Charles followed his instincts, barely grasping the right direction. With each step, the sensation inside him intensified. Whatever was calling knew he was approaching and started sending more intense signals.
After a while, an enormous structure of veins appeared in his field of view. It was very eye-catching: six crimson red hearts, slowly beating as if inside a huge, living organism amid the starlight and emptiness.
"What is this thing?" Charles asked aloud, carefully approaching, hearing every heartbeat in his ears.
The hearts were all interconnected, sharing the same origin, part of the same creature it seemed. The sight felt sinister, evil even.
One look at it was enough for a deep, primal fear to take hold of your soul. Staring at it was akin to looking into an abyss, it devoured you and watched you in return.
Very slowly, Charles reached out his hand. In the next second, darkness engulfed his vision. Images started flashing in his mind like a mosaic: scenes of death and devastation, demonic creatures fighting and killing each other, purging worlds, entire dimensions for pleasure.
They were devouring all life within their reach, leaving only wastelands on their path. The visions stopped abruptly, and Charles fell back, gasping for breath.
"Firstborn Demons," he whispered, staring at the hearts. "Ancient demons wielding the power of devouring and transcendence..."
Knowledge about the hearts' origin flooded his mind. The Firstborn Demons were embodiments of revolution, fighting against the natural order and the Heavens.
Their philosophy of devouring and dominating fueled their conquest of other realms. Their name resounded across the myriad of dimensions, instilling fear into all who opposed them.
"If this works as I think it does, then maybe... Just maybe, I can live a second life," Charles theorized. According to what he had learned from these hearts, it was possible for him to reincarnate.
The Firstborn Demons were closely related to the Astral Overheaven - the place where Charles now found himself.
"Hearts need a stimuli, something to devour, they are too weak to catch the shooting stars even the lowest white ones. If it works, I can merge the talent as I wish into the heart and then form my new body off it. The extra ones will be my insurance. My future siblings or in other words - subordinates..."
The plan began to form in his mind. A new world would be his stage, with a perfect body superior in all aspects and great talents to boot. Charles could already see himself becoming a supreme ruler, no one harming him or his family any more.
"I should dream of my big future later. Now, let's build my body!"
He began the slow, meticulous process of transforming the bloody heart. He decided to start with designing his first sibling, leaving himself for later.
"This one will be an oracle, the one who could perceive fate and destiny, based on the rainbow level talent I got earlier."
Charles personally disliked the idea of working with fate and foreseeing the future. He wanted to be a warrior, a fighter who transcended simple fate. He saw more use to share this burden with a supporting sibling.
First he merged the Weaver of Fate, it resisted a little bit calmed down quickly the moment it came in contact with the heart. The whole vein structure trembled slightly, awakening from a long slumber.
Then he took out a talent he synthesized - a rainbow level talent for the Transcendent Immortal Root of Spacetime, it was a level higher than the earlier Mythic Immortal Root. It gave one affinity with Space and Time, two fundamental principles of the Universe.
"The combination of Time and Fate should give some unimaginable return," Charles looked forward to watching these talents in action.
After that he used three more talents, these time of the Gold level: Chrono-Oracle Vision, Karmic Balancer, and Celestial Harmonizer. With these, his first sibling was finished.
"Now support is done, it's time for a damage dealers, a tank, and maybe a creation-production role," Charles pondered.
Stars passed by, light illuminated the hearts, and Charles lost himself in the process. Finally, after a long-long time, all six hearts were complete. Their texture had changed, and strange symbols flickered on their surfaces.
"Who would have expected it to take so long? I can't even remember when I got here. My previous life memories are blurry now."
Charles tried to remember what the love of his life looked like, his parents and friends, but the image scattered every single time, their voices indecipherable and faces empty.
Surprisingly, he didn't feel any pain as if his attachment to them had become vague just like the memories themselves.
"This world is full of wonders and opportunities, there should be a way to recover my memories fully someday," he thought and finally decided to fly inside the heart, the one he made for himself.
The next moment his vision turned blank, invaded by images of celestial bodies revolving in the sky, and on the outside, the heart he merged with attracted colourful lightnings.
It was struck several times until it was charred black. Wisps of shadows broke through space and slowly shrouded it. However, all of this escaped Charles's notice.
The Astral Overheaven trembled, the heartbeat of the six hearts accelerated, with each passing second it became faster and faster, louder and louder. Charles gradually started losing consciousness his mind slipped into slumber.
...
Somewhere far away at that exact moment...
