Chapter 15: Second Past Life

"I will do it."

Vlad did not raise his head, keeping his face covered as if he were too ashamed to look at the others. This made Asmael smile even more as he signaled the young man to get into the rear pentagram.

"Get in and accept the power of the God Decree."

Vlad used what little strength he had left to rise from the ground and walked toward the God Decree. Yet, just as he was about to reach it, he stumbled and fell in the middle of it, tainting it with his blood.

"What are you doing!"

Asmael shouted as he saw Vlad falling onto the parchment, pushing it away as he frantically began to wipe away the blood. There was panic in his eyes for a moment, and he only relaxed once he had cleaned it all out.

Immediately, rage appeared in his eyes as he turned toward Vlad, but once he saw the young man sitting in the rear pentagram, he chose not to waste more time and went to the head pentagram, taking his place in the other and taking a deep breath.

"Allow the power of God to course through your body and soul so that it can cleanse your sins."

Asmael spoke in a solemn voice. While Vlad kept looking down, hiding his face, the young man nodded. The angel did not waste time and activated the Runic Formation on the parchments.

All the angels and Gifted looked at the parchment with shock and awe as a force field covered the duo, making sure no one could interfere. The runes began to move on their own, reaching into their bodies and moving through their flesh.

Asmael's eyes were full of excitement and thrill as he saw the runes coursing through Vlad's body. Once he saw them reach into the young man's head and go into the Soul Dimension, a nearly maniacal smile appeared on his face.

However, at that point, Vlad finally raised his head, showing an even broader and colder smile.

Asmael felt his entire existence screaming in terror as he saw that smile. He did not have time to understand those feelings as he saw how the pentagram beneath him became red, marking him as the sacrifice. At the same time, the one beneath Vlad grew golden, marking him as the receptor.

Panic appeared on the angel's face, and he immediately tried to break free, but that was impossible, as the Runic Formation kept him in place, ensuring he could not interfere with the process.

"What did you do!?"

Asmael shouted in rage and terror while Vlad kept smiling.

"It is simple. I just changed the Sacrifice and Target Cores. I am surprised you did not notice it."

Vlad seemingly enjoyed the terror in the man's eyes and pointed to the center of the parchment. Asmael focused on it, and a sense of utter shock assaulted him as he saw a few of the runes glowing with different colors than the others. It seemed they had been written just a minute ago.

"Your... blood?"

"Bingo."

Vlad's smile grew wider as he nodded to the angel, indicating he was correct. The young man's blood was indeed used to modify those runes on the parchment, and he did it when he "accidentally" fell on top of it.

"How?"

The angel was perplexed and did not understand what was happening or how those new runes appeared. This parchment was his most precious possession, but he honestly did not understand its principles and only knew its effect. So, he was bewildered at how simple modifications with blood could change it.

Vlad continued smiling as he looked at the terrified and shocked angel, ready to speak.

"Runic Formations are like computer codes, and just like codes make an operating system work, the runes affect the magic powers of the world. While for someone like you, they are incredibly complex, if you know enough about them, it is easy to understand its principles and make some basic changes."

Asmael understood the reasoning behind those words, but he was still shocked. The young man before him was supposed to be a simple and ignorant human who knew nothing about the new world, much less something as complex as Runes and Runic Formations.

"You are a monster, a devil!"

"Hahaha, your expression is truly amusing. I am not a monster or a devil. I am just a human who has awakened the memories of his past lives. Before this one, I was just a soldier on the battlefield, but in my Second Past Life, I was quite an important figure."