Reincarnated in the Astral World

"Jaxon?? JAXON?!?"

"Who's there?!"

"AAAARGHHH!"

"YOU DEMON!!"

"NOOOOOOO!!!!"

From inside his bedroom, Edgar hears the guards' screams with his ear pressed against the door, his expression a mix of confusion and terror.

'What the hell is happening out there?!' He desperately wants to know but dares not open the door, and with each scream, his fear grows more intense.

'Who? Who would attack my family?!' He tries to find an answer in his mind. 'The Drummonds? No... Josephine wouldn't dare. Then maybe...

that guy... he really seemed like a bloodthirsty psychopath...'

'Arthur... could he have come here after me?' Edgar starts to tremble uncontrollably. 'He couldn't possibly kill so many Elite Warriors alone... that's impossible!'

Amidst his thoughts, Edgar fails to notice the dwindling screams of the guards until only silence remains, a silence even more terrifying.

'The screams... did he kill them all?!?' Edgar presses his ear harder against the door, trying to hear any sound from the other side, but there is only silence...

*Creeeack*

The sound of metal and wood echoes within the room as someone slowly manipulates the door handle.

"AH!?" Edgar leaps back in fright and falls to the floor, quickly scrambling away from the door. 'No! No!! No!!! Go away!!!'

The room's air thickens with impending dread as the door handle turns ever so slightly, hinting at the arrival of an unseen horror. Edgar, cornered and powerless, can only wait in the palpable silence, wondering if his next breath might be his last.

He pleads to all the gods he knows, but the doorknob continues to turn slowly, nearly reaching its end. At this moment, time seems to slow, cold sweat dripping down Edgar's face.

"No, no, no... please..."

Edgar feels a warm, foul-smelling liquid trickle down his leg, staining his clothes and the floor. As the door appears about to open, he closes his eyes, completely overwhelmed by fear, his breathing heavy and heart racing. "Pleeeease..."

But then the knob turns fully, and the door does not open. A brown glow surrounds the door, and Edgar sighs in relief. 'The lock spell! He can't get in!?'

The doorknob remains still, and silence reigns again, giving Edgar hope. 'I just have to hold on until my father comes to save me... not even that demon can defeat a Champion, right??'

Edgar thinks he is safe, but he only has a minute of relief before a female whisper penetrates the door.

"Claustra solve."

The room's lights dim, and the brown glow at the door disappears completely, plunging Edgar into panic again. "NO!?!"

The doorknob is turned again, this time all the way... and the door is pushed open.

*Squeeek*

The only sound is the creaking of the door, and all Edgar sees is the deep darkness of the corridor. A wave of cold air mixed with the smell of fresh blood enters the room, making Edgar feel face-to-face with death itself.

"WHO?! WHO'S THERE?!?!"

"Hum hum… hum hum… hum humm…"

The cold voice of a demon sounds from the corridor, feeding Edgar's fear beyond any limits he could have imagined. In the eerie symphony of these hums and the encroaching darkness, Edgar is left to confront the very embodiment of his nightmares, realizing that no lock or chant could protect him from what now lurks just beyond the threshold.

"No, no, no..." He can't stop pleading.

"Hum humm..." A hooded figure slowly emerges from the shadows, his clothes and what can be seen of his chin covered in blood.

"YOU? You are..." Edgar recognizes that insane, gleaming smile as soon as he sees it.

The figure removes the hood, revealing his handsome face, Arthur, of course.

"Did you think you could escape from me?" He asks Edgar with a diabolical expression on his blood-covered face.

Not knowing what kind of enemy he was facing had left Edgar completely overwhelmed by fear. But now that he can see that it is indeed Arthur, a thread of hope sparks in his heart.

"No! I will not die like this!!" He exclaims as he tries to reach for his sword on the bedside table.

*Whoosh*

Arthur dashes towards Edgar swiftly and draws one of his curved daggers, pinning his enemy's hand to the table brutally.

*Bam*

"AAAAARRRGHH!!!"

Edgar screams in pain, and Arthur pulls his head back by the hair, causing him even more agony.

"STOOOOP IT, PLEASEEE!!!"

Edgar pleads, but Arthur pulls his hair even tighter while taking out a flask with a translucent yellowish liquid from his belt and shows it to his victim.

"No, no, no!!!" Edgar's eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets at the sight of the liquid.

Arthur's face remains impassive, the cruel smile never wavering as he unscrews the cap of the flask, making Edgar gag.

"Heeh..." Arthur's psychotic smile widens even further as he sees the deep-rooted fear in Edgar's eyes. "You recognize this, don't you? I bet you had fun watching my brother Oliver suffer from this shit..."

