Elias Kane died in a haze of exhaustion, his heart betraying him under the sterile glow of an office lamp. At thirty-eight, he was a legend—a tactical genius who reshaped battlefields and boardrooms with a mind like a blade. Military campaigns bent to his strategies, corporate empires crumbled under his deals. But ambition was a cruel master, and sleep was a luxury he'd forsaken. His final breath came at his desk, papers strewn with plans for a war that would never come. Darkness closed in, and he welcomed it, expecting the void to claim him.But the void was alive. A presence loomed, vast and radiant, its form a shifting tapestry of stars and shadows, eyes like twin suns burning through the dark. "Elias Kane," it said, voice a symphony of colliding galaxies, laced with amusement. "You've played mortal games and won. Will you play mine?"Elias's consciousness, still sharp despite the absence of a body, bristled. "Who are you?" he demanded, his voice echoing in the boundless expanse. "What is this place?"The presence laughed, a sound that rippled through the void like waves on a cosmic sea. "I am the Supreme God, weaver of multiverses, arbiter of fates. This is the Nexus, where souls are judged—or tested. You intrigue me, mortal. Your life was a dance of cunning, but can you match a god?"Elias's mind raced, his strategist's instincts kicking in. A test meant stakes, and stakes meant opportunity. "What's the game?" he asked, voice steady despite the surreal weight of the moment.The God's form shifted, coalescing into a vast chessboard suspended in the void, its squares pulsing with light and shadow. Pieces materialized—knights carved from starlight, rooks of molten flame, pawns that whispered like ghosts. "A game of Cosmic Chess," the God said. "Not mere strategy, but a weave of fates. Each move shapes a world, each piece a soul. Win, and you earn three wishes. Lose, and your essence scatters across the multiverse."Elias studied the board, its pieces alive, their eyes glinting with intent. The rules were alien, each move rippling through the void, spawning visions of worlds born and destroyed. A pawn's sacrifice birthed a storm; a bishop's advance unraveled a star. Elias, who'd orchestrated wars and mergers, saw patterns where others saw chaos. He moved with precision, countering the God's gambits, sacrificing pieces to lure the divine into overconfidence. The final move was a trap—a knight's leap that bound the God's king in a web of light, checkmate sealed with a mortal's cunning.The God laughed, delighted. "Well played, Elias Kane. Name your wishes."Elias didn't hesitate. "First, reincarnation—a new life to rewrite my legacy. Second, your full power, Supreme God, to command the multiverse. Third…" He paused, a sly smile in his voice. "A secret, revealed only when I've earned it."The God's eyes flared, amused yet intrigued. "Bold. The first is granted—a new life in Eryndor, a world of peace and ambition. The second will come slowly, lest it shatter you. The third… is bound to your path. Succeed, and it will be yours. Fail, and the Abyss claims all."
The void dissolved, and Elias woke to a scream—not his, but a woman's, raw with pain and love. His eyes, weak and gummy, opened to a world of light and shadow. He was tiny, helpless, swaddled in silk that smelled of lavender and ash. A woman's face hovered above, beautiful and fierce, her golden hair haloed by a chandelier of glowing crystals. Her eyes, blue as a summer sky, brimmed with tears of joy. "Ardyn," she whispered, cradling him. "My Ardyn Vael." His mother, Lysandra. Beside her stood a man, broad-shouldered and gentle, his face weathered but warm, eyes soft with devotion. Count Theron Vael, his father. Elias's mind, sharp and adult, reeled in the newborn's body, trapped in a cage of flesh too small to hold his thoughts.