The void is silent, but it speaks. Ark Maldover, the False Grand Sage, drifts within it, a confused consciousness surrounded by swirling lights. His mind, once sharp enough to see through the very fabric of existence, now feels fragmented. He had thought he'd seen it all—yet in the end, it was his own greed that brought him to ruin. His laughter echoes in the emptiness, the sound of a man who had lost everything but still found joy in the prospect of starting anew.
"Hehehe... Hahahaha!" he laughs, the sound hollow in the void. "I'll return, I'll keep killing... I'll see everything. I'll know the ORIGIN!" His mind is alight with a burning desire to reclaim the power he lost. "Anyway, where am I? Could this be... reincarnation?"
As Ark's consciousness begins to sharpen, he senses the flow of lights, each one pulling him deeper into an unknown abyss. He feels himself being sucked into the fabric of another world, a world that promises a new beginning but also whispers the threat of doom.
A voice cuts through the void, an unknown presence, desperate and full of malice. "Shit!! Not yet! If I get caught with these REIGNS on me, I'll be found out, and it'll all be for nothing!" The voice is frantic. "Guess I'll have to abandon the hard work and start again. It's not like my REIGNS can be destroyed anyway. At least, not that I know of. But I'll create new, stronger REIGNS and go again... How fun! To start over!"
Ark's awareness sharpens. "I... THE SCOURGE OF GODS, ARK MALDOVER, will start anew. For now... System, activate."
The world rushes forward, the flow of lights solidifying into something tangible. The once-abstract feelings of weightlessness and detachment give way to physical sensations. His body feels different—strange but familiar in a way that only a rebirth could explain. His eyes flicker open, and a strange sense of realization sweeps over him.
[LOADING]
The system interface blinks before him, the familiar icons slowly filling in. Numbers and percentages flash by as Ark's new life begins its initialization.
[ 20% ]
[ 47% ]
[ 73% ]
[ 99% ]
[ 100% ]
A final notification blinks into existence:
[NOTIFICATION]
You have reached the end of life
You have seen 98.67% of what is all things
You have ended with 2 REIGNS within your position
Calculating rewards…
[REWARDS]
You have acquired the title: {FALSE GRAND SAGE}
You have acquired: {DAMISCUS DROP}
You have acquired: {GOD FRAGMENT x 4}
You have acquired: {OVERSEER FRAGMENT}
[NOTIFICATION]
Only the DAMISCUS DROP and OVERSEER FRAGMENT will stay with the host after rebirth
The host can retrieve these items from your mental palace after rebirth.
Ark gazes upon the rewards and smirks. "Not bad, not bad at all." His thoughts echo in his mind. I left that life with two REIGNS—the REIGN of KNOWLEDGE and the REIGN of CURSE. Wonder what I'll achieve in this one... Hehehe.
The world around Ark starts to come into focus. The first thing he notices is the storm—heavy rain pouring down, the clouds dark and oppressive. From the shadowed corner of his vision, he sees a ruined structure that once might have been a house. The roof is half-collapsed, and there's an eerie emptiness in the air. He's alone.
His thoughts are broken by the distant sound of voices—angry, frantic voices. "There he is! The demon! That damned mutt!"
Ark furrows his brow as he listens, his mind piecing together fragments of information. Shit, what the hell's going on? He activates the system.
[STATUS]
[NAME: ARCHIVOLD PERISTINE]
[RACE/BLOODLINE: HALF HUMAN / HALF LYCAN]
[LEVEL: 1 [0/100]]
STRENGTH: 1
ENDURANCE: 1
AGILITY: 1
SPIRIT: 0
DIVINITY CONTENT: 0%
SKILLS: NONE
NOTE: The MC will be called Archi.
Ark blinks at the screen, processing the information. What the hell is this? A half-blood Lycan?
He then hears the distant shouts growing closer. A man, clad in ragged clothes, stumbles into view, his face marked by the desperation of someone being hunted. Ark watches, barely moving as the man is pursued by a mob. The voices scream in hatred. "Find him! And that child too!"
Lycan, huh? That means I'm in the outer zone. This place is full of demi-humans like me. If I destroy a few worlds, the gods won't care much… but first, I need to survive. I'm a newborn right now. My body's weak, and I can't move well. But there's a chance, a chance to learn.
The man continues to stagger forward, drenched in blood, his silver hair sticking to his face. One eye is swollen shut, while the other glows a fierce red—a mix of sorrow and rage. The rain falls heavily, soaking him to the bone, but he keeps moving, slowly, determined to reach something... or someone.
Wait. I'm so focused on the situation... I didn't even check the surroundings. System, use Insight.
The system hums for a moment, and a clear image of the surroundings materializes in Ark's mind. He realizes that the silver-haired man is coming toward him.
As the man gets closer, Ark's thoughts race. What can I do? I'm just a baby, a newborn. The world doesn't care for the weak. But if he's like me... if he's a Lycan, he might understand my situation. I can't let him die. I have to do something.
Ark's heart races, a surge of emotions rising within him. He's been reborn with the chance to start again, but it's clear that his path will not be an easy one. The gods may have abandoned him, but Ark is no longer the same man. He's a force that will carve his own destiny—starting from the ruins of this broken world.