Past Life Returner

The fact that Saint Jayden, who had left an indelible mark on the War of New Devil, was one of the Ancient Dragons did not elicit any particular excitement from me. I waited for additional information to appear.

[Half of the Great Red’s Heart (Item)

This is half of the Great Red’s entire being, but the power and will at the time of its division are strongly embedded in the item. In this state, it is meaningless and needs purification.

Item Class: ?

Item Level: ?]

[* Your Power level is too low to purify this item into your own.]

…Wait! What is that feeling?

As the information window surfaced, there was a great resonance emanating from the skill and trait shell. In retrospect, there had been a similar sensation when the item name had been modified.

However, it had gone quiet as if nothing had happened. I tried to recollect the sensation, but it had already dissipated. I had no choice but to wait for the next time it happened.

I shifted my focus to the broken sword. I was not disappointed that I couldn’t utilize the half of the heart immediately. The materials that constituted the altar were destroyed and piled up in the crater. Amidst the pile of fragments, only half of the heart remained on the surface, but there would have been more inside.

When I touched the heart, I sensed a potent energy stirring below. I struck the ground in a swift motion using my wings, tails, and Thunder Spear after concentrating the lighting power on it.

Thud!

The altar fragments varied in size, ranging from fist-sized to house-sized. They absorbed the impact from the ground and ascended into the air in unison.

At that moment, massive dark objects came into view, rapidly hurtling from below to above. The energy they radiated was unique, but that wasn’t the only reason why it was easy to distinguish them from the white fragments. They were also all black.

I pulled out each fragment one by one with lightning streaks. As they were gathered, fragments that were in the air fell at once, but I pushed them away with a single gesture. Then, the black objects became distinct from the white background.

However, the object that I was looking for was nowhere to be seen. The names assigned to each black object were undoubtedly conspicuous. In addition to the Great Red, the name of Doom Entegasto directly appeared.

[The Third of Doom Entegasto’s Twenty-Four Ribs (Item)]

[The Twenty-First of Doom Entegasto’s Twenty-Four Ribs (Item)]

[The Seventh of Doom Entegasto’s Twenty-Four Ribs (Item)]

…

[The Eighteenth of Doom Entegasto’s Twenty-Four Ribs (Item)]

The black objects resembled giant ribs, so I didn't even need their names to identify them. Suddenly, they began to move, and all twenty-four ribs spontaneously connected, emanating a blood-red aura like a mist. Then, half of the heart that was held by my tail had a strong reaction. It seemed that the hostility from the moment they were broken or torn apart had remained within these objects.

Half of the heart unleashed its power, breaking free from the tail’s grip. The red flame, which had greeted me initially, rose once more, beginning to take on the form of a human figure. Doom Entegasto’s ribs also began to go through the same phenomenon, creating a human figure with crimson flame and a blood-red aura.

The speed at which they created shadow-like silhouettes was indeed astonishing. I had no intention of waiting for them to fully form. If they had been the real Doom Entegasto and the Great Red confronting each other, I would have left them alone, hoping they would destroy each other.

Nonetheless, it was merely a battle between parts that had been separated from their primary bodies just before they came under my control. Was I going to let them break apart on their own? No.

Swoosh- Zing!

I stabbed the spear’s tip into the hem of the blood-red aura.

Crackle- Whoosh!

Then, I repeatedly folded and unfolded my wings, striking the red flame.

My vision flashed, and I couldn’t see clearly. The two human figures were thrown away by the impact, but I was also bounced back. The power appeared to have invaded my wrists, wings, and even penetrated my brain. I barely managed to halt just before colliding with the wall.

My vision was now completely blurry, and large objects were flying toward me. I deflected the first object with the Alpha tail, and the second one with the Gamma tail. However, there were so many more pouring in that I wrapped myself in my wings. They had also been blown away previously by the unknown tremendous force, and size didn’t matter.

That was right. These were the countless fragments of the altar piled up on the ground. They started flying around as Doom Entegasto and the Great Red clashed. Every time they hit my wings, the impact shook my body. That was why my vision kept becoming blurry again right when it was about to be restored.

I couldn’t deal with the situation with Strongman. The fragments hitting me were just a side effect of the collision between the two figures.

[* Storage box]

[Odin’s Golden Armor (God of War) has been removed.]

[Ra’s Sun Cape has been removed.]

[Odin’s Golden Armor (God of War) has been transformed into Odin’s Golden Armor (God of Battle).]

[You have used Odin’s Golden Armor (God of Battle).]

[Valkyries have been summoned.]

It only took a moment, and I saw the back of the Valkyries. They formed a shield wall in front and on the sides, bouncing the altar fragments away as they collided with their shields.

Each Valkyrie was a summoned object, but it was difficult to distinguish them from humans by using their appearance alone. As they absorbed the physical impact, their back muscles moved intricately, and their short golden hair swayed along.

***

Far beyond the shield wall, the battle between the two figures at the edge of the giant pit was intense. It was a ferocious scene, resembling two beasts who seemed frustrated at not being able to devour each other. I could understand why everything on this altar had been destroyed.

The scattered debris hadn’t been formed all at once. After the fight between Doom Entegasto and the Great Red had ended, the remnants of their will from that moment kept the figures moving.

Battle, battle, battle! A strong desire to take the head of the remaining enemy! The Great Red had lost half of its heart, and Doom Entegasto had its ribs torn out. Both were damaged without any one side making a gain. This fight might have been…

A sudden thought passed through my mind that this could have been an event that wasn’t affected by the time reversal.

Was Doom Entegasto’s Life Vessel destroyed here?

