Rise Of The Anti God

On his way back to the villa along with Valentina, Luna asked mentally, "Are you sure everything you say or do with Reva is purely business?"

Luna's tone sounded skeptical, as if she was quite confident about what she was asking.

"What do you mean?" Damien asked as if he had no idea what Luna was pointing at.

"Oh, come on. No need to play the innocent act with me. You know what I am talking about." Luna said in a fanciful tone.

Damien gritted his teeth and said, "Of course, it's business."

"Like the words, you said to her? You meant what you said, right? Not because you merely wanted to fool her."

Damien said defensively, "Of course, I didn't mean it. Why would I? I just had to act as I meant it so that she would be convinced."

Luna scoffed, "Sure, you can act. But no matter how much you act, I can sense how much of an act it is. Ignoring the fact that your eyes seemed like they were telling the truth, your soul energy barely fluctuated when you said those words to her. It was like you really believed or meant what you said. It makes me wonder if you are the one falling for her, hehe."

Damien irately said, "Of course not. You are just assuming things as you want them to be. Who knows, I can even control the fluctuations of my soul energy as you know how much good I am at controlling my emotions."

Lune said in a churlish tone, "Really? You talk as if you are a thousands of years old monster who tempered their mind and will to the extent that they could control even the fluctuations of their soul energy. You are barely even above fifty years old, putting both your lifetimes together. I admit that your will and control over your thoughts are extraordinary for a mortal, but even the fact that you are having nightmares means that you still haven't tempered your mind completely. I guess the cold girl you were talking about to Reva was someone who loved you, right? And just like you said to her, you are seeing that same person in her."

"No...you know nothing," Damien muttered as his voice faltered.

"Why do you deny your true feelings? It seems like it's not merely because you want to stay true to Lily. There is something else that's plaguing you from the inside. Isn't it? Because I know you are no saint."

"Stop it, Luna. Don't get into my head," Damien's tone turned stern.

However, Luna didn't falter, "No use in trying to make me shut up. Even now, you are still holding on to Valentina as if you don't want her to leave you. Why did you never suggest to her that she can court others? If you don't see her as a woman you love, why didn't you tell her that she will meet some other man as her soul mate when she asked about love? You are very possessive about her but just never had to show it since she is always staying with you anyway and only has eyes for you. You know it, and even the blind dog in the streets knows how much Valentina loves you. Yet you hurt her feelings every time she comes onto you."

"That's enough, Luna! Everything I do is for her good. You know nothing." Damien said as he tightened his hands unconsciously.

"Hmph, no need to act all angry. Obviously, truth bites. I am going to sleep, and I won't talk to you till tomorrow, hmph. You are just a big dum-dum." Luna went silent after harrumphing in pique.

"Damien, what is it?" Valentina asked as she got startled when Damien unknowingly tightened his grip around her arms.

Damien realized that in the middle of his talk with Luna, he unknowingly gripped Valentina tighter.

"Ah, it's nothing," Damien said with a smile, but his smile faded just as Luna's previous words buzzed in his mind. 

He felt that it was very hard or even impossible to escape from Luna's vigilant senses. It was as if she knew everything. He now truly felt that gods are in a different league than he ever expected and wondered if all gods were unbelievably perceptive like Luna. 

He hoped that was not the case as Luna was the strongest and oldest of them all.

He believed that if there was someone in this world whom he cannot fool or trick, it would be Luna.

She would call him out on any shady things he does or tells, and it would annoy him to the point that he could only grit his teeth in frustration.

However, no matter how much exasperated he felt at times, he had gotten used to her staying in his mind that he would feel empty whenever she goes silent for too long. She had helped him a lot despite how much vexing she can be.

In his heart, he had a lot of gratitude towards Luna than he shows no matter how many biting truths she pointed out.

And for some reason, despite only having spent more than two months with Luna, he felt as if those months were like years.

It felt more like she had become a part of him which he cannot separate from. He wondered what would happen once Luna recovers and forms her own corporeal body. She wouldn't need him anymore, and nor would she be staying in his soul plane.

He wondered if Luna might cause the universe to change once she recovers back her powers and memories. 

But the thing he was most worried about was if Luna would change once she assumes her true form and regains all her memories. Would her impish behavior disappear? Would she even talk with a mortal like him or deign to look at him?

Without him knowing, Damien was getting attached to Luna.

When he thought about Luna's conditions, he remembered how he had to become the top existence in this continent within two years or at least change Lily's fate.

Ever since he left the Rong Empire, there was not a day he didn't think about Lily. He always wondered how she was doing and whether she is happy or facing any troubles from her step-mother.

But thinking that her Ancestor would be there to help her out in case of emergencies, he was relieved.

With the recent events that happened, he suddenly remembered something oddly familiar about the girls in this world who left a mark in his heart.

After spending more time with Valentina, he realized she seemed to resemble Talia and Reva seemed to resemble a girl with who he was very close in his past. He told Reva the story about the girl in his previous life because he genuinely felt like telling it.

And now, the more he thought about it, he realized that Lily also resembled one of the girls in his previous life. He, at first, didn't bother to think too much about it because he felt it was just a coincidence as there could be many girls who had similar traits and probably one of the reasons why he became close with Lily so fast.

However, after everything that happened till now, he felt that something was off with the whole thing, and the only person he could seek answers from was Luna. But she was not in a state to give him the answers he needed.

A certain realization already dawned in his mind, but he could not dare to believe it or want to delude himself. He didn't want to hope for something that had impossible odds of happening and later find out it was just false hope. After all, he had no idea how reincarnation worked.

It was too illogical and implausible for it to become a coincidence that the girls in this world who affected his heart resembled the ones in his previous life.

He shook his head, thinking that there was no use pondering too much about it for now since there was no way for him to confirm anything. But his heart was already praying for that hope to be true despite what his mind felt about it.

Damien and Valentina soon reached their villa, and he went to take a hot and refreshing bath.

However, as expected, Valentina easily sneaked in buck naked, of course. But this time, instead of immediately jumping on to Damien to wash him, she had a timorous expression as she walked in with her hands behind her back as if she was hiding something.

Every time she walked in naked to wash him, he would have a hard time trying not to wake up his little brother. 

Damien squinted his eyes, thinking she was up to something, and asked, maintaining his gaze over her face, "What are you hiding, Valentina?"