Have you ever wondered if there's something after death?
Is the paradise or hell everyone talked about real?
Or the eternal peace?
Well...
None of it is true.
The reality is that you reincarnate.
What dies is your mortal body... that much is true.
But your soul isn't judged, and there is no afterlife.
I wish I could say this is nothing but a theory, but I can't.
Because this is real. Because this is what happened to me.
I have already experienced death twice.
And it is not as if you were sleeping.
No... it is much more terrifying than that.
You are fully conscious of your death. But you cannot do anything about it. There's only darkness all around. There is no sense of passing time.
You know you're dead, but you don't know whether you've been dead for a day or a thousand years.
You have thoughts, but you can't hear or memorize them.
It's like... the moment you have a thought, you forget it.
There is only endless silence.
Your soul is plunged into darkness until it feels a frequency compatible with yours, and you are reborn.
The greatest blessing one can have is not life itself but the fact that it forgets everything that happened before and starts life as if it were the first.
But I did not receive that blessing. I am someone who defies the natural order. I am someone who remembers her past lives.
I understand this can be confusing, so let me tell you my story.
My first life was normal. I was just one of the many citizens living in the Arendell Empire. My village was surrounded by mountains, and that is why we were peaceful. Most men living in the village were hunters, so they kept us safe from the wild animals, and we were not in a conflict zone. After all, the only path available was the one leading to our empire, and the mountains were not easy to cross. Perhaps that's why we were so indifferent when we learned about the war.
I don't know the details. We were only told that the neighboring King waged war over a piece of ancestral land he claimed our Emperor stole.
No one in the village paid any mind. After all, as long as we could sell the game and the furs, it didn't matter who ruled the land. But we were wrong. The Kairos kingdom specialized in mountain warfare. They could find advantages in any type of terrain. So he began his invasion with our small village as we had no army.
I still remember how cold my brother's corpse felt as I held him close to my barely beating heart, swearing at the skies as I breathed my last.
Imagine my confusion and disbelief when I opened my eyes again as a baby. How relieved I felt... not because I was given a second chance, but because there was light again. I could feel warm again.
I was terrified to close my eyes and hated being left alone.
It took me years to adapt... to surpass my fears.
My second life was in a world where humans and demons coexisted.
But they were constantly at war with one another. And I was right at the center of it, as I was the daughter of the Demon King.
I wanted to live. I wanted the war to stop.
But I knew my father wouldn't accept it. After all, he was a bloodthirsty sociopath. But I saw enough blood, and I heard enough screams.
I wanted nothing but peace.
I was a nepilium, a demon royalty. I was born strong, and I had royal authority.
I made it my life goal to achieve peace.
I wasted no time, took no shortcuts, and trained like hell every day.
I looked for others who shared my vision and made strong allies.
After many obstacles and failures, I finally overthrew my cruel father and became the Demon Queen. I suppressed all the voices that rose in revolt and sought a peace agreement with humans.
With the help of my biggest ally, the human hero Kyle, we signed the peace treaty after months of negotiation.
We were so relieved and happy that both humans and demons declared a week-long celebration.
It wasn't until the very last day that my friend and ally betrayed me.
Kyle pierced my heart with his sword and dared look into my eyes as he uttered those shameless words.
'I am sorry, my friend. But this was a necessary evil. Humans cannot succumb. Humans will always prevail. Humans must always win.'
And that is how I lost my second life for human supremacy.
This is already my third life.
I had been through war twice.
I was a casualty of war twice.
Both lives were short-lived, and I had lost those closest to me in both wars. Once as a commoner and once as a peace seeker.
So tell me, Alexander... do you still want me to stay still?
Do you still wish for me to trust that you will take care of everything while I do nothing?
I am sorry, Alexander...
But I cannot do that.
I can't just... wait for my death.