"You’re dead."
With a smile on his face, Ryan smelled the scent of blood hitting his face, while a cold breeze carried it wherever it wanted, giving him a sense of danger in the dark landscape before them. A sword resting in his hands was firmly stuck in his enemy’s heart.
Despite being brutally wounded, his smile showed the happiness in his heart. He had longed for this moment for 100 years.
He had been in this world for 100 years. Crossing the dangerous currents of life, reaching heights he had never imagined when he was an earthling, all for this moment.
Yes. He knew that one day he would have to face this final boss. He had read the novel about this world, which was his favorite, but he was still overjoyed to achieve it. It was the culmination of a lifetime of effort for that extra character, who had now reached the highest heights of the world.
He had killed the Divine of Chaos.
"Buagh." The Divine of Chaos’s mouth filled with blood when he tried to speak. He had to force himself to spit it out to utter a word.
"But I didn’t lose." A thin smile curved his black lips, stained by the blood that still dripped from inside.
Ryan stared at him and clenched his teeth. He pushed the sword even further.
"I’ll ensure that you don’t win in the end."
The Divine of Chaos, that legendary figure who had risen from the shadows of this world, finally closed his eyes. His lips remained curved, but he died.
His body fell heavily forward, guided by Ryan’s sword, staining him with black blood. He pushed him to the ground, and a 2-meter-tall, muscular body that had struck fear into the world collapsed.
Ryan sighed, and simultaneously, a man appeared behind him.
"We’ve won, old friend." Ryan smiled at him, and his body swayed to one side; he was dizzy.
His friend rushed to assist him...
"Buagh!" Blood spurted from Ryan’s mouth as a curved sword pierced his heart. The pain woke him, and he looked at the man before him. Confusion reigned on his face.
"Aster, you..." He couldn’t form a simple sentence. His mouth filled with blood, and he vomited again.
"Hehe." Aster laughed slyly. "Ryan, Ryan. It seems you’ve forgotten what our teacher taught us."
"Never turn your back on anyone. Don’t show vulnerability. Stay alert, because the world is a cruel place."
Suddenly, Ryan couldn’t breathe. His body shook, and every limb lost the ability to move.
Countless thoughts crossed his mind, reminding him of his life, his identity, and the pain.
"Damn... traitor."
Aster pushed Ryan, and he began to fall to the ground.
"Damn... Protagonist!" His mind, slowly running out of oxygen, roared as loud as it could, remembering the identity of the man before him.
The protagonist of the novel. Aster Zeggler. According to the novel, he was a noble man with a heroic heart in a dark world. But what he was seeing right now...
That damn smile looked like that of a demon. Where had the young hero described in the stories gone? Where had his noble heart gone?
This is a damn demon, Mr. Author!
Amidst questions, chaos clouded his mind. He didn’t know if it was the chaos of his questions. The chaos of his memories or the chaos of dying next to the body of the Divine of Chaos. But this caused his new wound to join all the other wounds he had, leading to his death.
In the last vestiges of his memory, he saw... A dagger and a sword pierce Aster’s flesh.
Then a vomit of blood, and then a deranged laugh.
"The Divine of Chaos corrupted the Hero Ryan. After a long battle against the two, I, Aster Zeggler, the Divine Hunter, emerged victorious."
"I assure you, old friend. Historians will tell this story, sung by bards, and shouted by souls."
The same deranged laughter followed.
Then came darkness. Death. The end.
Spirituality...
Light.
His eyes opened gently. Darkness and light soon took shape.
A rocky, mossy, black ground covered Ryan’s gaze. His brain processed the information in front of him like abstract information.
It took him a while to understand what he was seeing.
Stunned, he opened his eyes wide.
’Have I been reincarnated again?’ That was the first thought that came to mind when he saw a scene entirely unfamiliar to him and felt the same feeling he had felt before.
It reminded him of the time 100 years ago when he died on earth and was reincarnated in his favorite novel.
Had it happened again?
His thoughts raced, as did his brain, sending signals to his body to get up. But just as quickly, pain struck him as soon as every limb tried to move.
He spat blood, which splattered on the floor. In addition to the characteristic red, there was an additional hue.
Green.
’Poison?’ His mind reeled, and he looked at his chest. There was a poisoned dagger stuck there. Thanks to the movement, it fell to the floor, leaving a hole in his chest. Strangely, he could see the heart that the poisonous dagger had struck.
The veins in his heart were swollen and appeared green, as were the veins in his arms.
It took him a moment to process what was happening, but after a few seconds, he realized he had been poisoned. He was an expert on poisons and could even identify the type of poison in his body.
The pain hit him as the poison traveled through his body toward his throat. Suddenly, his body shook.
"AHHH!" A cry of pain emerged from his mouth, and he vomited again.
Blood and a lot of poison covered the floor once more. The continuous vomiting of blood caused his brain to lose focus momentarily.
Lack of oxygenation.
And in the dizziness, a sudden, sharp headache struck him. A flood of information entered his mind. He had experienced it once before, but this time, the information was much more. Despite that, he was able to endure the pain, although he fell face-first to the ground.
A flood of memories began to emerge in his mind.
The memories of two lives that belonged to him suddenly merged with a third life.
A life full of luxury, but also contempt. With many pleasures, but also disdain. With people who respected him to his face, but spoke behind his back.
It was a strange life, with two sides to every coin.
The life of a...
"Ninth Prince!" Several guards ran into the basement and saw him lying on the floor. For a brief moment, they hesitated about what to do.
At that moment, a handsome man with gray hair, not from age but genetics, deep black eyes that seemed to peer into your soul, and commendable attire appeared.
Seeing the Ninth Prince on the floor, he frowned and entered.
"What are you standing there for, not helping the Ninth Prince?" He scolded the guards as he went to help him.
Finally, the guards moved. "Minister, please, let us do it!" They ran after him and quickly held Ryan.
"Ninth Prince, what happened?" the minister asked, concerned.
But Ryan was barely conscious enough to answer him. As he asked him questions, he felt the wound in his chest mysteriously close at an impressive speed.
However, his focus was not there.
’Was I reincarnated in the body of the Ninth Prince of Evigheden? This is... It’s the same novel, I’m in the sequel!’