PART 1
The night after the dungeon eruption didn't bring peace—just a quieter form of tension. Helios District looked calm on the surface, but every guard, noble, and merchant felt the unease in the air. Something ancient had stirred… and they had no idea they were already behind the curve.
Lyn knew exactly what was coming.
He also knew the worst thing he could do was look prepared.
So while the city panicked behind closed doors, he went right back to work—cleaning plates in the tavern.
Not because he needed the job.
But because blending into the lowest social layer gave him freedom.
People ignored you when they believed you were irrelevant.
Exactly the position he wanted.
And while his hands scrubbed dishes, the Merchant fragment worked in the dark, scanning every information channel.
The Thief fragment marked every alleyway and underground path.
The Blacksmith fragment mapped the city's mana flow.
The Adventurer fragment analyzed monster behavior after the eruption.
The Demon Lord fragment simply watched the city like a chessboard.
---
The Archive's Revelation
Midnight struck.
The Archive pulsed in his mind, cold and precise:
「ANCIENT ARTIFACT DETECTED」
「LOCATION: SEALED RUINS — EASTERN HELIOS OUTSKIRTS」
「SECURITY: ROYAL WARDEN KNIGHTS + UNKNOWN PRESENCE」
Lyn paused for a fraction of a second.
Not because the artifact mattered—he would collect countless in time—but because someone else was already converging on the ruins.
The Archive projected a brief echo:
A presence older than the kingdom… watching the streets… waiting.
Not an ordinary mage.
Not a monster.
Something in between.
Interesting.
"Looks like tonight won't be quiet," Lyn muttered.
---
The Ruins Beneath the City
The ruins weren't some dramatic forbidden temple—just a forgotten structure buried under crumbling stone near the outskirts.
A place people ignored.
A place nobles claimed had "no historical value."
A place mages had sealed centuries ago without explanation.
A place that definitely shouldn't be waking up.
As Lyn approached the ruins, the Thief fragment slipped into the shadows, dismantling magical barriers without triggering alarms.
The Blacksmith fragment set silent anti-mana traps to divert ward signals.
The Merchant fragment updated false mana readings into the Arcane Net to make the ruins seem dormant.
The Adventurer fragment kept civilians away.
And deep beneath, his Demon Lord fragment awakened faint memories.
This ruin wasn't any random relic.
It was a remnant of the old world, from before the Twelve Kingdoms even existed.
A place built when he still ruled.
---
The Girl Waiting in the Dark
The Archive flashed another warning:
「HUMANOID PRESENCE AHEAD」
「MAGICAL SIGNATURE: ANCIENT — INCOMPLETE — UNSTABLE」
At first, he expected a mage.
Or a knight.
Or a monster.
Instead, he found a girl.
Silver hair.
Golden eyes.
Clothes torn, like she'd been asleep for a century.
And at her back, a chained, broken seal sigil.
She wasn't human.
She wasn't monster.
She was an old relic in human form, a living guardian of the ruins—someone the current world had forgotten existed.
When she saw Lyn, her eyes widened with a strange mix of fear and recognition.
"You… your soul…" she whispered.
"It's impossible. The Sovereign's signature… you should be dead."
Lyn didn't even blink.
"And yet here I am."
Her legs trembled.
She didn't bow—she collapsed to her knees.
"Then the prophecy wasn't a myth," she whispered.
"The Demon Lord walks this era again."
He didn't deny it.
He didn't confirm it.
He didn't need to.
The way she lowered her head told him everything.
She knew exactly who he was—
or rather, what he was.
This wasn't admiration.
This wasn't devotion.
This was fear mixed with ancient programming.
She was built to obey the Sovereign's bloodline.
And Lyn was the last surviving remnant of that line.
---
The Artifact's Awakening
Behind her, the ancient doors opened on their own, reacting to Lyn's presence.
Mana surged like a heartbeat.
Stone cracked.
Dust lifted off the walls.
And at the center of the chamber hovered a fragment of an old-world artifact:
A black crystal, shaped like an eye, floating above a pedestal of obsidian metal.
