Night had already fallen over the grand palace, and most of its corridors were drowned in a heavy silence, broken only by the sound of wind striking the tall windows. In one of the rooms in the eastern wing, darkness filled the space, illuminated only by the faint light of a small candle trembling atop an old wooden table.
Aldric sat on a tall chair near the closed window. He was a tall young man with long black hair that fell over his shoulders, and handsome features that seemed almost cold, as if carved from stone. His dark eyes were fixed on the empty space before him, as though he were lost in distant thoughts that no one else could see.
Standing beside him was a middle-aged man dressed in the elegant attire of a servant. His name was John, Aldric's loyal attendant who had served his family for many years. His hands were clasped behind his back, and his eyes watched his master with clear respect.
After a moment of silence, John spoke in a low voice.
"Boss… I have returned from the task you gave me yesterday."
Aldric barely moved, but slowly lifted his gaze toward him.
"Speak."
John cleared his throat slightly before beginning.
"As you expected, the man we were watching met with an arms dealer at the old harbor. The meeting was unusual… there were more guards than usual."
Aldric leaned slightly forward, and a faint shadow of a smile appeared on his lips.
"And did you obtain what you wanted?"
John nodded confidently.
"Yes, my boss. I managed to overhear part of their conversation. It seems they are planning to transport a large shipment within the next few days."
Silence filled the room once more.
The candle flickered slowly, casting long shadows upon the stone walls.
Aldric spoke calmly.
"As I expected… things are beginning to move faster than I thought."
John looked at his master with mild surprise.
"Does that mean what you predicted… has already begun?"
Aldric did not answer immediately. Instead, he slowly rose from his chair and walked toward the window. Placing his hand against the cold glass, he gazed out into the darkness of the garden beyond the palace.
Inside his mind, countless thoughts clashed.
Forty years before the events of the novel… and yet the threads had already begun to move.
At last he turned back toward John.
"Yes. It seems some things do not wait for their appointed time."
John frowned slightly.
"Should we be worried, boss?"
Aldric shook his head calmly.
"Worry is useless. What we need is preparation."
He walked toward the table and extinguished the candle with his fingers.
The room sank into complete darkness for a moment, before the door opened and the light from the hallway flooded inside.
"We're leaving."
John replied quickly.
"The car is ready outside."
Aldric walked through the palace's long corridor, his footsteps echoing over the marble floor. John followed closely behind him with steady steps, though he felt something strange stirring within his chest… a faint sense of danger.
When they reached the main entrance, one of the guards opened the door.
Cold air rushed in from outside, and the sky was covered with dark clouds that hid the moon.
In the courtyard, a luxurious black car waited silently.
John stepped forward first and opened the rear door.
"With your leave, boss."
Aldric paused for a moment before entering the car. He looked around calmly, as if trying to read something invisible in the air.
Then he finally stepped inside.
John closed the door and walked to the driver's seat.
From the front he asked,
"Where shall we go?"
Aldric replied,
"To the old office in the city."
John started the engine, and the car trembled slightly before slowly moving out through the iron gates of the palace.
The vehicle drove along the dark road, its headlights cutting through the darkness ahead.
Inside the car, silence weighed heavily.
After a few minutes John spoke again.
"boss… do you think that shipment is related to the family you mentioned before?"
Aldric answered calmly.
"Most likely."
He paused before adding,
"And if my instincts are correct… this is only the beginning."
John frowned as he focused on the road.
"Then there may be trouble ahead."
Aldric smiled faintly.
"In this world, trouble does not simply come… it is created."
Suddenly—
His smile froze.
He felt something strange… a sharp sense of danger.
His eyes widened slightly.
"John… stop—"
But his words were never finished.
In the next moment—
A massive explosion shattered the silence of the night.
The car turned into a blazing fireball in the middle of the road, flames rising high as pieces of burning metal scattered through the air.
The ground shook under the force of the explosion, and thick black smoke spread across the sky.
A few seconds later, silence returned once again… a heavy silence filled with the smell of fire and gunpowder.
And in the middle of the burning wreckage, it was impossible to tell whether anyone had survived.
Aldric slowly woke up… or at least, that was what he thought.
At first, he felt nothing. No pain, no warmth, not even a sound. A complete silence surrounded him from every direction. When he tried to open his eyes, he found himself staring into an endless white void.
There was no sky and no ground… only a vast expanse of white.
Aldric slowly sat up and placed a hand on his head. Memories began flooding his mind like a torrent.
The dark road… the black car… his voice warning John…
Then—
The explosion.
His eyes widened suddenly.
"The car…"
He stood up quickly and looked around in confusion.
"John!"
But his voice disappeared into the emptiness, without even an echo returning to him.
He froze in place for a long moment before his shoulders slowly dropped.
"So…"
he whispered quietly,
"I died."
He closed his eyes for a moment, but something began to bother him. The explosion had not felt like a mere accident… there was a strange feeling chasing him—an unsettling sense of betrayal.
Another image began forming in his memory.
A short message he had received hours before leaving… a message from someone he had never expected betrayal from.
Smith.
His sworn brother.
The man who had fought beside him for years.
The man he had trusted more than anyone else.
Aldric clenched his fist tightly.
"Smith…"
he muttered bitterly.
The details slowly began to become clearer.
The suspicious meeting… the strange movements… and a subtle warning Aldric had ignored because he believed such a thing was impossible.
But now…
Everything made sense.
A short laugh escaped his lips, but it was filled with pain.
"What a fool I was…"
He raised his head toward the white void.
"You betrayed me… after everything."
Anger was not what controlled him now, but a heavy feeling of sadness.
Years of trust… shattered in a single moment.
Aldric sat down on the white ground, running a hand through his long black hair.
