I'm Razalith Van Werren... Kinda

Eyes wide, I watch as the semi-alive Arthur finally accomplishes his task. It has taken him a quarter of the day, but he is now able to finish it- and properly. In his state of near-death, he relied on nothing but his mental energy to draw out some of his mana.

His body might be in a terrible state, but his mental energy was practically untouched. So, he was very easily able to manipulate his mana once he stopped trying to force it with every inch of him.

I am unsure of just how conscious he is, though, so I keep in mind that I have to test him again once he recovers.

After lighting up the last of the symbols, Arthur seems to finally pass out. I step forward and take the paper, then I also take my own. If it were just mine that was completed, I would have left him here to stew in his failure. However, since he has completed his side of the task, I can allow him the luxury of a quick recovery.

With a brief thought, mana rushes to my index finger in a steady flow. As it concentrates on my fingertip, the black mana becomes visible. This causes me to reflect on the past, and I remember the natural color of Razalith's mana.

I have been unable to uncover any knowledge regarding forced reincarnation, like my case. For whatever reason, that demonic mana came with me and assumed a black color. Razalith's was red, Rachel's was white, despite the fact that she could never properly use it.

All in all, there are far too many unknowns. It seems my particular situation is unprecedented in history, and I do not know whether to be proud or frustrated by that.

While pondering these things, I have written tiny words on each of the symbols with my finger. Their glow is altered slightly with the addition of each word, then the symbols themselves come to life and begin moving around on the paper. Soon enough, a single symbol is left on each sheet.

This is the completed rune.

I take the sheets and place them both on Arthur's body, one at his lower back and one closer to the back of his head. The runes leap off the paper and attach themselves to his body through his clothes, then they begin to work. Slowly, his body recovers and is restored to its peak condition.

Once that is done, he wakes up frenzied and confused. He sits up and looks at me, then at the blank sheets of paper. Finally, he tilts his head and begins to silently ponder.

I stare at him until he finds the words to say, "Did you really just torture me for hours or was that a dream?"

"Look outside," I motion to the window, "it's noon. You came in here this morning."

Arthur covers his mouth as he yawns and blinks a few times in quick succession. He rubs his eyes and looks around a bit more, only now processing the fact that he is on the table. He climbs off and sits on the chair before asking, "So what happened? I'm pretty sure I was in really bad shape by the end of that, thanks to you."

I point to his shirt, and he looks down at it. The rune is still there, but seriously faded. He sucks in a breath of cold air and rises a bit, looking at me in shock. "Runes can heal?"

I roll my eyes at him, not even bothering to answer his question. I watch him rub his eyes again, but he freezes for a second before removing his hand from his face. He turns to look at me, disbelief already present in his eyes.

"Did I ...actually do it?"

When he sees me nod, he puts a hand on his chin and a single finger runs across his mouth and up to the bridge of his nose. He contemplates it for a moment, but then says, "Let's do it again."

And so we do. We reuse the same sheets of paper, the same chalk and the same charcoal. We both draw up new symbols, then I gather and infuse them with my mana once we're done.

Once again, I am waiting for him to do the same to his symbols.....

Rachel looks at Arthur and he gulped, self-doubt already set in. She had already assumed a comfortable position in her chair, making it look like she was prepared to wait a while for him to accomplish his goal. Arthur's confidence immediately dropped, but something Rachel said to him earlier suddenly replayed in his head.

'...I already told you: it's nearly impossible to manipulate the kind of mana that you have without an insane amount of mental energy...'

'...No buts... Accept my praise...'

He gulped, and looked to Rachel one last time. As he was about to shut his eyes, he remembered that that wouldn't do him any good, and decides to keep them open. Subconsciously, he thought back to his semi-conscious stroke of mastery. Arthur tried to recall the slightest detail that might aid him, but nothing meaningful came to mind. The only thing he knew was that he was completely weak, powerless and unable to even move properly.

Then, the thought hit him. 'Perhaps that's the point Rachel was trying to make. Even in an exhausted, half-dead state, I could still do it. Maybe...'

Thinking like this, Arthur extended his hand and decided to relax. Then, with the most simple action, he used his mind to manipulate his mana. Rachel smiled while he was infusing the mana into the symbols, and Arthur chuckled sheepishly for a while.

He wasn't used to doing things right, so this was a huge deal. Not only that, but it was entirely unbelievable...

Seeing that Arthur has actually done it, I find it hard to contain my pride. This is also the first time that I have ever successfully taught someone how to do something without them being deathly afraid of what I would do if they messed up.