The Archive responded instantly:
「ARTIFACT: ABYSSAL EYE — SUBSYSTEM OF THE ARCHIVE」
「FUNCTIONS: SOUL ANALYSIS, WORLD SCANNING, PREDICTION MODULES」
「STATUS: DAMAGED — 27% FUNCTIONAL」
So this was one of the missing pieces of himself.
Not just a weapon.
A memory.
A part of his old power base.
And whoever this guardian girl was, she had clearly been protecting it for centuries.
She raised her head slightly.
"Are… are you going to reclaim it?"
He didn't answer with words.
He took a step forward—
The ruins trembled in response.
The artifact pulsed.
The seal began to break.
And the guardian girl bowed her head again, knowing she had no authority to stop him.
Tonight was the night Lyn reclaimed the first shard of himself.
The night he took another step toward dominance.
PART 2
"The Abyssal Eye Awakens"
The chamber vibrated with a low, unbroken hum—an ancient frequency the current era had no name for. The floating crystal—the Abyssal Eye—recognized the presence of its rightful owner after two thousand years.
The artifact's pulsing light intensified.
The guardian girl, still kneeling, whispered under her breath:
"…the Sovereign's heartbeat… I never thought I'd feel it again."
Lyn ignored her for now.
He had zero reason to indulge emotional relics, even if they worshipped him.
His focus stayed locked on the Eye.
---
The Archive Reacts
「WARNING: LOST SUBSYSTEM IDENTIFIED」
「COMPATIBILITY: 99.8%」
「LINK INITIATION COMMENCING」
Good.
The world thought the Archive vanished.
They assumed its power died with him.
Idiots.
The Archive wasn't a book, or a library, or a vault.
It was him—his soul, his authority, his dominion condensed into a system.
These fragments simply helped restore missing functions.
He reached for the Eye.
The moment his fingertips touched the surface—
The entire ruin exploded in a cascade of black light.
Mana ripped across the chamber like a storm, shaking dust from forgotten ceilings.
Stone cracked.
The guardian girl stumbled back, shielding herself as the air howled.
But Lyn stayed perfectly still.
The Eye wrapped itself around his hand like liquid darkness.
Then—
「SUBSYSTEM LINK COMPLETE」
「NEW MODULES UNLOCKED」
• Soul Detection (Mid-range)
• Mana Signature Tracking (Classified level)
• Predictive Analysis (Fragmentary)
• Memory Reconstruction (1% Est.)
Pathetic.
But it was a start.
The moment the link formed, faint memories surged into his mind—images of his inner throne room, the old imperial capital buried beneath aeons of stone, the cries of ancient species that served him before the First Era fell.
Incomplete visions.
But enough to be dangerous.
---
The Guardian Speaks
The girl slowly approached, still on her knees.
"…Master. My systems… my core recognizes you. I am Model-07, designation Astra. Guardian of Subsystem Abyssal Eye."
So she was an artificial vessel.
Not a machine.
Not a human.
Not a monster.
Something engineered using ancient soul-weaving techniques—technology nobody alive could replicate anymore.
Lyn analyzed her with a single glance.
Her core was cracked.
Her mana circuits were unstable.
Her soul framework was only 42% functional.
A servant that survived 2000 years with no maintenance.
Ridiculously loyal, but dangerously fragile.
"Stand," he said.
Astra froze at the command—
Not because it surprised her,
but because her body reacted before her mind could process it.
Her entire framework was designed to obey him.
She rose like a puppet pulled by invisible strings.
"Do you intend to reclaim the other fragments as well, my L—"
He cut her off with a simple glare.
Astra bowed her head immediately.
"My apologies. I spoke ahead of my rank."
Good.
Even broken, she understood hierarchy.
---
Unwelcome Guests Approaching
The Abyssal Eye pulsed again.
「ALERT: ARMED GROUP APPROACHING」
「IDENTITIES: ROYAL WARDEN KNIGHTS」
「ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 48 seconds」
「LEAD PRESENCE: UNKNOWN — ANOMALOUS」
So the kingdom wasn't completely asleep.
