Arcane: Bond Beyond Death (R18) - Chapter 5: Episode : Determination

Rokuhara Souta picked up a phone with a mysterious “Friendship System” installed. On that phone, he met an online friend with the nickname “Tokisaki Kurumi.”This online friend was a total roleplay enthusiast—her portrayal of Kurumi was so convincing it was almost eerie.Finding it amusing, Souta humored this hardcore chūnibyō (delusional teenager) and casually chatted with her.Since it was all fake anyway, he spoke without restraint, often throwing out flirtatious remarks just for fun.Until one day, he received an invitation from Tokisaki Kurumi to meet in person.And then… he transmigrated!In a filthy, bloodstained alley, dismembered human limbs lay strewn in the corners, the pungent stench of blood stinging his nose.Standing before Souta was Tokisaki Kurumi, fresh from a kill, smiling sweetly as she gazed at him…(Tentatively planned heroines include Kurumi, Oshino Shinobu, Military Princess(Re:Creator), Kamado Nezuko, Ereshkigal, Leticia… and more.)

Our straight (?) bottom woke up ten years into the future and found himself on the bed of his childhood friend… At the start, the bottom was shocked to his very bones, but he soon quickly accepted this premise and found the whole situation to be rather amusing. Precisely then, the bottom once again went back to his timeline — back to when he and the top were just platonic childhood friends.

Marcella Valemont was a villainess wrapped in silk and thorns.The alluring, selfish daughter of the High Priest, she was forced into a cold marriage with the Black-bellied Duke Berith Montclair. She longed for power and would stop at nothing to claim the crown, even if it meant seducing the incorruptible Crown Prince Lucian and clawing her way to the throne into becoming the Queen.Until it all burned.Her ruthless schemes led to betrayal, rebellion, and ruin-- an empire on its knees, a virtuous king destroyed, and a rebellion led by the man she discarded. Desperate and full of regret, she barters her life with the Duke to save Lucian.In an interesting turn of events, Marcella gets to go back in time to fix her wrongs, save the man who was ruined because of her and hopefully stop the bloodthirsty rebel Duke Berith.She finds herself reborn as her 18-year-old self with a chance for a do-over and vows to do better this time.But the past does not forget. Nor does the devil in her husband’s skin.Secrets long buried begin to surface, and Marcella discovers that her former husband is far more than he seems—a man cloaked in darkness, harboring a purpose that threatens everything she holds dear.They say second chances come with thorns and to fix the past, she must trust the devil who destroyed it.

“Can a person suffering from amnesia have a total change in personality?”

The question lingers in Feng Ning’s mind.

Other people treat her coldly, claiming she is insidious, cunning and selfish. There were even rumors of her not being a virtuous wife and having illicit affairs with other men. However, she had no such memories.

After waking up from a heavy fall and knocked her head, she is now polite, treats people in good faith, and tries her best to get on her husband’s good side. No matter what she did, the past could not be undone and despite having no memories of it, Feng Ning calmly accepts her fate and slowly tries to mend things back. But why must fate be cruel to her? What did she do in the past to deserve this? In the first place, how did she end up in this sorry state?”

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