Damien managed to tilt his head left and then right. But no one could move. Not a soul stirred. Even the birds, hung motionless in the air like eerie statues of time. A shiver crept down his spine.
'Time… stopped? How is that even possible? What kind of power could do this?' His mind spiraled with disbelief.
Then his gaze shifted to the ominous Black Book floating just inches away from him, its pages flipping endlessly, displaying arcane symbols and ancient language he couldn't understand.
But before he could process the impossibility of his situation, the earth beneath his feet splintered like shattered glass. The cracks spread outward in a spider web pattern, and suddenly he was submerged into the abyss, swallowed by an absolute darkness that devoured even the slightest trace of light.
Damien glanced around, panic rising within him as he realized he could not see even a flicker of light. This was the exact same suffocating darkness that he'd witnessed the moment he died in his previous life.
"What the hell? Am I dead?" he muttered, frustration lacing his voice. Just then, a chilling, mocking laughter echoed through the void.
"Kekekekeke... HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Damien recognise that deep, and extremely infuriating voice.
"So it's you, Being X," Damien stated flatly, his voice carrying a mixture of resignation and barely contained fury as he waited for the entity to manifest its presence.
Almost immediately, as if summoned by his words, a gigantic curved red eye materialized in the darkness, its crimson iris burning like molten lava. Below it, an enormous mouth stretched wide, revealing multiple rows of razor-sharp black fangs that gleamed with otherworldly menace.
"Being X?" The being's voice echoed through the darkness.
"Yeah. That's the name I've given you, since—as you so graciously pointed out—I'm apparently not worthy of knowing your true name." Damien replied, his eyes lowered with deliberate nonchalance, refusing to show the fear that gnawed at his insides despite the cosmic horror before him.
"Tsk. A lesser being like you, naming me?" The entity scoffed. "You truly don't know your place, you little insect?"
Damien gaze at those gigantic eyes with all seriousness.
'He just called me a lesser being… that's exactly what deities call humans. And if he really is the one who stopped time… then just how powerful is this bastard?'
"I can't believe you're just about to die again, without even tasting the revenge you so desperately seek, even after I so graciously bestowed upon you the one-time regression spell," the being taunted, its voice dripping with mockery.
"Graciously, my ass!" Damien's composure finally cracked, his voice exploding through the void with raw fury. "You just wanted to use me like everyone else has! Like a puppet dancing on strings! So cut the divine benevolence act and tell me—what the hell do you actually want from me?!"
The silence that followed was thick with tension. Then, when the entity finally spoke again, its tone had shifted to something far more serious - something that made Damien's blood run cold.
"I want the exact same thing that you want. I Want REVENGE." The gravity of its words sent a shiver down Damien's spine.
Damien felt the burning desire to ask who—who could possibly be the target of a deity's vengeance? The person Being X wanted to take revenge upon must possess power beyond imagination, but deep in his gut, he knew he wasn't permitted access to that kind of world-shaking knowledge. Not yet at least. Not when he remained this pathetically weak. Instead of voicing his questions, he allowed a confident smirk to spread across his lips.
"Well then, stop wasting time with dramatic monologues and send me back. And I'm going to need every scrap of help you can provide." The words came out with surprising confidence, accompanied by a strange exhilaration that he couldn't quite explain. It was as if some part of him was genuinely excited to see how this impossible adventure would unfold.
Being X's massive eye widened in what might have been a surprise, but then the entity's mouth curved into its own predatory smirk.
"Cocky little... Very well then." Without another word, reality twisted around Damien and he found himself back in the frozen world where time had been suspended.
The moment Damien's consciousness returned to his physical form, something extraordinary began happening to his shattered body. The grievous wounds he had sustained from the devastating battle began knitting themselves back together with supernatural speed, flesh regenerating and blood vessels reconnecting.
Broken bones shifted and fused, realigning themselves with audible clicks and snaps that should have been agonizing but felt oddly satisfying instead.
Simultaneously, the black book's pages, which had been turning endlessly, suddenly came to an abrupt halt. The air around the grimoire shimmered with otherworldly energy as a small dimensional portal opened directly in the center of the Black Book. Swirling darkness beckoned from within its depths like a miniature gateway to another realm.
Just then, Being X's voice suddenly echoed directly inside Damien's mind, each word reverberating through his consciousness with divine authority.
"You said you needed my help," the voice declared with something approaching amusement. "Now TAKE MY HAND!"
As the words echoed through Damien's thoughts, something began to emerge from the tiny portal. Slowly, deliberately, a black sword started rising upward from the dimensional gateway, its blade gleaming with an inner darkness that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it.
