The Second Chance of Reincarnator

"Realm Between… Realm Between…"

Kael chanted, making his way through the long rock road, surrounded by the dark forest of the nearby Ants region.

It was so dark that he could barely see more than a few feet in front of him.

The long, wooden fingers of the branches, some of them as thick as his arm, wove together above his head, blocking out the moonlight.

Howl~

"…"

Kael stopped moving at the sound of the howl and looked around him, but he felt like the howl came from quite far away.

'It's not only Rav'akari that I need to be afraid of—the wild animals of this world can also be dangerous.'

He said, and despite the burning sensation in the soles of his feet, he picked up his pace and made his way down a short hill.

However, as he made his way through the downhill and uphill, he came across a strange view in the distance.

Next to the road, in the ditch, there was a broken carriage with one of its wheels detached and lying in the dirt.

Its doors were ripped open—as if it had been violently attacked—and it had lanterns dangling on its sides, still flickering dimly.

The candles weren't fully died down, and the scent of burning wax filled the air.

"This is…"

Kael trailed off, walked to the carriage, and looked inside through the ripped-apart doors—the stench of blood was heavy inside.

'Someone was attacked here, but their corpses are gone…'

Kael looked down at the ground—he couldn't see anything because of the darkness—and thus he picked up one of the lanterns and crouched close to the ground.

The corpses weren't dragged away but carried, as there were blood droplets heading all the way to the forest. Love this story? Show support at MV2LEMPYR.

"I do not want to stay and wait to see who attacked this carriage."

Kael said, put the lantern back in its place, and walked away—he didn't want to take the light with him, as it would be easy to see him in this darkness.

It didn't take long for him to finally leave the forest path behind and see the crooked gates of the Ants Village in the distance.

It was located under a shadow of a mountain, surrounded by forests on every side, and the air was thick with the sound of buzzing insects.

"Ants Village…"

Kael walked through the gates, a lump in his throat, and looked around the abandoned, dilapidated buildings that had weeds growing through the cracks.

It had been abandoned for a long while already because of the constant threats of the wild animals and bandits.

Now a great danger had arrived—Rav'akari.

Kael's hair stood up—he felt like someone was watching him through the cracked windows of the buildings—but in the end, he believed it was just his wild imagination playing tricks on him.

A short walk later, he arrived at the village's square—it's where the hangings of criminals were held—and thus it had a dark and eerie atmosphere.

"…Ah."

Keal stopped moving, his gaze turned to the center of the square, where the gallows stood tall and foreboding.

The pain in his eyes was palpable, and his hands started shaking.

In the gallows, five figures swung silently in the chilling wind—the hangman's noose around their necks.

"Brother…"

Kael stopped in front of the gallows, right before the swinging figure of his deceased brother, and teared up as he struggled to hold back his emotions.

They have been stripped naked and left to rot in the open air.

Soul's eyes had no life—the mouth was filled with maggots—and his sword was stuck inside his chest cavity.

Next to him, Arina was dangling with a dead expression on her face—the bobcut hair of hers had turned into a mess of gnarled roots intertwined with the branches.

The smile, which she always wore, was long gone from this world, and she was also missing all of her clothes—the bruises covering her body were dark and painful.

Beside her, Jasper, a curly-haired young man, swung with his head turned in the opposite direction, the neck completely broken, and his eyes wide open in a look of terror.

Then there was Leonie—a ginger-haired girl with a dimpled face—now looking mangled beyond recognition, her body twisted in an unnatural position.

The limbs were twisted and tangled—her chest was clearly crushed under the weight of whatever had attacked her—and her eyes were closed shut.

Beau, the muscle of the party, was swinging from the noose with stab wounds in every part of his body—the swords had clearly gone through his chest and exited from the back.

It was a surprise that the gallows could still hold his body from the noose.

"Whoo…"

Kael turned around, took a deep breath, and held his face in his hands—he'd been preparing for this sight, but it was even worse than he imagined.

"These…"

Kael coldly whispered, put his hands out of his face, and punched the wall, feeling the sting of pain in his knuckles.

The flesh on his hands split open, but he didn't care.

There was a sword lying on the ground, which he picked up, and cut down the rope of the gallows—the five figures dropped down to the ground with a thud.

He found the sheath for the sword, slid it back into place, and put it dangling from his waist belt.

Kael slapped his cheeks, then went to find a big enough wagon for all of the bodies, and he found one near the horse stables.

He also found a wheelbarrow, went back to the gallows, and one by one took the corpses to the wagon.

After every corpse was put lying down inside the wagon, he covered them with a tarp and made sure that they were warm and hidden from view.

"Now… There aren't any horses left, and even if there were, they would already be dead of starvation. Thus, I have to push this wagon all the way to Rask… all by myself."

Kael rolled up his sleeves, moved to the back of the wagon, and started slowly pushing it through the gates of the village.

It was the heaviest thing he'd ever had to push, and it wasn't even close—the school's football carts were a breeze compared to this.

"Huff… Huff… Huff!"