Re:START/If {Book 1.0}
Chapter 63 : Aswad 10 of 15 “Unlasting Love” (Part 03)

The 599th Calendar of Pendulum.

A country in the far northeast.

Although the heavens had abandoned those on the mainland, the Mortal had not introspect themselves at all or attempted to correct their mistakes. Instead of improving over time, new generations on the Michigan mainland continue to damage regardless of the future of the world.

War became commonplace, peace only served to prepare for another war. Justice is only used for the pretext of crime, and then used to justify the crime. The depraved things that were once considered taboo become indifferent to them, easily violated without the slightest guilt.

People can freely value others, demean, oppress and regard themselves as superior. From year to year the oppressed were getting oppressed, the ones at the top continued to climb regardless of the surroundings.

Rulers simply satisfy themselves, fattening their bodies without thinking of thin-skinned citizens. Such was the condition of an era in the year that almost stepped on the 6th century of the Pendulum calendar.

In an age where inter-royal warfare became commonplace on the Michigan mainland, a group of slave traders trekked through a bamboo forest on their way to the central city to sell the children and women they had kidnapped from the village.

The system of judging and selling their fellow Mortal was an adaptation of one of the Gods. It used to be a knowledge used to assess others, in order to provide suitable work for those who want to contribute to the country of residence.

But because of the greed and greed of the Mortal, the knowledge was transformed into a system of slavery and could make them judge others until human rights were stripped down to the equivalent of livestock. Just to be squeezed, treated unworthy, equal to an animal to wear, that's a slave.

The sounds heard from the breeze among the bamboo accompanied the journey of the slaves. Both of their hands were tied, forced to walk tens of kilometers while the slave masters rode on their huge horses and whipped from behind.

The slaves only wore shabby and tattered kimonos, while some burly men on horseback wore silk and decorated with precious metals.

“Quick walk! You useless‼ Basic trouble only!” said one of the slave traders while whipping the woman who walked the very back.

The woman fell to the ground, shivering in pain and in a soft crying voice, “Sorry …. Hicks …. Ii'm sorry. I am no longer able to walk. My legs are not as strong as others.”

“Speak what you are! Dare to argue, you fucking cattle!”

Not caring about it, one of the slave traders rode his big horse near the weak woman. Tampa hesitated, the merchant pulled the collar of the horse and made the horse more than three meters tall directly step on the fragile woman's head. The sound of crumbling bones rang out clearly, his head breaking and its contents scattered everywhere.

““Hiiiii!!!!””

“Mama, I'm scared!”

“Hurbs ...”

The other slaves were immediately frightened, immediately walked quickly because they did not want to end up like the poor woman. They left the woman's body just like that in the middle of the bamboo forest.

Instantly the slave traders smiled widely, started to laugh loosely and enjoy their fears. When someone oppresses others, the desire to feel the highest will dominate and provide satisfaction. That was a fact that existed to the Mortal.

The slaves of these various races could not fight those who were stronger, could only surrender and submit. Among the slaves, there was a daughter who from birth did not know her mother or biological father.

He has no name, but people around him call him Leben because he can always survive in precarious conditions even though he looks very fragile and weak.

Being sold by slave traders was not the first time for him. From the time Leben was raised by slaves, then as a child he was also sold into slavery, and as a teenager now he lives as a slave.

He was thrown from one merchant to another, because it looks fragile and no one wants to buy it. In an age where war is a natural thing, women are very difficult to get their place let alone a girl like her.

What Leben could rely on was only his knowledge and experience. He has seen many different ways of the dead, which is why he can understand what causes it and can avoid it.

He could feel death approaching himself and others. Far in the future, the power that people possessed seemed to be called Native Overhoul and feared by many.

When night came, the group spent the night in the forest of bamboo trees. The slave traders slept in tents with bonfires as warmers near them, while the slaves slept cold outside. There were indeed many opportunities for slaves to escape, but they were not smart people who knew where to go and did not have the courage to do so.

Shivering in fear and cold, docked to warm themselves. The number of slaves in the group was about 18, consisting of several children and the rest were women. There is one family, there is also one family. Some of them were seen to know each other and had been slaves for a long time, then some were first slaves and had no acquaintances at all.

Those who had just been made slaves stared intently at the merchants tent, full of hatred and cursed those people for killing their families. For slave traders, one of the most common ways they could obtain slaves was to slaughter one family and take a few young ones to be educated as slaves.

Among the slaves, Leben did not participate in the crowd. The kimono-clad girl in tangles and short shoulder-length hair walked towards the rows of horses sleeping near the tent.

He fearlessly took the supply sack from one of the horses and took all its contents to the ground. As if he did not care about the gazes of the other slaves or was afraid of being killed by their owners, he went into the thick sack and wrapped himself.

On another slave was confused by what the little girl was doing. However, none of them cared or reprimanded. For people like them, maintaining their own lives and family is already very difficult. There is no room to care about others.

