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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 2
0.
“Master, why did you inscribe a magic circle on my chest?”
“Because that is the most certain place.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“That place is bound to be drenched in blood. And at that moment, the opportunity will open. The chance to grasp the power of eternity.”
1.
‘Gasp!’
I jolted awake, the voice of my master still ringing vividly in my ears.
‘Master…’
It was a conversation we had just one month before our deaths.
That day, Master offered one of his mana loops to the Demon Lord and engraved a magic circle into my chest.
He said it would open the path to an opportunity.
As the moonlight seeped through the crack in the window and shone beside my pillow, it all sank in.
This isn’t a dream.
This is reality.
“Hoo—”
The long breath I exhaled tickled the back of my hand.
I raised my hand and looked it over.
Small, delicate palms. No wounds or scars on my thin wrists.
The rest was the same.
No sign of severed tendons. The neck that had once gushed blood was perfectly fine.
Even the magic circle that had been carved into my chest was now gone.
‘Huh…’
The moment I looked at the date on the calendar hanging on the wall, a cold chill spread through my chest.
It was a day from nearly 28 years ago.
Right now, I am twelve years old, and today marked exactly two years since I’d arrived at this orphanage.
Which meant that my left leg was already crippled.
‘Just as I thought…’
The mischievous glint and twisted grin on Demon Lord Ilinas’s face came back to me.
Even after taking my body as a sacrifice, that bastard still played his games.
“Haa…”
The rush of excitement that had sparked inside me moments ago vanished in an instant—snuffed out like a candle.
And with that sudden stillness came a hard look at reality.
My left leg was still crippled.
My mana was gone.
The magic circles, the power I had once mastered—stripped away, as if they’d never existed.
When I closed my eyes in frustration, the memories from this exact time in my past came flooding back.
The moment my left leg had been broken, in particular, replayed vividly before me like some cruel illusion.
＊ ＊ ＊
It was lunchtime that day.
I was always starving by then.
This orphanage didn’t serve breakfast.
And because I was beaten nearly every day, my wounds throbbed with each step.
It all felt so vivid—like it had happened just yesterday.
Was it a side effect of returning to the past?
Or perhaps it was due to the magical training I’d undergone.
To master magic, one must practice envisioning the desired scene with eyes closed.
The more detailed and vivid the visualization, the more precise and powerful the resulting magic.
I had trained myself to flesh out any thought that came to mind, making it as concrete as possible.
Perhaps this illusion was a result of that training.
I could have broken free from it at any moment, but I chose to observe.
There might be clues here to help me prepare for what’s to come.
I immersed myself in my past self and began walking slowly.
Familiar hallways and scenery came into view.
Now, they seemed warm and peaceful. Back then, I hadn’t realized how precious such things were.
As I descended to the dining hall and queued up, someone cut in front of me.
“This is my spot.”
I looked up to see Andre.
The same Andre who, as an Inquisitor, had severed my tendons and taken my life.
At this time, Andre was three years younger than me, but he was bigger and stronger.
He always stole food from the other kids, and no one could stand up to him.
I, too, had always lost my rations to him.
But that day, I resolved not to let it happen.
I was simply too hungry.
Driven by hunger and desperation, I even considered standing up to him.
If I showed him once what I was made of, maybe he’d stop messing with me.
Sure, he was bigger than me—but at the end of the day, he was just a kid, like I was.
If I really put my mind to it and went all in, I could land a hit or two.
And if I could just get that far, I knew I could win.
I could feel the rush I felt back then, the excitement from when I made up my mind.
That’s when Andre grinned greedily and held out his hand.
"Hand it over, and I’ll let you off easy—just for today."
I didn’t answer.
Instead, the moment the lunch lady handed me my bread, I bit into it without hesitation.
Andre’s face twisted in disgust when he saw that.
“See you later.”
He muttered.
I didn’t bother replying.
I just calmly, deliberately, chewed and swallowed the bread.
Sometimes it tasted a little moldy and sharp—but if you chewed long enough, it wasn’t so bad.
After I finished, I stepped outside the dining hall and looked toward Andre, who was waiting for me.
He was standing there with his gang, laughing and talking, pointing at me.
He gave me that greasy, self-satisfied look—then turned back to his little gang.
And at that moment, I charged.
I leapt at him and drove my left knee straight into his face.
Thwack—
Even after he dropped to the ground, I didn’t stop.
I jumped on his chest and started swinging my fists.
Smack-Smack-Smack-Smack—
I could feel the electrifying thrill I had back then.
But it didn’t last long.
I collapsed—someone had clubbed me from behind with a firewood poker.
I remembered his name, too.
Dexter.
The de facto boss of the orphanage. Andre was basically his right-hand man.
Dexter looked back and forth between me and the sprawled-out Andre before speaking.
“Hey, new kid. How old are you?”
I didn’t answer. A girl standing nearby spoke up instead.
“He’s ten. That’s what the director said yesterday.”
Emma—the so-called queen bee. Thirty years had passed, and somehow, I still remembered that name.
She was that cruel.
She was the real power behind Dexter’s gang. If you got on her bad side, you were as good as dead.
