The Shadow That Revives
Ruko woke up drenched in sweat. His breathing came ragged, chest heaving like he had been pulled from the depths of a nightmare. The last thing he remembered was a blinding flash, Megumin's manic voice echoing "Crimson Demon Explosion!" — and then, complete silence.
Now he was lying in a dark, mist-filled void. The air shimmered faintly, thick with something between fog and starlight. The ground beneath him wasn't solid, but soft — like air shaped into form, bending and breathing beneath his weight.
He sat up slowly, his body heavy but strangely uninjured. "Not again…" he muttered under his breath.
A low hum vibrated through the still air, followed by the familiar digital whisper that sent a chill down his spine:
> [Dimensional Core: Reviving…]
[Training Ground Restored.]
Ruko's lips twitched. "Oh, great. My personal afterlife checkpoint decided to drag me back again."
The Dimensional Core. His eternal tether — that strange, god-like system that had followed him even before his rebirth. Whenever he died, his soul didn't pass on. It returned here, to the training ground that sat somewhere outside the flow of time. A place where existence pressed pause… just for him.
He clenched his hands, staring at them. They looked human, but faint threads of silver energy rippled beneath his skin — echoes of the power he once had, sealed away piece by piece.
"So… I died again, huh?" he said to no one. "Damn it, Megumin."
His words echoed across the void, swallowed by the mist.
Then, his arm flickered. Strange glowing symbols crawled up from his wrist to his elbow, burning faintly like old scars being rewritten.
> [Skill Fragment Detected: Seal / Unseal – Partially Awakened.]
[Memory Link: Partial restoration achieved.]
He froze as images surged through his head — flashes of blinding chains of light, hands reaching out, voices calling his name. He saw himself kneeling, his power being bound by someone's unseen hand… and a woman's voice, sharp yet sorrowful.
The Sealer.
Even now, she lingered in his memories — the one who had forced him into this endless cycle, and yet, the one who had sent him across worlds.
"She didn't know everything," Ruko murmured, his tone low. "She couldn't even sense some of my real skills back then… Guess I'll have to handle that myself."
The void pulsed — a faint vibration, like the world itself responding to his defiance.
Then another voice spoke, deep, steady, and almost godlike in tone:
> "Death is your restart, Ruko. Learn, adapt, overcome. You are not meant to stay dead."
He gave a dry laugh. "Guess that makes me the universe's punching bag, huh?"
Before him, the fog rippled and twisted until it became a mirror of light. Through it, scenes from Konosuba shimmered to life — Aqua's shrieking over spilled beer, Kazuma's exhausted face, Megumin proudly talking about her explosions while Darkness blushed at… whatever she was imagining.
Ruko smirked faintly. "Alright," he muttered. "Back to hell."
He stepped forward, and the mist wrapped around him like liquid glass. His body disintegrated into streams of light, scattering into the endless dark.
---
Ruko gasped awake, coughing hard. He was in the same inn room — same smell of cheap wood and dust, same faint snoring of Aqua on the floor beside an empty mug.
Kazuma was shouting again. "Aqua! You drank all the money away again! Do you even realize what party funds are—wait, hold on."
His eyes fell on Ruko, sitting up in bed.
"Didn't you just die?"
Ruko blinked, his hair falling into his face. "Yeah," he said casually. "I got better."
Kazuma's jaw dropped. "Got better—?! That's not how death works!"
Ruko shrugged, stretching his arms, feeling the faint hum of energy just beneath his skin. The fragments of Seal and Unseal stirred faintly inside his soul — quiet, unseen, but pulsing with promise.
"Maybe not for you," he said under his breath.
Megumin looked up from her food, cheeks puffed. "Heh, see? I told you my explosion wouldn't completely kill him!"
Aqua tilted her head, still half drunk. "Wait, so he's immortal now? Can I borrow that power for debts?"
Darkness, blushing for some unknown reason, leaned forward. "He looks even more alive than before…"
Kazuma groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "I'm surrounded by lunatics."
Ruko gave a small grin, staring out the window. The morning sun spilled across the streets of Axel, and for a fleeting moment, he could almost feel the rhythm of this new world syncing with his pulse.
This world… this chaos… was only the beginning.
And somewhere in the distance, beyond the light of dawn, something — or someone — was watching him.