Past Life Returner

Once I activated Night Eye, the outlines of my surroundings became clear. I was on a massive staircase. The Old One’s altar was filled with white, but this place was the complete opposite, filled with a pitch-black color.

The space was imbued with an irresistible divine power. The tingling sensation I felt in the Old One’s altar had transformed into a pressure weighing down on my entire body.

Doom Caso was sitting on the lowest stair, at the very bottom, with its buttocks on the ground. As I looked down at it, I could only see its arms resting on its knees and the thick line connecting the back of its head and neck

When I glanced up, I saw a face staring down at me. It wasn’t very large and its face was covered in fur. Its eyes were hidden, and I could sense a hint of cold energy concentrated there. It was Doom Mount. Its ankles were bound in chains that climbed up its body, eventually vanishing into its fur.

As it changed its posture, the chains collided, making a noise. The fur covering its eyes swayed as well. Then, I saw its eyes clearly. They were full of hostility and wariness toward me.

On the stairs above, Doom Insectum was bowing its head with both its legs wrapped in golden chains. Thus, both Doom Mount and Doom Insectum were currently focused on me.

I couldn’t see anyone else. Each stair was distinctly separated by a hill-like height, but the top third stair, where Doom Entegasto was supposed to be standing, was covered by a curtain of darkness. All I could sense beyond it were the eyes looking down the stairs. The suffocating, creepy feelings all came from up there.

At that moment, a huge foot emerged through the curtain. The anklet on its ankle was similar to the bone ring I had made as it was made of entwined bones. A dragon skull was attached to the knee pad, and the entire space rang when it sat on a chair.

Doom Entegasto’s appearance was quite gigantic. My previous assumption of how large it was based on the rib bone that had been left in the Old One’s altar was being thrown out the window.

When its foot, which was large enough to crush Doom Insectum, landed beside me, I saw the fear etched on Insectum’s face and I knew I would never forget it. Doom Mount also gazed up at the massive foot. A gasp of surprise rose from the lower stairs where Doom Caso sat.

"P…please wait

Doom Insectum’s voice echoed, but its words were muffled by the deafening resonance of Doom Entegasto’s colossal foot descending towards the lower stairs. The right foot emerged from the curtain of darkness and stepped on the stair where Doom Mount was standing. It was going down one stair at a time.

This was the first time Doom Entegasto had revealed itself to the lower monarchs. As I recalled Doom Caso’s story about Doom Entegasto, I began to tremble like the other Demon Kings.

Fuck.

When its foot came down in front of me, my spine stiffened and I became breathless. However, the System was still operating regardless of how tense I felt.

[The Great Blue’s Skull (Material)]

[The Great Silver’s Skull (Material)]

There was no doubt that the skulls on Doom Entegasto’s knee pads were skulls of ancient dragons. I couldn’t help myself from staring at those skulls. They were quite different from the skeletal dragon I used to have. The only similarity they had was their size. Compared to the energy that was contained in the eye sockets of the two skulls, the energy inside ‘Skeletal Dragon that even the Living Worship’ was nothing.

Before I knew it, Doom Entegasto’s gigantic form loomed over the stairs, stretching from where Caso sat to Insectum. Its feet rested before Caso, its knee before me, its abdomen before Mount, and its chest before Insectum. Also, its face was covered in helmets that were looking down at the lower-level monarchs.

Thud! Thud-!

The sound continued even though it had stopped moving, and it was coming from its heart. Its internal organs were exposed as its rib bones had been torn out. The heart, liver, and the many branching blood vessels were protected by an aura of bloody divine power.

Yes, I could see Doom Entegasto’s injuries through the gaps in its black armor. There were red muscles visible without any skin present, and some areas even had no muscle, revealing the skeleton.

Amidst all this, what caught my attention the most were the dark eye sockets of its helmet. The power emanating from it was colored a deep blood-red, making it look as if blood was spilling out from it. The energy dispersed into the surrounding area rather than being collected inside it.

Srrr-

Suddenly, it made a large motion with its arms while tilting its body. As its hand tried to grab me, my heightened Sense screamed a warning to dodge. However, avoiding its grip wasn’t the problem, the real issue was what would happen after that. This was a place where I was forced to be obedient.

Anyway, Doom Entegasto wouldn’t have the power to decide my life and death. I gritted my teeth, preparing for the imminent pain as Insectum’s scream echoed from the upper stairs. Doom Entegasto had prepared an opening for this meeting by punishing Insectum and me.

