever though, I'll hear about it eventually. Anyways, I don't think we've introduced ourselves yet. My name's Melisa."

"Steve."

"Steve? I thought you were Hero Xavier?"

"No, I am not Xavier. I'm Steve. That's my real name. I'm no hero either so just call me Steve."

Melisa nodded without prying any further.

The two of them continued running through the wastelands of the demon world.

Melisa led them through shortcuts and secret routes which allowed them to reach the demon castle within minutes.

In front of them, stood a giant castle that extended far into the sky.

Steve was slightly in awe.

Last time he had been here, the entire castle had already been destroyed by Lenier, so Steve didn't get to see its full splendor.

But now, it was fully intact.

The demon guards saw Melisa's approach and moved aside for her.

Steve just awkwardly followed behind as the demons all stared at him.

"Oi! Pethnor! I brought the hero… I mean, Steve!"

"Yeah, I know. I sensed you guys approaching a while ago."

Pethnor randomly appeared out of nowhere as if he had teleported.

"Pethnor, it's… good to see you again," Steve greeted his old friend.

"We have a lot to discuss."

Steve nodded solemnly in response.

Pethnor led them to a private room, where they started talking.

"So where do we start?"

"Let's start with what we were doing before we regressed. I'll go first."

Pethnor then started to explain what had happened, from when he had first destroyed the cult of Lenier's base, until when Ragnar showed up, then with how he found out they were working with the cult of Lenier, and then finally using Lenier's sigil mark to fight them.

Steve listened carefully throughout, not saying a word.

His face grew dark, but he was not surprised by the fact that some of the other heroes were traitors.

On earth, Steve fought in a war as a soldier, and there were times where he found out some of his fellow "comrades" were actually spies from the opposing nation.

He eventually started to develop trust issues and isolated himself.

It was only after coming to this new world that he had begun to once again open up to others, Pethnor being an example of someone he trusted.

Of course, even then, he did sometimes have some suspicions about Pethnor.

"So Lyla, Ragnar, Moore and Gruther are all traitors… do you think they also regressed…? If they did, that'd be very troublesome…"

"Honestly, I have no clue. I'm not even sure what the conditions for regression here is. I've investigated a bit and so far, I have found no news of anyone else regressing aside from you. I haven't found the location of any of the other 17 heroes though. Until you showed up, I thought I was the only one who regressed."

"I see. What do you think happened to Lenier's kid?"

"We regressed far back into the past, years before we fought Lenier, so that kid shouldn't even have been born yet. I don't know how time regression works, but he shouldn't exist now, so I don't think we need to worry about him. Anyways, what about you?"

"Well, for me, before I regressed… I met someone… the original demon lord Serena."

Pethnor was slightly taken aback by this abrupt news.

"You met the original demon lord? Serena… yeah… I recognize that name. That's definitely the original demon lord. You actually met her? She should be dead. She was killed by the Hero Xavier years ago."

"That's the thing. I even summoned Hero Xavier using Lenier's sigil mark and even he was surprised that Serena was still alive."

Pethnor was even more surprised.

"You did what? You summoned the Hero Xavier?"

Steve nodded.

"I'm not sure how either, but it was definitely because of the sigil mark. It held such powerful magic, that my heroic powers resonated with it and summoned Xavier."

"I also used the sigil mark while fighting as well… perhaps the sigil marks are the cause of the regression?"

"It's possible. Or maybe it didn't cause the regression, but perhaps those who possess it keep their memories during the regression? We both had them and we both also regressed."

"That would mean the other heroes with the sigil mark would've been regressed as well."

"Yeah. We need to find them asap… and also find the traitor heroes who were in the cult of Lenier. Who knows what they'll do… perhaps this was their plan all along."

The two of them continue discussing everything that happened, going into details to come up with clues as to what's going on.

Eventually, the topic turned to Lenier.

"Do you think Lenier regressed?"

"I have no clue, but either way, we need to find him. Whether or not he regressed, he'll eventually become a threat."

"Do we know where to find him though? In our previous life, Lenier appeared out of nowhere and attacked indiscriminately. Other than his name, we don't know anything about his background nor where he came from."

"My demon forces don't have as much influence in the human world, so it'll be more difficult for them to investigate there. Steve, you were summoned by Asgard kingdom right? Can you get them to investigate Lenier's whereabouts?"

Steve awkwardly scratched his head, and explained how he caused a bit of a commotion and left.

"Ah… that's unfortunately. I guess for now, we'll just search for the other heroes first. If they regressed as well, we need to get them on our side."

"Sounds like a plan."

With this plan in mind, they set out to go look for the other heroes and to hopefully find any hints as to where Lenier might be.

As for the man himself, Lenier, was currently being interrogated by some guards.

When Lenier left the forest and entered the town, he had forgotten the fact he was still completely nude and was wearing nothing.

As such, he was immediately arrested by guards and brought in.

Lenier was still a child, so he was treated nicely as they probably assumed he was a poor travelling orphan.

They asked Lenier a bunch of question and Lenier answered honestly. He explained that his old man had died to bandits and Lenier was left to travel alone.

The guards took pity on him, giving him clothing and some food.

Unfortunately, they could do no more for him than that and released him back into the world all by himself.

