Chapter 1 - I went back

I am what they call reincarnated. I had a life before I was born into this world, and that previous life of mine made me the cruel man I am today.

Despite my lack of talent, I was a very kind person and always quietly accepted other people's abuse. However, this kindness led me to a life full of pain and consequently death.

After reincarnating, I made a promise never to bow my head to anyone.

"Today you die, lust demon."

A middle-aged man, a swordsman, said in an angry tone. The words were addressed to me, the lust demon Joseph, the strongest man in the world.

"Sigh."

I could only sigh upon hearing those words. How many people have told me that in this lifetime? Many and all of them failed. To be honest, I want to die.

My life lost its meaning a long time ago. After reaching the apex of power, I, Joseph, no longer had enemies who could even harm me.

Life became boring, until I discovered new pleasures in life, sex. I've always been training and never cared about women or money.

At the age of thirty-five, after countless battles, I was recognized as the strongest man. The feeling of crushing your opponent and making them tremble in fear was the best of them all.

I finally understood why so many people wanted to become strong.

I thought there was no better feeling, until I finally lost my virginity. After tasting the pleasures a woman can provide, I was hooked.

This addiction grew so much, that I even developed sex-related skills. Obviously, after a while, rumors about me spread and people dubbed me the lust demon.

I've slept with countless women in my life, many of them married. Obviously, this spawned even more enemies.

Like, for example, this middle-aged man in front of me. Last week, I slept with his wife, a beautiful lady who couldn't resist the lust demon's spell.

I slept with his wife to annoy him, if I called him into a fight he would never accept. This man is the second-strongest man in the world and my only hope for death.

"You... LOOK ME IN THE EYES."

I wasn't paying attention to the swordsman, I preferred to look at the horizon.

"I want to die."

"What?"

The middle-aged man's voice trembles at my words.

Everything in this life has already lost its meaning to me, even sex.

"I really want to die. So please cut off my head."

Without missing this opportunity, the man moves at incredible speed and approaches me.

Due to my heightened senses, I knew exactly what position he was in, even with his back turned. The sound of the sword cutting through the air filled my ears and suddenly, darkness embraced me.

....

(POV ???)

All preparations have been completed. Now, I can finally send your soul back to your previous world.

Using the last drop of the chalice of time, I reset the world. This will be my last card to beat my brother.

With my knight's soul in my hand, I place it in his former body.

Seeing your soul descend to earth, the smile on my face freezes.

"What the hell, I sent your soul to the wrong period."

....

(POV MC)

"Cough, cough."

Startled, I wake up in a strange but nostalgic room. Looking around, I see a huge room, but the decor was simple and not luxurious.

I knew that room very well, lived in it for fifteen years in my first life. Knowing this, a chill ran down my spine.

The worst memories of my life washed over me. In this world, my name is Luke, the youngest son of the ducal Blady family of the human empire.

There are a total of four duke families in the empire, Windrs, Icebering, Earthey and the Blady. Each family represents an element of nature.

That is, each duchess family represents affinity with one of the elements of nature. We Blady have an affinity for the element of lightning.

Using magic in this world is something only nobles and high-ranking heroes are capable of.

As chosen of the goddess of light, heroes are able to use holy magic. We humans, elves and demi-humans have formed an alliance to fight the great evil of prophecies, the Demon King.

Only the representatives of the Goddess, the heroes, can defeat the Demon King. That's why they are so valued and loved by the population.

However, I hate with all my being the hero Arthur.

My story is very cliché, I was born to my father's second wife, unlike my brother and sister who were born to the first wife.

My mother died when I was young and because I have no talent for magic or fencing, I was treated like family trash.

Despite my best efforts, my father, my stepmother, my brothers, the servants of this house, my fiancée, the other nobles and even the professors at the academy despised me. Despite this, I always continued to show a gentle smile.

I acted this way because of the promise to be kind to everyone I made with my mother.

However, that promise was gone when my fiancée betrayed me with the one I trusted the most, my friend, the hero Arthur. Now that I thought about it, I was blind in love and acting like a dog.

Even though she mistreated me, I still loved her. But after hearing her groans of love for the hero, my world came crashing down.

Consequently, I ended my friendship with Arthur and made him my enemy. The problem was that I didn't have the strength to fight him on equal terms.

Even though I was a duke's son, the contempt of the people around me increased due to the hero's influence, and my life became an even bigger hell.

Time passed, and the war began, the heroes returned victorious and with the death of the empress from illness and having no relatives, Arthur assumed power and became emperor.

After that, he destroyed the Blady family, leaving me the only survivor.