But the Eye highlighted something far more interesting:
A knight among them with mana older than the kingdom itself.
Not a guardian.
Not ancient tech.
Something living.
A creature hiding its identity.
Astra's voice trembled.
She sensed it too.
"That presence… that's impossible… the Wardens shouldn't have anything like that."
Lyn clicked his tongue softly.
He didn't care who they were.
Anyone interfering at this stage was asking for death.
But killing wasn't the smartest play yet.
He needed to remain invisible.
A phantom.
Unknown.
Unnoticed.
Untraceable.
So he issued a simple order:
"Astra. Hide."
She didn't question it.
She vanished instantly, her body dissolving into particles and slipping into the cracks of the ruins.
Then Lyn shifted forms internally.
---
Fragment Sync: The Adventurer Takes the Lead
He allowed one of his other selves—the Adventurer fragment—to surface.
The calm, expressionless, "nobody worth noticing" persona perfectly suited for tonight.
Mana signatures changed.
Breathing pattern changed.
Posture changed.
By the time the Royal Wardens broke through the barrier, he appeared like a clueless bystander who wandered where he shouldn't.
Perfectly harmless.
Perfectly irrelevant.
---
Royal Wardens Arrive
Ten knights entered the ruins, armor polished, emblems glowing.
Their leader stepped forward—a tall man with silver-plated armor and eyes too sharp for a normal knight.
The Abyssal Eye whispered through the Archive:
「ANALYSIS: NOT HUMAN」
「SPECIES: UNKNOWN — POSSIBLE EXTINCT RACE」
「DANGER LEVEL: HIGH」
That explained the ancient mana Lyn sensed earlier.
The knight studied Lyn with predatory calm.
"You," he said. "Identify yourself."
Lyn gave him the blank, awkward expression of an adventurer who accidentally shit himself mentally.
"Uh… I-I'm just exploring… I didn't know this place was restricted…"
A stupid, harmless, low-empathy answer.
The perfect cover.
The knight didn't buy it.
He stepped closer, vision narrowing.
His voice dropped.
"This place was sealed for a reason.
Something awakened tonight.
Something dangerous."
He wasn't asking.
He was fishing.
Testing.
Hunting.
And he clearly couldn't sense Astra or the Abyssal Eye thanks to the Archive suppressing the aura.
Lyn remained still, relaxed, bored even.
"Sir, I swear I didn't see anything except rocks and dust."
A lie so bland it sounded true.
The knight's pupils narrowed—
He raised a hand.
Mana gathered—
And just as he was about to inspect Lyn's soul—
The Abyssal Eye sent a silent pulse:
「RECOMMENDATION: DIVERT. TARGET'S ANALYSIS SPELL IS LETHAL AT CURRENT STRENGTH」
So the bastard had a soul-detection technique that could kill his weaker fragments.
Annoying.
But nothing he couldn't counter.
He activated a micro-skill the world didn't know existed anymore:
「False Soul Reflection」
A technique only ancient sovereigns mastered.
To the knight, Lyn looked like the most average soul on the continent—
Weak, dull, uninteresting, disposable.
The knight froze.
His eyes widened in frustration.
"…What the hell? This one is worthless."
He turned away.
Lyn's expression didn't change, but internally?
He marked the knight.
That one was a threat.
Not now.
But soon.
And Lyn never forgot threats.
---
The Wardens Leave
"Seal the area. Report to the capital," the knight ordered.
The ruins lit up with new wards.
Knights spread out.
A squad began scanning the ground.
Lyn walked away calmly.
Invisible.
Forgettable.
Exactly as planned.
Astra reappeared beside him once the knights were far enough.
Her voice was faint, shaken:
"Master… the one leading them… he carries the scent of the Eternal Guardians. They should have died before your first incarnation ended…"
So the extinct race survived.
Or worse—
They hid.
Lyn didn't break stride.
"Good. Let him grow stronger."
Astra blinked in confusion.
"Why, Master?"
"Simple," Lyn said.
"Crushing strong prey is more satisfying."
Astra shivered.
The world was waking up.
Ancient races.
Lost legacies.