A few hours passed and the middle of the night came. In the silent atmosphere without the wind or the sounds of swaying bamboo trees, suddenly a howl rang out across the forest and broke the silence of the night. The slave traders instantly woke up, they thought it was the howling sound of the starving wolves.

“Tch! Tie some slaves to bamboo! We'll get out of here! Again we lose because slaves will die!” said the leader of the slave trader group.

They immediately dragged some slaves and tied them to bamboo, to fill the bellies of the wolves so as not to chase the entourage. Full of tears and fear, the slaves begged and continued to beg.

“To-Please let me go, Mr …. I still have a kid there , he's still a kid!”

“Though me, I still want to live! I will do whatever you command, sir! Please, let me go ....!”

The slaves were just begging, without daring to fight back. Upset at their noisy words, one of the slave traders directly beat the slave woman's mouth until her teeth fell out and lost consciousness.

“Tch! Trouble!”

They ⸻ The slave traders thought they could use the slaves as bait for the hungry wolves while preparing to escape. However, what approached them in the middle of the night was not the wolves or the animals they could fool with the lures of the slaves.

From the sky came a monster that looked like one of the Holy Beasts that had come to the Real World. A giant white-haired wolf eight meters tall was more, had a pair of white feather wings on its back and its eyes lit up green in the darkness. The figure is the guardian creature of the bamboo forest, the Master who came to punish the guests who do not know manners.

The monster landed in their midst, directly stomping on the slave traders until their bodies were crushed. One of the slave merchant men raised his sword, then swung his weapon and slashed at one of the legs of the monster figure that imitated the form of the Holy Beast. However, his thick feathers easily repelled the slash and the attack could not hurt him at all.

With a single swing of the tail, the body of the man who attacked the giant wolf monster immediately slammed and smashed into the ground. In a short time, the merchant group along with the slaves were indiscriminately finished off.

He does not choose what is good or evil, he kills them blindly. The monster figure did not prey on those people, only killing the Mortal for violating the rules of the forest by spilling human blood on its soil last morning.

After finishing off all the Mortal in that place, the figure was about to leave from the place full of corpses. But as it spread its wings and was about to fly, at a glance it felt the breath of a terrifying existence that made it briefly shiver.

The big wolf turned to the right and left anxiously, then without checking the surroundings again he immediately flew away from the place to return to the nest.

One of the roots moved towards the thick sack that was still intact near the corpse of the horse. Realizing that something was troubling her, Leben who was hiding in the sack immediately came out. He was immediately stunned by the sight of the corpses in the place, they began to be absorbed by the roots of the living bamboo trees.

“Again dead all ...” The black haired girl immediately stood up. As the bamboo root spread towards him teased, he caught the root and broke it. The other roots immediately responded, then returned to the ground as if they were indeed afraid of the existence of the girl.

He closed his eyes and focused for a moment, as if he were listening to a voice.

“Alright, I don't want to bury them all either. The corpses here will be the nutrition of the forest, it is already appropriate, ‘kan?” muttered the girl while walking away from the place full of bodies.

As the little girl left, the roots came back out of the ground and pierced the corpses to be used as forest nutrition. Leben did not turn his head at all, as if from the beginning he was used to seeing such a scene.

He walked and continued walking, down the bamboo forest, through the river and down the canyon. Leben occasionally encountered monsters and beasts, but none of them dared to attack the little girl. The instincts of the beasts were clearly aware, that the figure inside the little girl was something that should not be disturbed them.

As he exited the forest, a pasture greeted him. From where it stood to the end of the horizon, everything was spread wide without any trees at all and only a few nocturnal animals were still roaming around.

The dawn breeze blew, the moonlight exposed his face and gave a hint of relief. Laying down on the grass, the little girl took a slow breath and in a soft voice said, “You saved myself again ..”.

“Of course …. Thanks to you, I am a weak creature without body can live.”

From the girl's body, black particles began to come out and form a figure of a person who is not too tall. Her face is too beautiful to be called male, but her body is not very feminine to be called female. But from his voice, it clearly sounded like a female voice.

It was this figure that would later become known as the First Emperor, a mysterious entity that could not be classified in any category of beings.

It has deep black hair, bright blue eyes and very pale skin. Every time it appeared before Leben, the self-described Unnamed figure always wore a plain white dress and did not wear footwear.

“Really, you're really serious about saying that?” Leben immediately sat down, looked in surprise and asked again, “You are very smart and strong. If it wasn't for you, now I would be gone. Then what makes you can claim to be weak like that ..”

The figure in the white dress put on a thin smile. Putting his index finger in front of his mouth, he happily said, “You know, little girl. Women are always meant to be weak. This is not discrimination, but it is how the world is formed. Me is just a disembodied backbone ..”

He turned around, looked towards the moon and briefly put on a loose smile full of happiness. “Until I can meet that figure again, I will continue to claim to be weak,” he said as he looked back at the little girl.

Leben stared confusedly. The first time he met the figure was when he was 10 years old about 4 years ago, when it was sold to a slave trader in a small town. His meeting could be said to be a fate. Leben who almost died in the forest because of trying to escape was helped by an entity that could not even give rise to a physical form at that time.