If that were true, then many things would change. First of all, Saint Dragorin hadn’t been formed after the Day of Advent.

Saint Dragorin is the last stand for the Old One, where there is no place left for it to retreat because it is a battlefield that was created by concentrating its own power. It is thus a place where the Old One has intensely fought.

This was from Doom Kaos’s perspective, but from the Old One’s point of view, it could be described like this.

Star Dragorin must be protected at all costs. It is a primordial world with great power concentrated within, uniquely defending against Doom Kaos’s attack.

This also explained why Doom Kaos only revealed itself at the end of the past era. It could have been freed from the seal only after so much time had passed.

The same applied to the species on Saint Dragorin. They had not been created in imitation of the creations of our mainland, but like Plato’s Theory of Forms, they already existed here and cast their shadows on the earth. As my thoughts intertwined and branched out in various directions, a surprised voice caught my attention from afar.

"Argh!”

The Supreme Priest’s had screamed. She was far from the clash of forces. She was on one side of the corridor we had passed through, and only three survivors remained.

I tried to ignore her, but the feeling that followed was eerie. The sound of bubbles popping and scraping on the floor became more pronounced. There was something crawling toward the Supreme Priest, Basman, and Cereville from the opposite side.

The altar was huge, and the corridor ceiling was high. Nevertheless, the thing that filled the entire space, shoving its head in, had an appearance that was more than enough to freeze the three in fear. It was a monster created from the melted and merged corpses of the Grafs. Apparently, all the monsters we had killed along the way were clumped together.

However, it wasn’t just the Graf corpses. Einhell, who died with a burst face, and another team member, who had died, were forming the monster’s head. Einhell’s body lay there horizontally, forming a gruesome upper lip, while the other dead team member's corpse was its lower lip. On both sides, the Grafs’ melted masses were attached like cheek muscles.

From there, a voice was squeezed out in chopped syllables.

"Leave. Right. Now.”

I was confident that I had already witnessed the most disgusting thing in the world, but even I became nauseous when facing the monster.

"Doom Entegasto.”

I pushed away the frozen Supreme Priest to the side and stepped ahead.

"I. Said. Leave. Right. Now.”

The monster didn’t take any action other than telling us to leave.

I didn’t end up dismantling the monster. Instead, the flow of Mana suddenly intensified, and the bodies began to fall off. As they were just masses of decayed flesh, only bubbles burst and dark fluid oozed out. It only took seconds for the entire corridor to turn into a disgusting sewer that had been abandoned for decades.

The liquid that flowed out from the corpses filled up to the level of my chest. I wasn’t swept away by it, but the other three drifted away while floundering.

***

Meanwhile, the area where the two forces had collided was now quiet. As I moved there, a scene awaited me with the fragments of the altar piled up on the slope of a huge pit and a broken sword laid on top of them.

It was strikingly similar to the previous scene, as if time had been reversed. However, time hadn’t actually been reversed. The broken sword looked like it had defeated the rib bones, and it probably had always been that way.

[Half of the Great Red’s Heart (Item)]

If I touched this, then the dormant Doom Entegasto’s bones buried in the fragments of the altar would react again. Their will at the time they were shattered was too intense.

But what if I isolate them from each other spatially?

I was thinking of suppressing them with force, even if I had to activate the Man Who Overcomes Adversity.

As soon as I grasped the sword, it tried to challenge me by raising flames of red fire. However, it didn't shoot up with an enormous flame as if that power was meant to react only toward Doom Entegasto.

I felt a wriggling sensation underneath my legs from the direction where the fragments of Doom Entegasto were hidden, then I moved the sword into my storage box. The heavy weight that had been in my grip was suddenly gone.

[* Storage box]

[Half of the Great Red’s Heart has been added.]

Yes!

Now, all that remained were Doom Entegasto’s rib bones. The Absolute Battlefield crumbled, and the energy beneath my feet had become still again. The collection process was the same as before. I stroked my wings on the ground.

As I retrieved them, the item information window that I hadn’t seen before flashed. Similar to Half of the Great Red’s Heart, their names had been modified as well.

[The Fifth of Doom Entegasto’s Twenty-Four Ribs (Item)]

[The Fifth of Doom Entegasto’s Twenty-Four Ribs (Material)

This is one of the ribs that Doom Entegasto has lost. It contains the power and will at the time of its division, but it has been significantly weakened by repeated shocks. If the user combines the remaining ribs, they can form a figure of a weapon.]

I felt the internal movement I had felt before once again. I held my breath. Doom Entegasto’s ribs were not my immediate priority. I couldn’t miss the opportunity, so I focused and figured it out.

The movement that occurred when the item’s name and information changed! The movements were taking place precisely in the domain of trait Explorer and Night Eye. Moreover, even the naturally locked energy of power interfered with and dissipated.

Is this… supposed to be like this?

My previous assumptions about the origin of Saint Dragorin and the involvement of Doom Kaos in all incoming messages and windows were completely shattered. It became clear that Doom Kaos was merely using the residual system structure within me as a window.

While the messages contained commands from Doom Kaos, the modifications of item names and information were the result of the synergy between the trait Explorer, Night Eye, and the dormant yet latent power of their abilities.

Although Old One had left, the system it left behind was still operating consistently within me, with the energy of the Power acting as a lubricant…

As the next message appeared, I once again focused on the movement within the shell. Indeed, Explorer, Night Eye, and the energy of Power were moving together.

[You have collected all the materials. (Doom Entegasto’s Ribs)]

This message hadn’t been sent by Doom Kaos. Instead, it was something that the System structure inside me was creating on its own.

[Which category would you like to create?]

[1. Weapon 2. Armor 3. Accessory]