Hidden monsters.
Forgotten guardians.
And now, Lyn had stolen the first shard of his power.
Tonight wasn't the beginning of conflict.
It was the beginning of his return.
PART 3
"The First Domino Falls"
The Royal Wardens withdrew, sealing the ruins behind them, convinced they had contained whatever anomaly surged that night.
Idiots.
They didn't contain anything.
They walked right past the very monster they feared.
Lyn—calm, silent, and already ten steps ahead—moved through the moonlit streets with Astra following like a shadow stitched to his footsteps.
Every fragment across the city quietly synced with him.
Tonight wasn't chaos.
Tonight was data collection.
And every event happening in the capital was a piece of a puzzle he planned to weaponize.
---
Back to Helios District — The Merchant Fragment Moves
While Lyn walked through the alleys, the Merchant fragment was already miles ahead in game planning.
His hidden underground shop—
ShadowNet Exchange—
was disguised behind a perfectly normal bookshop run by an old, boring man with no magical capability.
Of course, the "old man" was simply Lyn in another form.
Astra followed him into the back room. As soon as the door closed, the illusion peeled away. Shelves dissolved. Walls shifted.
Racks of ancient scrolls manifested.
Mana transfer arrays lit up.
Crystals hummed like servers.
Astra froze at the sight.
"Master… this is… advanced. More advanced than anything in this era."
Lyn didn't look up from the console.
"It's primitive compared to my original Archive. But it's enough."
The console projected dozens of mana-screens:
Citizen rumor feeds
Noble movement logs
Dungeon wave patterns
Trade fluctuations
Underground guild chatter
Mana climate anomalies
All constantly updated and analyzed by the Merchant fragment.
Astra could only watch in awe.
"No king… no empire… has surveillance like this."
"Of course not," Lyn replied.
"Kings rely on loyalty. Empires rely on fear."
He tapped one screen.
It zoomed in on the Royal Warden Knight from earlier.
"I rely on information."
Astra stared at his expression—cold, bored, calculating.
"This… is how you ruled the First Era, isn't it?"
"No," Lyn said.
"This is how I prevented the First Era from collapsing sooner."
Astra couldn't even respond to that.
---
A New Problem: The Warden Captain's Identity
The Merchant fragment pulled data and projected a dossier:
Name: Serith Alveiron
Rank: Warden Captain
Age: Listed as 32
Mana Density: Impossible for a human
Race: Unknown
Behavior Flags:
Never removes armor
Never sleeps in barracks
Never eats with others
No recorded childhood
Not listed in any noble genealogy
Mana signature predates modern spellcraft
Astra's eyes trembled.
"That is definitely an Eternal Guardian… but why would he serve humans?"
She wasn't wrong.
The Eternal Guardians were an ancient race created by a forgotten god to stabilize mana during the world's early chaos.
But they vanished after the ancient wars.
Or so everyone thought.
Lyn's eyes narrowed.
"He didn't serve the humans."
"He infiltrated them."
Astra stiffened.
"That means—"
"That means an ancient faction survived," Lyn finished.
"And they're hiding in the kingdom."
---
The Thief Fragment's Discovery
At the same moment, the Thief fragment returned—slipping through the workshop window like mist.
He carried a blood-stained scrap of cloth with an emblem burned into it.
Lyn took it without blinking.
Astra paled.
"That crest… that's not from this era."
No.
It wasn't.
The emblem belonged to one of Lyn's old enemies—
The Luminary Order, a cult that once opposed the Demon Lord's rule with fanatical obsession and holy artifacts.
But he killed all of them.
Or so he believed.
Lyn's eyes darkened.
"So the rats crawled out of the grave too."
Astra trembled.
"But Master… if the Luminary Order survived… and the Eternal Guardians are active… the other factions—"
"They'll reawaken," Lyn finished.
"And worse, they'll unite against my return."
Astra swallowed.
"Then we should strike first."
Lyn shook his head.
"No. Not yet."
She stared in confusion.
"But why?"
His answer was simple.
"Because right now… none of them realize who they're fighting."
He smirked.
