Chapter 28: Encountering His Ex-Comrades

Luke could feel the blood drain from his face, unable to tear his eyes away from his ex-comrades.

What were they doing there? Weren’t they supposed to be back at Dornsbachwe?

That was the whole reason why he left the city so quickly. He had been trying to avoid bumping into them, but fate seemed to have played a cruel joke on him. They had left the city and arrived at his hometown before he did.

He remained rooted in place, watching as his ex-comrades laughed and chatted happily with each other.

To add insult to injury, he saw his parents speaking to them with smiles on their faces, clearly enjoying their presences. His siblings clung to them, acting like they were the real siblings rather than Luke.

It was his worst nightmare.

Luke had wondered how they reacted to his disappearance. A twisted part of him had hoped they were devastated over losing him, proving that they cared deeply about him.

However, they didn’t look particularly upset.

In fact, they acted like they hadn’t lost a family member, like what happened to Luke had nothing to do with them.

Even though he knew ten years was a lot of time, he still couldn’t accept this.

He took a step forward as the evil god demanded, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Luke ignored the evil god, marching towards his family and ex-comrades.

“You fool. Have you forgotten what I said? If you confront them now, it’ll only get you killed,” the evil god said.

Perhaps if Luke hadn’t seen his ex-comrades with his own eyes and only heard about their presence in the town, he might have been able to listen to reason.

Unfortunately, now that he saw them, he could no longer think rationally.

All Luke could think about was confronting them head on to demand answers and get revenge against his ex-comrades for their betrayal.

“Luke, if you refuse to listen, I will use whatever means to stop you,” the evil god said.

He ignored him, knowing that the evil god couldn’t do anything.

After all, if the evil god could act freely, he would have done so already?

As if to prove him wrong, Luke unexpectedly found himself unable to take another step. His entire body refused to listen to him as he abruptly turned directions and headed away from the happy group.

It was only after he traveled a decent amount of distance that he suddenly regained control of his body.

The moment he could move, he demanded, “What did you do?”

“I stopped you from doing something stupid,” the evil god said, strangely sounding faint.

Of course it went over his head as Luke snapped, “You have no right.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? You’re not allowed to throw your life so recklessly. Only I get to decide your fate, you miserable creature,” the evil god spat.

Luke choked as he felt his throat constrict. His hands clawed uselessly at his throat, leaving scratches along his neck.

“You don’t get to talk to me like that. How dare you speak to me like that. I won’t ever forgive you,” the evil god shrieked in his ear.

Suddenly, the evil god stopped, giving Luke a chance to catch his breath.

He leaned against a nearby tree, swallowing up as much air as his lungs could carry. His chest heaved, his heart pounding wildly in his chest until he no longer felt suffocated.

What was that?

While Luke had known the evil god could inflict pain on him as he had already done so many times before, Luke never expected the evil god to actually try to choke him out. For a moment there, he really thought he would die at the evil god’s hands.

Luke rubbed his throat and winced in pain as his fingers brushed against the scratch marks left by his nails.

He should have never agreed to the deal with the evil god.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it now except endure until he found a way to free himself from the evil god.

Now that he thought about it, why had the evil god stopped?

Not that Luke wasn’t grateful because he thought for sure the evil god wasn’t going to stop until he was dead, but it was so sudden.

“Bydos?” Luke tentatively called out, getting no response in return.

Luke frowned, unsure if the evil god was purposely ignoring him or something had happened. After calling a few more times, Luke was certain that it was the latter, meaning he was temporarily free from the evil god.

A brief surge of joy washed over him before his mood soured as he recalled the reason he ended up in his current situation.

He had to confront them.

By them, Luke meant his family. He had to find out what his ex-comrades had told them and if his family would side with him if they knew the truth. Despite knowing how risky and dangerous it was, he was determined to see it through.

However, he couldn’t confront them just yet.

With his ex-comrades nearby, he wouldn’t be able to get close, much less have a proper conversation with his family. He had to wait for the perfect opportunity to speak with them privately.

The opportunity arrived quickly.

His ex-comrades were all sent out to complete a couple of tasks for his family, taking Luke’s siblings with them and leaving only his parents at home.

It irked Luke to see how comfortable his family was leaving his siblings with them, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. On the bright side, it meant he didn’t have to worry about his siblings telling everyone about his existence.

After he was certain none of them would be returning any time soon, he approached his parents.

As he got close, several different scenarios raced through his mind. Some were positive while others were negative. He desperately hoped it was one of the former, but he still mentally prepared himself for the latter.