Clayman gasped for breath as his eyes shot open, his body drenched in sweat. He quickly sat up. His hands trembled as he ran them through his hair, his mind struggling to grasp reality.
He was alive. 'I'm alive!' he thought, bewildered. His chest heaved as he looked around, confirming that he had returned to the world of the living.
The last thing he remembered was Rimuru standing over him, cold and calm, and he was killed by him. Clayman had been defeated again—but this time he was defeated by Rimuru's puppet.
A puppet master, humiliated by his own art. The thought filled him with shame, a deep, burning resentment bubbling in his chest. He clenched his fists.
He was not dead thanks to his unique skill he had acquired after his first death,the skill regresser had activated for the third and final time.
Each death had returned him to the past, but this was his last chance. The skill could only be used three times, and now he was at his limit. There would be no more second chances.
He gritted his teeth, his fury towards Rimuru overwhelming. A normal person would've given up. Anyone in his shoes would have understood that Rimuru was too powerful to defeat. But Clayman was not normal—he was Clayman, the most idiotic man alive.
Giving up wasn't in his nature, and he had one last trick up his sleeve. He would turn Rimuru's power against him, no matter the cost.
With a final glance at the sky, Clayman teleported away, arriving at the entrance to Veldora's cave. The place where everything began for Rimuru.
He wasn't surprised to find the cave empty; Veldora had long been freed. But that wasn't why he was here.
He began rummaging through the cave, moving rocks and debris aside. After a few minutes, he uncovered what he had come for—an old, battered, and broken piece of armor. It looked destroyed beyond repair, but Clayman grinned.
This was no ordinary armor. This was a relic, a remnant of something that would help him in his mad quest.
Clamyan took the damaged armor home, grinning like a fool. The perfect opportunity to kill Rimuru was now, while Rimuru was weakened, still developing his powers. And yet, Claman, in his arrogance, didn't strike.
He left Rimuru alive. His twisted mind wanted to see Rimuru in despair, to watch him suffer before delivering the final blow. He would let him grow stronger, but not strong enough to stop him when the time came. He will kill him in front of everyone.
*********
Time: When the super-magic empire fell.
MC pov
"Well, what do we do now?" I sighed, my situation almost laughable. My body lay shattered, broken, and my core—the heart of my existence—had long since been reduced to fragments. If not for my skill to infuse the leftover elemental particles into this puppet body, I would be dead.
"Can you put me to sleep and wake me when someone manages to repair me?" I asked my skill.
[Notice: Command acknowledged.]
"Good. Also, use these years to evolve yourself if you can. I know I'm not Rimuru, who acquires ultimate skills with ease, but we need to grow stronger in this world. Oh, and from now on, your name will be Nova."
[Notice: Name acknowledged. Command understood.]
With that, everything went black for me.
Years passed. Decades turned into centuries. My body, once a finely-tuned puppet, was passed from one person to the next. At first, some salvaged the metals to forge weapons. Others used what was left of me as mere decoration, a reminder of a long-forgotten past.
My body, made of Magisteel, eventually evolved into Adamantine due to constant exposure to an intense amount of Magicules.
But there was something special about me that people began to notice. When a battle against Veldora broke out, someone discovered that the magic within the metal used to create weapons matched the draconic energy of Veldora himself.
It could harm him, albeit slightly. Word spread, and soon I fell into the hands of a vampire princess, who reforged me into armor, making adjustments and modifying what was left of my puppet frame to suit her needs.
For a time, I served as her armor in battle. During this process, my skill copied all it could, giving me many common and extra skills. Especially when I was turned into the vampire princess's armor, I managed to copy powerful magic and data on unique skills.
Not only that, Nova was able to evolve my race from Lesser Elemental to Medium Elemental. It could evolve me further into a Greater Elemental, but it chose not to, as doing so would prevent me from evolving beyond that point.
******
At some point during a fight with Veldora, the armor was torn to shreds. It was only through the intervention of a hero that the vampire princess was saved. What was left of me—a small piece of the once magnificent puppet—was sealed away along with the hero's power. The remnants of my body were sealed inside a barrier, untouched for hundreds of years.
Over time, the fragment of my body, exposed to the aura of Veldora, began to change. The metal, once Adamantine, evolved again into Dragotite, a new material born from centuries of exposure to the dragon's power.
******
From the next chapter, the story will truly start. If you like how this fanfiction is going, please support me with power stones and let me know where I can improve.