Chapter 14 Crazed Vigilante Returns

"School was a lot of fun." Lucas said as he walked with Sarah towards home.

"Eh... We were only in one class." Sarah chuckled, tugging at Lucas' sleeve. Sarah looked at Lucas.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Sarah asked.

Lucas raised his eyebrows in surprise and thought, 'there's no need for school. I can study at home.' but Sarah's pleading eyes made Lucas nod nervously.

"Sure. I'll be at school tomorrow." Lucas said with an awkward smile.

Sarah jumped up excitedly and hugged Lucas.

"Yay!" she exclaimed in happiness.

'If I don't oversleep.' Lucas thought awkwardly. Today he planned to study from the magic books Sarah had gotten him from the library.

"This... See you around?" Sarah said as they walked up to the door of Lucas's apartment, holding him by the arm. Sarah let go of his hand, and Lucas nodded.

"See you tomorrow." Lucas said and unlocked the door.

Sarah walked out and Lucas sighed, unable to believe that Sarah had enticed him to go back to school tomorrow.

"Uhhhh! Damn." Lucas groaned as he walked past the mirror, not noticing that Lilith was frowning and clenching her fists tightly in the mirror's reflection. When she saw Lucas wasn't paying attention to her, she crossed her arms and disappeared.

Meanwhile, Lucas threw his backpack on the ground and collapsed into bed. He hugged his pillow and fell asleep.

His old life appeared in his dream. It was a snowy Christmas day. He was eleven years old and walking home from school with his only friend, Lilith, who was carrying the plush cat Lucas had given her.

"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Lilith asked, her face a little red.

"I don't know, maybe read a book. Or maybe I'll go for a workout," Lucas said without thinking.

"Maybe we can go to the cinema? I got some money from my dad for Christmas."

"Oh? We can." Lucas smiled.

"This will be the best Christmas ever!" Lilith said, jumping up to hug Lucas. Who felt her warmth, the air she exhaled and the chill in the air. But it was strange. Lucas couldn't understand what was wrong. Suddenly, Lilith kissed his cheek.

"I'm coming back for you." Lilith whispered, and Lucas woke up and quickly jumped out of bed in a cold sweat. His heart pounded and his eyes were wide open, full of tears.

"What the hell happened here?" Lucas said, dropping his gaze to his hands, which were shaking, and the mana was seeping out from under his skin, peeling it off.

Lucas went into the bath and splashed water on his face. The water made his hands burn.

"I need to go... practice." Lucas looked in the mirror with a tired expression.

Lucas walked out into the city, and when he came to a dark alleyway, he sat down, leaning against the wall. The dream kept playing in his mind.

'I am coming for you.'

"Enough..." Lucas said, shaking his head.

'I am coming for you.'

"Stop..." Lucas said in a pleading voice, and Lilith's voice wasn't about to stop either. It just screamed louder and louder.

'I AM COMING FOR YOU.'

"STOP!" Lucas screamed at the top of his lungs. The black mana in his body couldn't hold and seeped onto his skin like water splashing the walls, and in that water red eyes formed. His eyes glowed red like lanterns.

"What the ..."

Lucas heard a voice. Lucas had his eyes closed, but the eyes formed by his mana saw as if he directly connected them to his brain.

A man in front of him was holding a sleeping girl. The girl was wearing his school uniform, but Lucas did not recognise her. Nor did he care.

Lucas smiled and grabbed the man's hand. And then a vision appeared; a girl was walking down a dark alleyway, and suddenly fainted after receiving a dose of curse magic. As she fell to the ground, a man appeared from the shadows.

"Not a bad catch today." He laughed, but quickly heard someone talking to himself. Lucas appeared and collapsed against the wall.

The vision ended, and Lucas opened his eyes and looked the man straight in the eye.

"So you like playing with curses?" Lucas smiled, and blood mingled with mana dripped from his eyes.

"L-Let go of me, scoundrel!" The man yelled, trying to strengthen his body with magic. But Lucas's hand, which was completely shrouded in black hardened mana, didn't move.

"I want to try too..." Lucas said with interest.

After releasing the black mana into the man's brain, which burned, Lucas focused on the man. His eyes had become coated in darkness.

"Curse someone. You don't mind, do you?"

The man gasped for air, and blood flowed from his mouth. The black mana combination covered the man's body and stiffen him.

"P-Please..." The man stammered out the last words, before Lucas' mana turned him into a black statue.

Lucas's mana subsided, and Lucas's skin regrew. He sighed while looking at the statue.

"It's not a curse at all..." Lucas said disappointed, touching the statue, realising that the man was just dying. Black mana had already fried the man's brain, only his heart was still beating slowly, showing that there had once been a living person here.

Lucas looked at the unconscious girl and decided that he would just watch from afar until she was safely up.

As the man died, his curse faded and the girl slowly woke up.

"W-what happened."

"Good."

When the girl got up, Lucas was happy. He put on his hood and disappeared into the shadows before the girl noticed him.

The girl looked around. Black resin filled the street and in front of her stood a man turned into a black statue. When she saw the man, she saw remnants of life.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" the girl shrieked, drawing attention from the street. Several men and a woman ran to help her, thinking she was being harassed. But what they saw was far worse.

"What... the hell happened here?"