In the middle of the forest, the disembodied figure looked like it extended its hand without saying anything. But clearly Leben knew that he intended to help and reach for the hand. Since then, the Unnamed figure lives in Leben's body and always helps him whenever faced with danger.

“There really is such a thing in this world? Men only see us women as objects. There is nothing we can expect from them,” Leben said with a breath.

The figure of the woman in the white dress laughed faintly at this. Staring arrogantly towards Leben, he confidently said, “Please do not equate himself with the men of this world. In my eyes, those people were just lumps of meat. Not even worthy of being called a living being ..”

“Then in your eyes what am I? At least I'm considered a living being, ‘kan?”

At first glance the girl in white dress looked away, thought about it carefully and looked back at Leben as she got an answer. “You are my friend. The person who saved me. Creatures worth protecting,” the answer with a smile.

“Friends, yes ..?” Leben lowered his face grimly.

“Are you not satisfied?” The white-clad figure walked over to Leben, then sat down next to him and said, “You have a chance to make friends with me, you.”

“You know, from my childhood a kara. I'm ⸻”

“No problem!” cut off the figure in the white dress without hearing Leben's words until it's done. He stared straight, as if from the beginning he knew what the little girl was expecting.

Seeing the look in her eyes turn green at a glance, Leben felt something mysterious inside. The eyes of the figure in white dress seemed to have known many things and could know what he wanted to know easily. An element of omniscience is within him.

“Eng, are you sure?” ask Leben.

“You want to be my family, don't you? I don't mind.” The white-robed figure looked towards the moon, at a glance put on a gloomy face and said, “But if you want to be my family, there are conditions that you must fulfill.”

“Terms?”

“Hmm ...” The Unnamed figure woke up again, then stood in front of Leben and with a serious look said, “You must not die ..”

Of course Leben did not want to die, hearing what the figure said confused him. But before the little girl asked again, the figure in the white dress again said, “When the body of the Mortal creature dies, their souls very quickly decompose and return to nature. I don't want to feel the sadness of losing my family. Therefore, you must live forever for me. Hundreds, thousands, even millions of years, you have to live if you want to be my family.”

“Hahaha! What are you talking about …. Where could I possibly live that long!” The words Leben caught as a joke. In complete disbelief, the girl lightly said, “Well, indeed I can avoid danger with your suggestions, but still live as long as it is impossible.”

“That's impossible for me ..” The figure in the white dress had a serious expression to the point that Leben could not pay attention to it. In a slightly sad tone, the figure again said, “As long as you want, I can give you an eternity. This was a special code, it could also be called a curse in the understanding of this world. If you have the determination to be my family, you can take this power …. After that, I will promise to be your family forever, Leben.”

The figure in the white dress put both hands in front of the chest, then black particles began to come out of his body and form a cube the size of a pomegranate. Stretching out a shiny black box in his hand, with a sad tone he offers, “Take this box. It contains that Special Code. If you want, I can decipher the code and give it to you.”

Leben clearly knew that the figure was not joking. Vaguely aware of the burden that lies behind the power, the little girl bargained, “Bby .. I asked for time to think first?”

“Sure. Eternity is not easy to decide. Not always that long life brings good things, you will learn the meaning of loss and suffering. Desperation will come every night …. Tribulation will be natural for you.”

At a time not far after the talk, Leben finally accepted the immortality and became the holder of Special Code ⸻ A world curse equivalent to the blessing of the gods to affect the universe.

What made him take the power was very simple, he did not want to live alone and wanted to always be with the figure.

That was the beginning of the Two Emperors who would later be known as the leaders of the ancient land of the Demi-humans, the Urzian empire. They built a land with abundant wisdom and knowledge, gathered various families and made them loyal to the land.

But a few hundred years after the country was formed, the figure who gave glory, shelter, knowledge, warmth, life, and everything to Leben suddenly had to disappear from the world because his task was over.

“Everything I can give has been given to you, Leben. Power, family, belief, even to the very noble name, Cai Zi Shou Mao Naraka. Now it's my turn to ask. What I expected from the beginning was only one …. I want to meet him and stay by his side. Either a thousand or two thousand years after this, he would definitely come. The seed has been planted by the Young Devils, I have watered the seed with you and the figure of Korwa will harvest the fruit as it grows later. When he comes to this world ..., please always be his companion even though the world will make him an enemy, O one who loves me.”

What the Unnamed figure said to the end was a wish for the Second Emperor. Leben knew that one day the figure would disappear from the world. Therefore, when he heard the request he seemed to get a new purpose in his long life.

The farewell brought a little relief for him. But still, the loss of the family was indeed very painful for Leben.

As the night fell, the Second Emperor wept, wept, and wept until his throat was dry and his eyes blackened.

Even in great sorrow, the Emperor will live and continue to live until the end of the world. That was the code he received, that was the curse he took in exchange for the happiness that a slave should not be able to obtain.