Lenier decided that the first step to this new life of his was to get a "job."

In his past life, Lenier never worked, he never got paid, he never used money and he never bought anything.

The only thing he ever wanted was pain, which was not something money could buy.

But now, Lenier wanted to experience this thing they call "working."

So Lenier went around place to place, asking for if they wanted to hire anyone.

Most of the people declined since they didn't want to hire a random homeless child, but eventually, Lenier stumbled upon a small family of farmers which happily accepted him in.

He began working in the farm and slept in the barn next to farmer's house.

It was simple and mundane.

Tend to the crops, tend to the animals, clean up, typical farmer stuff.

Lenier found joy in this simpleness which he had never experienced before.

This opened his eyes to a new world where he could be happy even without pain.

It reminded him of when he lived with the old man.

A singular bead of sweat dripped down Lenier's face as he carried several adult cows on his shoulder towards the barn.

He had recently eaten some of the steak that the farmers had cooked for him from these very cows that he had helped raise.

It tasted even better since he knew that he helped in the process.

He became friends with the farmer's children, who were roughly the same age as him.

A little girl who was younger than him by a few years and a boy who was older than him by a few years.

The entire farmer family were quite precious to him, and he valued them quite highly as they were his first real proper relationship he's had in over a decade.

So, it concerned Lenier when he suddenly felt the presence of a large number of monsters nearby.

The sun was slowly disappearing beyond the horizon as subtle noises of grunting and footsteps could be heard far into the distance.

A horde of goblins.

Goblins alone aren't too strong, but together, they're a menace.

A simple farmer family would easily get killed by a goblin horde.

Lenier remembered the first time he saw these goblins. These very goblins were the same ones that had invaded the entire village in his past life, destroying everything and attacking everyone.

They killed almost everyone and dragged their corpses to their caves to defile and use as toys to satisfy themselves.

Few of those they captured survived, one of them being Lenier.

He along with a small group of people had been dragged to the goblin den.

The goblins nailed the children to the walls as decoration, tortured the men for fun and impregnated the women.

They had only been saved a few days later when a lone adventurer arrived and slayed all the goblins.

Lenier had such fond memories of these goblins.

They treated him so very well.

However, in this life, he would have to decline their "hospitality."

Lenier gently placed the cows he was carrying onto the ground, and walked towards the forest, which the goblins were hiding in.

He intended to kill them all before they could get near the farm.

Of course, he knew the risk that if he fought them, he could potentially get hurt and feel pain.

But… he's Lenier.

Since when has he ever been afraid?

The moment Lenier stepped into the darkness of the trees; the goblins pounded on him.

Lenier's gaze pierced through the pitch-black darkness, and precisely shoved his finger deep into the nearest goblin's throat, killing it immediately.

With simple movements and strikes, he swiftly took care of the first few goblins that attacked him.

However, there were several dozen more goblins hiding in wait.

Not only that, but looking up, Lenier could feel something larger and more powerful: a goblin lord.

A goblin lord is bigger, stronger, faster and smarter than the average goblin. They lead the goblin horde and are extremely vicious.

A single one lord could crush even the most well trained of elite soldiers.

Even amongst well renowned adventurers, goblin lords are creatures that are avoided due to their nature.

There was no doubt that this goblin lord and his small army would cause great destruction… if it had not met Lenier that is.

The goblins all charged at him, but Lenier's body moved like the wind, his arms flowing like water and his nails gently sliced across the air, slitting all the throats of those who approached him.

His feet softly planted into the ground, gather all the potential energy and weight in his attacks.

Gentle, but deadly.

Lenier had never trained in his style of fighting, in fact, this was his first time ever fighting without getting hurt, but he was able to do it as if he was a grandmaster who trained his entire life.

It took no more than a minute to wipe out the entire horde, leaving only the goblin lord watching in shock as his underlings which he spent so long gathering were now all dead.

The goblin lord foolishly charged at Lenier with his massive club in hand, smashing apart all the trees in his path.

But Lenier didn't dodge.

As the goblin lord approached, Lenier just hopped into the air, twirled his body like a whirlwind, and thrusted his foot forward.

With the combined force of his kick, the goblin lord charging and his foot aiming at a critical weak spot, the goblin lord's neck snapped.

It did not immediately die, but it collapsed onto the ground, twitching as a sharp pain was sent throughout his entire body, paralysing him completely.

Lenier kneeled down next to the goblin lord and stroked his head.

"I'm sorry mister. Even though you treated me so well before, I had to do this. You see, I promised that I would live a pain free life, so I can't have you causing trouble, m'kay? So… go to sleep…"

Lenier gently cradled the goblin lord's broken head, as it gently closed it eyes for the final time, while in the embrace of a higher being.

Once the goblin lord body went limp, Lenier spent some time burying every single goblin corpse, giving each and every one of those green monsters a proper funeral they didn't deserve.

His job was done.

Although… Lenier felt something strange…

He looked around him, and it felt like… someone was watching him.

Hm…

Lenier picked up a rock and threw it at Mach speed towards the presence he felt, but then suddenly the presence disappeared.

Lenier didn't know what it was, but he didn't care since it was gone anyways, so he left the woods and ran back to the farm.

He didn't want to be late for dinner after all!