[Bonus chapter] The show

"Oh, my God!"

One of the girls exclaimed, and everyone held their breath as they watched Lucas falling to the ground and fainted. Michael gasped, and even the Rock trembled slightly.

…Yet, Natalia coldly looked at Lucas and then turned away, obscuring her expression from them. But not the Goddess and she knew her emotion even from afar.

Speaking of the Goddess, she was still wearing a mask of sorrow, yet she felt exhilarated inside.

'This is good character development for them!'

She was heartless, true, but did she mention a Goddess must be compassionate? Some became God but were vile, and of course, she could be either good or bad.

"Lucas!"

Michael forcibly took a step, and he was now finally free. Hastily running at Lucas, he was about to touch him but was startled when Lucas's eyes abruptly opened. He was frozen on the spot, watching Lucas's pupils move and stare at him.

He shivered… creeps crawled on him for some reason.

Involuntarily, he took a step back, his consciousness wholly locked on Lucas's wide eyes. Taking him by surprise, Lucas's face changed and was not as creepy as before. Lucas appeared sorrowful with heartbreaking intensity, conveyed by another batch of overflowing tears.

The dried tears from before, replaced by the blood when his face was glued to the tainted runic marks, had now dampened his face with tears again.

Michael felt illusionary, believing his perception had been distorted earlier. It was like Lucas suddenly turning into a monster, yet everything returned to normal as it was.

Sob…

Lucas cried again, and now his face was pale and lackluster with vitality akin to that of a dead living person. Just by looking at the current Lucas, everyone could perceive the subtle difference. And just recalling that Lucas was dead earlier, he suddenly became alive and had the energy to cry, causing their bodies to tremble in fear.

Even the Goddess felt strange by the turn-off of events.

Michael finally gathered some courage, gulped saliva, and stuttered:

"L-Lucas?"

Yet Lucas continued to cry, appearing miserable, and this scene should have left everyone in pity… but all they felt was bizarreness and fear.

Natalia, caught by the strange atmosphere, gazed at Lucas and frowned. For some reason, she didn't quite like the feeling Lucas was radiating, and as a person who had known him well for almost a decade, she could discern the change.

"Who are you?"

Yet, Lucas ignored him and appeared to continue crying for a while, neglecting everyone, except for a single presence.

'Dreka world, huh? What a coincidence.'

Of course, Lucas, seemingly in another dimension, heard his thoughts. He could even perceive what was going on with his senses… he could even feel the excruciating pain from his slit neck. He couldn't help but wonder what he meant, but now, he should enjoy the show for a while.

'What show? No, I must worry about what he will do with my body!'

"What are you?"

The Goddess's voice garnered everyone's attention. Some wondered about what she meant, and even Michael and Natalia were the same, while the single man, or a mid-teen, smiled at it.

"That's an interesting question."

It was still Lucas' voice, but why did it appear it belonged to someone?

Chill crawled behind everybody's back when they finally recognized Lucas might have been possessed. Though, some were still scientific and concluded Lucas might have become deranged after an emotional breakdown.

"I don't remember humans from the Dreka world… or I should say, my previous world, or a past world I live in or whatsoever, possessing this power. In my time, they are at the lowest of the food chain, living in a cave to survive.

True, Aether existed back then, but humans couldn't sense it, much less manipulate it."

Lucas tilted his head upward and gazed at the Goddess with a creepy smile, yet appearing regretful.

"It's a pity I didn't witness the rise of the humans back then… Well, I even thought I destroyed it."

'Or, we destroyed it.'

The Goddess couldn't follow what Lucas was saying: Destroy the Dreka world? When humans were still at the bottom of the food chain, living inside a cave for survival?

What the hell is he talking about?

And he even stated he thought he destroyed it. What is he, a God?

Maybe, his mind turned deranged.

Calming her restless heart and chaotic thoughts, she asked with a frown:

"What are you going on about?"

Lucas smiled in response.

"Oh, nothing. It's nothing. I'm only about to say that humans in their world were dominant and were even trying to kill themselves. Well, compared to the humans in Dreka world… or, what should I refer to, the current humans in Dreka world, there is an enormous contrast between them.

But I must say, it seems you summoned them with a goal, right?"

The Goddess was indifferent, but she was internally shocked by Lucas. Not even giving her time to reply, Lucas continued:

"Well, do you wanna know what I learned from humans on Earth? Was that there's no such a thing as free lunch!

Ah! I forgot some students were summoned without their own accord, so the proverb did not fit well.

What a pity."

Lucas, who was surprisingly still crying, shook his head in a carefree manner, contradicting the tears overflowing from his eyelids. From the original Lucas image, even he was irritated by the half-image blurring the screen.

The Goddess was stunned, and she didn't know how many times she had been stunned or shocked, but she adapted completely well. She was about to retort and admit it, wanting to take the chance to introduce the problems that the humans were facing when she was startled by the sudden thought.

Still staring at Lucas's face in silence, she watched him, gazing at her with wide-smile and tears falling from his eyelids.

It was bizarre, and the bizarreness only increased when she thought of the previous Lucas. She might have missed Lucas from the start, but from the short conversation, she knew he was timid, shy, and generally weak.

It completely contradicted this talkative Lucas, appearing carefree, who doesn't have social anxiety and overthinking from the surrounding people, and it unsettled her.

Her mind worked profusely, trying to recall what the current Lucas babbled about. It was then… she suddenly thought of another race in the Dreka world. Well, technically, a previous race from the Dreka world, who had now been banished but would appear if summoned by a ritual.

And just like what the current Lucas stated, the history of humans, her era, was indeed living in the cave because of their existence. Only she forgot because it was the most unpleasant memory she didn't want to remember.

'Then, does that mean?'

The Goddess was shocked; she was completely shocked to the point she failed to maintain her poker face. Her eyes widened as she stared at Lucas once again, still crying with a creepy smile, so she couldn't hold back and stood.

"You are a Devil!"