After being pulled by the radiant silver light that flashed before his eyes, the third son was staring at pitch-black darkness with nothing and no one around him. He furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what had happened after the gleam of the flashing light.
'What happened?' He wondered why the silver light emerged before him and took him into this darkness where nothing could be seen.
Firstly, he began investigating and looked around the darkness which encapsulated him. Afterward, he discovered that he still had his body though he couldn't see it as clearly as before. And his findings didn't end there. He found that he was on a flat floor that was neither rough nor coarse.
He also felt that his body was lighter than before as it was vastly different from his heavy current body. He wondered what brought this unexpected change, especially in the darkness of the void around him.
'Where am I, and what am I doing here?'
'I just concluded that I got reincarnated, so why did I get pulled into this place?'
He thought to himself since it was as if fate and reality were toying with him.
He didn't know why he got dragged here and didn't even have any information about this place. What was this void of darkness? Is this the abyss? The realm that comes after death, the Afterlife? So many questions plagued his mind, and a possible clue to its answer fell before him.
A lustrous door landed in front of him with a thud echoed throughout the darkness.
*BAM!*
He stepped back in reaction to the unexpected landing of the door made his body jolt outwards in fear. With his unstable mental and emotional health, it was becoming easy for him to get tense by unforeseen revelations or events.
After calming himself down, he intensely gazed at the radiant door with one eyebrow raised. How it fell before him was a question he'd like to ask. But most of all, where did this door lead? Unfortunately, nothing was behind it, so it shouldn't do much when opened.
"But I have a bad feeling." He quietly muttered to himself, realizing his voice had changed once again. It wasn't like his original, yet it didn't resemble his current one. Instead, it was more like a combination of the two, which made him even more confused.
"Let's stop thinking about my voice. What do I do with this door?"
He silently asked himself as he slowly walked towards the lustrous door. It was the only thing other than himself which existed in the abyssal darkness. He would already be thankful enough if it led to anywhere but this place.
'I should risk it.' This thought instantly passed through his head as he stood before the bright door and held its doorknob. He gulped at first despite going through some training in the military installation in his past life. He still had a fear of the unknown hidden deep within his heart.
He slowly turned the doorknob and opened the gleaming door, resulting in the other side revealing itself. And what he saw was surprising. It was a long, never-ending hallway with some motel-like wallpaper and ceiling lights strapped to nowhere.
It was a confusing sight and a bit of a horrifying one.
Before he entered, he wanted to check everything. He looked around the opened bright door and simply found nothing behind it. 'How does this door work?' He couldn't help but question himself as he shook his head and passed the door.
As he passed the door, the only entrance closed itself and disappeared. Where he came from turned into the end of the hallway, and there was only one way forward. This situation seemingly resembles scenes from horror movies.
A monster might appear out of nowhere and start chasing him.
'No, no, don't start thinking of anything unnecessary. This over-thinking doesn't do anything but increase needless anxiety.'
He thought as his eyebrows furrowed deeply.
He glanced at the ceiling only to find the ceiling lights and the never-ending darkness behind it. 'This is like a nightmare. Things like this shouldn't exist.' He couldn't help but think as he shook his head and continued.
He started walking the hallway and passed through the doors. They opened out of nowhere as he passed through them, and memories started hitting him. Voices he didn't know of began echoing within his mind.
*Where is my mother?*
*Father, can we play?*
*What do you mean by useless?*
*Is it okay for me to not do anything?*
*As long as I don't mess up?*
Such voices came from a young boy, a child. He could easily guess where it came from and couldn't help but sigh. His eyes glinted as he looked forward and kept walking within the hallway of memories.
Doors kept opening one after another, seemingly never-ending.
Dozens of voices bombarded his head, despite there being many speaking at the same time. He could hear them clearly, as if he could remember they were his own.
As he went through the hallway, things became weirder as voices that weren't his were being added. Screams, laughs, curses, and many more. A strange euphoria enveloped his heart, and he realized what this meant.
At the moment of his realization, a bright silver light flashed before his eyes out of nowhere. It pulled him back out from the hallway of memories.
He found himself back in the imperium heavy transport ship, Pelican. With the newly gained memories surging within his mind, he finally had the information he needed to go through his current life with safety in mind.
'The name of this body is Dante Regent Astarte, the third son of the Astarte Household. He was a fat noble who grew to be the biggest bastard and asshole of the Imperium. A failure with wealth and power which frequently does crimes with them.'
'The memories I gained from this pig are mind-trembling. I would have killed the pig myself if I ever saw this guy in my past-life body.'
'Anyway, I am being sent to a military installation in the outskirts called Fort Anfang. This place is the biggest outskirt military base on the western border of the Imperium. Quite far from the Astarte household, but my father has a lot of influence within this place.'
'That guy exiled me into this place in a fit of anger. A punishment after what I had done that trampled on the family name. But what had happened didn't even it with that.'
'The former owner of this body killed himself before being carried into the heavy transport ship as a way of revenge and trampling more of the family honor. I don't even know what to feel after this.'
He had been shaking his head a couple of times in the past hour since his awakening. It wasn't a good sign since it meant he was stressed out with the things happening around him.
'I feel bad.'
'Despite the one doing it not being me, after I opened those doors, the memories became a part of me. So no matter how much I try to rationalize myself with flowery words of not being responsible.'
'The fact wouldn't change that I have become Dante Regent Astarte.'
'Heck, I don't even remember my own name.'
His eyes drooped and lacked luster.
"Is there something wrong, marshmallow man?" A familiar old and hoarse voice sounded out as Dante turned his gaze towards the direction where the voice came from.
"Old man, what are you doing here?" Dante asked as he wondered why the old man called for him.
"We're about to arrive. I advise you to prepare yourself."
"I'll be going on now." The old man nodded toward Dante and walked off before entirely leaving Dante. He turned his gaze toward the marshmallow man and said. "It seems that you have gained your memories back,"
"Yeah, and I don't feel good," Dante replied with a wry smile while the old man answered. "Not feeling good signifies the path of growth. If you know your wrongs and weakness, you can correct them and become a better version of yourself."
"I hope you remember this, marshmallow man."
"I'll remember your words, old man." Dante smiled while the corner of the old man's mouth quirked up.
"He's really different from expected."
*Attention, the landing will soon start. Prepare your baggage and hold on.*
A monotone voice sounded out as Dante looked through the window. He saw the outer ridges of the terra where the military installation resided.
"It really is a flying island." He murmured to himself as turbulence hit the imperium heavy transport ship. It didn't take long for them to reach the port of Fort Anfang, and it was bigger than he expected.
The port of the military installation, Fort Anfang, was a vast flat land of black concrete. It was where dozens of airships resembling warships dwelled, along with some transport airships similar to the Pelican. The port was circular and surrounded by 100-meter pillars with runic language plastered.
The third son was a bit excited after seeing such a sight.
The turbulence calmed down after a couple of seconds, and the heavy transport ship slowed down. The landing ended a while later, and the doors to the terminal opened. It was about time for them to leave. Dante stood up, following the others as he looked at the door, thinking about his future.
"This is where it all starts."
He couldn't help but utter such words as a smile formed on his face.