"And when prey doesn't know the predator is hunting…
it lowers its guard."
---
A New Fragment Awakens
The Archive pulsed again.
Something new.
Something unexpected.
「NEW SOUL POSSIBILITY DETECTED」
「RECOMMENDED: SIXTH FRAGMENT FORMATION」
「ROLE: PRINCE OF GLASS EMPIRE — DIPLOMAT & SPY」
A diplomat.
A negotiator.
Someone with access to foreign kingdoms.
Lyn considered it.
The world was too big for five identities.
A foreign identity would let him infiltrate the continent without restrictions.
Astra stared at him nervously.
"Master… are you truly going to divide your soul again? Fragmentation this deep is risky."
"Risky for mortals," Lyn corrected.
"For me? It's strategy."
The Archive confirmed:
「FRAGMENT CREATION POSSIBLE: 92% SUCCESS RATE」
「SIDE EFFECT: MINOR SOUL FATIGUE」
He accepted without hesitation.
The room darkened.
His shadow split—
twisting, stretching, tearing away from his feet like living smoke.
A new figure emerged:
Tall, elegant, wearing foreign royal attire.
Graceful as a prince.
Smiling like a manipulator disguised behind silk.
The Sixth Fragment opened its eyes.
"I suppose diplomacy will be… entertaining."
---
The First Domino Falls
Astra looked at Lyn—the original—with fear and loyalty tangled together.
"Master… everything is moving faster than expected."
"It should," Lyn replied.
"I'm pushing it."
He turned back to the console.
The Warden Captain's face glowed on the screen.
"This world has forgotten what a Demon Lord is."
Lyn's voice lowered to a whisper filled with quiet malice:
"It's time they remember."
The Abyssal Eye pulsed on his hand in agreement.
Outside, the ancient enemies shifted in the shadows.
Inside, the first of Lyn's new empire took shape.
The game had begun.
And Lyn had already made the first move.
PART 4
"The Shroud of Seven Faces"
Night deepened across the capital, but Lyn's presence spread wider than moonlight.
Six identities—each a blade, each a mask—moved through the layers of the kingdom like a silent plague.
But tonight, one identity took the spotlight:
The Adventurer Fragment.
Low profile.
Low threat.
Perfectly disposable.
And tonight, he was walking straight into a den of wolves.
---
THE ADVENTURER'S TEST — THE BLACK COIL GUILD
The slums of Lower Helios were a different world.
Crumbling houses.
Poison-smelling alleys.
Whisper trades of stolen goods, illegal magic, and enslaved monsters.
This was where the Adventurer fragment needed to establish a foothold—not as a hero, but as a "nobody" who climbed the ranks without suspicion.
The target was the Black Coil Guild, a rogue organization that ran:
dungeon raids,
bounty contracts,
illegal monster trafficking,
and underground arena fights.
Exactly the kind of place Lyn needed.
Because chaos breeds opportunities.
---
Stepping Inside the Guild Hall
The Black Coil Guild wasn't a building.
It was a fortress stitched from scrap metal and monster bone, guarded by mutated hounds and robed mercenaries.
When Lyn (as the Adventurer) walked in, every pair of eyes turned toward him.
A low-ranking guard spat:
"New face. You got permit or balls to enter?"
The Adventurer fragment gave a dull, blank expression like a timid newbie.
"I… just want to register."
The hall erupted in laughter.
A burly orc slapped his knee.
"Kid, this place ain't for flower-pickers!"
Someone else yelled:
"Bet he dies in the first dungeon!"
Perfect.
Mockery made people underestimate him.
And Lyn weaponized underestimation better than any sword.
The registration officer shoved a paper forward.
"Sign here. Then survive."
He pointed toward a staircase descending underground.
"The initiation starts now."
---
The Initiation Pit
A smell of blood and metal hit Lyn as he descended.
The room opened into a torch-lit pit filled with hostile monsters—kobolds, dire rats, and even one malformed ogre.
The officer announced:
"Survive for five minutes.
You pass."
The Adventurer fragment stepped into the arena with a rusty dagger the guild provided.
The crowd expected panic.
