3 — Rebirth

Chapter 3: Rebirth

How much time had it been? He did not know.

Atherios Endraver Alyeste sold his soul to a demon for a thousand years of trials, a millennium of suffering. He had hoped to use his beastly form and newly born overwhelming power to kill the gods with his own hands — or was it claws now?

To him, there was no wrong in this thinking. The boy had lived within the closed walls of an "overprotective" church for nineteen years, so he did not know much about the world.

All he knew about demons was learned from books, not experience. He could not trust them, just as he did not trust the church in the slightest.

Yet, he did it anyway.

That was how desperately Atherios wanted freedom.

Born with a divine stigma, the Flare, Ath,erios' fate was to be used as the holy vessel of the deity Akhavella in the mortal world. In short, a glorified tool.

He hated that.

He hated it with every fiber of his being.

Who wouldn't?

So he gave up on it. Instead of stopping in front of the extremely tall wall, he would dig a hole and pass beneath it.

Yes, to him, there was no flaw in this plan.

So…

'WHY DOES IT HURT SO DAMN MUCH?!'

His body had been reconstructed around three hundred times by now, yet it did not show any sign of stopping anytime soon.

Atherios felt two protrusions going on top of his head, tearing his flesh from the skull.

'Horns?!'

He did not know. He did not want to know.

Horns were a common characteristic for demons, but Urs Aletri, the guardian of the Forest of Profanity, did not have any. And he knew why.

Atherios lifted his arms and grabbed the horns that were piercing his flesh, then enacted force upon it. The pain coming from them was unbearable, so he planned on tearing them off.

The horns twisted under his touch, turning into sharp blades that cut through the palms of his hands. They became like two shortswords aimed at his back.

Atherios gave up on removing the horns. He could do it later.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

He lost count of how many times his body had been destroyed and reconstructed. The boy's mind was slowly fading away along with his decaying sanity.

Just as the demons said it would happen.

Soon, Atherios would become nothing short of a walking corpse. Shards of his mind would remain, but it would be nothing short of bestial instinct.

His consciousness was disappearing.

With one last smile, Atherios blacked out.

✦✦✦

Five hundred years later.

On that day, a loud roar reverberated through the entire Southern Region of the Shaedra continent. Whenever the sound echoed, the land trembled and all clouds on the sky disappeared in an instant; all beasts ran back to their caves, overtaken by a primal fear.

The recently formed Ethereal Guild, a group composed of ruffians and idiots with a sword, immediately sent their numbskulls to investigate — and, though some praised them for their courage, most judged them as fools.

One of the investigation parties sent by Etherial numbered over a hundred mercenaries, with quite a few of them having significant experience in fighting beasts. Their confidence was almost palpable.

Yet, none returned alive.

The guild sent one party after another, almost exhausting their seemingly infinite stock of armed idiots; but no one returned with good news. Soon, the investigation parties became search parties, seeking to retrieve the corpses of their fallen members.

The bards had feistful nights with the stories of the Ethereal Guild's constant failures, but one particular story took the highlight.

They spoke of a beast with unimaginable power that was constantly trying to kill itself in the mountains, but still stopped any and all human attempts to kill it, seemingly unable to accept letting a mere mortal take its life.

The roar let out by the beast was one of pain, as it was once again incapable of taking its own life. The beast was a sad sight, really.

Its wings were constantly growing, and in a few years time, even a single one of them became large enough to cover an entire hill. And it had six of these wings!

After the Ethereal Guild's magnificent failure, many other guilds sent in search parties, hoping to succeed where their rival failed.

And of course, it was fruitless.

Five years after the collapse of the Ethereal Guild's most skilled team, the beast left the forest it had been residing in, and attacked a human city.

Within four hours, the entire city had been destroyed, and uncountable lives were taken. No civilians could escape its wrath, no soldiers could end its existence; it was a walking force of nature, a calamity given life.

After killing every human in the city, the beast

disappeared.

✦✦✦

Five thousand years later.

'Aaaaaah.'

'Has it been a thousand years already? I don't know.'

'Maybe that demon lied to me. Maybe I wasn't really worth anything.'

There was no way to actually control his body. The boy had felt the horns, wings and claws forming, but he could no longer feel them.

It was gone.

This wasn't his body anymore.

'How many people did I kill already?'

Sometimes, he would be able to see a little bit through his new eyes. One of these times, he witnessed a scenery of carnage that would make anyone puke.

Yet, he did not feel any remorse from it.

He had become a weapon. One that he was unable to control.

But…

'Still my weapon.'

If he still had a mouth, the boy would be grinning.

'That's right. I'm not Atherios anymore.'

He tried sprawling his arms, to no avail.

'I'm no longer the Son of Alyeste, nor the Shell of Akhavella.'

The beast that had taken possession of his body screamed, and the boy within the mind roared.

'Hahahahahaha!'

"RAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

For the first time in five thousand years, their figures synchronized. The body and mind became one again.

For a second that extended into eternity, the boy reached out for the core of his existence.

His eyes caught a golden light that was taking over the world, and extended his arms to grasp it.

He reached a state that all warriors in the mortal world dreamt of.

And as if to answer this feat, the world spoke to him.

『Calculating Divinity…』

'Huh?'

『Measure complete. Divinity Rank: Apocryphal — Heir.』

'Ah. Have I gone crazy?'

『Bestowing Divine Title…』

Suddenly, the boy felt an outburst of power coming from the depths of his soul. It spoke to him in a hushed tone, and soon, he found himself repeating the words of that power.

"Ars Soletri, Adrae Entraph…"

'Wait… Soul? I should have lost my soul long ago!'

No matter how much he doubted those words, he could not stop himself from repeating that chant. It was as if his body was possessed, but not his mind.

『Divine Title: Son of Asmodeus.』

"Nas Antresereph, Entre Antrestelare."

The power coming from his soul possessed an unimaginable depth, and once again, he felt his body being reconstructed — this time, alongside his soul. However, it was not painful at all.

In fact, it was rather pleasing.

『You have left your mark in the Akashic Records. Bestowing True Name…』

The words coming out of his mouth were increasing in speed and depth, to the point he doubted whether he was actually capable of pronouncing them.

『True Name: Seraph Stell.』

'Ah.'

『Avalon Key received.』

'So that's it. That's my name…'

『ERROR! Unable to use Avalon Key!』

『ERROR! Unable to reach True Divinity!』

『ERROR! Unable to reach the Demon God!』

『ERROR! Unable to reach the Ninth Heaven!』

Many error messages resounded within Seraph's head, but he gave them no mind. His body had been completely reborn, but he spared it no further thought.

His mind was on the process of being reborn.

Once again, Seraph lost consciousness.

However, this time, he did it with complete peace of mind.