Hours – or perhaps days – passed in this brutal dance of death, but eventually, I started to slow. I stood alone, surrounded by countless enemies in a desolate, snowy wasteland; I couldn't help but wonder how everything had come to this. With my breath frosting in the frigid air and my limbs trembling from the force of the biting winds, I clutched my weapon tightly in my hand, bracing myself for the battle that would surely determine my fate.
"Come at me!" I roared with a blade in each hand, covered in frozen blood.
And they did. All of them rushed me, and I fought with every fiber of my being, but the horde fell to me down, pinning me to the ground. They crushed my body and ripped the flesh off my bones, but I made no sound. I felt no pain as the darkness started to take me.
The darkness consumed me, and my mind finally opened up completely.
I am Azriel, the True Allgora King of the Monster Worlds. I have lived many lives, each one filled with adventures and battles in the never-ending war to save my people from those who seek to enslave us.
My first life began when I was just a child, living on the edge of the Forest of Nightmares. My father had abandoned me there; they did not understand what kind of creature I was or wanted nothing of me. But I found solace in the creatures of the night, befriending them and learning their ways.
One of the night creatures took a liking to me and taught me the art of using my body as a weapon. She told me how to forge monster women into powerful weapons that would protect me from all harm. I gave her the name Zelphia, though she is now known as the Keeper of Monsters.
With this power, I gained more followers and allies, forming an army of monsters ready to fight and die for our cause. We fought against the tyranny of royal families, councils, and tyrants alike. Through it all, I never forgot the love of my newfound family, even as we slaughtered our enemies without mercy.
Then I discovered that the world or universe I lived in was not the only one where some people in strange suits came to take me away. I didn't let that happen, but after 6 years of fighting, my weapons were pushed back and were about to be taken. Before the invaders could, Zelphia made love to me, and we fused for the first time. At that moment, we both died, but she became me because I was not strong enough, but our union created a bond. And that bond cracked the universe.
New and old monsters emerge from other dimensions when I am born, and the world's quake because they know I am coming. Each time I would be given a random choice, I would meet Zelphia's reincarnations shell. Every time I would be drawn to her like a magnet, even though it was never her inside. I was vengeance, and I cared little for right or wrong, and I really had only one goal.
Remove the head of every Council of Verse member.
My previous life started to roll past my vision, from the first fight to be free to every clash against the council. Each of my past lives was filled with a new name for Zelphia; Adaneia, Ishaliah, Yrentia, Lexa, and now Melodious, and yet, each one had the same intense power of love we shared.
I have awoken in this life as Azriel once more, but something happened this time, and I was reborn without a spine. I had let the pathetic humans walk all over me and even look down on the people I loved and me. I had never felt so utterly disgusted with myself in all of my lives.
The humans would pay for their transgressions, but now it was time to finally wake up into my new life.
As my consciousness came back to me, I got the sense of being tickled, but when I opened my eyes, it was just a bunch of monsters ripping the flesh from my bones as they re-healed. I tried to tell them to stop, but a Snow Shadow Wolf was chewing on my throat. If I could sigh, I would.
Instead, the muscles that were being ripped off my body started to attack the monsters around me like tentacles. It only took five snapped necks and a few other broken bones before everything backed up. Every monster alive around me bowed their heads as my body quickly repaired itself, and I stood up.
Then, in a fit of rage, I dug my claws into my neck, ripping the skin up and off my face. The cold seared the bare muscles on my face, and I let out a howl of jubilation as I tossed the skin from my face to the side. My face healed perfectly, and I was sure that it looked the same, but that skin had shown fear. My face knew what fear felt like, but that was not me.
"Gothais! I need a ride back to that castle! I have a date with Darkness!" I declared, turning back to the massive and ever-faithful steed that found me in every life. It seems that Zulu found him for me and brought him to wake me up.
"Yes, my king. I have awaited your return as Mistress Zulu commanded. Now I will take you to her, Zulu, your princess of darkness. She was reborn as an Umbramancer – a supernatural creature capable of manipulating shadows and darkness itself. She requires a host to survive and has chosen Elara as her vessel in this life."
"Oh? That is why she stole the human?" I asked as I launched myself into the air and landed on Gothais's back. "Good on her for finding a host, but that doesn't explain why she is sharing the body with an Ice Spirit, right?"
Gothais nodded his head and then took off into the storm as the monsters that had gathered followed behind me. This was the way it was meant to be.
"That I do not know the answer to, but I know that Zulu will explain all that your mind has returned. She is eagerly waiting for your return.