I Refused To Be Reincarnated

After bringing his nemesis to the ground, he climbed on him, pushing his crystalline spear's shaft on his neck to keep him in place.

"Let's see how you protect yourself now. Haha."

His eyes exuded a bottomless spiral of madness as he laughed, encased in the shimmering aura of the light ward. Victory was finally within his grasp... revenge, too.

'Not good!'

Meanwhile, Gaston's mind churned. He had to free himself but already felt his strength diminish, absorbed out of his spectral form against his will by the hateful spear.

His frame shook as he gritted his teeth. He made a choice. One he never thought he would be obliged to make.

Meanwhile, Adam raised his left hand. The Beastbane Dagger glinted with ferocity as he brought it down on his nemesis. Adrenaline surged in his veins. He had won.

As the dagger sliced through the wind, plunging towards his face, Gaston's body suddenly flickered.

"Change of plans," Gaston snarled, flames flickering in his narrowed eyes. "The child comes first. Then, I'll savor your soul's torment for years before claiming it. Consider it a reward for your pathetic resistance."

Despite his overwhelming strength, he had failed. He, the monstrous fighter. He, the master schemer. He, who possessed unrivaled magic potential. He, this world's anomaly, as ruthless and cruel as a demon.

'If not for this accursed spear.'

A surge of hatred contorted his face as the dagger sank harmlessly into the ground beside him.

The next moment, he was gone, his threat, a lingering echo in Adam's apartment.

Meanwhile, Adam's eyes enlarged, his hand trembling on the dagger. His hard-earned victory had been robbed!

However, a flicker of rationality flashed into his mad eyes as the devil's words rumbled in his mind like an earthquake.

"It's mine! Don't touch my body!"

He had taught the boy, fed, dressed, and trained him with his own two hands. For himself. Not for Gaston to steal his hard work! With a thunderous roar, he closed his eyes to leave the dream place.

****

A second later, Adam's vision cleared into the real world, only to witness Gaston's blood-red ethereal body vanishing into Julius.

"NOOOO!"

A feral roar escaped his lips as he flew to the boy. He patted his firm chest, trying to enter his soul like Gaston had, in vain. His face contorted into a horrifying grimace as the gentle mist fluttering around his spectral body grew violent.

"Big bro! Help! I'm scared," Julius pleaded, struggling to stand up despite the chains holding him back.

"ARGH!"

His young voice reverberated through the cave, a painful reminder of what Gaston was doing inside his soul sea.

Tears and snot flowed like rivers down his face as he begged his trusted model to save him.

"Big bro... Big bro... help..."

With each second crawling by, his voice weakened, turning into a faint murmur blown by the wind.

"Julius..."

A bizarre noise assaulted his deranged mind, like the buzzings of a broken radio, as he looked at the boy's desperate face. His all-encompassing madness backed a step, leaving space for something else. He didn't know what it was. But it felt warm. A warmth he had longed to sense for seven years.

'We are connected... He is my body. Please tell me I can enter,' he thought, focusing on the ethereal chain that forced him to follow Julius.

Soon, a mysterious burning sensation synchronised with his attempts, followed by an irresistible force tugging at his soul with furious intensity.

His eyes lit up with a mix of complex emotions he didn't understand himself. Yet, he knew he had to save the boy from Gaston's clutches, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

In a flash, he slammed against Julius' body and disappeared from the cave.

*****

When he recovered his sight, he saw a familiar old shop.

An old man's ethereal silhouette rested behind its counter with a warm smile. Behind him, shelves supported strange flasks and bottles of various shapes and colors. On the side, a beautiful, ethereal woman sorted plants with a dedicated expression.

He turned his head, searching for Gaston's location, and saw the familiar library he used most of the time. Sitting in front of it, the depiction of a gray ghost shrouded in swirling mist with only two bright lights piercing the darkness veiling his face.

His brow furrowed as his gaze swept across his own ethereal form. Even though Julius had already described it before, he still felt a sense of weirdness flood his mind. For him, he was a human trapped in a ghost's shell.

However, something stirred by his reflection, cutting his thoughts off as a deep confusion stunned him.

A black-haired man looked straight at him. It wasn't Gaston. His figure wasn't ethereal... and he had his appearance.

He scrutinised his perfect copy briefly before dread wrapped around his soul like an icy rope. An ethereal chain connected them.

Yet, before he could ask the burning question tugging at his lips, the mysterious copy smiled and said, "Behind you."

Intrigued, he gazed back, only to see Gaston's blood-red frame rush at him like a cannonball.

"How did you follow me? Hateful cockroach!"

"I hate you even more, bastard! You are worse than a nightmare!"

Adam focused on the man, the flickering rage dancing in his heart rekindled into an inferno. The man could wait. Gaston had to die today!

Clenching his spear, he swiped it vertically to bisect the charging Gaston.

However, Gaston sidestepped and extended his finger, firing five mana bullets simultaneously at point-blank range.

The wind howled as five thuds resounded in the shop.

"ARGH!"

Adam roared in pain after being hit by the projectiles. One of them lodged itself in his stomach, knocking. His ethereal form began to flicker, dancing on the cliff's edge, separating life from death.

His soul would collapse soon. He knew it. He had seen Rachelle's demise. And even if he hadn't, he suffered way too much damage.

Feeling the dark maw of death hover above his head, he couldn't help but think about his life and the few people who brightened it: The naïve but caring Alina, the sly Theodore, and the good-natured boy he had educated. He didn't know how they perceived him, but he enjoyed their company even if they couldn't see his form or hear his words.

Yet, one of them died, and another would soon follow.

His face turned somber as he gazed at Gaston's triumphant smirk. The fool had paused before delivering the coup the grace, a mistake he would make him pay dearly.

The almost extinguished candle representing his life ignited like a brazier. No. Like a raging inferno engulfing everything.

He threw himself at his nemesis, grabbed him in a bear hug, and bit his neck like a mad hound.

His decision was made. Even if he died, he would save Julius!

"I already said it! No matter what you try to do to me, I'll do it to you before! Let's die together, fucker. HAHAHA."

His mad eyes burned with defiance as he ravaged the evil ghost's neck, feeling his impure essence flow down his throat like mud.

"What are you doing!? STOP!" Gaston yelled. His eyes trembled in panic as he tried to free himself. However, Adam's arms coiled around his, locking his elbows in place.

Gritting his teeth, he head-butted Adam violently, believing the shock would loosen his grip. However, his opponent's jaws were still clenched tightly, gradually depriving him of his life.