***

Even before Doom Entegasto grabbed me, I knew this wouldn’t be easy for me to endure. The horrifying pressure weighed down on my body.

Shit. Shit! Fuuuuuuck!

[Warning: Leave Doom Entegasto’s domain immediately.]

I couldn’t tell how I tolerated it. I couldn’t keep track of time as both of my eyes had burst. I lost my vision when I felt something snap in my eyeballs.

[You have entered a combat-disabled state.]

I could no longer hear the sound of my bones shattering, nor the screams of Insectum from the other side.

[You lack Power Resistance.]

[The trait the Man Who Overcame Adversity has been blocked by Doom Entegasto’s unique power ‘?’]

[The trait Passion has been blocked by Doom Entegasto’s unique power ‘?’]

[The trait Strongman has been blocked by Doom Entegasto’s unique power ‘?’]

The messages were distorted, resembling the flickering of an old, black-and-white television screen. My senses were numbed. Other than the overwhelming pain that coursed through me, I couldn’t feel anything. The blood that refluxed constricted my throat, making it difficult for me to breathe. I unconsciously swallowed the blood that was mixed with my fallen out teeth, and they scraped my esophagus as they went down.

All that remained was pain, driving me to the brink of losing my mind. Doom Entegasto was trying to kill me. My mind trembled violently as if every neuron was pulsing with a crimson light. This was the same phenomenon I had experienced when Doom Dejire and I attempted to strangle each other.

In the far recesses of my mind, I heard someone shrieking.

Aaaaaargh-!

It was my voice, crying out and panting in pain. The scream exploded in my head like a gun firing in my brain.

Just kill me. I will come back to life! Thanks to your Life Vessel-

I collided with something and bounced up high. Then, I was slammed down again. The force that tried to crush me suddenly disappeared, but then a burning sensation overwhelmed my entire body. It was hard for me to tell if my body was actually on fire, but the pain was horrid and it was engulfing me from my eyeballs, mouth, ears, abdomen, and limbs.

[The Man who Overcomes Adversity has been activated.]

At that moment, the message flickered and interrupted. As I blinked, a series of messages appeared immediately.

[Your level section has been changed. Change: Ender (Lv. 600) → Overlord (Lv. 680)]

[The level of your skills and proficiency level of your traits have been elevated to the next level.]

[All your injuries have been healed.]

[Gifted has been activated.]

[The proficiency level of all your traits has been changed. Change: → (Lv. Max)]

[Passion has been activated.]

[Due to the trait Passion Level 1 (Lv. Max), injury recovery speed has been significantly increased.]

What I witnessed as my wounds were healing was truly terrifying. My abdomen had ruptured, causing crushed organs to spill out, while my limbs looked like contorted branches with muscles, fat, and blood seeping from them. Also, bones jutted through the torn skin.

I furrowed my brow and wiped away the blood trickling from the corners of my eyes. The pain had dissipated, but the screams that had echoed the entire space still rang in my head, compelling me to surrender to Doom Entegasto.

I knew it would be difficult to overcome this kind of pain, but I had survived even the pain of passing through the birth canal when my mother gave birth to me. Doom Entegasto needed to show me something beyond this if it wanted to subdue me! Only if it had more to show me!

I took deep breaths, and as my mind calmed down, I raised my head. Fucking Doom Entegasto’s figure reappeared before me. The fist that had tried to crush me was now open, but the fist that restrained Insectum on the opposite side still possessed strength.

When I looked further up, I could see it looking up at the curtain of darkness. Soon after, I could also see it was still seething under its black helmet as it looked down at me. Although it was staring at me, its remaining wrath was focused on the fist that was squeezing Insectum.

Viscous fluid oozed between its fingers while it continued staring at me. A bloody aura burst from its fist, and my intuition struck me.

...Is it actually going to…?

It threw a mass of blood in front of me. Then…

Crack!

[Doom Insectum has died.]

[Doom Mount has succeeded Doom Insectum’s position.]

[Doom Man has succeeded Doom Mount’s position.]

[Doom Caso has succeeded Doom Man’s position.]

Did it really just kill Insectum?

[Doom Lunea has succeeded Doom Caso’s position.]

[Your Almighty Master, Doom Kaos, has granted Doom Lunea the additional role of messenger.]

[Doom Lunea sends you a greeting.]

[Nice to meet you again~ (｡>﹏<｡) / ]