Within the darkness, where a flicker was hardly surviving, suddenly a surge of light seemed to boost the strength of that flickering glow, which was like a soul—suddenly filled with vitality as it instantly expanded.
Not like a flame, but like a sun—so intense that it just burned away all the darkness hidden within his body, which had once been trying to devour his consciousness.
"Haah." His eyes instantly snapped open, the red glow returning—and this time it was much sharper, much more intense. Unlike his chubby self, he blinked while looking toward the stinky smell scattered around him, his hand moving as he slowly lifted himself.
He could feel his body much lighter, and the clothes he wore had become loose around his frame. His eyes noticed his hands and feet, which had shrunk like someone who had been doing intense workouts.
And naturally, he had been doing so. Given his weak bloodline since a young age, to prove himself, he had trained intensely. But due to digestion issues, fat had accumulated over the layers of his muscles. Rather than having no abs or muscular curves, the issue was that everything had been hidden behind a layer of fat. But now that layer seemed to have come out of his body in a very dirty and rotten way.
[ System: Recalibrating ]
[ Host's vitality enforcing system firewalls ]
[ Scanning for residue attacker ]
As the windows started to pop up with a whoosh, in that situation—with time still frozen—he breathed. Instead of panicking, he was calmer, due to a new type of memory embedded in his mind that did not belong to him, but to someone else who was trying to take over his body.
This was the memory of someone considered a villain from the future, who tried to regress back into the past. But instead of returning in his own body, he chose the weakest one to enter—and that body belonged to Lecan.
Understanding that these memories were scattered, he breathed before noticing how the black and white scattered across the sky slowly began to dissolve, as if time was starting to move again. Though it was slow—slower than his mind could process it.
It will take one minute, he calculated, before looking toward the system. And with a calmness that was unexpected in this situation, he placed his hand into his pocket before speaking to the system:
'Detect the system that tried to intrude on you. Was it something called the Fate-Devouring System?'
[ Huh? Y-Yes, exactly, host! That's the signature name of that thing. But… how did you know? ]
'So it's true,' Lecan thought. Maybe he was seeing an illusion, but those memories were of that villain who—using this system—had the ability to convert, by breaking the storylines, the predestined path into fate points which kept him alive.
Yes. The system that Villain used seemed to store fate values and then used them to strengthen itself, rather than its host. More like a parasite—giving tasks to its host to complete some illogical demands by tying him to those quests.
However, with his mind calmer now, Lecan recalled how—just now—the thing that saved him wasn't the system he just got, which gave him 10x rewards for sharing something. It was the ability where he could grow by using others' fate, could change it, and was immune to death curses and other such things. That, in itself, gave him enough power to stay in this battle for the throne much longer.
Standing there, he slowly stepped back as he saw, finally, the color of the forest around him returning to green. Even though the moonlight was still at its peak, its glow didn't reach even a meter around him—as if it was still recovering from the time freeze.
And finally—
ROOOAR—SKKKLTTT!
That wolf, which had been mid-air, bit down, jaws clenched, then slid due to the recoil of its speed—clearly expecting that vampire to already have been crushed in its mouth. But standing there, it looked around—finding no chubby vampire. Only one young figure, looking calm, with deep red eyes showing strength and confidence.
"Ggrrrrrhhhh!" The wolf seemed confused, but Lecan, on the other hand, was looking toward the wolf with narrowed gaze, as if he already understood the state that wolf was in.
This was a common trait of werewolves. For those who had recently been turned into their beast form, it was hard to control the manifestation of their rage—especially after tasting a vampire's blood once. And right now, looking toward that wolf—who was called Velmira Starlight—
Lecan just found this situation a much better opportunity to test out his new fate-changing system.
"Here… you want food, right?" Lecan said, as he stretched out his hand, smirking with a small smile that was gentle, not fearful—even though that beast, thrice his size, lunged toward him. Roaring with weight, creating small craters in the ground, the dust scattered with breaking pieces of soil flying around.
Then the beast lunged again—and this time, it bit.
It bit off Lecan's whole arm.
Blood splattered in a gust, covering the white fur of the wolf—who seemed clearly enraged—glaring as it swallowed the arm it had eaten.
And for Lecan?
He was just trying to test all of his newfound strength.
'First test', he thought.
> [ Strong Arm Shared with a Heroine – ×10 Rebate Triggered ]
[ Reward Unlocked: "Luck Limb" ]
→ Any outcome of bets, gambles, lotteries, fate-based events, or chance encounters will yield 50% more favorable results when executed through or influenced by the host's right arm.
As he did, his eyes turned toward his shoulder where the blood was gushing out from the severed arm.
But within a few seconds of him looking at it—instantly—bones, tendons formed in the shape of an arm. His hand returned, restored to its original strength, muscles tightened, grip firm—as if nothing had happened to it.
The firmness of his grip, the closed fingers—all were the same as before, thanks to his sword training.
He stood there with his loose shirt on—one sleeve missing—but a muscular arm in its place.
'Primary System's functioning check...'