Death wasn't peaceful.
It was cold—a suffocating, infinite cold that pressed against my consciousness from every direction. I floated in that void for what felt like centuries, replaying my final moments over and over until madness seemed like mercy.
Why didn't I see it coming?
The signs had been there. The way Rylen always positioned me at the front of every battle. The way the party's share of loot gradually decreased while his grew. The private conversations that stopped whenever I approached.
I'd trusted them. Loved them. And they'd used me like a tool—a weapon to be discarded once it fulfilled its purpose.
I should have known. I should have—
[SOUL FRAGMENT DETECTED]
The voice cut through my spiraling thoughts like a blade through silk. It wasn't the System I knew—the cold, mechanical announcer that governed our world. This was something older. Deeper.
[ANALYZING RESIDUAL KARMA...]
[RESULT: EXTREME NEGATIVE DEBT OWED TO SOUL 'KAEL VORN']
[ANOMALY DETECTED: SOUL REFUSES DISSOLUTION]
[HATRED INDEX: EXCEEDS MEASURABLE PARAMETERS]
Hatred?
Yes. That's what this feeling was. Not sadness. Not despair. Those had burned away in the void, leaving only a crystalline, perfect hatred that pulsed through whatever remained of my being.
I didn't want peace.
I wanted answers.
I wanted revenge.
[QUERY: DO YOU WISH TO RETURN?]
The question hung in the darkness, waiting.
Return? Is that even possible?
[STANDARD RESURRECTION: DENIED — SOUL ANCHOR DESTROYED BY BETRAYAL]
[ALTERNATIVE PATH DETECTED: TEMPORAL REGRESSION]
[WARNING: THIS PATH HAS NEVER BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TRAVERSED]
[WARNING: MEMORY RETENTION NOT GUARANTEED]
[WARNING: ORIGINAL BODY MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE]
[WARNING: YOU MAY LOSE MORE THAN YOU GAIN]
I don't care.
[FINAL CONFIRMATION REQUIRED]
[SPEAK YOUR DESIRE, BROKEN ONE]
In that moment, I felt my scattered consciousness pull together—not through hope, but through purpose. The void around me trembled as something ancient stirred, drawn to the intensity of my will.
"I want to go back," I said, though I had no mouth to speak. "I want to see their faces when they realize their pet weapon has become their executioner. I want Rylen to understand fear—real fear—before I take everything from him."
A pause. Then:
[DESIRE ACKNOWLEDGED]
[BINDING CONTRACT: INITIATED]
[YOU WILL RETURN TO THE POINT OF ORIGIN]
[YOU WILL CARRY THE WEIGHT OF YOUR FUTURE]
[YOU WILL PAY THE PRICE IN BLOOD AND MEMORY]
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE: INSTALLING...]
[NEW DESIGNATION: REGRESSOR]
[UNIQUE SKILL UNLOCKED: 'ECHO OF THE FALLEN']
The void shattered.
Light exploded around me—not the warm light of the sun, but a violent, screaming radiance that tore through my being like broken glass. I felt myself being pulled backward through time, through the fabric of reality itself, watching years unspool in reverse.
The Spire battle. The dungeon raids. The monster hunts. The training. The village.
My sister's death.
And then—
I woke up screaming.
My hands clawed at rough wooden boards beneath me, splinters driving under my fingernails as I gasped for air. Sweat soaked through thin, threadbare clothes I hadn't worn in years. The smell of smoke and desperation filled my lungs.
Where am I?
I knew this ceiling. Those water stains shaped like a dying bird. That crack in the corner where winter wind would whistle through. The sounds of distant chaos—screaming, roaring, the crash of collapsing buildings.
No. No, no, no—
I scrambled to my feet, my body feeling wrong. Too short. Too weak. Too young.
A broken mirror shard on the floor caught my reflection, and I froze.
Hollow eyes stared back at me. Gaunt cheeks. Hair that hadn't seen a proper wash in weeks. The face of a seventeen-year-old boy who had just lost everything.
