I Refused To Be Reincarnated

Atlas gazed at him, his brows raised in confusion before a smirk crept onto his lips. With a high five, his palm met his brother's as he answered.

"Of course! Let's forget this terrible past!"

Adam smirked back at the brat before turning to Luna, a calculative light flashing in his eyes. His mind raced for a second, thoughts colliding to form ideas before he nodded.

"Can you make everyone forget everything for thirteen years? Then, activate the interface and offer them to remember?" He asked, willing to give everyone a choice. After all, brave men and women have fought throughout history to assert their free will against tyranny and oppression. He would never impose his decisions on others.

"I won't let you forget me!" Luna yelled through gritted teeth, her palm covering her throbbing forehead. Yet, despite her reluctance, death loomed over their heads, leaving her no time to sort her chaotic feelings. With trembling lips, she forced herself to answer.

"You have my memory manipulation ability. I can't recover it before you die, and even if I do, it'll take too much time."

"An easy problem to resolve."

He shrugged, stepping away from Atlas. Closing his eyes, he felt his mana surge through his newly recovered circuits and nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he winked at Luna.

"Let this be my last stunt."

His voice resounded as his luminous eyes blazed to defy the darkened sky. He could resolve the ominous clouds' threat by disappearing since they were locked on him. However, Luna made it transparent that she wouldn't allow him to. Even now, he could see her trembling pupils and how she bit her lips in anxiousness. So, how could he die without dying?

'Become someone else!' He thought, feeling the time had come to leave all his guilt, sufferings, and regrets behind. That's the answer he found. With it, he would grant Atlas' wish and find the rest he came to long for after years of constant burden and grief.

Without wasting a second, he raised his palm and called for his spell.

"Atomic blade!"
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Echoing his words, his shimmering blade roared to life, its pressure distorting the air. Steam rose and billowed around him in a mysterious yet captivating dance as the water particles evaporated.

Upon hearing the dangerous sizzling noises fill the place, everyone's eyes widened in confusion, the same question thundering in their minds.

'What is he going to do?'

Eyes bulging and jaws dropping in disbelief, they witnessed the answer the next second.

Adam manipulated the weapon to hover above him. With a determined thought and stony calmness, he caused the air to crack and melt as he cleaved his soul in two halves. Gritting his teeth to endure the agony in silence, his mind raced to focus on something hidden deep within him: the fissured shimmering box containing his emotions.

'You are now free! Become a better version of myself. No, even better. Become someone else entirely!'

Fighting the encroaching darkness slithering like a snake ready to engulf his consciousness, he shattered the box in the first half.

Next, he linked both with an invisible yet unbreakable soul chain. Finally, he hurled the second half, making it phase and rest inside Atlas' body.

Simultaneously, the ominous cloud charging their strike rumbled and twirled as if confused by their target's abrupt disappearance. They lingered for a dozen seconds, scanning every soul in the plaza before vanishing as mysteriously as they had appeared.

As Atlas shuddered in dread and confusion and the bright sky reappeared, Luna's beast-like roar reverberated in his ears.

"I won't accept it!"

Despite the threat's disappearance, her heart bled in her tightening chest. Eyes reddening, and fists shaking, she gazed at the half-soul's dimming eyes as sorrowful tears rolled down her cheeks.

She gasped loudly, noticing his moving lips and reading his last message on them.

"I love you."

Her nails dug into her palms and her teeth pierced her trembling lower lips, filling her mouth with a bitter taste.

"I love you too!" She wailed, her legs weakening under her emotions' assault, making her plop to the ground powerlessly.

Tender memories of the time they spent together flashed before her eyes. From their rough first meeting to the violent yet strangely enjoyable years they spent defending the city's wall. She recalled their different approach to solving their desperate situation, his unwavering resolve when confronting adversity, his deep empathy towards humanity, and his unbending loyalty to her.

Finally, she remembered the first time he declared loud and clear his love and how he unburied his name to convince her to follow his plan.

Upon thinking about it, her eyes lit up. Hurriedly, she pushed herself off the ground, stumbling a few steps before reaching him.

"I'll reincarnate you before it's too late. You can keep your memories and personality if I act quickly," she yelled, mobilising a colossal amount of mana to quick-start the ritual.

However, she froze in disbelief the next second as his feeble voice reached her ears.

"I refuse to be reincarnated."

A tremor jolted her body, and an ocean of confusion billowed in her mind. Yet, she had no time to waste. In the blink of an eye, she recovered to continue.

But... it was too late. In that second of hesitation, Adam's eyes completely dimmed.

"WHY?!" She roared, her fist cutting through the wind like a laser ray. The plaza's sturdy slabs shattered as she closed her eyes in despair.

As the dust particles glimmered under the sun's rays, Atlas moved to her.

"We have to accept his choice."

His voice wavered in a vain attempt to mask his anguish and helplessness. He scanned the gray smoke billowing ominously around his brother's frame, a bitter smile stretching his lips.

Luna's eyes followed his, landing on the deep darkness veiling Adam's features. Her sorrow doubled the next moment as she felt her memory manipulation return to her, proving that the Adam she knew and loved was truly gone. Worst, her recovered ability would be useless since she couldn't manipulate what she did not possess or didn't exist anymore.

"I don't care," she muttered, her shoulders trembling and the plaza rumbling under her feet before she roared.

"'I'll bring him back!"

She glared at Atlas, gritting her teeth. Accept his decision? Why would she when he had been forced to take it? She knew her mind wasn't working properly. Maybe her prolonged contact with Adam made her emotions more apparent, but she didn't care.

"If not for your stupid ideas! It's YOUR fault if he is gone!"

Her words hung heavily in the plaza, shocking everyone.

"You wanted to forget?" She spat, blurring in his enlarging eyes before he could react to her sudden outburst. Then, She clutched his forehead, her hands as firm as a dragon's claws.

"Forget everything then!"

With a silent command, she activated her ability, erasing every memory he had. In the blink of an eye, Atlas' body lost all strength before he could understand what happened. Like a stringless puppet, he fell to the ground when she released her grip, his eyes dull.

Yet, Luna's rage was far from quenched. After all, she never cared for him or any human except Adam.

"As this planet's consciousness, I hereby banish you from Earth. Should you step foot in my domain, the heretics' fate shall await you!"

Her voice resounded with unquestionable authority, scarring the silent citizens into a muted stupor as she activated the ritual.

"Out of my sight, traitor!"