The sky above burned gold and red.
The battlefield was chaos.
Smoke, flame, and blood choked the air.
And in the heart of it all — the Drake, now wounded — let loose a howl that shook the mountains.
---
The Dragon's Rage
Its once-calm fury was now blinded wrath.
With my halberd impaled in its right eye, its head flailed like a storm.
Blood like molten tar spilled to the earth, melting stone where it touched.
It spun.
Its tail—thick as a house and faster than lightning—lashed out in wild fury.
I barely had time to register it.
The next second—
> CRACK.
It struck me square in the chest.
---
Everything went white.
Then black.
---
The Fall
I flew through the battlefield like a broken arrow.
Over knights. Over fire. Over corpses.
Through the air and directly into the edge of the dark forest, where stone boulders stood like sleeping giants.
> BOOOOM.
My body smashed through a stone wall of rock and collapsed in a heap against the base of a tree.
Something snapped.
Then something else.
My leg twisted under me. My ribs caved. My arm bent wrong.
Pain unlike anything I had ever known flooded my nerves.
And then—
Silence.
---
My vision blurred with red.
My armor dented. Crushed.
My blood leaked into the earth like it was being claimed by it.
I could no longer move.
Not a finger.
Not an inch.
---
> Is this it?
> Is this all I could do…?
> So much pain. So much grief. And it still wasn't enough?
> Seraphina…
> Father…
---
My eyes rolled back.
The world dimmed.
I could no longer feel the wind…
---
The Realm Between
And then—
I opened my eyes.
But I was no longer lying in a forest.
I was… somewhere else.
The sky above me was pure white — like untouched snow reflecting moonlight.
The wind whispered through endless fields of golden grass, swaying under a starless sky.
There was no sun.
No fire.
No pain.
Only…
Calm.
I stood.
I wasn't sure how.
My armor was gone. My wounds vanished.
But my heart still ached — the memory of it still bleeding.
---
And in the distance…
A figure stood at the crest of the hill.
Tall.
Wrapped in flowing robes of starlight and midnight shadow.
Their face was blurred by light, like a dream you can't quite remember.
But they waited.
As if they had always been waiting.
As if this meeting was fated.
---
> "You've finally arrived."
Their voice echoed in my mind like a melody I forgot I once knew.
---
The golden field shimmered as if touched by starlight.
The wind was warm, but still.
The air—too quiet, too gentle—felt unreal.
And standing there…
Was me.
Or rather—someone who wore my past like a cloak.
The same hair.
Same height.
Same school uniform I wore the day I died.
Only their eyes were not mine.
They glowed faintly with divine power.
Wise. Infinite.
Sad.
---
He smiled—not mockingly, but knowingly—as I stood still in silence, confused.
> "Well, well… you finally made it, Alein—or should I say… Arshi Minato."
The voice wasn't my own either.
It was… smoother. Ancient. Feminine beneath the tone. It echoed like bells over water.
The figure walked forward, golden grass parting beneath her feet—though they left no footprints behind.
> "You look worse than I expected. Beaten, broken, bloodied to the bone… and yet, still stubborn enough to crawl here instead of giving up."
She tilted her head, eyes half-lidded, like a teacher scolding a child.
> "Honestly… you should be thanking me."
---
I tried to speak, but my lips didn't move.
I couldn't.
I just stared, wide-eyed, breath frozen.
The goddess, wearing my old face, raised a hand lazily.
> "There. Let me fix that."
Suddenly, air returned to my lungs, and I could move again.
I staggered slightly—memories, pain, and confusion swirling like a storm inside me.
---
> "Who are you…?" I finally asked.
She blinked, then smiled.
> "I'm the one who answered your last wish, Arshi."
> "I am the goddess of Transition—the one who guards the gates between death and rebirth."
> "The one who gave you a second life… and the power you carry."
---
I stepped back. My chest ached—not from wounds, but from recognition.
> "The voice… before I died… when I was bleeding on the ground…"
> "That was you."
She nodded gently.
> "Yes. And you asked something very interesting before your heart stopped."
She raised her arms and her voice shifted—perfectly mimicking my final moments.
> "Oh god… if I reincarnated again… can you give me a body that can heal even if the pain is cruel?"
She grinned.
> "And then you chuckled and said, 'Just kidding… who am I to ask something like that…'"
> "But I heard you."
Her smile faded slightly.
> "Even a joking prayer is still a prayer, you know."
---
I lowered my head.
The battlefield. The scars. The crushed bones. The curse of standing back up after every unbearable injury.
> "So you gave me… this body."
> "Self-healing. Endurance beyond reason. Even when I want to fall, it won't let me."
> "But why?" I asked.
> "Why give me this kind of life? Why give me that power… only to let me suffer like this?"
---
The goddess' expression softened.
She stepped forward, placing a hand—my hand—on my shoulder.
> "Because pain is not punishment, Alein."
> "It's proof. That you are alive. That you haven't given up."
> "I didn't give you healing so you could live peacefully…"
> "I gave it to you because you chose to fight, even at the edge of despair."
---
> "You asked for a body that could endure the cruelest pain."
> "And I gave you that."
> "Because deep inside—even in your last breath—you still wanted to protect someone."
---
My knees hit the grass.
Not from pain—but from realization.
> "You… you watched everything?"
> "Seraphina. My father. My brothers. The war. The monsters…"
> "The Drake."
---
She nodded solemnly.
> "And I'm still watching."
> "But this is the crossroads."
> "If you wish… you can stay here. Let your soul rest. No more pain. No more war."
She knelt down to face me directly.
> "Or…"
> "You can return. Wounded. Scarred. Half-dead. And fight again."
> "But this time—truly awakened. With everything I gave you… and everything you've earned."
---
I clenched my fists.
I thought of Seraphina lying poisoned in a distant land.
My father swinging his sword atop a mountain of corpses in the battlefield.
My brothers waving their final goodbyes.
And of the Drake…
Still alive.
Still threatening everything I loved.
---
I looked into her glowing eyes—my eyes.
> "I made a promise."
> "And I'm not done yet."
---
The goddess smiled again.
This time, proud.
> "Then stand, Alein von Lunstein."
> "Bearer of hope."
> "Son of war."
> "Heir of flame and ash."
> "And remember—"
> "You are not alone anymore."
Chapter 13 end.