This was me. Before the recruitment. Before the party. Before the betrayal.
This was the night the demons attacked Ashford Village.
This was the night my sister died.
[TEMPORAL REGRESSION: COMPLETE]
[CURRENT DATE: WINTER SOLSTICE, YEAR 1044 — IMPERIAL CALENDAR]
[LOCATION: ASHFORD VILLAGE, EASTERN FRONTIER]
[TIME UNTIL VILLAGE DESTRUCTION: 47 MINUTES]
No.
I was already running before the thought fully formed. My weak, malnourished body screamed in protest, but I didn't care. I'd trained this body to fight gods—I could push through pain.
The village was chaos. Flames licked at thatched roofs. Villagers ran in every direction, their screams mixing with the guttural roars of Lesser Demons. I saw faces I'd forgotten—the baker who gave me stale bread, the blacksmith who taught me to hold a sword, the elder who told stories by firelight.
They were all going to die tonight. I knew this. I'd lived through it once.
But there was one death I could change.
Elena.
My sister's name burned through my mind as I sprinted toward our home at the edge of the village. In my first life, I'd been too late. I'd found her body in the cellar, clutching the kitchen knife she'd tried to fight with, surrounded by three dead imps and one very alive demon that had torn out her throat.
I was not going to be too late again.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[NEW QUEST GENERATED]
[QUEST: CHANGE THE PAST]
[OBJECTIVE: SAVE ELENA VORN]
[REWARD: UNLOCKS HIDDEN POTENTIAL]
[FAILURE: TIMELINE COLLAPSE — SOUL ERASURE]
I burst through our door, my lungs burning. "ELENA!"
Nothing. The house was empty.
The cellar. She always hid in the cellar.
I tore open the trapdoor and half-fell down the ladder, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. There—huddled in the corner, a rusty knife clutched in trembling hands—was my sister.
She was alive.
Still alive.
"K-Kael?" Her voice cracked. She was fifteen, with the same dark hair and grey eyes as me, but where I'd grown hard, she'd remained soft. Kind. Human. "What's happening? I heard screaming, and—"
"We're leaving." I grabbed her wrist. "Now."
"But Mom and Dad—"
"Are dead." The words came out flat, emotionless. I'd mourned them in my first life. I'd mourned them for years. Now I only had room for survival. "The demons got them first. If we don't move right now, we'll join them."
Elena's face crumpled, and I felt something twist in my chest. I didn't have time for grief. Not yet.
"Elena. Look at me."
She met my eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I'm going to protect you," I said. "I swear on everything I am, nothing will touch you tonight. But you have to trust me. Can you do that?"
Something in my expression must have reached her—maybe the weight of six years of war that shouldn't be there, or the absolute certainty in my voice. She nodded shakily.
"Good. Stay behind me. Don't make a sound. And if I tell you to run, you run and don't look back."
I led her up the ladder, my senses straining for any sign of danger. In my first life, I'd been an average villager with dreams of adventure. In the life I'd lived, I'd become one of the ten strongest fighters in the world.
I had no weapons. No armor. No Skills or Stats to speak of.
But I had knowledge.
And that was worth more than any sword.
[SKILL ACTIVATION DETECTED]
[ECHO OF THE FALLEN — PASSIVE EFFECT: COMBAT MEMORY RETENTION]
[YOUR BODY DOES NOT REMEMBER]
[BUT YOUR SOUL DOES]
We crept through the burning village, avoiding the main roads where demons hunted in packs. I knew their patrol patterns—not from tonight, but from years of studying demonic behavior in dungeons. Their eyesight was poor in smoke, their hearing dominated by screams. If we stayed low and quiet—
Crack.
Elena stepped on a branch.
The demon turned. It was a Mid-Tier Imp—three feet tall, with leathery wings and claws that could shred steel. In my prime, I could have killed a hundred of them without breaking a sweat.
