This is a story that goes back to a time when the fruits of chaos are still being formed, the cruel fates yet to be revealed.

In another volume of his journey through the Underworld, the “Adam’s Heir” will fight memorable battles and meet people who might have the answers he is looking for.

Origins, convictions, and duties. Everything will be put to the test once more.

Lied hit Jirou with his new technique as he won the fight between the two humans. Since he was already dead, the killer only blacked out. Meanwhile, Lied was feeling quite tired. When he looked at the remaining prisoners, Pantera was no longer with them. The hunter startled the boy as he popped up a few seconds later in front of him.

“H-He’s fast!” Lied thought.

“Interesting. You’ll do” Pantera said before activating his Spirit Mode.

The teenager jumped back as he felt the intense aura that emanated from the aztec. Apart from the pranas of Zaccharias and Meshulam, that was the most powerful spiritual energy he had sensed so far in Mictlan. His next opponent was in a different league altogether.

“Lied, you showed your trump card in the previous fight and there’s no guarantee that it will work again. Are you sure you don’t want to back off for now?” Zaccharias contacted Lied telepathically.

“I know that. But I have a feeling that my spirit will regret forever if I run away” the human replied to the talking crow.

“Very well” the crow complied with his student’s resolution.

“My name is Pantera Lazarus. I used to be a professional aztec hunter. And you are?” the man started by introducing himself.

“Lied. A human from Ganeden” the young man replied, not letting his guard down for a second.

“And what is Lied, a human from Ganeden, doing in Mictlan?” Pantera asked with a smug smile on his face.

“I came here to get stronger and defeat a certain person” Lied said in a convincing way.

“A person? In the Restricted Block?” the hunter said as he raised his eyebrows.

“His name is Martyr. His left hand is wrapped in bandages” the Adam’s Heir said.

“Ah, that guy” Pantera said.

“You saw him?!” the human asked.

“How about this: I’ll tell you what I know if you manage to touch me in the next few minutes” the aztec challenged him.

Lied was once again feeling underestimated by the inmates, even after he beat one of them. Nevertheless, it was motivating to know that he was hot on Martyr’s trail. The boy stepped forward and quickly shortened the distance between them with his supersonic speed as he threw punches and kicks.

“You awakened the Spirit Mode recently, am I right? For how long have you been a user? Weeks? Days? No, less… hours, not many hours. Judging by your average movements, the fight against Jirou was your first real experience after awakening. And that last technique… to acquire such mastery of the Density property in a short time, you must be someone with immense spiritual propensity. In other words, you’re a gifted lad!” Pantera was saying while easily dodging his attacks by swaying from side to side.

“I appreciate the compliment, but I got more butts to kick. I have no time for trivial talks” Lied smiled wryly and said.

“Oh, we got a kid here who’s very sure of himself. You should be careful with overconfidence though. It’s just that, unlike Jirou, I’m not full of openings” the hunter said.

Pantera blocked the teenager’s kick with his left elbow, then gave him a powerful jab with his right hand, which Lied failed to dodge with his Visibility. The human immediately realized that the enemy was not only cognizant of the spirit’s properties, but his foundations were also vastly superior to his. The aztec adjusted his cowboy hat as he whistled whilst waiting for him to regain his composure.

“What do you think, Zaccharias? Can Lied win this one too?” Mare asked, but she did not get a response from the thoughtful talking crow right away.

Lied did not want to leave Pantera waiting and assumed a fighting stance. It was not the first time the odds were against him; the lad also had to overcome a stronger hurdle in order to awaken the Spirit Mode.

“By the way, my SSL is 70%, although that’s not very relevant…” the hunter stared at Jirou, unconscious on the ground, and sarcastically coughed.

“So what?!” Lied said feeling irked as he summoned the Anima Sancta and attacked his opponent right off the bat.

The aztec successively avoided the sharp blows of the shiny blade. As previously remarked by Pantera, in the eyes of a developed Spirit Mode user, Lied’s movements were disjointed and dull. It became obvious by how badly he wielded his sword. Strength, endurance, dexterity, Visibility and Sensitivity… he was inferior to him in all aspects. To make matters worse, the hunter was not serious at all.