I was convicted, imprisoned and tortured.

In the end, I ended up being killed by Arthur himself in prison. The only feeling I still had before I died was hatred, a giant hatred against the hero Arthur.

After these sweet memories, I get up and look at myself in the mirror. Seeing my reflection, I imagine I went back to the time when I was between 17 and 20 years old.

How did I get back? I never found the answer to my reincarnation in the other world and with this current situation, my doubts only increased.

I am special? Don't know, the only thing I know is that I just got another chance.

And this time things are going to be very different. I will take revenge on the hero Arthur, I will steal everything that is important to him.

I take the calendar from my desk. Looking at the date, I conclude that I am eighteen years old. I still have two more years of imperial academy.

Something important comes to my mind, Arthur and I are already "Friends". We became friends in our second year at the academy, after a practical test I was placed on his team.

Creating a schedule in my head, I conclude that the demon king will emerge in two years, when I finish the imperial academy. However, several events are yet to occur in the meantime.

Another point I have in mind is that I finished my third year at the imperial academy, and now we are on vacation. A month-long break from classes.

Today is the first day of vacation. In short, I have 1 month until classes return. Knowing this, a smile forms on my face.

The world I reincarnated into before is very similar to this one when it comes to magic power. Using all the knowledge I gained there, one month is enough to at least reach B-Rank.

Currently, I am at E-rank, the lowest rank. Evolving in a month to Rank-B is something that not even the greatest geniuses in history have been able to do.

But, before starting my training, there is something important I have to do.

Dipping the quill into the ink pot, I begin to write a letter addressed to my fiancée. After writing, I leave the room.

I don't see any employees in that part of the house, my room is in a secluded spot in this huge mansion. After a short walk, I step out into the mansion's garden and whistle.

In response, a black-feathered owl comes towards me.

"Take this to my fiancée."

I attach the letter to the paw of the owl, which flies towards my fiancée's house.

"Young master, what are you doing here?"

Hearing the sudden voice behind me, I see a woman with shoulder-length black hair wearing maid clothes. Unlike her respectful tone, his eyes showed something else.

Her name is Marceline, she is one of my father's personal maids. Don't be fooled by her innocent face, behind that calm face is a talented assassin.

"It's none of your business." I replied in a cold tone.

Marceline's eyes flicker at the sound of my voice. I had never treated any employee in that house like that. Despite being an assassin, on such an occasion she was unable to completely suppress her rage.

"Sigh."

I let out a light sigh, which irritated Marceline even more. A mocking smile formed on my lips.

"Some problem?"

"No young masters."

"Is sure?"

"Absolute."

"So, why are you looking at me with those eyes?"

"..."

I'm Luke Blady, the trash of the Blady family, and it's normal for everyone to look at me with contemptible eyes. But, I'm not the same as before.

I approach Marceline and whisper in her ear.

"Who the fuck do you think you are to look at me like that? You're nothing but a commoner serving my father."

Marceline's body trembles. I pull away from her and look into her eyes.

She's amazing, instead of letting her murderous intent leak out in the shape of an aura, she focused it on her eyes.

As soon as you don't look her in the eye, you won't see the intention to kill.

Anyone else my age would shudder with fear at the sight of such intent, but looking into his eyes, I could only smile.

I turned my back and walked back to the mansion, walking quietly. Upon returning to my room, I start to pack my things for my training.

I put inside my storage ring a few changes of clothes, blanket, a tent, money and leave the mansion.

....

(Marceline's POV)

I see Luke leaving the property. I quickly go to the office of the leader of this family.

Toc Toc.

"Come in."

Hearing the powerful voice behind the door, I enter and bow to the man sitting behind the desk.

He has dark purple hair, defined eyes, a pointed nose, and a thick beard. That man is the leader of the Blady Duchy, Jeorge Blady.

"What do you want, Marceline? You know very well I don't like to be disturbed when I'm in the office."

"I'm sorry sir. But young master Luke was strange today, so I thought something was wrong."

I gave a brief summary of what happened a short time ago.

"Where is him now?"

"He left the mansion. Did he not warn you?"

"No."

Jeorge stopped fussing with the papers that were on the table and put a hand on his chin, indicating that he was thinking. After a brief moment, he said.

"That's weird. He's never done anything like this before, do you have any idea where he's going?

"No sir."

"Marceline, I want you to follow him into the shadows and when you return report all his actions to me."

"Yes, my Sir."

"Alright, now get out."

I bowed low and left the office. With light steps, I left the mansion and in a short time I reached Luke.

.....

(Luke's POV.)

