Silence.
Then—air.
Shojiro's lungs drew in a shuddering breath.
Cold. Heavy. Real.
The first sensation of life after death.
He gasped, coughing hard. A viscous, amber fluid poured from his lips — the sap of Yggdrasil, thick and glowing, seeping from his throat as if purging the remnants of mortality itself. It hissed as it met the floor, evaporating into faint threads of crimson light.
The world around him pulsed softly, alive. Vines of luminous bark coiled along the chamber walls, moving as though they breathed with him. The amber glow reflected in the still surface of the sap pool — until he saw a reflection that made his heart stop.
It wasn't him.
Not the Shojiro who had died screaming in the streets.
The gaping hole once torn through his chest was gone — smooth, unbroken skin lay where the fatal wound had been.
His muscles, once human, now carried a density that defied comprehension — every fiber felt alive, humming faintly beneath his skin, the energy rippling like a contained storm.
He rose unsteadily, the sound of his heartbeat reverberating through the chamber — deep, slow, commanding.
Then came the realization.
His hair — longer now, darker at the roots, bleeding into streaks of deep crimson that shimmered faintly in the dim light.
His eyes — no longer brown, but a vivid, burning red, glowing faintly even when he blinked.
They were not human eyes. They were the eyes of something reforged — something born of both death and purpose.
Shojiro looked down at his hands.
Every breath tightened the skin around his knuckles — the faint outline of veins glowing with a subtle crimson pulse beneath. He flexed experimentally, and the air wavered. Not bent or warped — simply acknowledged his movement.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
His mind was clear, but his heart felt heavy — as if every beat carried the echo of something ancient, a weight that didn't belong to him.
A remnant of the crimson essence used to forge his new flesh — the trace of Kaiser's domain lingering within.
There was no voice. No guidance. No whisper of a god.
Only the faint hum beneath his ribs — like the heartbeat of another world, existing quietly beside his own.
He exhaled, and the air came out like steam.
Shojiro (softly): "...This isn't my body."
The words were barely a breath — a confession to no one.
He placed a hand against his chest, feeling the solid rhythm of life.
Each pulse echoed through the chamber, steady and strong.
The boy who once died was gone — replaced by a being reforged in the roots of eternity.
The sap around him began to withdraw, retreating into the veins of the cradle as if its purpose was fulfilled.
Shojiro stood alone now, the faint crimson glow in his eyes reflected across the chamber's mirrored amber walls.
Alive. Whole. Changed.
And as he took his first step forward, the floor beneath him rippled — acknowledging the weight of something new in the world.
Shojiro blinked hard. His vision was fogged, his senses overloaded. The amber light of the cradle shimmered, bleeding into a hundred indistinct shapes.
At first, all he could make out were silhouettes — towering figures moving in slow, deliberate rhythm. The air trembled with each sound, as if the world itself bowed to their existence.
His heartbeat quickened.
The same pulse that had been thundering within his chest now seemed to answer theirs — resonating, synchronizing, acknowledging.
He squinted, and the blur began to fade.
Slowly, shapes became defined.
Ten beings stood before him.
Each one different — yet each emanating a divine presence so absolute that even breathing felt disrespectful. The air bent around them, space warping ever so slightly as their power bled into reality.
Shojiro's mouth went dry. His mind flickered with recognition.
"...Wait—these… these look like the ones from my visions…"
He took a step back, his legs trembling — not from fear, but the overwhelming gravity pressing against his soul.
And then, one of them moved.
A giant among giants — towering, broad, his very stance cracking the ground beneath his feet. A faint crimson aura pulsed from his skin like waves of heat. His eyes burned with primal focus, unblinking, unshaken.
When he spoke, his voice wasn't thunder — it was clarity. Deep, resonant, and perfectly human.
Kaiser: "I am Kaiser, Primordial of Strength. The blood that runs through your new body carries a spark of my domain. Stand proud, mortal — for even in your fragility, you carry the pulse of power itself."
The sound of his voice filled the cradle like the rumble of a thousand heartbeats.
Next came a flicker of lightning — sudden, sharp, and precise. A blur shot across Shojiro's vision, stopping so abruptly the wind screamed from the motion.
He was lean, his eyes glowing electric blue, his movements twitching with coiled energy.
Savitar: "Savitar. Primordial of Speed. Don't bother trying to see me twice — your eyes aren't fast enough yet."
The faintest grin crossed his face — sharp and fleeting like a flash of lightning.
Then the air grew hot, metal grinding and reshaping itself from pure thought. Gears formed and dissolved in the space around a figure cloaked in molten light and steel dust.
Hephaestus: "Hephaestus. Primordial of Creation. Every shape, every spark — a tool with purpose. Even you, Shojiro Momo, are my design refined."
The weight of craftsmanship and intelligence rolled off him like molten iron — both a builder and a god.
Behind him, a calm wave rippled through the cradle, followed by the scent of salt and storm. The figure that emerged was tall and fluid, with eyes like deep oceans and hair flowing as if underwater.
Poseidara: "I am Poseidara, the Primordial of Water. Calm when balanced, violent when moved. You'll learn soon — strength isn't always in the strike, but in the flow."
Then came a crack — not of sound, but of light. A brilliant flash illuminated the chamber, and from it stepped a figure cloaked in constant motion, arcs of electricity weaving around his frame.
Voltraeus: "Voltraeus. Lightning incarnate. Energy unbound. Remember this, mortal — every storm begins with a spark."
Shojiro shielded his eyes from the brilliance.
Next, the light dimmed — replaced by an abyssal quiet. A shadow peeled from the walls themselves, forming into a figure whose edges seemed to blur between existence and nothingness.
Nocturne: "Nocturne. Primordial of Darkness. Do not mistake shadow for evil — it is where truth hides when light blinds the foolish."
Shojiro shivered. The temperature dropped; the chamber dimmed. Yet, strangely, he didn't feel fear — only a strange calmness, like being unseen but safe.
Then came a woman cloaked in shimmering gold armor, her wings vast and radiant. The very sight of her exuded safety — not forceful, but absolute.
Aegriya: "Aegriya, Primordial of Protection. I guard the balance — not the weak. Remember, boy: a shield's strength is measured not by how long it stands, but by what it endures."
Her gaze softened when it fell upon him, a silent approval that steadied his shaking hands.
And finally — the warmth.
The last being to step forward glowed with spectral light — ethereal and compassionate. Her presence felt like a hand resting gently on his shoulder, pulling him back from the void.
Thanamira: "Thanamira. Primordial of Souls. You owe your return to me, little one. Your body was lost, but your spirit… it clung tightly to the root. You refused to vanish — so I answered."
A faint, eerie rhythm began to play — like drums from another realm, echoing faintly. From behind Thanamira, a woman in flowing black and bone stepped out, her eyes glowing green with primal mystique.
Moara: "He feels uneasy. That's normal. The body remembers pain, even when reborn. But it will fade soon."
Finally, the light bent — and from it emerged the figure Shojiro had seen most recently.
Artemis.
Her silver robes shimmered with logic itself, her eyes a reflection of constellations unseen by mortals.
Artemis: "I believe introductions are now… sufficient."
(she glances at the others, amused)
"I see you've all grown fond of speaking the mortal tongue again."
Kaiser snorted.
"Hmph. Riddles are for gods who fear being understood."
Savitar grinned.
"And we've been waiting long enough to speak plainly."
The chamber pulsed as if acknowledging their unity — ten powers, harmonized in purpose.
Shojiro could only stare.
His body trembled — not from fear, but from the realization that the very laws of existence were looking back at him.
And for the first time since his rebirth…
he understood that his second life wasn't a miracle.
It was a summons.