On a quiet, beautiful night, Ferwel Noxes—the leader of the Noxes organization—received an important report. Count Elvion Ornen, aged thirty-six, had been exposed by the Kingdom of Neltan as an insider. His arrest was only a matter of time.
To prevent any leakage of information, Ferwel issued an absolute decree: Count Elvion must be silenced before he could be captured. The mission was assigned to Ryudien Noxes.
When Ryudien's name was spoken, a shiver ran through the room. The members of Noxes knelt in respect before Ferwel.
"Ryudien," Ferwel said, his voice firm and unyielding, "I entrust this mission to you. Do not disappoint me."
Under the full moon, Count Elvion—freshly returned from a long business trip—halted in his tracks upon entering his private office. A young man stood waiting for him in the shadows.
"What is it, Master Ryudien?" Count Elvion asked, forcing himself to remain calm.
"You failed," Ryudien replied.
Those two words alone were enough to make Count Elvion tremble.
"Give me a—"
Before he could finish, his head was slammed violently against the floor.
His wife's scream shattered the silence of the night. Guards rushed into the mansion at once, and among them appeared a feared figure—the Fifth Strongest Warrior, Damnern Solv.
"Semi-Angel!" Damnern shouted. As soon as he arrived, Damnern revealed his power. A radiant wing of light unfurled from his back on the left side, filling the room with a holy glow. He looked like an angel with only one wing.
The guards attacked, but Ryudien responded without hesitation, conjuring sharp weapons and hurling them forward. One by one, the guards fell.
Something was wrong. There was no sign of the Judgement Thread on Ryudien's body. The power of the Judgement Thread comes from the Semi-Angel ability.
"This isn't him," Damnern muttered.
With a single strike, he destroyed the figure before him. The body dissolved—it had only been a decoy. This was because Ryudien had replaced his original body with a clone left in the city. The clone manifestation ability only works if the distance is no more than 10 km. Ryudien had already escaped.
Damnern soared into the night sky, scanning the city below. Soon, he spotted a cloaked man moving swiftly through the streets. Damnern descended and blocked his path.
"You're the one," Damnern said coldly.
"What do you mean, sir?" Ryudien replied, attempting to feign innocence.
"You're still trying to deny it?"
Ryudien attacked at once. He created weapons using the clone manifestation ability. This power could also shape weapons according to the user's thoughts. In an instant, he manifested a razor-sharp metal spike and launched it toward Damnern at blinding speed. Even so, the attack was caught as if it were nothing. Without hesitation, he unleashed his power again, dividing himself into twenty clones, scattering in all directions.
Damnern invoked his Semi-Angel power, summoning the Judgement Sword.
"Other people's lives mean nothing to you, don't they?" Damnern said.
"You wouldn't understand," Ryudien replied bitterly. "Those who have everything never do."
Civilians fled as the air grew heavy with danger.
Ryudien's first instinct was to escape. His clones fled in different directions, but in a blink, emerging from behind, Damnern swiftly severed Ryudien's original body.
Ryudien survived because he managed to switch bodies with his clone in time.
"How… how does he know?" Ryudien whispered, clutching his neck.
Panic set in. His only thought was survival. Together with his remaining clones, he launched a desperate assault, but Damnern moved faster than sight, piercing Ryudien's chest.
Once again, he narrowly escaped death by swapping bodies just in time.
With every body swap, Damnern was always there, looming directly behind him.
"No… it can't be…" Ryudien realized who he was facing. "Those eyes… that wing… Damnern Solv… No! I still have a chance! There's so much I still want to do—I can't die here!"
With nothing left to lose, Ryudien gambled everything. In a calculated move, he sacrificed a clone to forge an opening directly behind Damnern.
The plan succeeded! Once he swapped bodies, Ryudien found himself directly behind Damnern. After Damnern had beheaded the fake one, without hesitation, he manifested a massive scythe and swung it toward him.
"You're finished!" Ryudien shouted.
But before the blade could reach its target, Damnern's sword flashed.
"Swap!" Ryudien tried to escape.
"…Huh?"
There were no clones left.
The world seemed to slow around him, every second stretching endlessly. Ryudien could see the strike coming, but his body would not move. His head was severed—yet his consciousness lingered.
Is this the end?
What is happiness?
Why do I exist?
Why am I not like others?
I just want to live normally…
"Haha… always unlucky," he thought weakly. "Whatever. I don't care anymore."
Tears fell as darkness closed in.
"Now… be happy."
A strange voice whispered.
When Ryudien opened his eyes again, warmth surrounded him. A beautiful woman held him gently in her arms.
"Hello, sweetheart… my precious little darling, Elyra. Mama's here," she whispered.
Confused and frightened, Ryudien cried. After a moment, realization struck.
He had been reborn—as a baby girl.
Elyra, the daughter of Elina, was addressed as Lady Elina by the maids.
He had been born on the same day he died.
With this new life, I will plan my revenge.
Wait for me, Damnern Solv.
That night, around two in the morning, after Elina put Elyra to sleep, Elyra—who was once Ryudien—suddenly woke.
Standing beside the bed was a familiar face.
Damnern Solv.
He was covered in blood, staring silently at her.
"Huh? How does he know?" Elyra panicked.
From her small perspective, a large hand reached toward her. She began to cry loudly, trembling and unable to calm herself.
"Alolo… such a spoiled little one," Damnern said softly. "Don't cry, Elyra. This is Papa."
"Huh?"
End of Chapter 1