"Hisha! It cracked! It's hatching!" a young girl's voice echoed through the red velvet chambers.
"I am coming! Wait! Where?!" another young girl screamed in response.
In the room filled with mysterious cold blue fires, two young girls were staring at a crimson red egg, five more surrounded it. Scales covered the egg and they had eye-catching patterns all over.
"Why did it stop?" Hisha asked.
"Did we break it? What if we broke it, Hisha? Her Majesty will decapitate us!"
"Stop panicking, Aisha! These eggs are harder than Mythril. It's almost impossible to break them unless they hatch."
Crunch! Crunch! Another couple of cracks appeared on the surface.
"Look! It's hatching, after so long," Hisha exclaimed and knelt on the ground. Aisha followed.
A few minutes later, a celestial phenomenon was triggered. The sky outside the palace turned bloody red, casting an eerie glow over the city. Wild winds howled through the streets, rattling windows and doors.
Lightning streaked across the sky in violent arcs, illuminating the terrified faces of the city's inhabitants. Amidst the chaos, the humongous face of a demon materialized in the sky out of the clouds, its eyes burning with fury as it roared furiously, shaking the very earth.
The sound of a heart beating loudly echoed through the air, resonating in the chests of all who heard it, amplifying their fear and awe. Citizens knelt down, commoners, guards, young or old, everyone did.
Inside the room, the maids also noticed the celestial phenomenon out of the window. Their eyes widened in shock and awe as they felt the room tremble with the demonic roar. The face then was swallowed by red clouds and disappeared, however the storm didn't stop.
Finally, the egg broke into pieces, and a small child figure appeared in the girls' field of view. Both of them looked attentively in total silence with a fervent gaze.
The child turned out to be a boy, disoriented and confused. He looked at his body and then at the surroundings.
"Your Highness?" a weak trembling voice reached his ears.
"Who are you?" the boy asked, turning to face the kneeling girls, he subconsciously knew the language they talked to him, "What did you call me?"
"Your Highness! We are the maids serving Her Majesty's descendants, you and your unborn siblings, please accept our greetings."
"I accept..." he answered a little confused, "Where is this place?"
"This is the Myriad Demon Empire, home to all of the demonic creatures in this realm, ruled by Her Majesty - the Abyss Empress."
"And where is she?" the boy continued questioning in a cold tone.
"We need to report to Her Majesty. If you permit, let us help you dress, and we will bring you to an audience immediately. They will be pleased to see you."
"Sure, do as you see fit."
The maids exchanged nervous glances.
"This unworthy one will help you," said Aisha.
"I will inform the palace of your birth!" Hisha said, standing up and heading to the exit.
Meanwhile, outside the wind calmed down a little except the clouds and the rain. Inside the room, the boy was investigating his body. He found a large standing mirror in the corner and looked at himself from several angles.
He wasn't tall, just about 140 cm, slim, with an ordinary body of a 9 or 10-year-old child. His hair was long, crimson red, draping over his shoulders, and his eyes were of the same color, with a mysterious glint shining sporadically.
"Apart from the talent I added myself, there are some native ones..." the boy noticed a couple of extra shining orbs inside his body. They existed somewhere in a parallel plane of space, hidden from others except himself.
"Your Highness, your clothes," Aisha interrupted his thoughts, holding a black and golden robe with a flame patterns embroidered on it.
"Thank you. What's your name?"
"Aisha, at your service, Your Highness," the girl softly answered in a slightly trembling tone, "Please punish this unworthy one for not telling the name sooner!"
In her eyes, the boy in front of her was exuding a powerful and imposing aura.
"No need."
"Thank you, your Highness!" Aisha thanked the boy and admired silently, "Truly the son of Her Majesty, descendant of the True Demons."
"Your Highness!" two unknown people entered the room, a man and a woman. The next moment both knelt down on one knee.
The woman was dressed the same as the other maids, while the man wore a black suit with the same cape as the others.
"It should be easy to adjust to this world. I have such an authority just moments after being born."
"Is everything ready?" Aisha asked.
"Yes, please allow us to lead His Highness to the throne room."
"Let's go."
They stood up, again bowed their heads, and led the way. Aisha followed behind the boy. The child looked around the corridors and halls, taking in the countless oil paintings, precious treasures on display, and chandeliers burning with a ghostly blue flame. The group walked in silence, not daring to make a sound unless given permission by the young boy.
"How will the Empress treat me?" the child contemplated, "I hope she won't see any of my secrets..."