In this body? I was dead.
But Elena wasn't.
"Run," I whispered. "North gate. Don't stop."
"Kael—"
"GO!"
She ran. The imp launched toward her, but I stepped into its path, grabbing a loose stone from the ground. No technique. No power. Just the desperate throw of a boy trying to buy his sister three seconds of head start.
The stone hit the imp's eye.
It screamed.
I ran.
The imp was faster. Claws raked across my back, tearing through my shirt and the flesh beneath. Pain exploded through me—familiar, almost comforting in its intensity. I'd felt worse. I'd survived worse.
But this body hadn't.
I stumbled, hit the ground, rolled. The imp was on me in an instant, its claws raised for the killing blow—
And then its head exploded.
Blood and brain matter splattered across my face as a figure dropped from a nearby roof, landing with casual grace. Silver hair caught the firelight. Violet eyes assessed the situation with cold efficiency.
"Civilian casualties at seventy-three percent," the woman murmured, flicking ichor from her blade. "Pathetic response time from the local garrison."
I knew her.
I knew her.
Lyra Ashenvale. The Silver Blade. One of the Seven Sword Saints who served directly under the Emperor. In my first life, she'd arrived too late to save anyone I cared about. She'd recruited survivors for the military, turning our grief into weapons.
She'd given Rylen his first recommendation.
"Boy." Her eyes fixed on me. "You're bleeding."
"My sister," I gasped. "North gate. Please—"
"Already extracted." She sheathed her sword, and I noticed the slight tension in her shoulders. She was on edge, which meant the situation was worse than it appeared. "You're the last survivor in this sector."
The last—
No. Elena was alive. That was enough. That was more than I'd had before.
I tried to stand, but my legs gave out. Blood loss was setting in, and this weak body couldn't handle the trauma.
"Interesting," Lyra said, crouching beside me. Her violet eyes narrowed. "You distracted the imp. Drew its attention from the girl. Most civilians run away from demons, not toward them."
"She's my sister."
"Sentiment doesn't give people courage. Training does." She studied me like I was a puzzle she couldn't quite solve. "Have you fought before?"
In another life, I killed a god.
"Never."
"Hmm." She didn't believe me. I could see it in her eyes. "The military is recruiting. Food, shelter, training. Better than dying in a ditch."
"And my sister?"
"The refugee camp will take her. She'll be safe enough."
I laughed—a broken, hollow sound. "You're lying. Refugee camps are hunting grounds for slavers and criminals. Everyone knows that."
Lyra's expression didn't change, but something flickered in her gaze. Surprise, maybe. "You're well-informed for a village boy."
"I read."
"The refugee camps aren't common knowledge, even to nobles."
Shit.
My mind raced. I was slipping—letting future knowledge bleed through, forgetting that I was supposed to be an ignorant seventeen-year-old with no understanding of the world.
"I... heard travelers talk. At the inn."
"Your village doesn't have an inn."
Double shit.
Lyra stood, her hand resting on her sword hilt. "You're not what you appear to be, boy. Either you're a spy sent to observe our response to demon attacks, or you're something much more interesting." She smiled, and it was the smile of a predator that had found worthy prey. "Either way, I think I'll keep an eye on you."
[HIDDEN FLAG TRIGGERED]
[LYRA ASHENVALE — INTEREST LEVEL: ELEVATED]
[POTENTIAL ALLY DESIGNATION: UNCERTAIN]
[WARNING: THIS INDIVIDUAL POSSESSES KNOWLEDGE OF TEMPORAL ANOMALIES]
My blood went cold.
She knows about regressors?
Before I could process that information, my vision blurred. Blood loss and exhaustion finally claimed me, and the last thing I saw was Lyra's violet eyes, watching me with an intensity that promised she wouldn't forget this encounter.
Fine, I thought as darkness took me. Watch all you want.
I'll burn down everyone who wronged me, and you'll have a front-row seat.