“Oh, so you were still hiding something. C’mon, don’t hold back. Show me all your weapons!” Pantera exclaimed, it had been a long time since he last enjoyed himself so much.

Little Mare grew restless among the spectators. As another Spirit Mode user, she could feel the power difference between the two, but part of her wanted to believe that Lied would be able to turn the situation around.

“It’s talent versus experience” the crow broke the silence and said.

“Huh?” the girl said, confused.

“Will Lied’s talent surpass the experience of this man named Pantera? We can say that, like in other occasions, the outcome of this battle will depend on Lied’s growth” Zaccharias explained.

“Lied…” Mare gazed at the lad, worried.

Pantera invited Lied to attack. He accepted the invitation and determinedly moved forward, wielding the Anima Sancta. The Adam’s cross moved with a swaying motion in response to its owner’s tremendous will. The hunter was dancing around in front of Lied. The young man just could not find an opening.

“I was wondering why I felt something familiar about you… yes, it’s your eyes, they remind me of him” Pantera said as his smile faded away.

“What?” Lied said.

“I remember it like it was yesterday… The day I died and the man, no, the snake that killed me” Pantera clenched his fists in anger and said “It happened over ten years ago, during one of my hunts. My target was a rare deer, the nobleman who hired me wanted his succulent meat for dinner. And in the wild mountains of Aqua, I met him… the worst predator of them all.”

The term “snake” aroused the attention of the talking crow, which did not go unnoticed by Mare. Both Zaccharias and Lied listened carefully to his story.

🐍🐍🐍

Aqua, Mountains, eleven years ago

On a sunny afternoon, Pantera walked through a forest in search of the requested deer with only one thought in his head: the reward from his employer.

“There it is!” the hunter activated his Spirit Mode upon spotting the deer and chased it relentlessly.

The hunt took him to the heart of the hinterland. As he was about to corner the animal, a child stepped out of the bushes and blocked his path, stretching out his arms and staring fearlessly at Pantera.

“What do you think you’re doing, kid?” Pantera asked him.

“Sir, you’re going to kill the poor animal, aren’t you?” the boy answered his question with a question.

“Yeah, that’s my job. Now get out of the way” the hunter said.

“No!” the boy exclaimed.

“I don’t have the patience, so go home” Pantera said.

“No!!” the lad refused to leave once again.

The hunter took a deep breath as he finally understood that the child would not back down. Pantera walked up to the kid with the intention of hitting him. That was when he felt intimidated by a strong prana nearby. The hunter turned around and saw a blonde-haired, dark green-eyed male in his thirties. The newcomer called the lad and comforted him. The kid nodded and bolted out of the forest as he left the two adults alone.

“Who are you?!” Pantera asked.

The man disappeared into thin air and reappeared in front of the hunter in the blink of an eye. A spiritual snake emerged from his back and strangled Pantera to death.

“I can’t move…!” the hunter thought before breathing his last.

“That child’s father” his killer at last replied.

🐍🐍🐍

The kid named Klaus that Lied saw in his sleeping memories buried deep inside him, during Luna’s reincarnation, seemed to coincide partly with Pantera’s description of his killer. Could it be the same person? Or at the very least be connected with each other? He was sure of one thing: this was no coincidence. The hunter noticed that his story had left the teenager strangely curious, while Pantera himself merely felt empty as he remembered the episode.

“Anyway, I don’t believe in that ‘fate’ stuff, thus my death, as well as the fact that we met here, are all unfortunate coincidences” the aztec was saying “You said you didn’t have time to waste? What a coincidence… me neither.”

The human gripped the exuberant Anima Sancta firmly as he pondered all possibilities. Lied remembered Zaccharias’ phrase that had stuck in his mind: “When in doubt, ask your spirit. It shall steer your way towards the answer.”

His legs moved by themselves, and the teenager ran full of determination once more as he listened to the guiding voice within him.

“The answer… lies beyond this fight. What I must do hasn’t changed: defeat the enemy in front of me!” the Adam’s Heir shouted.

[END OF CHAPTER]