The weapon's emergence was accompanied by an aura of such malevolent power that the air itself seemed to recoil from its presence.
Damien's eyes widened in awe and anticipation as an involuntary smirk spread across his face. Without hesitation, he reached out and gripped the sword's handle with his right hand, feeling the cool metal mold itself perfectly to his palm as if it had been crafted specifically for him.
With a swift, decisive motion, he pulled the weapon completely out from the portal, and the moment the blade cleared the dimensional gateway, the portal snapped shut with an audible crack.
Then, without warning, a translucent blue screen materialized in the air before him, hovering like a ghostly interface from some impossible technology.
[Attempting Grimoire Bonding...]
"What the hell... what is this? Grimoire bonding?" Damien stared at the floating message, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't be seeing this correctly..." He just can't bring himself to actually believe what he was seeing.
He had heard whispered legends about mages who had reached the absolute pinnacle of magical power—stories of those rare individuals who had successfully bonded with their Grimoires, achieving a symbiotic relationship that granted them unrivaled power and virtually limitless potential.
But even in his wildest dreams, Damien had never imagined that he would be attempting such a legendary feat with what he had always considered to be nothing more than a useless piece of crap black book that had stubbornly refused to be discarded.
[Attempting... Error, Error, Error, Error, Error, Error, Error, Error, Error...]
A flurry of error messages flooded the blue interface, causing it to glitch uncontrollably.
"What the… Error?" Damien shouted, anxiety creeping into his voice. Just then, another message appeared before him.
[NOTICE: Another Entity Has Taken Over Your Grimoire]
"What the hell? Is it another being besides Being X?" Damien yelled, utterly bewildered. "Just what the fuck is going on?!"
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the system stopped its violent glitching. The blue interface that had been flickering wildly transformed, its color shifting from peaceful blue to deep, blood-red crimson that pulsed like a beating heart.
[SSS-Class Grimoire Bonding: SUCCESSFUL]
The moment this final message appeared, the black book that had been floating before him crumbled to ash, its ancient pages disintegrating into nothingness that scattered on invisible winds.
Simultaneously, the time-frozen world around him shuddered back to life, reality resuming its natural flow.
"And the winner is…" Lucas began to announce, but before he could finish his statement…
BOOM!
An uncontrollable, devastating wave of crimson energy erupted from Damien's transformed body, the sheer force of it creating visible shockwaves that rippled through the arena.
The overwhelming power surge left everyone present in stunned silence, their minds struggling to process what they were witnessing.
The boy they had all assumed was not only dying but completely devoid of magical ability now stood before them radiating otherworldly power, a mysterious sword gleaming in his grip, and most impossibly of all, the grievous injuries and puncture wounds that had riddled his body moments before had completely vanished without a trace.
A melodic chime suddenly rang through the air, audible only to Damien as another system notification materialized before his eyes.
DING!
[SYSTEM STATS INITIALIZED]
[Grimoire Rank: SSS-Class]
Basic Information
- Name: Damien
- Level: 25
- Experience Points: 12,000/12,000
- Health Points: 1,800/1,800
- Mana Points: 100/100
Status Attributes
- Strength: 40
- Agility: 30
- Intelligence: 30
- Vitality: 40
- Defense: 20
- Luck: 15
Magic Attributes
- Chaos Magic [UNIQUE]
Equipment
- Weapon: Avarice; One of the Seven Deadly Sins' Legendary Swords
- Gear 1: Compulsion; Allows the user to compel those weaker than you (Mana Cost: 30 MP)
Skills
- Gluttony: Enables the user to devour or absorb enemy attacks, nullifying or significantly reducing their effects (Mana Cost: 90 MP)
Upon witnessing this incredible status window, Damien felt overwhelming joy surge through every fiber of his being, especially upon seeing and confirming that he could now wield Mana—something he had been denied his entire life.
A confident smirk spread across his features as he raised the legendary sword upward, letting it rest casually against his shoulder while tilting his head with practiced nonchalance. With deliberate, measured steps, he began walking toward Anita, each footfall echoing with newfound authority through the stunned silence of the arena.
"Oi, Princess," he called out, his voice carrying a dangerous edge that made several spectators unconsciously step backward. "Come on, don't tell me you want to end the match already."
He crouched low, muscles coiling like a predator preparing to strike, his crimson eyes gleaming with renewed purpose and barely contained power.
"After all," Damien declared with absolute conviction, his voice rising to carry across the entire arena,
"MY STORY IS NOT OVER YET!"