Eternal Saṃsāra: The Wanderer of Worlds, Book 2

[225] Will You Kill Me?

Chapter 225: Will You Kill Me?

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The wind howled around them, carrying with it the scent of blood and despair from the battle below. Yet, at this moment, the chaos of the world seemed distant, almost irrelevant. His focus was entirely on her, the woman who had once been his wife, the one who had killed him in cold blood.

The Venerable One stood motionless in the sky, his dark eyes fixed on her. Lilithra, the demoness, the one who had started it all—the catalyst for his many lives of torment.

So it has come to this, his thoughts murmured, as he considered the cruel irony of fate. The mistress behind the domino. The one who, with a single act of betrayal, set him on a path of madness and destruction. If not for her...

He allowed the memories to wash over him, one by one, each life linked to the last by the chain of events she had set in motion. His second life, as the Hero of the Empire, had been one of hope and purpose. He had fought for justice, for the betterment of the world, and for the love he had believed was true. But her dagger had shattered that illusion, plunging him into a darkness he had never known.

If not for her betrayal, he wouldn't have gone mad as Genghis Khan in his third life. The rage and bitterness that had festered within him after his death as a hero had manifested in a reign of terror. He had embraced his fury, leading armies across the world, leaving devastation in his wake, sacrificing millions with demonic arts.

If not for that madness, he mused, I wouldn't have sought redemption in my fourth life, as the Wandering Beggar. I wouldn't have embraced the false righteousness that led me to live that embarrassing hermit life.

The memory of Sangha's tear-streaked face, her expression twisted in pain and betrayal, flashed through his mind. He had tried to save her, to redeem himself through her. But his righteous path had only brought more suffering, more pain.

His fifth life, as the vampire, had been one of self-loathing. He had sought to erase his past mistakes by rejecting his very nature, denying the darkness that lingered within him. And that led to betrayal—this time, he betrayed someone else; his own mother.

His sixth life had been different.

A time of peace, where the echoes of his past had finally begun to fade. It was in that life that he started to break free from the cycle, to find a measure of peace. It was because of the dying words of Emmanuel Draconia Celestine in his last life, at the very last loop, as she held his chin and told him to move on. That was the last loop, the last time he saw her. That's why his sixth life had gone well.

His seventh life, too, had gone well. For a time, he had believed that the curse of the domino effect had finally lifted.

But then his Empress died. His eighth life began in rage and repression, that life had brought it all crashing down again. Drowning in melancholy, he recalled the peaceful times of his lives. He recalled his demon wife.

Depressed and filled with despair, he had burned a world to ash, seeking solace in the destruction. The dancing red fire showed him the image of his red-skinned lover. In his dreams, he had relieved his best memories, clinging to them as a drowning man clings to a piece of driftwood.

And then, his ninth life had begun. This time, there had been no pretense of redemption. He had embraced his darkness, becoming the Heavenly Demon, and then the Venerable One. He had committed atrocities not out of despair, but just for the fun of it. He did not have the excuse of his eight life's depression here. He had no excuses this time, no justifications.

However, he didn't stop. He was what the world feared—a force of chaos, a being who thrived on destruction. A cosmic devil.

And now, here we are, he thought, his gaze hardening as he looked at Lilithra. The woman who started it all. What a day.