Instead—
The monsters froze.
Not because they feared a weapon.
But because Lyn leaked one microscopic drop of ancient killing intent—
subtle enough not to be traced,
but powerful enough to make lesser beasts tremble.
Then he moved.
Not flashy.
Not dramatic.
Just efficient.
A diagonal cut severed the first monster's spine.
A backstep avoided the second.
A throat slit ended the third.
A silent jab dropped the ogre like a sack of meat.
The entire sequence lasted seven seconds.
Five minutes weren't needed.
The crowd, for a moment, went dead silent.
Then chaos erupted.
"WHAT THE—!"
"Did you see that? This brat—!"
"No enhancement magic… no skills… what was that?!"
Lyn sheathed the rusty dagger calmly.
"Can I join now?"
The officer's hands trembled as he stamped the paper.
"You're in."
---
Information Falls Into His Hands
Entering the guild wasn't the real goal.
The real treasure was the murmurs he heard.
"Warden Knights have increased patrols…"
"A new dungeon opened near the eastern border…"
"Someone stole a holy relic from the cathedral…"
"A noble got assassinated—body drained of mana…"
"A guild branch found ruins glowing earlier tonight… same night as the mana surge…"
Lyn's expression didn't change.
Good.
The world was already stirring.
Then he heard the most important line:
"…and the Guildmaster says the Demon Lord will return soon."
The room fell quiet.
Someone whispered:
"Bullshit. Demon Lord vanished two thousand years ago."
Another replied:
"Not vanished. Killed. And the Archive disappeared with him."
A third lowered his voice:
"The Guildmaster says the Archive is still in this world."
Lyn's heartbeat didn't change—
but the Adventurer fragment mentally marked every speaker.
The Black Coil Guild was connected to something bigger.
Maybe one of the resurrected ancient factions.
Or something even more dangerous.
Good.
He needed them talking.
He needed them spreading rumors.
Because rumors attracted attention.
And attention created opportunities.
---
THE SUPPORTING MAIN CHARACTERS — BACKGROUND MOVES
While the Adventurer infiltrated the guild, Lyn's other identities moved simultaneously.
---
1. The Blacksmith Fragment — "Iron Leaves Truth Behind"
Working in the human capital's main smithy, the Blacksmith fragment overheard knights gossiping:
"Another dungeon tear predicted."
"Monsters evolving too fast."
"Mana storms increasing."
All signs of the world destabilizing.
The Blacksmith quietly crafted abnormal-quality weapons using forgotten forging techniques—just enough to cause confusion in the kingdom's magical research circles.
Every blade he released into the world was an investment.
A seed of influence.
---
2. The Merchant Fragment — "A Web Expands"
The ShadowNet Exchange exploded in activity.
Bounties.
Relics.
Rumors.
Secret experiments.
And best of all—
Royal classified reports were getting leaked.
Exactly as Lyn intended.
---
3. The Thief Fragment — "Eyes in Every Shadow"
He stalked the rooftops and alleys, mapping every hidden path, every noble residence, every guard rotation.
His biggest find tonight:
A magical seal hiding beneath the cathedral.
Something ancient.
Something dangerous.
Something holy.
Or unholy.
Lyn would investigate later.
---
4. The Demon Lord Fragment — "The Empire Begins to Form"
Deep beneath the earth, in a cavern cut from black crystal, the Demon Lord fragment began constructing his new empire.
Monsters bent the knee.
Ancient beasts felt the ripple of authority.
Forgotten races stirred.
And a new throne—made from obsidian and starlight—slowly took shape.
---
5. The Newly Created Prince Fragment — "A Political Chess Piece"
Far from the capital, in a distant empire, a newly awakened "prince" quietly began making alliances.
Diplomatic letters.
Trade agreements.
Investigations into ancient ruins.
All paving the way for Lyn's future dominance.
---
THE WORLD REACTS TO THE RUMORS
By the time Lyn walked out of the initiation pit, the entire capital was buzzing.
"Demon Lord… could it be true?"
"Was the mana surge connected?"
"Did someone awaken a relic?"