"So that's the end of everything…"
But at that moment—
Something in the space around him changed.
The air began to tremble slowly, as if a tremendous power had suddenly appeared.
Aldric lifted his head.
And before his eyes, a mysterious figure began to form within the void.
It was not human… yet it was not something else either.
A tall and imposing presence surrounded by a suffocating aura of power. Its body was dark within the white void, as if the shadows themselves had gathered to form this entity.
As for its face…
It had no features.
Just an unreadable surface.
Yet its presence was terrifying.
Aldric slowly stood up, his eyes fixed on the entity.
"Who… are you?"
Silence lingered for a moment.
Then a deep voice came… a voice that seemed to echo from every direction at once.
"Aldric."
The air trembled as it spoke his name.
"Your first life has ended."
Fear did not appear on Aldric's face, but he remained alert.
"That is obvious."
The entity moved one step closer.
It had no feet, yet it seemed to glide through space.
"But your end… is not the true end."
Aldric frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Silence returned for a moment before the entity spoke again.
"You will be reborn."
Aldric froze.
"Reincarnation…?"
"Yes."
The voice echoed through the white void.
"Not in your old world… but in another."
Aldric narrowed his eyes.
"What world?"
The entity spoke slowly.
"The world of a novel you already read …"
It paused for a moment.
Then it clearly spoke the name.
"Fallen Heroes."
Aldric's eyes widened instantly.
"Impossible…"
That novel.
He had read it years ago.
It was a dark story about a world filled with endless wars… where heroes fell one after another.
A world where demons eventually invaded… destroying civilization entirely.
Aldric quickly lifted his head.
"Wait."
he said sharply.
"That novel ends in catastrophe."
The entity replied in a calm but heavy voice.
"Correct."
Silence filled the space for several seconds.
Then it added,
"And that is exactly why… you will go."
A chill ran down Aldric's spine.
"Me?"
"Yes."
The entity moved even closer.
"You will be born in that world… forty years before the beginning of the story."
Aldric's heart skipped a beat.
Forty years…
Exactly as he had once imagined before his death.
He spoke slowly.
"Why me?"
The answer came without hesitation.
"Because you know the story."
The air trembled around them.
"And you are the only one capable of changing its ending."
A long silence followed.
Then Aldric asked quietly,
"What do I have to do?"
The entity answered:
"Save the world."
Then it added in a cold voice,
"Before the demons destroy it."
The white light around Aldric suddenly intensified.
He felt his body becoming lighter, as if he were being pulled toward a distant place.
Before disappearing, he looked at the entity one last time.
And said,
"Fallen Heroes…"
"Wait."
The glow surrounding him stopped, as if time itself had frozen for a moment within that endless white void.
The imposing faceless entity slowly turned toward him.
"What do you want?"
Aldric remained silent for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. Then he spoke, calm but firm.
"If you want me to save an entire world from the demons… that means I'll face the Demon Kings, their armies, and all the disasters that happened in the novel."
He paused briefly, then continued.
"I know that story. I know how strong the enemies are."
The entity stepped closer in the white void.
"If you send me as I am… I will just die again."
A short silence fell.
Then Aldric said clearly:
"Give me a system."
The air stilled for a moment, as if his words had stirred something in that strange place.
"A system?"
The entity's deep voice rumbled.
Aldric nodded.
"A system that allows me to grow… to become stronger over time."
It wasn't arrogance. It was logic.
He added calmly:
"If you want me to change the fate of that world, I need a tool to help me."
A long silence followed.
The white void seemed heavier, as if something immense was contemplating.
Finally, the entity spoke.
"Your request… is accepted."
The space trembled briefly, and a faint glow appeared around Aldric.
His eyes widened slightly.
"So…"
the entity said,
"I will grant you a Devourer system."
Strange lines of light appeared in the air, as if invisible symbols were forming.
"This system will allow you to increase your power, to surpass the limits of humans."
But the entity suddenly paused.
Then it added in a slower tone:
"But there is something you must know."
Aldric frowned slightly.
"What is it?"
The entity drew closer, its presence overwhelming.
"The body you will be born into…"
It paused for a moment.
Then continued:
"Is not the body of a hero."
Aldric's features stiffened.
"What do you mean?"
The answer came slowly, like a heavy truth.
"You will be reincarnated into the body of a child…"
Then it added:
"A child who will betray the world in the future."
Aldric's eyes widened.
"What?"
The white void trembled slightly.
The entity said:
"In the novel Fallen Heroes… this child grows up to become one of the most dangerous humans."
Memories of the story flooded Aldric's mind.
A character…
Dark.
Terrifying.
The man the readers hated.
Then the entity spoke the final words:
"He is the person who will become…"
It paused for a moment.
Then slowly pronounced:
"The Right Hand of the Demon King."
Silence fell.
Aldric felt as if the world itself had stopped.
The image began forming in his mind.
Silver hair…
Cold eyes…
The general of demons who led the armies of darkness against humanity.
Aldric whispered slowly:
"So…"
He lifted his head and looked at the entity.
"You're making me reincarnate as that person?"
The entity replied calmly:
"Yes."
Then it added:
"The one who will lead the fall of the world."
Aldric's expression froze for a moment.
But instead of anger…
A small smile appeared on his lips.
A calm smile… but full of challenge.
"This… is interesting."
He tilted his head slightly.
"If I am to become the Demon King's right hand…"
He then said with confidence:
"That means I'll be the closest person to him."
He paused for a moment.
Then added:
"And that gives me a better chance to destroy him."
A short silence followed.
Then the entity said in a mysterious voice:
"Perhaps."
The light around Aldric intensified.
He felt his consciousness being pulled away.
In the next moment—
The light engulfed everything.
And Aldric's second life began.