Kai moved forward in confusion and looked at his hands, they were small. He was a child again. He knelt on the ground, staring at the bodies of his mother and father, he didn't know why, but he recognized them immediately.

  "Is anyone left alive?"

  "I don't think so, we slaughtered everyone".

  Several voices approached. Instinctively, Kai scrambled up and hid behind a nearby rock to listen.

  "They got what they deserved. They were sinners who didn't follow the faith of Athel," mentioned one of the soldiers inspecting the corpses. "Now, let's burn the village as the King ordered. If the Kingdom of Genesis finds out we razed this small village, there might be conflict".

  When the guards finally moved away, Kai emerged and approached his parents' bodies once more.

  "The god Athel..."

  Kai knelt on the ground, looking at their dull, lifeless faces. "I became a hero so that no one else would have to go through this. I remember now".

  As he spoke those words, everything around him began to warp. Kai didn't know what was happening and found he couldn't move, so he closed his eyes and waited for it to end. Silence stretched out, but then he heard voices talking. Determined, he opened his eyes.

  Before him lay a long corridor illuminated by small candles. Slowly, he began to move toward the source of the voices.

  "Did you know that one of my kingdoms decided to ban music?" "They say it's a sin against me and that it will cause the Great Barrier to break, letting the dangers from outside hunt us," one said between laughs.

  Hearing this, Kai stopped dead and carefully peeked inside. Three people were talking while eating and drinking wine.

  "Seriously? Your followers are such idiots, Myx," another laughed loudly while taking a drink. "The followers of your faith are quite moronic".

  The third person stopped eating for a moment and added, "Don't think yours are any smarter, Nox. Yours believe they live in a dream and that one day they'll have the 'Great Awakening'." He began to laugh along with the first speaker.

  Kai understood everything instantly, his hair stood on end as he realized what he was witnessing. Three of the ten gods were talking as casually as friends about how foolish their followers were about how they kill each other for a lie, all just for their entertainment and to gain more power.

  "Setting aside whether my followers are idiots or not, how is the Demon King situation going?"

  "Quite well on my end. I staged a small fight against him and let him escape, claiming I need more power to defeat him. It worked perfectly," Nox replied, laughing even louder than before.

  "The next one scheduled to put on a show is Malk".

  "Yeah, I'm not really looking forward to it, but it keeps them afraid. More people convert to our religion to pray for protection that way".

  Kai’s hands clenched into fists, his veins bulging with fury. "This is why I killed the Demon King... I overheard this conversation. I remember".

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  Once again, everything began to fade. This time, Kai remained calm and simply closed his eyes, he realized what was happening, he was traveling through the memories of his first life. He waited for the silence to break, but heard nothing. Then, he felt the wind against his face, carrying a heavy scent of fire and blood. He snapped his eyes open.

  His breath hitched at the sight before him. He walked forward with difficulty. It was a village, different from the first memory. The entire place was in flames, houses were burnt to ash, and charred bodies lay everywhere. He heard a wet, liquid sound from the ground. Looking down, he saw his feet were standing in a pool of blood.

  He turned his head toward the source of the pool, the body of a young girl with a deep chest wound, likely from a sword. He couldn't take it anymore and vomited to the side. Though he didn't want to see more, his body led him to kneel beside the girl. She held a small pendant in her hand, Kai remembered it was the emblem of the god Myx.

  The girl's eyes stared blankly at the sky. Kai gently reached out and closed them. "The girl prayed to her god for help... the same god who was eating peacefully with two others while laughing at his followers". A massive surge of fury rose within him, and he felt his mana flowing intensely through his body.

  Kai stood up and looked around once more. "They are all bastards. This is why I wanted to kill them. I remember". Everything began to crumble again, and he closed his eyes.

  "Kai! Kai! Kai! Wake up!"

  He snapped his eyes open and took in his surroundings, chairs, tables, people... the tavern. He looked beside him to see a wooden table split clean in half.

  "What happened, Kai?" Lyla asked as she helped him up.

  By reflex, Kai pulled away from her and stood up on his own, leaving Lyla and Allice looking confused. "Kai? Is everything okay?"

  "Where is that man? I need to see him," Kai said, looking through the startled crowd, but there was no sign of him.

  "He vanished the moment he touched you. Then you fainted, you even split that table with your mana," Lyla explained.

  Kai looked back at the broken table. "I see. I want to go rest, please. I'm not hungry". He began heading for the exit. Allice approached the tavern owner and paid for the damage to the table before following Kai and Lyla.

  "Kai, please, what happened?"

  "Let's go to the inn".

  The three walked in silence to their room. Once inside, Kai shut the door firmly. "I traveled through some of my memories. When that man touched me, I started seeing them, three specifically".

  "Your memories?"

  "Yes, of my life here. First, I saw my village razed and my parents dead. Was that true, Lyla?"

  Lyla’s eyes filled with sorrow. "You told me your parents died in an attack by the followers of the god Athel. You said that ever since then, you trained hard to become what you were".

  "I see. So it's true". Kai stepped closer to Lyla with a serious gaze. "Do you also take advantage of and laugh at your followers like the others?"

  Confusion flashed in Lyla’s eyes before they returned to normal. "Kai, I have never been like that. My kingdom has never been involved in a war, and I have never exploited or mocked them," she replied calmly, understanding his concerns. Allice watched in silence.

  "I know what you're implying, Kai," Lyla continued, stroking his face. "I didn't kill the Demon King because it would have endangered my entire kingdom. The other nine gods would have been furious, just as they were with you, and they wouldn't have hesitated to send their armies to wipe out my people".

  "The balance between the gods is fragile. We cannot kill each other for reasons we don't fully understand, it’s as if something prevents our magic from working against one another". "That’s why they use their armies to weaken the rest. To them, this is a game, Kai". "If one of us breaks the rules, they wouldn't hesitate to join forces and eliminate both the civilians and the god who defied them". "That is why you must go unnoticed, you and your System".

  Kai calmed down, his expression shifting from seriousness to a sense of helplessness. He knew Lyla wasn't evil and was telling the truth, after all, she had sacrificed nearly all her power for him and his System.

  "A little girl, Lyla... I saw the body of a girl who was praying to her god for help. A god who doesn't care what happens to his people if it benefits him".

  Lyla nodded and pulled Kai into a soft, gentle embrace. This time, Kai didn't pull away, he melted into her arms.

  "This world deserves to be free. It deserves to live without being pawns in a game they don't even know they're playing," Kai paused. "I’m going to kill them all".

  "I will help you," Allice responded from across the room.

  "And of course, so will I," Lyla said, continuing to stroke Kai’s head.