Damian left his squad with a spring in his step.His boots struck light and quick, as if a heavy weight had been lifted.For the first time in years, his face was relaxed.
The words were out. His brothers had listened.He wasn't alone this time.
A smile tugged at his lips.Having teammates… it really is good.
He tore into a slab of roasted meat as he walked, grease dripping down his fingers. For once, the night felt good.
The outer zone lay in darkness. The city still had solar panels, but the batteries never reached this far. At night, all power went to the inner districts. Out here, the streets were pitch-black.
It didn't bother him. Combatants like him could see well enough.And for kids born on these streets, the dark never slowed them down.
"Ratty! Give it back, Ratty!"
Voices rang out—sharp, cruel, echoing down the alley.A gang of children came howling past, feet slapping against the stones, chasing a smaller boy clutching two bottles of nutrient solution to his chest.
The boy stumbled, arms over his head, darting left and right, desperate to escape.He looked exactly like his nickname—scrambling like a rat.
Ratty?Ratty!
Damian froze. The name stabbed through him like a blade.
He turned—and saw him.
The wind caught messy silver hair, lifting it for an instant.Beneath was a face so thin it had lost its shape, skin stretched tight over bone.Only the eyes remained—huge, icy gray, far too large for that starved face.
It was him.
The future overlord.The Psionic who would one day unleash the Absolute Death Domain.The man who, in his last life, fought the Core Families and turned half the pure land to dust.
Damian's breath caught. He remembered it too clearly—An S-rank warrior and a dozen A-rank elites collapsing in seconds, their lives drained to bone.Even from afar, he had stood frozen in terror as the hood fell, silver hair spilling out, revealing a face carved with scars… and a gaze of utter indifference.
And now—here was that same face, whole and young.Not merciless. Not cold.Twisted only by raw, animal fear.
The roasted meat slipped from Damian's hand, hitting the ground with a dull thud.
His chest pounded. Vision swam.
So this is where it begins.
Rebirth was too strange.He had saved his squad—And now stood before the one fated to end… or redeem the world.