Between the penumbra that separated life from death, a light appeared on the horizon.
It was warm, almost comforting.
I extended my hand toward it. For an instant I thought my moment had finally come. That after centuries of existence, everything would end there. My fingers were about to touch that light when everything began to spin. My body shuddered.
And then...
I breathed.
A mouthful of air entered my lungs violently. My eyes flew open.
"Haa...!"
I immediately brought a hand to my chest. I searched for that wound. Reinhard's sword had pierced my body. I had felt how my neck was separated from my shoulders. I had felt death.
But there was nothing. Not a scar. Not blood. My flesh completely intact.
I stayed motionless for several seconds. Then I slowly brought my hand up to my face. I observed it. I moved my fingers. I closed them. I opened them.
A laugh escaped my lips.
"Ha..."
Another.
"Hahahaha..."
Finally, I couldn't hold it back.
"I'm alive!"
My voice echoed through the entire room. I brought both hands to my face as I continued laughing.
"Hahahaha! Damn you, Reinhard! You thought you had finished me off!"
The emotion took several minutes to fade. But when I finally regained my calm, I observed the place I was in.
It was an enormous, completely abandoned room. Dust covered practically every surface. Some small mana stones embedded in the walls emitted a weak bluish light that barely allowed me to see the surroundings.
On the shelves there were dozens of surgical tools. Or, at least, that's what they had once been. Now they were completely rusted. Some glass jars lay broken on the floor.
I looked around. Then I remembered something.
"Ah..."
A smile appeared on my face.
"It was a good idea to create a secondary emergency body."
I got up from the cot. My feet touched the cold floor. The body felt strange. I walked to one of the old mirrors in the room. It was completely covered in dust. I passed my hand over its surface and wiped away a part.
My reflection appeared before me.
I fell silent.
The man watching me from the mirror was not me. At least, not completely. He was much younger. His body was robust and muscular, but there was something strange about it. His skin was a grayish tone. His eyes were amber. His hair was different from mine. And, although his face bore a certain resemblance to mine... it was definitely not my original body.
"A homunculus..."
I had forgotten how strange it was to see myself like this. This project had been created centuries ago. An artificial body capable of housing my soul in case my original body was destroyed. However, I had abandoned the project. The body simply didn't have the necessary capabilities.
Or so I believed.
"I suppose I finally found a use for you."
I extended a hand.
"Status window."
A bluish screen appeared before my eyes.
[Status]
Name: Varka Lakan Saberius
Race: Primordial Homunculus
Specialty: None
[Stats]
Strength: 5
Defense: 5
Magic: 10
Luck: -1
[Skills]
SSS — Gacha Summons
SSS — Divine Reflection: Revoked
SSS — Talent Devourer: Revoked
SSS — Total Poison Immunity: Revoked
SSS — Infinite Mana: Revoked
SSS — Blessed by the Dragon King: Revoked
Remaining skills: Revoked.
I blinked again and again, unable to look away from the screen. Then I closed my eyes and rubbed them hard, and opened them again.
Nothing had changed.
Absolutely all of them. The skills I had stolen and the ones I had obtained. The ones that had cost me decades of research. The ones that had turned me into the most powerful being in the world... had disappeared.
"No..."
My voice came out much lower than I expected.
"No, no, no..."
I looked at the screen again.
"This has to be a damn joke."
I extended my arm.
"Dragon King's Blessing."
I clenched my fist. Black scales were supposed to cover my arm. My strength was supposed to increase. Dragon blood was supposed to run through my veins.
But nothing happened.
"..."
I tried again.
"Dragon King's Blessing!"
Silence. I could only hear the humming of the mana stones.
I gritted my teeth.
"Damn it."
I tried to create a divine sword. A destruction spell. A barrier. A familiar beast. I even tried to increase my strength through magic.
But nothing happened.
I stared at my own hand.
This was impossible. For centuries I had accumulated power. I had stolen skills from heroes. I had defeated legendary monsters. I had obtained blessings from gods. I had acquired skills that should have been impossible for a human being.
And now... I had the strength of a goblin.
I opened the status window again.
"Strength: 5... Defense: 5... Magic: 10..."
I could bear that much. But then I reached the last section.
"Luck: -1?"
I stared at the number.
"..."
Minus one? How the hell can a negative stat exist? In all my centuries of life I had never seen anything like it. Not even rats. Not even insects had a negative luck stat.