And I had been the prime example.
Emma gave the order to her gang to drag me up the mountain.
Then she turned to Andre and said coldly.
“I saw him smash your face with his knee earlier. Break it. Make sure he never tries that again.”
Andre wiped the blood from his nose, picked up a huge rock, and without hesitation, slammed it down on my left knee.
And that was the moment I woke from the illusion.
＊ ＊ ＊
‘Yeah… that’s right. That’s how it happened.’
Now, I remembered everything.
The ones who made me into what I am—their faces, their names, every detail burned vividly back into my mind.
They weren’t ordinary children.
Even considering my past life as a dark mage, that much was clear.
They were demons.
And now, I needed to start planning how to deal with them.
A sharp jolt of pain flared up from my left knee—the same spot they’d shattered in my previous life. And with it came the memories. Of everything they did to me.
Rage surged through me, hot and bitter.
And with it... something inside me snapped.
Maybe it was something I’d desperately tried to protect throughout my past life.
Or maybe it was the very limit my master always spoke of—the one thing holding me back.
- To take the next step, you’ll have to give up being human. Can you do that?
Back then, I couldn’t.
But now? Now, I felt like I could.
I paused, sinking into thought.
And before long, I found the answer.
A way to heal my broken leg—and a way to make them all pay.
＊ ＊ ＊
The state I was in now, crippled as I was, wasn't necessarily all bad.
Thanks to it, I had spent about a year and a half living in the hospital after becoming disabled.
Even after my return, I was able to spend two whole weeks lying comfortably in a hospital bed.
But everything changed the moment I got crutches just yesterday.
I was moved to a room with the other kids. Now, every time I went to the cafeteria, I had to face Andre and Dexter's gang.
Andre approached me with the same expression as before, extending his hand.
A signal to hand over my bread.
Without a word, I broke off more than half of my bread and handed it to him. He nodded and patted my shoulder before walking away.
I made sure to remember the faces of Dexter's gang.
Dexter, the leader.
Andre, his left-hand man.
Levan, his right-hand.
Emma, the queen bee.
And most of the other kids they controlled, along with the adults who merely watched.
Dexter's gang occasionally poked at me, but I treated them the same as I did in my past life.
I didn't provoke them and simply gave them what they asked for.
Thinking of them as demons made it easy to deal with them. In fact, that's how dark mages typically handle demons.
Several days passed like that.
I made a decision. I would leave this place.
The orphanage gave me nothing but half a loaf of bread a day, and it offered no real help in any meaningful way.
To truly prepare for what was ahead, I needed time for myself, and the orphanage was not the place for that.
One deep, moonless night, I quietly opened the window and slipped outside.
Despite using crutches, it didn't feel all that uncomfortable.
For the first time in a month since my return, the scent of freedom enveloped me.
＊ ＊ ＊
Six months had passed.
During this time, I wandered through the forest, searching for food and gathering the necessary materials.
I collected rare insects hidden beneath rocks and gathered herbs that only had healing properties under the moonlight.
Afterward, I combined these materials to create the needed ingredients.
I also made sure not to forget about the orphanage.
Though it had nothing to do with my revenge, I occasionally visited those who lived there, taking the opportunity to make preparations.
All of this was difficult for a child’s body to handle, but the anger inside me helped me push through.
I realized once again that anger is an important driving force that moves people.
Day by day, I continued, and eventually, I had gathered all the materials I needed.
The day I had chosen was fast approaching.
I left the cave where I had been living and, with the leather bag containing all my materials, descended the mountain.
The full moon hung in the western sky.
‘What a fortunate day.’
Today was the autumn equinox—the day when day and night are equal in length.
For mages, the equinox is a significant occasion.
It marks a time when the balance between Yin and Yang magic is perfect, making it a day when any spell can achieve its most precise effect.
And of all such days, a full moon night is especially precious. The full moon amplifies magical energy, making it the ideal time to craft powerful magical tools or to test spells that require a considerable amount of strength.
‘It’s also a perfect day to draw a magic circle.’
Looking at the orphanage building, it seemed that everyone was asleep.
The watchman must have gone to sleep a long time ago, so there was no one awake here.
Using crutches, I reached into the leather bag. The soft texture of powder met my fingers.
This was the powder of dark magic used to draw dark magic circles. It typically appears red, making people wary, but on nights like this, when the full moon shines, it looks different.
It glowed with a beautiful silvery light, making it hard for anyone to guess that it was dark magic powder.
I walked slowly around the orphanage, bathed in the bright moonlight, and began sprinkling the silvery powder on the ground.
In fact, I hadn’t chosen tonight just because the powder looked silvery.
‘Today is the day the high priest visits to take Andre. I can't miss this opportunity.’
By tomorrow morning, the priest would be leaving for the Calios Church with Andre.
I wouldn’t let him get away.
To demons, there’s nothing more valuable than a priest. The stronger their divine power, the higher the price they command.
If there’s a high priest sleeping here, I could trade him for what I needed.
Yes.
I planned to offer the high priest, along with everyone else at the orphanage, as a sacrifice.
With that, I would heal my leg and gain power.
The power of eternity, which my master never obtained.
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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