"Is the Archive actually real?"
"If the Demon Lord returns, everything ends—"
Exactly what Lyn wanted.
Fear.
Curiosity.
Chaos.
Uncertainty.
The first domino had fallen.
And the world had begun to tremble.
PART 5
"THE STORM BEHIND THE SMILE"
The streets of the capital basked in the lazy afternoon sun—vendors shouting prices, horses clopping on old stone roads, and children running around like life itself had no weight. On the surface, it looked peaceful. But beneath that thin shell sat a tension the average citizen couldn't sense.
Lucian stood behind his forge, wiping sweat off his neck. The heat didn't bother him; he had endured hellfire long before this era existed. What bothered him was the lingering feeling that the world itself was shifting—an old pressure crawling back into existence.
Not that anyone would guess a thing from his expression. He looked like a simple blacksmith minding his business.
A sharp chime echoed inside his mind.
He didn't react. He kept hammering the blade on his anvil with the same steady rhythm, as if no system notification had appeared at all.
Across the shop, Lira—his sharp-tongued adventurer companion—had her elbows on the counter, chin resting on her palms, pretending not to watch him.
"What's with that stupid calm expression?" she asked. "Most blacksmiths sweat like pigs. You don't even look tired."
He didn't bother replying. She loved provoking him. He let her talk.
"You know, you make really good weapons for someone who refuses to explain where you learned it," she continued. "At this point, I'm convinced you're secretly a retired legendary hero."
He glanced at her.
A slow, quiet stare.
She coughed, scratching her cheek. "Okay… maybe not a hero. You look more like the 'brooding villain' type."
She wasn't wrong.
But she had no idea how right she was.
Before he could speak, the door creaked open and Ino barged in—panting like he'd sprinted across five districts.
"L-Lucian… big news!" he gasped.
Lucian didn't raise his voice. "You look like you're about to die. Speak."
Ino slammed his hands on the counter. "There's a new dungeon. Like, a ridiculous one. The Guild called it a Tier-S hazard—'The Hollow Starfall'. It appeared overnight west of the capital."
Lucian's hammer froze mid-strike.
A new dungeon appearing out of nowhere wasn't normal.
Not even in this world where chaos was routine.
Ino continued breathlessly:
"And get this—adventurers who returned said they saw… shapes inside. Not monsters. Something that looked like an ancient race."
Lucian's heartbeat slowed.
Ancient races had vanished before his last reincarnation. The fact something resembling them was inside a dungeon meant one thing:
Someone with influence over the world's foundation was moving pieces again.
Lira frowned. "What do you mean 'ancient races'? The Guild records say they all died off thousands of years ago."
Ino nodded rapidly. "Which is why everyone is losing their minds!"
Lucian placed the heated blade into the water trough, letting it hiss violently.
Inside his chest, something that had been asleep for 2,000 years finally stirred.
A whisper of his past.
A memory he couldn't erase.
His betrayal.
His most loyal subordinates—kneeling before him, swearing loyalty with smiling faces.
Then plunging blades into his back the moment he turned around.
Archive of Eternity.
Bound to his soul.
They killed him for it.
And now the world was showing cracks again.
Lucian tied the leather bracer on his wrist and walked away from the forge.
Lira blinked. "Hey—what are you doing?"
"Closing the shop," he said flatly.
Ino flailed. "W-wait, now?! Why?!"
"Because," Lucian said, picking up a cloak, "someone is trying to accelerate the world's collapse."
Lira's irritation vanished instantly. She stepped closer, lowering her voice.
"You're talking like you know something."
Lucian faced them both. His eyes—normally calm and dull—shimmered with a depth that didn't belong to a humble blacksmith.
"I know many things," he said.
Lira shivered.
Ino swallowed hard.
But neither of them knew the truth:
The Demon Lord had just received his first real signal in two millennia.
The ancient enemies weren't gone. They were waking up.
Lucian locked the forge door behind him.
His five identities—
the blacksmith,
the adventurer,
the shadow thief,
the information merchant,
and the rising demon lord—
were about to converge on their first battlefield.
And the world had no idea.