Luciferis, the Hero of Bloody Inheritance, the strongest that the world had seen, had failed. His eyes widened as he felt like a mountain was on his chest.
"Why… Why won't my body move? Has Elynox cursed me? No… It doesn't feel like it. That rat bastard doesn't have the courage."
He clutched at his chest, his vision blurred as he saw Mikael, the Demon of Corrupting Light, on the ground, a sword plunged deep into his chest.
Yet the demon laughed. Maniacally.
"Too much salt in your diet, Luciferis?! I can hear your heart begging for help, ya know!"
Luciferis was so close to victory that he didn't mind dying, but he had to make sure Mikael was defeated. Or else everything that he knew would be destroyed.
He tried walking, but he collapsed, his glorious wings, more colorful than the rainbow itself, slowly becoming gray and lifeless.
"You know Luciferis, I envy your wings…" A soft mocking whisper,
Mikael stood up, his white hair dirtied and his eyes, akin to sapphires, cut out, but he was healing. The childlike grin, made to hide his menace, was evidence of the demon's regained confidence.
"Those wings. They're magnificent; the feathers will make for a good blanket. Can I have them? I promise I'll dye them. Gray doesn't suit me."
He asked in a sing-song tone, like a child asking for candy. His eyes had been healed completely.
Luciferis remained silent on the ground, life slipping from his hand like running water, his memories flashing before his eyes as he forced his body to keep fighting
Instinctively reaching for a rock on the ground, standing up once more.
"Over my dead body." Luciferis groaned, the roaring flames of his pride keeping him going.
His face covered by his dirty and bloodied hair, but Mikael could see something off in the Hero's expression.
"You want to fight against the Demon King with a common rock? Oh well. Fire was invented with a rock. I wonder what you'll invent here, Heart Attack Hero Lucy."
Luciferis walked forward, dragging his heavy wings and armor forward; they were his pride after all.
'Bigger than houses. But now they're deadweight… Just predictable.' Mikael thought to himself while staring at Luciferis' wings.
His expression began darkening for a moment. He felt off.
Hundreds of years of simulating this very battle, and he had never won, and now that he did, it felt incomplete.
There must be a counter that Luciferis hasn't used yet. Or a last resort.
But what could go wrong? Victory for the Dark Empire was guaranteed after Luciferis' death. If Luciferis died, all kingdoms would be destroyed with ease.
"Boo hoo… You're gonna make me cry, little Lucy." Mikael shook his head in amusement, readying his spear to finish it off.
But then. Luciferis' body and wings both burst into a blinding golden light, the Hero's smirk visible for a moment before the light began enveloping the crater made from their battle.
"LUCIFERIS! YOU LITTLE-" Mikael's voice muffled into nothing, the whole battlefield's noise turning into pure static.
Luciferis was desperate; he had used a spell to regress and rewind time to 14 years before the Holy War.
'I will try again… Once more. This time I'll win.' He thought as his body floated in a deep, turbulent, and dark ocean, drifting towards a circle of light.
He slowly melted away, staining the water beneath him with the color of his armor and wings.
(…)
Luciferis slowly opened his eyes. The surroundings' light overwhelmed him as he clutched at his eyes in pain. The sound of tens of voices like screeching metal.
'Seems like the spell worked. But why do I feel so weak? My body also feels small…'
As his vision finally settled, he felt a piercing as well as thumping pain all over his body.
'WHAT THE HELL!' he almost let out a shout, but the shock from his surroundings held him back.
There he was. Lying in front of a legion of people in white clothes and formally dressed maids, frantically running around.
"Doctors? What's happening… Where am I?" He unknowingly muttered out loud.
This grabbed the attention of one of the people in the room, a woman prepping what seemed like a sword.
"Ma'am! It seems that the Vitin Counterflow's effects have spread to the brain!"
Another woman, a much taller, younger one. Snapped her head towards Luciferis' direction as she immediately threw her cane towards him.
"I'LL KNOCK HIM OUT! WE CAN'T RISK HIM LOSING HIS MIND."
"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, HAG!" Luciferis shouted, barely managing to dodge the cane. If he hadn't dodged, his head would've been mush.
"I just asked a question!" He tried to throw the cane back at the woman in retaliation.
But this time, he was restrained by a few men, forced back onto the bed as the younger woman ran forward with a glowing needle in her hand.
"This is for your own good!" She loudly proclaimed before stabbing Luciferis' shoulder with the needle. Consciousness slipped from his clutches.
The voices slowly muffled into darkness as Luciferis' mind flooded with memories not his own.
He saw the usual childhood of a noble, and also saw the fire in the child's eyes. The desire to grow stronger. No matter the cost.
And strangely… These memories almost seemed like they were getting passed on to him. Like inheritance.
The memories of the boy slowly came to a stop, as now, the boy stood in front of Luciferis, a small smile on his face.
"Hi?"
The younger one began, a sense of curiosity and bittersweet resignation in his eyes.
"W-What?" Luciferis narrowed his eyes, "You're the kid from-"
"Uh, yeah… That's me. I'm Leonidas Van Orchel. I'm 14. Nice to meet you. Hero." He extended his hand forward for Luciferis to shake, and the Hero? He did so without missing a beat.
"I've grasped the situation. Leonidas." Luciferis was hesitant. But most likely. The kid also knew what was going on.
"Yep. I'm dead and my body is yours to use."
"Don't say that. It's your body. Not an object." Of course, Luciferis knew that Leonidas' body was now his. But. He wasn't going to heartlessly use it as he pleased.
"Oh, come on, Hero. Don't hesitate. I'm permitting ya. It's my name that will be written in history if you succeed, of course."
The boy chuckled, his body slowly breaking into bright shards of light, floating away like butterflies into the vast darkness.
"At least win this time, if you don't. I'm cornering you in Paradise and cutting your hair off." Leonidas added, slowly disappearing.
"Just take care of my family, alright? And. Don't tell them the real me is dead. I hate seeing people cry."
Those were Leonidas' last words before he disappeared fully. Luciferis now stood alone, with his hand still floating in the void.
"Alright then… I'll try my best."
Luciferis slowly awoke again in the body of 14-year-old Leonidas as he let out a heavy sigh. Finally, alone in the luxurious room.
'So…' He looked around. According to Leonidas' memory, he was the son of Grand Marquis Vilkens. 'A lot of new paths have opened up for me now that I have nearly unlimited resources and a better body.'
"Oh yeah.." He muttered. Realizing he was unable to move his body. "This body is shit because of Vitin Counterflow."
Vitin Counterflow was one of the most dangerous side effects of using pills and potions to try and get a breakthrough to Rank IV.
And poor Leonidas, thinking he'd survive, had risked it all.
'Don't worry, kid… I'm going to take care of it now. You wanted to be written about, right? I'll make sure of that.' He clenched his jaw. Pushing himself to slowly sit up straight in the soft bed. His heart skipped a beat just from this.
'First things first. Let's try to push out all the Negative Vitin gathered inside my body.'