Punishment

The skyscrapers of the Elemental kingdom stood in the distance. Lucas was far from home.

"Damn it." Lucas cursed, taking a step towards the city.

The wind blew sand in Lucas' face; his feet dug into the sand with each step.

Unhappy that he was still naked, Lucas cursed. He was already uncomfortable walking naked through the desert, but when he returned to the city, he would have to go public.

"Where can I find new clothes?" Lucas said to himself. After a couple of moments, he felt his mana becoming uncontrollable again, bubbling up from under his skin like a black miasma caught in a hurricane.

Unhappy that he was still naked, Lucas cursed. He was already uncomfortable walking naked through the desert, but when he returned to the city he would have to go public.

"Where can I find a change of clothes?" Lucas said to himself. After a couple of moments, he felt his manna becoming uncontrollable again, bubbling up from under his skin like a black miasma caught in a hurricane.

"What?" Lucas said, trying to clear the black smoke.

Lucas's energy materialized and spun circles around Lucas like a black smoke vortex. Soon, the smoke began to form liquid and fall in drops onto Lucas' body.

Without panicking, Lucas stood frozen and waited to see what would happen next. Since it was his mana, he knew that his life would not be harmed.

Soon the liquid mana began to harden and form clothes. Or rather, armor. Black armor that reflected the sunlight. They were slightly rough, like stone. The armour itself was skin-tight, and seemed weightless.

"Well... I wasn't expecting that." Lucas said, touching the rough surface of the armor.

Lucas stretched a few times to make sure of the armor's comfort. Then he started walking towards the city.

"How many hours have I been out of town?" Lucas muttered to himself as he squinted into the sun, but quickly pulled his eyes away out of reflex.

Lucas walked through the desert for two hours, but the skyscrapers weren't close. Lucas thought the skyscrapers were a mirage.

"Fuck... Fuck..." Lucas cursed to himself under his nose.

Two thugs on horses appeared behind Lucas. Both dressed in cloth clothes, and covering their faces from the sun. Ted and Mark - notorious for kidnapping and slave trading.

"Hey, you lost?" Mark laughed as he slowed the horse to Lucas's side.

"..." Lucas didn't answer. He wanted to get to bed as soon as possible because he was tired.

"How rude." Ted spat on the ground in exasperation.

"Oh, if you'd been more polite, we'd have given you a drink and taken you to the Elemental kingdom!" Ted spat again.

Their plan was to catch Lucas and sell his armour after stealing it. However, they suspected he would be a strong adventurer, so they planned to poison him. If they knew the guy wasn't an adventurer, they would sell him into slavery.

"Get out of here, asshole..." Lucas said, clenching his fists. He didn't know why; Lucas felt an intense pain in his eyes since the two men appeared. His eyes were going to break.

Ted and Mark ignored him and continued to ride alongside Lucas. They pretended to be annoyed and asked for Lucas' adventurer card. Mark frowned and pointed his finger at Lucas and asked.

"How can an adventurer be so rude?"

"Show me your guild card. I want to talk to your superiors!"

Lucas froze in place and laughed. Unable to hold back his laughter, he clutched his stomach, laughing.

"Who are you? A Karen?" Lucas laughed through his tears.

"Excuse me?" Mark asked.

'Was he crazy after he spent so long in the desert?' Ted and Mark thought to themselves.

Ted dismounted from his horse and put his hand on Lucas' shoulder with a fake smile.

"Come on... Let's get you home." Ted said, trying to pull Lucas towards the horse but failing. Lucas's armor was hot from the sun, and Lucas didn't feel it only because of his immense resistance to heat.

"Auch!" Ted cried out in sudden pain as his hand brushed against Lucas's red-hot black armour.

Lucas' eyes burned with indescribable pain as soon as Ted touched him. All the crimes Ted had once committed, and even his plans to kidnap Lucas and sell him into slavery, appeared before his eyes.

"I..." Lucas stared at Ted, confused, not knowing what to say. Maybe it had occurred to him? What was it? Lucas asked himself. Had Lucas just seen the man's sins? He heard a name in the vision... Ted.

"Isn't your name sometimes.... Ted?" Lucas asked, tilting his head at Ted.

Ted and Mark's faces paled in fear. They used magical face scarves that would make their faces unrecognizable, even to family members. Mark jumped off his horse and drew his sword.

"W-who are you?" Ted said, also grabbing the sword handle.

"Adventurer? Police?" Mark asked, walking towards Lucas. Although he wasn't interested in the answer, whoever Lucas was, Mark had already planned to kill him.

Lucas ignored them and thought about the power he had just showed. He could continue his work if he could see people's sins. The work he started in his past life.

Because of daydreaming, he didn't notice that Ted was charging at him with a sword.

"Ted asked Lucas how he knew who he was. He didn't want to kill Lucas until he had all the answers. Fear engulfed Ted's mindset.

"Does anyone else know about me?" Ted's eyes were frantic, drooling at every word.

Lucas created a fireball and aimed it straight at Ted's head. The blast destroyed Ted's upper body, and Lucas answered the question.

"I just saw your sins." Lucas said without even looking at the shambling corpse.

"H-how could you?" Mark gasped at his friend's death.

"Y-you the police? Adventurer? WHO ARE YOU?" Mark started screaming, hoping Lucas would answer.

"Y-You can't kill. You need to arrest us!" Mark shouted.

But Lucas smiled and started walking towards Mark. Without saying a word. With one thought, that he would check Mark's sins. Although Ted could see Mark in his mind's eye, Mark hadn't killed or even kidnapped anyone yet. So he didn't want to kill him for no reason.

"Answer me!" Mark waved his sword in front of Lucas, who caught the sword in his hand.

"You answer me why you were a slave trader." Lucas demanded, his eyes glowing red and the mana coming off him suffocating. Lucas put his hands on Mark's shoulders, and his eyes flashed red.

"I.... I..." Mark glared at Lucas Satan. Satan, who had come for his soul.

Lucas saw all of Mark's sins, all the intrusions, all the abductions... All the faces of all the innocent girls who had lost their families to this scoundrel.

"Congratulations. You're even worse than your friend." Lucas has created another fireball.