Darkness.
Not the kind that comes from night.
Not the kind you escape by opening your eyes.
This was… absolute.
Endless. Silent. Cold.
A place where even time itself seemed to have stopped breathing.
And in that infinite void—
There was him.
---
He did not feel pain.
He did not feel fear.
He did not feel anything.
Because everything… had already ended.
---
"So this… is death."
The thought echoed, yet no voice carried it.
No body moved.
No heart beat.
Still—
He existed.
---
Memories began to surface.
Fragments at first.
Then floods.
---
A throne.
Endless armies kneeling.
Worlds trembling.
Universes bending under his will.
---
And above all—
A title.
---
Demon King.
---
For a thousand years, he ruled without opposition.
Not because none dared to challenge him—
But because none could.
To him, existence itself had become… insignificant.
Worlds?
Dots.
Lives?
Dust.
Time?
Meaningless.
---
And yet—
That same being…
Had fallen.
---
"…How?"
---
Then it returned.
The final moment.
---
A sky filled with countless figures.
Light. Power. Divinity.
Saint Heroes.
Not one.
Not ten.
Not even a hundred.
---
Millions.
---
From different worlds.
Different realities.
All gathered for one purpose—
---
To kill him.
---
He remembered sitting on his throne.
Calm.
Unmoving.
Uninterested.
---
Because to him…
They were still just—
insignificant.
---
They attacked.
Power beyond mortal comprehension rained upon him.
Reality itself cracked.
Dimensions shattered.
Time distorted.
---
And yet—
Nothing worked.
---
"Pathetic."
---
He hadn't even stood up.
---
But then—
Something changed.
---
A presence.
Different.
Heavy.
---
Not stronger.
But… meaningful.
---
A sword.
Forged from something beyond power.
Beyond logic.
Beyond existence itself.
---
A blade that carried—
The will of humanity.
---
And the one holding it—
---
"Aries… Raphael."
---
For the first time—
He moved.
---
The battle that followed—
Was no longer meaningless.
---
Blow after blow.
Force against force.
Will against will.
---
And then—
At the very end—
---
He remembered something strange.
---
A delay.
A gap.
A moment where something…
should have been there.
---
But wasn't.
---
"…Why?"
---
And then—
The sword pierced through him.
---
Not his body.
Not his power.
---
But his existence.
---
Silence.
---
Complete.
---
"So this… is how it ends."
---
No anger.
No regret.
No fear.
---
Only one thought—
---
"…Boring."
---
A thousand years.
And in the end—
Nothing had meaning.
---
And yet—
Just before everything disappeared—
---
A thought appeared.
Small.
Insignificant.
Yet—
Strangely heavy.
---
"…If I had another chance…"
---
"I would do it differently."
---
And then—
---
Everything vanished.
---
…
---
A sound.
---
Drip.
---
Drip.
---
Water?
---
No.
---
Warm.
---
Breathing.
---
A heartbeat.
---
Thump.
---
Thump.
---
"…What?"
---
His eyes opened.
---
Light.
Blinding.
Painful.
Real.
---
For the first time in what felt like eternity—
He felt something.
---
Cold air.
A weak body.
Hunger.
Pain.
---
He slowly lifted his hand.
Small.
Fragile.
Shaking.
---
Not a king.
Not a god.
---
A child.
---
And not just any child—
---
A boy.
---
Surrounded by dirt.
Broken walls.
The smell of decay.
---
A slum.
---
Memories flooded again—
But this time—
They weren't his.
---
A life of hunger.
Loneliness.
Begging.
---
A name echoed in his mind.
---
"Shiro… Ophernel…"
---
Two lives.
Two identities.
Two existences—
Forced into one.
---
The Demon King…
And a powerless human boy.
---
Silence filled the room.
---
Then—
A faint laugh escaped his lips.
---
"…Interesting."
---
For the first time—
In a thousand years—
---
His eyes held something new.
---
Not boredom.
---
Not indifference.
---
But—
---
Curiosity.
---
Outside—
The world continued as usual.
Unaware.
Unchanging.
---
But within that broken room—
A being that once ruled over existence itself—
Had taken his first breath…
---
As a human.
---
And far away—
Beyond rivers and kingdoms—
---
A girl laughed.
---
Unaware—
That her fate…
Had already begun to intertwine with his.
---
The Demon King was dead.
---
And in his place—
---
A boy named Shiro had been born.