CHAPTER 35: IDENTITY - II

Recreation of Physique.

It was a process of disintegrating one’s body and rebuilding it from scratch, eliminating any flaws to achieve perfection of mortal physique—all while keeping one’s consciousness awake and intact.

Ever since Lucian had endured such a process, his body had undergone drastic changes. Irises—previously dark and gloomy—had turned crystal cerulean. Short and messy hair had grown longer and shinier. While his frizzy and skinny physique had transformed into something that carried the name "primordial" in it.

As such, let alone the government that used biometrics to prove someone’s identity, even his close ones wouldn’t have been able to recognize him—that is, if he had any to begin with.

But the fact that a young man whom Lucian did not recognize came forward and called out his name so casually when his identity alone should’ve been most wanted by the entire world—it shocked him.

Lucian froze. The young man was sprawled on the floor, blood trickling from his nose. For a moment, Lucian’s eyes remained slightly widened before he finally regained his composure. Clenching his jaw, a vein twitched on his forehead.

"Who are you?" He asked in a low, suppressed voice.

The young man rolled around the ground slightly, just enough to see the face he had pounced on a moment ago. Staring at Lucian, the young man grinned. "Whaaat~?" He grumbled in a weird, almost feminine tone. "How can you not remember me after all those nights we spent toge—"

Hearing his words, Lucian smiled. Not with joy, but with a hint of visible frustration. Over what looked like an inside exaggerated joke, for the first time in his life, Lucian felt something more than just a lethargic annoyance.

’Should I just kill him?’ These words rang in his mind as if his own body was urging him to taste blood on his hands.

It was then that something hit him. A realization.

’Wha... Since when have I become so prone to violence?’ His irises twitched, and his fingers grew restless. The world around him—it grew relatively bleak against the voice of his mind.

Questions that he had never even thought about began to surface. Each question pointed in the same direction, asking about his current self.

’Why’s this happening?’

’Was I always like this?’

’Is it the right thing to do?’

Under the inexplicable pressure of his growing doubts, unknowingly, Lucian had completely ignored the main topic of concern. What mattered more to him in that moment was not the answer to his sudden change of personalities, but the intentions of the strange man who recognized him with such ease.

"Oi." A sudden voice tore through the countless voices in his head, sharper and louder than any other. At the same time, Lucian’s heart thumped louder, slower, and heavier. A strange frost eerily churned through his spine as he snapped awake from his thoughts.

The man had disappeared from the ground. Lucian’s eyes rolled back. "The girl is still there." He mumbled beneath his breath, scanning everything, though, rushingly.

All of a sudden, he felt something constricting his shoulder. Lucian twisted his neck in an instant, as his eyes darted towards the right.

Nothing. No one was there. And the feeling of someone gripping his shoulder? It had disappeared.

"What are you looking at?" The young man’s voice chimed once again, this time a bit distant.

At the same time, a bright red hue glimmered right before his eyes, stretching instantly into a system screen.

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[#~System Notification~#]

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[#—WARNING—#]

[The system has detected an extremely dangerous presence near Host.]

[Your passive skill—Indomitable Will—is resisting Soul Intimidation!]

[Your passive skill—Perception—is resisting illusions!]

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The screen flickered in striking red, spelling the situation out for Lucian. Lucian, however, didn’t need to read the system’s texts this time. For he could sense it all. The bare feeling of something within him actively resisting the new, strange pressure.

His body felt much heavier than before—enough that if he wasn’t trying his hardest to stand straight, his knees would collapse. The blood within his veins ran cold as he felt an invisible terror seeping from behind.

Resisting the pressure, Lucian slowly turned around. There he was. The young man, standing next to the girl, facing away from Lucian with his hand resting on her shoulder.

"Keuk..." His body visibly struggled to keep himself together, but Lucian’s attention was somewhere else.

’This feels... familiar...’ Resisting the pressure, Lucian noticed something peculiar. The pressure, as a whole, felt extremely familiar. Though it severely lacked the intent to harm, it felt similar to what he had used in the Hunter’s Association himself.

"No way..." His eyes widened as the dots began to connect. Up front, the young man slowly turned his neck around. Through the thin veil of his long hair, the man stared at Lucian from the corner of his eyes.

A bright golden-red hue glimmered into the young man’s eyes as his iris contracted, stretching vertically into an elongated shape while a small crevice stretched from its center horizontally. Staring right into his eyes, the pressure increased by multiple folds as an inexplicable feeling clawed at his mind.

---

[#—WARNING!—#]

[#—WARNING!—#]

[...]

---

The system screen buzzed right before his eyes, warning Lucian off something that he couldn’t really escape from.

"Haaah... still blank? You really don’t make this easy, do you?" His grin didn’t fade, but the air tightened like a noose.

"Tch. And after all the noise you made yesterday... you’re still this weak?" He sneered, his brows arching into a frown.

’He knows about yesterday!?’ Lucian just stood there helplessly, stunned. Just the mere thought of someone knowing about yesterday’s events while the system itself made sure to hide his traces didn’t make sense to him. Even more so, it only gave more to his anxiety.

"Okay, pay attention, Lucian — big trouble’s sniffing around you. Divinities. Lots of them. And they’re nosy as hell. Though, they’re not sure of your identity. But finding that out is a matter of time. So raise your strength as fast as you can. And if possible, release that seal." The young man said as he pointed towards Lucian. Almost immediately, his body, alongside that of the girl, began to glow in a bright white hue.

"Release the seal...?" Lucian mumbled out loud, confused as to what the man meant.

"You’ll know when the time comes."

"Oh! And stay the hell away from water and poison unless you want a really stupid death." The glow over their bodies intensified. "Name’s Silas. Try not to forget it this time." Through the blinding light, the young man grinned. Then, with a final burst of light, both of them vanished into thin air—leaving Lucian frozen in countless doubts and thoughts.