If it was in my previous life I would already be miles away from the mansion, but as I'm weak in this world, I'm about a thousand meters away.

Also, unlike my brothers, I don't have a horse. It will be a long journey.

To make my situation worse, Marceline is following me. She's probably following orders from my father, who likes to have everything under his control.

"Tch."

After half a day of travel, I arrived at my destination. In my previous life, the hero Arthur secluded himself in these mountains and came back even stronger than before.

In addition to him being a genius, it was concluded that this mountain has elements that facilitate increased magic power. Before going up the mountain, I stopped at a small village to buy groceries.

With everything ready, I started the ascent. Looking back, I notice that Marcelina is camouflaging herself in the vegetation of the mountains. If it were anyone else, he would hardly notice her presence.

I accelerated my steps until I reached a flat region of the mountain, looking around, I see a small cave. Upon entering, I begin to walk to the bottom.

My footsteps stop when I reach the end of the cave. I ran my hand along the wall in front of me.

"There's something wrong."

The wall was very thin, indicating that it was built by someone to block the way. Injecting some magic power, the wall crumbles.

"They should have used a stronger material."

I keep walking until I see a light, it was a passage. When passing, I come across a forest inside the mountain, the light came from crystals stuck in the ceiling. They probably absorb sunlight and reflect it here.

I take a breath and immediately realize how special this place is. This place has natural energy, probably some very powerful being died here and the decomposition of his body filled this place with energy.

Walking through the forest, I find a small stream.

"Are there fish in these waters?"

This place is amazing. No wonder, the hero Arthur came back as a monster in my first life. Lucky, he was stupid and shared the location with the other students.

If it wasn't for that, the students wouldn't have the strength to fight in the war and would consequently lose. Unlike them, I didn't come, I had already given up on getting strong.

I feel Marceline's presence in the woods. Now, with the two of us here, I go back to the entrance and cast a magic circle creating a barrier, which doesn't require much magic power.

Although it requires little magic power, this barrier is very resistant.

So, she won't leave until I do.

Then I walk to an area by the creek and pull things out of my storage ring. In a few minutes, I set up my camp.

After these preparations, the meditation process begins. I cross my legs and close my eyes, concentrating.

...

(Marcelline's POV.)

I try to get through the barrier created by Luke, but contrary to my expectations, I fail.

Since when does the young master have the talent to create such a powerful barrier?

Apparently, I'm stuck and that's a problem. Inside my storage ring, I only have supplies for three days.

"Sigh."

With no alternative, I jumped onto one of the tree's branches and moved to where the young master was. Like an excellent assassin, I approach silently and hide my presence.

Watching the young master, I see that he has set up the place as if it were a camp. How long does he plan on staying?

After arranging everything, he begins to meditate.

A few hours later, the young master begins to vomit a large amount of gray liquid.

.....

(Luke's POV)

Finally, after a few hours of meditation, I managed to gather all the impurities in my body and eliminate them. Now, I can finally start increasing my magic power.

Once again, I cross my legs and close my eyes, concentrating. Breathing in, I suck in air and begin to absorb energy from the environment.

If it were in a normal place, gathering the energy of the environment would take time, but here it is easy for the abundance. I feel my core energy growing.

Absorbing energy from the environment is easy, what I always struggled with in my first life was to direct it to the core and not let it escape the body. But thanks to my life in the other world, I was able to learn it and improve it.

It is a slow and laborious process. The best process is to absorb magic beast cores, but since I don't have that option because I'm weak, I'll use the longer one.

With that magical power my swordsmanship wouldn't scratch a tree.

So, a day passed, and I could feel a small increase in my magic power. At night, I went into my tent and slept.

Many people find intensive training effective, I did too until I learned the value of a night's rest. Driving the body to extreme exhaustion from days and nights of training is silly.

The human body can only take twelve hours of training. After this period, the body reaches exhaustion and if you force it, it can overload and bring you problems in the future.

I performed a simple routine.

After waking up I drink coffee, train until lunch, rest, go back to training and stop at night for sleep. I did this process for five days.

On the sixth day, I felt sorry for Marceline. She has little energy in her body, meaning she hasn't eaten in the last few days.

With all of my senses enhanced from my other life, I can know anyone's condition, even with little magical power.

I feel a little bad for her, I'm responsible for her current state. A few days ago, I took a walk along the creek and noticed that there are only fish in the place where I am camping.

I think the reason is the concentration of magic power.

"Sigh.... Marceline."

I called her. Obviously, there were no answers.

"I know you're hiding behind the branch of the crooked tree. Enjoy, while I'm generous and willing to share my food."