"I didn't want to do that!!" Edgar exclaims, desperate. "They forced me, I swear! It's all my father's and Elias's fault! I didn't—"

"Cut the crap!" Arthur yanks Edgar's hair even harder, and the blade in his hand begins to slice his skin, eliciting even louder screams of pain.

"Don't you see?" Arthur asks as he savors Edgar's screams. "I don't care who started this, but I will be the one to end it..."

"PLEASE!!" Edgar uses his other hand to grasp Arthur's arm. "Don't do this! I'll give you anything!! Just don't—"

"There's only one thing I want from you..." Arthur feels Edgar's strength, which is greater than any Elite Warrior he has faced so far. But the fear in his enemy's heart prevents the poor man from doing anything against him.

"What is it? Just say it, and I'll give it to you!"

Arthur looks into Edgar's eyes and sees the reflection of his own evil smile. "Your life."

"No—" Edgar tries to struggle, but Arthur drops a droplet of the toxin into his mouth.

"FUCK!!!" Edgar tries to spit out the toxin, but it's too late; it invades his body and blood immediately. "NO!!!"

"YES!" Arthur pulls Edgar's hair even more brutally, causing his hand to be sliced into two halves by the blade on the table.

"AHHHH—" Edgar lets out his final scream before the toxin, boosted by Aria, causes him to lose the ability to scream.

Arthur drops Edgar's body to the floor and watches him convulsing and foaming blood from the mouth. That scene makes Arthur's heart beat faster, and he exhales a relieved sigh. "Of all the sisters in the world... you had to cast your filthy gaze on mine? Tsk..."

As Lady Death approaches him, Edgar's eyes turn towards Arthur, filled with regret, pleading for forgiveness in the form of a quick and less painful death.

"BROTHER?!" A figure appears at the door of the room; it's the Viscount's daughter, Edgar's sister. As soon as she sees Arthur's face, she is shocked. "YOU?!"

"Me?" He smiles provocatively at her.

"FUCK YOU!!!" She charges toward Arthur with a spear in hand.

*Shoosh*

He pulls a needle from his belt and dips its tip in the toxin before quickly hurling it at the woman.

*Ziip*

Arthur sidesteps the spear attack, his fingers tracing the shaft of the spear to the woman's hands and then directly to her neck.

"WHAT?!" She feels her body quickly becoming numb as Arthur wraps his arm around her neck.

Her spear falls from her hands, and she is completely overpowered by Arthur, who tilts her body over Edgar's. The siblings' eyes meet, both filled with despair.

"Ah, our sisters… isn't there nothing we wouldn't do for them, right?" Arthur's cold voice sounds, and Edgar sees his curved blade appear at his sister's neck.

'No! Not this!!!' Edgar pleads just as his sister does, but nothing stops Arthur's blade from slicing her neck open, causing her blood to gush directly over his face and into his open mouth.

Both die in a dirty and brutal manner; Edgar witnessing the look of pain and despair on his sister's face, and she with her blood all over his face contorted in agony.

"Ohhh..." Arthur releases the woman's body over Edgar's and puts his hand on his own chest, feeling his heart beating slow down. He closes his eyes and enjoys that feeling he experienced the first time as Liam, a pleasurable sensation of peace.

He stays for a whole minute, just enjoying the moment, until his voice sounds again, this time in a loving and curious tone. "Did you see everything?"

"Yes, I did," Aria's voice sounds in front of Arthur, also loving.

"And what do you think?"

"Fair?"

"I mean about me..."

"Impressive?"

"That's not it... I mean, knowing about my dark side is one thing, but now you've really seen me as I am inside... how much I enjoy this shit."

"Yeah, I see you..." Aria's voice sounds closer and Arthur feels her touch on his face, gently cleaning the blood over it. "I see you, my son... my beloved little boy..."

"And that doesn't make you... sick?"

"How could it?" Aria laughs as she uses her hand to clean the blood from Arthur's face, her fingers reaching his lips. "You're no different from me..."

Arthur opens his eyes, but he still can't see Aria even though she's right in front of him. Yet, he can feel her touch, and based on it, he stretches out his hand to touch her face, too.

This time, she does nothing to stop him and just lets him touch her. His fingers run over her cheeks until they reach her lips, too. "Mother..."

Aria sees Arthur slowly moving his head forward, bringing his lips towards hers. Many reasons to recoil come to her mind, but her body completely ignores them, and she stands still, letting him kiss her.

The metallic taste of blood on his lips is strange, but neither can it overcome the aphrodisiac taste of his saliva, and his smell invades her nose, making the kiss just wonderful, a bloody kiss.

Arthur slips his other hand to the back of her neck and forces his tongue inside her mouth, intertwining it with her tongue and sucking her delicious sweet nectar.