1 Rebirth through Fate

A man with long white hair and a beard was seen walking among the remnants of the war. There was no living being left other than him in that messy place.

The man was wearing a tattered suit of armor, and there were many wounds all over his body. He walked sluggishly as if tired and could no longer stand up. He then arrived at a boulder and sat down, leaning on it.

"Reeva..."

The maze-like line tattoos on the man's upper body lit up, and not long after, a fairy spirit appeared before him.

"Reeva, we've been together for almost 30 years. And it seems that my promise to abolish wars from this realm can't be fulfilled. I've reached my limit..."

Reeva said nothing and just looked at the man with a worried look. She was a powerful spirit with lightning magic, one of the seven most powerful spirits in the Azure Realm.

She merged with the man with a pact to eradicate the wars that had ravaged the Azure Realm for decades. A place where all beings and races should coexist peacefully. Not killing and destroying each other.

The man smiled gently. He was used to his partner not replying to his chats. However, he insisted on continuing his speech while adjusting his back on the boulder. He then spoke breathlessly due to the accumulation of exhaustion. Either mentally or physically.

"I, Aizen Barthomelo. The Supreme Knight has failed.

"This is quite regrettable. In the past, I was confident that I would be able to carry out the mission by borrowing your power. But now the reality is far from expected."

Aizen sighed, and his eyes started to dim. He did not expect that back when he was still studying at the academy, wars would break out.

A war phenomenon that did not only occur in one place but in dozens of kingdoms and empires simultaneously. It was the beginning of a temporal catastrophe that scorched many lives.

In the end, the Omni War was born. An era where wars do not need a winner but only bring misery to the land.

"Reeva, I'm sorry."

Aizen took his last breath and closed his eyes. Even though there were a myriad of regrets, there was nothing he could do.

Meanwhile, Reeva could only shake her head to reassure Aizen that he didn't need to apologize. Even though she was a spirit, her face conveyed deep sorrow. She even stayed behind and circled Aizen, hoping that her companion would no longer feel guilty.

Surprisingly, tears rolled down Reeva's face. Her small body shone brightly. In that instant, the entire Azure Realm came to a halt as if space and time had not moved at all.

Not long after, a white light descended onto the ground from the sky and transformed, forming a human-like organism without hair, eyes, and nose. But still had a head, ears, mouth, arms, and legs. The creature was completely white with no clothes on, stood up and crossed his arms facing Reeva.

"This shouldn't have happened. But since I was the one who turned you into a spirit, I was magnanimous and came at your plea."

Reeva nodded in understanding. She knew who was in front of her. That was Fate. The highest authority in the universe. She summoned Fate, using all of her remaining force to grant her wish to bring Aizen back to life.

"That's impossible. It's beyond my reach. Death and the other authorities won't be happy if I interfere in their respective domains." Fate refused. Even though he was the supreme authority, he still had to respect the other rulers of the universe and couldn't do anything about it.

However, Reeva did not give up so easily. She kept on pleading until the light of her life began to fade and soon would be gone forever.

That effort made Fate feel uncomfortable. He was uneasy and softened to Reeva's request. He shook his head as he explained what he would do to grant the wish.

"The matter of resurrecting is beyond my reach. However, I still have one other way to revive this human to fulfill your wish for this land."

Reeva stopped pleading with sobs when she heard Fate was able to carry out her wish. But, before she could feel any relief, Fate laid out the absolute rules that would occur as a consequence of his action.

"I'm going to reset this world. But, in that timeline. Your existence will disappear. And I won't remember this event at all either."

Reeva, without complaining anything, immediately nodded in agreement with Fate's conditions. There was not the slightest hesitation in her decision, even though she couldn't be with Aizen anymore.

Fate, who saw that, realized that Reeva believed in and had a strong bond with the human named Aizen. He was moved and felt that this world deserved to be given a second chance and perhaps would have the peace that the two beings in front of him had hoped for.

Fate then snapped his fingers, and everything started to go back to normal as if time and space had resumed. But not long after, the world began to crack like a painting that was torn apart.

Reeva smiled and bowed to Fate as an expression of gratitude for fulfilling her selfish wish. She really couldn't let Aizen waste his life after fighting his entire life. She wanted Aizen's wish to bring peace to the Azure Realm to come true.

As a partner, there was nothing more satisfying than seeing her mate succeed, even though she wouldn't be by that person's side later on.

In an instant, the lavish world of the Azure Realm had disappeared without a trace. There was only Fate left, hovering amidst the darkness of the universe.

"Human, as a farewell. I will give you a gift. So that you will always remember the spirit that has accompanied you on a journey of war filled with a history of hatred and strife, death and destruction, despair and regret, sorrow and recovery."

Fate clapped his palms together and disappeared immediately after, indicating the end of the current Azure Realm. However, it also meant that it would be a new chapter for the Azure Realm in the new timeline when Aizen awakened from his slumber.

--- ---

"Ah!?"

Aizen got up from his bed and started touching all over his body. He felt strange and confused at the same time.

"I'm alive? Ah, I should be dead."

He slapped his cheek, and it hurt. He then put on a blank face, realizing he was still alive. Not long after, he came to his senses and called Reeva's name. But no fairy spirit appeared.

He then began to focus on his surroundings after there was no response from his call. He walked over, approached a table not far from his bed, and took out a paper regarding enrollment in the prestigious school for mages and knights, the Raven Academy.

"It's the year 721? And I'm in my room?!"

Aizen was suddenly flustered, but he quickly calmed himself down. And it allowed him to piece together all the puzzles in front of him.

Not long after, he sighed after realizing what was going on even though he didn't know how it happened.

He regressed 35 years into the past when he first entered the Raven Academy. Three years before the Omni War broke out.

The only reason he could think of right now was that he had returned to prevent wars from happening. There was nothing other than that he could think of. After all, the Azure Realm was on the verge of collapse if the great event was not stopped.

Aizen closed his eyes as he clearly remembered what had happened. It began from the countless wars that he had stopped until the time of his death. And finally, he came back to life before the Omni War commenced.

He opened his eyes and walked to the window of the room, opening it while watching the dawn.

"I don't know why or how. But my goal never changes. I will prevent the era of the Omni War before it happens!"

Aizen said as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. However, he accidentally noticed that there were maze-like line tattoos on both of his forearms.

"Th-This is impossible!?"

Aizen couldn't believe what he saw. The tattoo was a symbol that signified that he possessed the highest magic from one of the strongest spirits, Reeva. The blue and yellow lightning element of the Goddess of Thunder.

The current him was the younger version of a Supreme Knight, who still had a physique far below the standards of an apprentice knight. He was too skinny now, and his height was only 161 cm. So, such power couldn't exist in a body that had not been forged to become a knight. Moreover, the maze-like line tattoo couldn't be embedded in his body when he also clearly hadn't fused with Reeva yet.

But then? How could that be!!?

"Reeva...!

"REEVA...!!"

Aizen tried to call out to his partner. However, the fairy spirit did not appear at all. For some reason, his eyes started to tear up. Subsequently, he tried to recite a magic spell with his left hand as he sat languidly on the floor while sobbing silently.

A few moments later, no magic whatsoever came out. Instead, he suddenly coughed up blood and felt pain in his chest. He ended up stopping the chanting and holding his left chest with his right hand while speaking in a gloomy tone of sadness.

"Reeva..., where are you!?"