I ran a hand over my face.
"Fantastic..."
I let out a sigh. I had lost my army, my skills, and my power.
However... one thing remained.
I looked at the last section of the screen.
[SSS — Gacha Summons]
My eyes narrowed. If Reinhard had managed to defeat me thanks to this skill... then not everything was lost. A smile began to slowly appear on my face.
I stood up.
"Let's see what you can do."
I wiped the dust off my body and found an old towel on one of the shelves. I used it to cover myself before leaving the room. I wasn't about to walk through an unknown place completely naked.
I walked down the long hallway. The place seemed to have been abandoned for decades. The walls were covered in cracks. Some mana stones had stopped working. The doors were rusted. And the silence... was absolute.
"Gacha Summons..."
I kept walking.
"The last thing I need is for my first summon to be a giant dragon that destroys this place on top of my head."
I finally reached an enormous metal door. I placed both hands on it.
The door opened.
A current of fresh air hit my face. I stood still for a moment and closed my eyes.
I breathed deeply. After having woken up in that room... it was the first time I felt the air from outside. It smelled of damp earth, moss, and something vaguely floral.
A small smile appeared on my face.
"Let's begin."
I left the ruins.
Before me stretched an enormous forest. Tall, twisted trees rose as far as the eye could see. There were no signs of civilization.
"Perfect. If the summon went wrong... at least there would be no one nearby to witness it."
I extended both hands. I began to gather mana. It was strange. My body barely possessed ten points of magic. It felt as if I were trying to fill an ocean with a fork. But little by little... the energy began to accumulate in my palms.
"Come on..."
The mana increased. A current of energy began to surround my body.
"Gacha Summons."
The space in front of me distorted. An enormous wheel appeared above my head.
My eyes opened. There were hundreds of names written on it.
"Nostradamus..."
"Achilles..."
I kept reading.
"Archimedes..."
I frowned.
"Poseidon?"
Who the hell were all these people?
I had no time to find out. The wheel began to spin.
VRRRRRRR!
My heart began to beat hard. For some reason, I was nervous.
"Please..."
I clenched my fists.
"Give me something useful."
The wheel began to slow down.
Leonidas.
Hercules.
Julius Caesar.
The speed continued to decrease. My heart beat faster and faster.
"Come on..."
The wheel began to stop. Finally...
Clac!
It stopped.
A screen appeared before me.
[Summon successful!]
[SSS-Rank Character]
Name: Goliath, the Titan
My eyes opened.
"SSS...?"
A smile slowly appeared on my face. The highest category... Finally. After losing everything... I had obtained something.
"Goliath..."
I looked at the magic circle that began to appear before me.
"The Titan."
An arrogant smile appeared on my face.
"That's it."
The energy began to accumulate and the magic circle exploded into light.
"Give me the monster that will allow me to recover what is mine."
A gigantic silhouette began to form. It was enormous. Much larger than any human. Its body was covered in blinding light. My smile grew even wider.
"Yes..."
Finally. My return had begun.
But then...
A window appeared before my eyes.
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[The skill SSS-Gacha Summons has evolved.]
[All of its capabilities have been enhanced.]
[A new name has been acquired.]
"What?"
The window changed to a golden color.
[SSS-Gacha Femboy Summons]
"..."
I read it again.
SSS-Gacha Femboy Summons.
My eye began to twitch.
"What kind of name is that?"
Before I could think of an explanation... the gigantic figure in front of me began to change.
"What...?"
The white light surrounding the supposed Titan began to transform. First it turned golden. Then...
The figure began to shrink. Little by little. It went from several meters, to just three, then to two, and the light flickered, as if it were hesitating.
Finally... the light stopped.
A figure appeared before me.
It was much smaller than I expected. It barely reached my shoulders. It had a slim and delicate body. Its hair was an intense pink color and fell in long twin tails. Its eyes were crystalline blue. Its face had soft features and exuded an almost hypnotic beauty.
For a moment I thought I had summoned a woman.
But... no.
There was something that made it quite clear that it was not, and that was the lack of a bust.
I stood watching it and it returned my gaze.
Silence.
The gigantic figure I had expected had disappeared. The powerful Titan that was supposedly going to return my former glory... now looked like a beautiful boy with an almost feminine appearance.
My brain simply stopped working for a few seconds.
"Huh?"