"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity!"
— The Art Of War, Sun Tzu.
I saw an apocalyptic turn in the world. It was on the battlefield after the war ended.
They were soaked and full of blood.
A huge black-red army of dead.
They started to fall on their knees as they saw me.
Typical behaviour of loyal servants when they meet their ruler.
「ALL HAIL! TO OUR LORD'S VICTORY!」
They cheered in unison for me.
I felt unknown pleasure and respect from seeing it.
It's the first time I've felt genuine response from others.
Before, in my previous world, I'd received this kind of greeting, but they were secretly done for hiding people's genuine emotions under their submissive and polite masks.
I got sick of this.
Yet this was something different.
They were my army — the perfect pawns without any will of their own, which I could easily manipulate the regular people.
It would be more impressive to manipulate a life full of humans who dance to my tunes.
Then I saw him.
The giant black-red humanoid dragon walked in front of me from the midst of this army.
He looked coldly at me.
He was covered in the same armour design as me.
So he is my dark side and my magic.
「You're behind this haven't you?」
I asked him bravely.
I could manage my feelings even if I'm near a supernatural creature and since It's my part inside me…
『Why Should I Fear Him?』
I looked him clearly in the eye.
But some part of me feels ashamed and disgusted.
Since everyone doesn't want to look at their dark side out of fear looking at their abyss of darkness….
I was like them.
It is a part of me that I have always been afraid to look at.
It was my true self, unlike the persona I wear in others' eyes.
It was the real me that I couldn't hide from others.
He stood proudly before me and started talking, resounding a monstrous voice.
[Don't you feel anxious when I come near you. I'm your darkness hidden in your unconsciousness as you're my light side of our same body. On the real earth, I couldn't communicate with you directly like now, but we were determined to get power through the dirty actions we committed together in our previous lives. But in this world, we're one soul with two separate bodies.]
This is the truth.
I wanted the power.
For that goal, I'd done merciless and ugly things in my previous life.
That's why I'm anxious because of my past.
So there was one in the previous world but got separated but how?
I was confused.
I asked him.
「Why did you mean that in this world we're in two separate bodies? What's your name? Why the hell do we bind my soul? Aren't you a monster? Why the fuck are you doing in my body then?
Why didn't you help me to see my mother again?」
These were the questions I had in my mind.
[As I said before, this isn't your ordinary world, this is a world full of magic and martial arts. And your soul and the type of magic represent strength in this world's criteria. Everyone's unconscious here could externalise the soul's power in the form of Mana {1} to shoot their magic energy to attack or heal others. I'm temporarily separated from your body because in the illusion of Darkness {2} where I could internalize a physical in accordance with your magic and talk to you directly. I bond with your soul because I wanted to but the Absolute Being had put me into your soul for a certain purpose. As you said, I'm a monster — Satanic Dragon, that's why these worlds call me. I couldn't help you because you were on the brink of death, and with your soul Affinity's power, I could only pull out our souls together from the body and seal it into Daris's body.]
I was puzzled.
Indeed, I was dying in the car.
Didn't he say that someone put him into my soul?
『Absolute Being? Does the name itself signal that he's not an ordinary being? For what purpose did he put him into my soul? Didn't he mean sealed? Does that mean I can break free of this body?』
More questions accumulated in my mind.
He seemed to read my thoughts and answered me.
[I don't know why he put me into your soul, but I certainly know that he gives you a chance to prove yourself to him by discovering that purpose in the future. Maybe he'll break the seal and help you transmigrate into your real body? Who knows? But for now, you don't have sufficient power to break free from the seal!]
I was still not convinced.
So what would happen to my body when my soul is in this body?
Would it decay?
I couldn't think past that.
[Don't worry about your body. I have given you an identity that will fix your future problems. Just think how you can reach the pinnacle of this world. Like in the past, we'll need power again, so be ready to do the dirty work once more. With your current power, you're just a little worm on this planet!]
I didn't get it.
I need to reach the top again, like in my previous life.
Yeah.
Life is never easy.
Then a thought came across my mind.
『How can I become stronger?』
The Satanic dragon smirked at me.
[You only train yourself in these three things: (1) Fighting, (2) Magic and (3) Soul Affinity. Then rest all would fall into place… your strength of soul affinity is reaching its limits… After you awaken your talent, then I can talk to you again, but remember this: If you can't become the strongest, then you'll die easily in this world… This is your final chance.. Then fight… What I showed you now is the possibility of the future!]
I stretched my hand towards him.
His whole body had faded away from me…
I wanted to ask him more but it seems that it's futile to do so.
This illusion of darkness started to fade away from me.
Everything the whole body had I experienced was an illusion now being eroded within my sight…
Battlefield…
Black Red Army…
Dead beasts and humans faded…
The armour I wear…
Everything turned black..
***
I woke up from the empty darkness.
But I could hear the familiar voices of mature and immature people.
It seemed so familiar…
I was lying on the floor of the room that I was in.
I pushed my hands from the floor.
「Daris Dear, you finally woke up! I was so scared since we were sleeping for the whole day without eating anything.」
Her voice was so familiar to someone I knew fondly.
I glanced sideways to lock at the face.
I was shocked.
Author's Note:
{1} Mana: Like in games or literature — energy required for magic to externalize from soul to lauch a spell or attacks.
{2} Illusion Of Darkness: A low level black magic spell to communicate between soul affinity or magical beasts.