Chapter 643: Reminisce.

‎Rasmus looked outside the window of the inn he was staying in, and stared at the two moons in the sky. When his gaze moved to look at the Immortal Mountain, he found it unbelievable even after seeing it many times. The summit was way higher than Mount Everest on Earth, and it was twice the width of Mount Everest.

‎"How many people live there I wonder," Rasmus muttered to himself. He then glanced at Aris’ and Rullein’s clones sleeping on the bed. "I just realized that I have never been alone in this world," he said under his breath as he rested his elbow on the table top and rested his cheek on his fist.

‎The first time Rasmus was reincarnated, Videl was there to bother him and train him, but also helped him in a way. He then became an instructor at Gratlan Academy, meeting the six children of the powerful families in Neva, Aurelia, Alexander, Isador, Monica, Maximilian, and Valari. He also began to learn more about magic with the former Great Sage, Lenin, who was also the Chancellor of the Gratlan Academy.

‎"That was three years ago..." A tuck of a smile appeared on the corner of his lips.

‎He realized that he wasn’t fit to teach those youngsters back then and decided to quit, not because they couldn’t learn his lessons, but because they began to follow his steps. He saw how they absorbed his lessons, and they were taught to follow instructions instead of to solve and to find solutions.

‎After he left the academy, he went to South Neva to meet with Carrion, the younger brother of Garret. He was told to make Carrion give up on being one of the successors in exchange for connections with the figures that control the economy in Central Neva.

‎He remembered the day when he met Carrion and Erlina, the good-for-nothing second son and the Madame of the brothel house. He couldn’t help but chuckle when he recalled those two and how much of a relationship they had. Deep down, he was happy for them that they ended up together now, after all the things they had been through together.

‎"A husband and a wife..." Rasmus muttered and took a deep breath as he glanced at Aris’ clone. "Then she appeared out of nowhere..." He scoffed, finding it absurd for Aris to travel all the way to South Neva from North Neva just so she could meet the son of the previous Aristoria.

‎Aris was different from the first time he met her. She was quiet, cold, and she looked at humans like pests and parasites. It wasn’t because she was superior, it was because of what humans had done to Neva, the bloodbaths, the destruction they did, and for hunting the Orthias who taught them how to live in Neva because of religion, greed, and power.

‎"Some grew to be better, some grew to be the best version of themselves," Rasmus looked at Aris’ and Rullein’s clones. "And some didn’t grow at all..." He stared at his own reflection in the window.

‎He continued to reminisce about the past, from his plans to uncover Satan’s scheme, ruining Shemyaza’s goal, and creating chaos that led to wars between nations. Amidst the chaos he orchestrated, he stumbled upon a forgotten past, a body of a Saint that was drowned and hidden in the pile of corpses at the bottom of the lake. ‎A history that had been kept hidden for more than a century.

‎It reminded him that Videl was the one who put Lilith’s soul into the Saint’s body. That day was when Lilith was reborn as Serena, and it was thanks to Videl. He wondered if Videl regretted it now that the soul he brought from hell, giving her a new life and ended up gaining nothing and was betrayed by her.

‎"That night you were blatantly pointed your finger at God and showed your resentment, your anger, and all the accumulated pain and suffering because of a single mistake, the first and only rebellious act of not wanting to bow down..." Rasmus stared blankly at the street where people were busy selling food and merchandise. "You said that your disobedience didn’t reflect how you would live your life, and you wanted to prove to God that you weren’t like what He thought you were..." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Even if you did prove Him wrong, would your resentment go away?" He muttered.

‎One after the other, he remembered how the others had decided to walk side by side with him. Daryus, who was trapped in wanting a better world for the poor but was powerless to do so. Arka, a former vice-commander who became a commander of the South Sea and realized law and order were the only thing that caused millions of lives to die. Nobody was allowed to leave the continent during the war to prevent demons from leaving and entering other continents by disguising themselves as humans. The same law and order that would cause more lives to die and he could do nothing about.

"People wish for a better world and complain about the world they live in..." Rasmus opened his eyes and stared at the wooden floor under his feet. "Oftentimes, they don’t realize the small world they already have control over, it is no different than the world they have condemned..."

He remembered how he was called a hero because he was the reason South Neva won the war, but the truth, those who decided to make him the hero of the story were the ones who wished to shackle him. He then remembered when he came back to Central Neva, completely changed from being the son of a human to Orthias’ half-breed. The magic he learned, it became useless because he could control nature without an intermediary. It was the moment when he had completely accepted who he was as Rasmus Blackheart, not Kyros Revenor.

His first encounter with spirits was memorable, especially when he found out how mischievous they were, sending a man to his death by watching him jump off from the top of a waterfall. He still could hear their innocent giggles, and how they manipulated nature to make the man die from drowning. It was when he met Yur, a Great Spirit that looked like a fluffy cloud in a shape of a small child. He scoffed when he compared Yur to the Great Spirits in East Neva because they weren’t the same in any way.

"And then you appeared," Rasmus glanced at Rullein. "A Dark Spirit that my mother raised. As innocent as Yur but as sadistic as the devil," he shook his head.

The moment he recalled the day when he sought his revenge as Rasmus Blackheart, the revenge toward the people who executed his parents, the people who exiled him and wished him to suffer and die. His expression stiffened, his eyes closed when he remembered the faces he incinerated until there was nothing left of them. The young men and young ladies, the children, the nobles, all the guests in the ballroom, he remembered every single one of them. Every life he took ever since he reincarnated, he remembered them all.

He didn’t say a word, his thoughts went quiet and empty. He stared out at the mountain once again and just sat there quietly, but his thumb, it rubbed against the other fingertips. An old habit that he had long forgotten when he was Kyros during his old age after he had achieved everything and had done many things. When his eyes looked at his hand, he stopped rubbing his thumb against his fingertips.

"Bad habits are hard to break..." Rasmus put his hand down to his lap and let out a deep sigh.