In fact, they were so afraid of failure that they would practice for Razalith's lessons beforehand so as to not make any mistakes. This defeated the purpose of teaching, but I was too bored to care. I just enjoyed the company, honestly.

I take Arthur's and my papers then write on them with my finger. They merge into four runes, two on each sheet, and I pass the runes over to Arthur.

"You wanted to know who I am; the runes will show you."

His eyes widen then narrow, making him seem a bit suspicious. I wave off his stare and close my eyes, so he refocuses on the runes in front of him.

Each rune holds an image in them, and when Arthur touches one of them, the image magnifies and becomes a motion picture. In silence, he watches the early life of a young demon girl, orphaned as a newborn. Her parents, whom she never knew, were the rulers of the Demon Realm.

Through a series of schemes and underhanded methods, the newborn was cut off from her birthright and left abandoned. By some fortuitous stroke of fate, the child was found by a kind man. That man raised the child as his own, amongst his family, and watched her growth with interest.

That rune's contents were finished, so it vanished into ethereal shards that faded out of existence. The second rune magnified and played on its own, now showing the child to have grown into a young woman. Her magical prowess was incomparable to demons her age, and she excelled even among the older generation in terms of raw power. Her foster father encouraged her to pursue her dream, which was to join the demon army and, one day, serve the Demon Lord.

She did just that, and rose through the ranks in record time. Alongside a blonde man that looked quite familiar to Arthur, she fought valiantly and unlike any other. She became famous and feared by humans and gods alike- even among the demons. Then, upon her return from a terrible battle, she was granted the title of General by the Demon Lord himself.

The people respected her more than any official; who had killed as much of the enemy as her? They exalted her until she was no lower than the Demon Lord; who was more worthy of respect and praise?

And so, seeing her rise to fame, her foster father finally told her the truth. She was the daughter of the previous Demon Lord, rightful heir to the throne and true ruler of the Demon Realm. He had kept a close eye as orders were carried out behind the scenes to kill the child, and had stepped in at the last moment to save her.

The third rune begun, and a terrible civil war raged. The woman led her troops, the ones most loyal to her, and assailed the false Demon Lord. She cut him and his descendants down, then restored order to the realm.

She was the Demon Lord, Razalith Van Werren.

With her newfound status and power, she was able to make decisions on behalf of all demonkind, and so she ordered the creation of a Subjugation Army. She was tired of having to defend their homeland from the cruel and greedy human invaders, and wanted to have them swallow a mouthful of their own bitter medicine.

She led the demon race to untold power and wealth- prosperity like no other period in their long history.

Finally, the last rune started.

It showed Razalith on the precipice of victory, knowing the world was hers. Even so, she felt empty. All was won, but she remembered how she once thrived in the heat of battle. Her life as a warrior was essentially over, and life as the Demon Lord would definitely continue to erode her warrior spirit.

Confident in her race's eventual victory, she chose to discern the secrets of Life and Death that the gods kept hidden on the Flying Continent. She did, and sealed herself in her chamber in order to attempt what had never been done before.

A reincarnation without dying. A living, thriving and powerful warrior's soul, ripped out of her body and forced to traverse beyond both life and death, even time and space, in order to return to life at another time and in another body.

However, it did not go as planned.

Arthur sees it all and doesn't say a word. He definitely finds it hard to believe, which I expected.

I await his reaction, as that will determine whether I need to silence him. I can easily make a puppet of him, perhaps plant a seed in his mind that will allow me to take control of his mind. That way I won't have to explain his disappearance.

However, when the final rune fades away, he looks at me and says, "Well, it makes sense."

I open my eyes and look at him, puzzled.

"I always wondered how the Demigod Prince just came out of no where and assassinated the most powerful person in the world. Why not do it before? Also, why did he make such a big deal out of saying that he had taken her body? Why take it at all? None of that ever sat quite right with me."

I sit up and listen to him closely, wondering where this is headed.

"Sure, you decimated the realms and killed a lot of gods and humans, but that was more than justified. Even before these runes, I acquired a copy of 'The Banished History.' It was a book written and sold by a demon servant, which a lot of people thought very little of. However, after a while, the books were sought out and pretty much vanished from circulation. I happened to keep mine safe because I used a false identity to purchase it."

Arthur looks at me, resolute and entirely serious. "So, are you Razalith, or are you both?"

"I-" It was my turn to be at a loss for words. This was not at all close to what I expected.

"I feel like I'm both. I'm Razalith Van Werren, but I'm kinda also Rachel. It's weird."