I Refused To Be Reincarnated

As Gaston lunged towards Adam, his blood-red soul emanating a sinister aura, Adam's mind raced for a solution.

He dodged with lightning-quick reflexes, narrowly missing Gaston's deadly nails.

"In your dreams, bastard! Now that you are a ghost, I can hit you!"

With a bolstering cry, he swung his Beastbane dagger in retaliation.

Sadly, Gaston's expertise in combat wasn't just for show.

He blocked Adam's arm by taking a short step forward and raising his left forearm on its trajectory. Then, he swung his right fist at Adam's stomach, knocking the air out of his frame and making him fly backwards like a cannonball.

CRACK

"Big bro!"

Julius's body trembled, the loud rattling of chains accompanying each tremor. An emotion rapidly overwhelmed his sadness. Terror. The terror of witnessing his most trusted friend flung back like a rag doll.

"Argh!"

Adam felt pain like he never did before, as if a hammer had crushed a part of his soul. The agony was so intense, so vivid that he held his stomach and rolled on the ground under Julius' enlarging eyes.

In his mind, his brother was an invincible existence, his hero who wouldn't lose to anyone. Seeing him suffering made his reality crack in sadness and... anger.

"Let my big bro alone! Fight me instead if you dare!"

His warm tears gushed down his cheeks, yet his eyes burned with a fierce flame, the kind that had forged heroes and prominent men.

The Flames of indomitable determination.

Unfortunately, with his hands bound behind his back and the chains connected to the ground, he couldn't even stand up.

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"Don't worry. Once I'm done playing with him, it'll be your turn, little puppy."

Gaston's triumphant declaration reverberated inside the cave, announcing his victory while pressing his dominance by lunging at Adam.

"No, come here! Coward! Your mom!"

Sadly, Julius' provocation attempts were ineffective against the evil ghost. After all, would a manipulator fall from petty tricks used by kids?

Instead, he towered above Adam, casting his red glow on his bent soul.

"I heard you had incredible potential. I must admit that... I'm disappointed," Gaston said, shaking his head. However, despite his disapproving words, his smirk widened to reach his ears. It was time to begin his favorite game.

"Trust me, I am as well," Adam answered, sweat dripping from his forehead and his drained face, a sad sight to behold.

Gaston was, by far, the greatest enemy he had faced. In fact, the strength gap was so overwhelming that he felt like he had returned to the bleak day he was forced to fight the bear.

He gritted his teeth as he braced himself for Gaston's impending strike. His luminous eyes only shone the light of defiance. Gaston was stronger. So what?

'Have fun, mongrel. You'll end up like the bear in the end.'

"Who are you? Where do you come from?" Gaston asked, his smile reaching his ears.

"..."

Adam didn't bother to answer. Instead, he scanned his surroundings, determined to find something useful to turn the tables. Sadly, between the old furniture and the rocky walls, nothing could help him. His situation was desperate, but he wouldn't give up!

PAH

"Argh!"

A disturbing, crushing noise reverberated as a fist crashed into his nose.

"NO! STOP PLEASE!"

Julius' desperate scream filled the cave as he strained his wrist to free himself from his bindings.

The loud clangor of metal grating against rocks echoed as something suddenly clicked in Adam's mind. He had overlooked an important detail... One that could perhaps lead them to salvation.

"Answer! Don't make the game boring," ordered Gaston. He hated resilient people the most. They always found ways to ruin his fun... Only for a moment, though.

"N-No wh-what do you want, devil?" Adam asked, his lips trembling and his features distorting in a grimace of despair. The fire in his eyes also died out... doused by the dampness of misery.

PAH

"Argh!"

"Hahaha, you almost scared me. Is it so fun to act tough when you are this weak?" Gaston said, his evil smile broadening.

"N-No Stop, please."

Adam's voice sounded weaker, his defiant resistance a forgotten echo blown by Gaston's vicious strikes.

"NOOOO! Big bro! Don't give up. You can't give up!" Julius screamed, tears flowing like rivers from his cheeks.

PAH

"Argh!"

The same scene repeated itself several times; Gaston asked, and Adam begged him to stop before getting hit and crying out in agony.

Until the seventh iteration...

Gaston's fun was reaching its climax, and his eyes almost rolled in pleasure when, without any warning, Adam summoned his Beastbane dagger.

In a movement of extreme swiftness, he mobilised all his strength to throw his weapon, aiming at the demon's face.

SWOOSH

The blade glinted with primal ferocity as it left his hand and pierced the wind, flying straight at his startled adversary.

'Don't disappoint me. HIT HIM!' He screamed inwardly, the amber of his defiance reigniting in his dull eyes. After all, everything had been a deliberate act to fool Gaston and strike when he was most vulnerable, turning the tables in one move.

Meanwhile, Gaston's blue eyes sparkled as they followed the incoming dagger before craning his neck to the side with inhuman reflexes.

The dagger missed its mark by a hair's breadth, continuing its flight.

"I should have known that you gave up too fast... We could have enjoyed ourselves a bit more. What a shame," Gaston said, glaring at Adam. For the first time, his lips curled downwards in a grimace. He had been caught off guard? He?

Yet, his surprise only started.

"ARGH!"

A scream escaped his lips, the pain forcing him to back a step and free Adam.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Adam soldiered up and seized the opportunity to press his advantage. He jumped, placing his feet on the cave's wall to take support on them before launching himself like a missile. He extended his arms and tackled Gaston, focusing on his knees to force him out of balance. Then, his arms came to life.

Like two pistons, they collided with the hateful ghost with loud thuds. Yet, despite the opportunity to vent all the frustration accumulated during this fight, a frown creased his eyebrows.

'Why does it feel like striking metal?' He thought, dangerous alarms ringing in his mind.

In the meantime, Gaston stood impassive despite the blows raining down on him. A single question filled his mind: How did the dagger pierce his back? He soon found the answer as his gaze flickered to the boy.

Julius glared back, his lips curled into a smug grin. Before him, a dim row of flickering ethereal symbols: "Kick. Dagger. Back."

Gaston's eyes enlarged as he pieced the event's sequence, realising that Adam's cunningness wasn't to be underestimated. Enduring the pain and humiliation inflicted upon him, Adam had been waiting to recover enough mana to manifest those three words in a lethal counter-attack.

Simultaneously, Julius watched his big brother unleash hell on Gaston with a relieved smile. Even he had been fooled by Adam's act.

After understanding everything and feeling the annoying burning sensation slowly burning his back, Gaston's eyes sparkled with malevolence.

He spotted a gap between Adam's successive blows and seized the opportunity. His right hand blurred as he delivered a lightning-fast palm strike to Adam's chin. Without retrieving his hand, he pushed with all his strength, forcing the con artist to stand up.

The blow sent Adam into a momentary daze, but he quickly shook his head to recover. Then he glared at Gaston, assessing the damage he had caused. However, except for his missing smile, Gaston looked no different from before.

"Sigh, I shouldn't have underestimated you. It was my fault. Time to end things," Gaston said, understanding his mistake. He wouldn't drop his guard nor give the duo more opportunities to counter-attack.

As soon as his last word echoed in the cave, he dashed towards Adam. However, instead of attacking, his hands coiled around his spectral form like two snakes before he slowly disappeared inside his body.