This time, Marceline moved and climbed down from the tree. Her movements were so silent that if I had my back turned, I wouldn't have heard the landing.

"When did you find out?" she asked me expressionlessly.

"I always knew you were following me since I left the mansion."

Marceline's eyes fluttered slightly. For an assassin, she shows a lot of emotions. Not really, my senses that are too keen, I see everything.

"I wasn't going to say anything, but the idea that you might be hungry crossed my mind."

"Where did you draw that conclusion?"

"Well, looking at you now, you're whiter than usual. That's because you're stuck here without being able to go out and buy supplies."

"..."

"Besides, the only food option here is fish. However, fish is only found in this place I am. I sensed you were hungry, and because of me."

"Have you... Have you thought about all this? I see, you're a different person than I thought."

Marceline put her hand over her mouth and whispered something. I decided to ignore her, and started to light the fire. Then, I took two canned soups out of the storage ring and started to heat up.

"I know you're here to watch me and then report back to my father."

"..."

She didn't speak, but her eyes asked, how do you know that?

"I don't care what your goal is. Just don't get in my way. Got it?"

I said in a cool, commanding tone.

"Yes, young master."

"Here, eat now."

After heating up the two cans of soup, I handed one to Marceline. She hesitated, due to her pride, but eventually accepted.

After lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon training while Marceline watched me. So, finally, the night came.

During the day, the atmosphere inside is pleasant, but during the night the temperature drops drastically. No wonder, Marceline's energy almost ran out.

Marceline is wearing a normal maid outfit, which doesn't protect her from the cold. This made her expend even more energy not to freeze to death, making her wear out faster.

However, this time, she is near the bonfire. Before, so as not to attract my attention, she couldn't light a fire, but now she can use mine to keep warm.

Looking at Marceline, she has black hair, white skin and a body that any noble would envy. She has thick thighs and a huge chest, in addition to her beautiful appearance.

In my first life, I died a virgin and in the second, it took me years to lose my virginity. This time, I will enjoy this life from the beginning, after all, I was called a lust demon in the other world.

Now that I think about it, all the women in the hero Arthur's harem are all transcendent beauties. He's a lucky guy.

Running my tongue over his lips, I imagined stealing all these women from him. It will be a pleasure to see your desperate face when you realize that everything has been taken away from you.

I left that idea for the future and went into my tent. In the middle of the night, I noticed that the fire had been put out.

As I left the tent, I found Marceline shivering in her sleep. As I approached, she opened her eyes and turned to me. Even though she was sleeping, all her senses were on alert.

"What you are doing?" she asked me.

"You're shivering. Don't you want to sleep in the tent with me? It's big enough for two and has blankets inside."

"No, thank you."

"Look, I'm going to be here for a long time. Are you willing to nearly freeze to death every night because of your pride?"

"..."

"Really? What did I do to make you despise me so much that you didn't want my help?"

"I accepted your help earlier."

"Earlier you had no choice, your energy was almost running out. At that time, it was an act of pure survival."

"..."

"Really, why do you all treat me like that in that house?"

I already had some idea why.

"Your brothers, they don't like you. One of them is going to be named the future head of the family, and it's best for us servants to live up to their expectations."

I knew that was it. Neither of them considers me a real brother, and with my lack of talent, I'm nothing but a laughingstock to them. My father is not far behind either, he never treated me well.

I can understand the servants. They behave according to power, and I have none in that house.

.....

(Marceline's POV.)

After my speech, the young master was silent for a moment, it looked like he was thinking. Suddenly he smiles and says.

"Marceline, things are going to be very different from now on. I understand that you and the other servants side with those who have power..."

He closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them, his eyes glowed an intimidating purple. Purple lightning is a hallmark of the Blady family spells.

"A year from now, no one will be stronger than I in this world, and I will kill anyone who is my enemy."

Again, words I never imagined would come out of the young master's mouth. Seeing his eyes, a shiver ran down my spine and a cold sweat ran down my face.

In those years I gained a lot of experience and I knew he was telling the truth.

"Marceline, which side will you take? Mine or the Blady family?"

He held out his hand. If I'm not misunderstood, did he just say that one of the most powerful families in the empire is his enemy? And I have to choose which side to stand on?

Without realizing it, I held the young master's hand. What was this? Instinct? I don't know, but something about my inconsistencies made me grab his hand.

"Very well. I promise I will take good care of you."

He said in a gentle timbre and pulled my body up.

"Now, let's go to the tent to sleep."

In the midst of doubts, I followed the young master to the tent. At that moment, I didn't know, but I made the right choice.