Rebirth

"Where is this place?"

A young boy, clearly in his puberty, spoke up in the eerie darkness surrounding him, falling into an endless abyss. Well, I knew very well who this young boy was. How could I not when I was the one... Ahem! Let's not talk about that now even though I might have, by mistake, slipped some clues in the past.

"Where am I?"

He was slowly gaining his consciousness back in this lonely space. He tried to move his limbs to check if his body was still functioning and glad by the results, a smile of relief bloomed on his face, but not for long, as he was well aware that he was not in the place he was before. He looked around in a hurry and analyzed the situation. He was surely in a tricky mess, and he seemed to know it. But his face showed no signs of panic or anything like that. I am quite surprised by this fact. Even in the face of the unknown, this boy didn't falter and silently scrutinized the situation he was in. As expected of my… no, not gonna say anything else.

"A black space with nothing visible except my body. Ah…"

Seems like he realized it.

"I died back then."

A gloom fell on the boy's face. He was probably worried about what happened after his heart stopped beating fighting the rampaging handsome Dragon. No matter how shitty his personality is (actually, mine too), he is quite a fragile person, caring to no ends about his beloved ones. Though he never showed his true feelings in his thoughts. He is quite skilled in hiding his true feelings.

"..."

(I hope they are fine… but I can only hope.)

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in frustration. Anger was flowing through his vein to its fullest and his gloomy face reflected a crystal-clear melancholy.

But those feelings were not directed to anyone else, but him. He was frustrated at himself for letting his most loyal servants, no, friends an embarrassing side of him receiving a one-sided beating. He was angry at himself for being helpless and making his summons come to his aide when he was supposed to be the most powerful one. He was sad because he abandoned them and left them alone to take the rampage of the mad Dragon. He knew very well that his summons were no match for Drago, who was now in a transcendent state.

…

Is this the same Sou who I brought to Melim in hopes for his great deeds? Is this the same Sou to who I gave unprecedented powers? Is this the same Sou who was exhausted of any unnecessarily dwindling thoughts and pushed forward purely using his brains and sheer force? Because it doesn't seem like I was seeing the same Sou.

But…

I am not one of those edgy characters who act like third-rate villains. No no, I am a good guy and I also want to see Sou smiling and happy… it's just that it is not good to have too much connection with someone or something. Or else they will be the one to take every single bit of emotion curled up inside you, or they will become the greatest of your greatest enemies- your weakness.

Well, it's about time I did 'that'.

"System."

He called out the system in a low voice.

"...

No response.

"System."

He called out again, a little louder this time.

"..."

Still no response.

"System."

Even louder than before.

"..."

Again, no response. Only his voice echoed through this endlessly dark space.

He slowly put his hand on his temple and rubbed it with visible exasperation.

"System system system system system system SYSTEM!"

Now, you might be thinking why I am not doing anything when I said I would. The answer's simple. Because it's fun to watch him get irritated. And 'that', no, 'she' takes some time to respond after waking up. Can't blame her, 'she' was asleep for years you peeps can't even imagine, and furthermore...

"Uaaaa~"

… she was still a child, though she would be acting like one.

"W-What the…"

A body, to be more precise, a child's body fell into Sou's arms.

Sou was taken aback by the sudden appearance of a child in his arms and was quite shaken that he almost dropped that child into the abyss underneath him. If he did that then I would have wrung his neck countless times before tearing his limbs and feeding him to the dogs. Don't doubt my intentions. You all would have felt the same after seeing the child.

But he somehow deviated that fate of his. He managed to hold onto the child's boy.

"Who is this child…?"

He was in a daze, which was expected.

The child was delicate, and he could feel it well as the child was resting in his embrace.

"I might have not noticed it earlier, but this child…" He muttered as he took a scrutinizing look at the child's body.

...Oi oi, I am really going to kill him if any weird thoughts pop up in his brain…

(... this child is a girl and…)

You-

Sou slowly stroked the sleeping child's silky black hair like a loving parent.

… what? I am dumbfounded. You all would have laughed if you saw my face right now. This was completely new for me. I never thought that this hard-ass, ruthless, and cold main character had such a side to him. It seemed to me like I was watching someone completely different.

Ah. Now I remember. His sisters. They were twins and now that I think about it, she resembles Sou's sister quite a lot. The fire in my eyes calmed down and all that was left was sympathy and forgiveness in my eyes.

He had gone through many things and always tried his best to keep the wandering thoughts of his past aside, but there were two faces buried deep inside his mind, and those faces were of his sister.

"...hik…"

Of course. This was bound to happen. A little girl almost with the same face and build as his sisters' was resting in his arms in a relaxed and extremely defenseless position. She was small and delicate. Sou took special measures to not let the sleeping child wake up, and held close to his beating heart.

"Unn…"

"..."

Sou simply continued to stare at the girl's sleeping face. He seemed to have forgotten about the situation he was in. Well, that's no surprise given that such a nostalgic face was in front of his eyes. I would have liked to give him some more time alone, but I can't afford any more of my precious time. If I do not wrap this up soon, I will be starved to death.

"Ahem!"

Sou looked up towards the noise and saw… nothing.

It was still completely black, nothing in his sight. But his eyes drilled right into my soul and an intense killing intent rose from his body, but of course, he doesn't know where I am. It was pure coincidence that his eyes fell on me. He backed off a little with the kid in his arms.

"Don't bother. That kid won't hear our talk, so you can rest easy. And knowing her, she won't be waking up soon."

"... who are you?"

"Is that the way you greet your benefactor?"

"What?"

Of course, he doesn't know. After all, his memories of me were wiped by the 'rules' I set in this world.

"Haa... "

I think I should crack the nut now. I spoke up.

"I am the one who brought you into Melim. And Melim was also created by me."

And that's all for revealing the secrets.

"..."

He was silently thinking about what I just said. I expected that reaction. That reaction would be the same for me too if some voice suddenly claims that he was the one who transmigrated my soul.

"... what are you talking about?"

"I am not in the mood to say that once again so I am just going to say my part and leave."

I don't want to starve.

"Wha…"

"I am sure you figured it out yourself but you are dead once again and I am about to give you another chance but know that this will be the last one..."

"W-What?! Oi!"

"... and take care of that kid."

With that, my voice faded away while he was dumbstruck. Not a bad reaction though.

Now…

"Argh! What the fuck is this!"

A white light enveloped his vision. He squealed and screamed, seemingly oblivious of the child in his hands, but he still didn't let go of the child.

"Ack!"

He felt his body being wrapped in something strange and the next moment…

"Huh?"

He quickly took a sweeping glance at his surroundings.

"I am back…?"

***

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Power stones please...