1 The Darkness

The breath was shallow, nearly gone entirely.

The red blood covered the knightly armor like paint on a white canvas.

Yet it was not only the blood of his enemies. The red flow of life also escaped from a grotesque cleaved wound at the ribcage of the person.

There was just no escaping the fate that would come now. The embrace of death not waiting long for him and soon to take his life that only hung on a slithering thread.

Sharing the same outcome of the fallen on the battlefield he was lying at. Where many corpses littered the ground and dyed it crimson.

The only solace being a figure in front of him, asking him for what he desires. Only gurgling came out together with a pile of dark blood from his mouth. Yet the entity understood him.

"You have fought bravely. The outcome is what it is. And yet you are still not satisfied...Again, you humans only start regretting when everything is over...That wish. I will grant it. You have done enough to earn it. May the darkness you see in front of yourself become your very weapon. Let us meet again."

At that moment the person with the wound breathed his last breath. No smile was seen on his face even after hearing the words the entity in front had spoken.

"Bitter to the end...I am intrigued by how you will fare with that other person. While one is the light, the other walks in the darkness."

Just at that moment another humanoid appeared and stood beside the entity.

"So you also have chosen a champion? Do you believe he will bring a change?"

The entity grinned under its hood that concealed its face. "Oh, by all means. His wish was a very peculiar one. We will just have to wait and see."

"You know this child already lived more than one life. Now another? How many chances do you believe it takes?"

"As many as one still wishes. I could not deny his merit. And he will very likely soon achieve even greater things. Who do you think will be a greater person of the two we chose?"

The other hooded person remained silent and then disappeared.

The entity smirked and not long after also did the same.

In the silent darkness, the man that had died finally woke up again.

Raising his body he looked around and saw a small apartment. Decorated with various normal items to the point where it felt cramped.

Placing a hand at his face he could only groan.

"I died...again..." His words came out sluggish and nearly robotic.

"And it is this face again..." In a mirror at his dressing closet he could see his face and body.

The person that was reflected there was named Corvus Lenkor. Courtesy of his father's Norwegian heritage he had a western name.

But his appearance and ethnicity were that of his mother's. Black raven hair and sharp Asian eyes. While the color of them was a deep icy blue, it did not hide the fact of him being of South Korean descent.

Yet it was not his old body that he once had before. He had already lived once before that as a Spanish person. No, he could not even say that anymore since he had two lives before waking up here again.

He already got used to living in South Korea. And at first, he just thought it was a normal life until he got catapulted into a fantasy-like world where he died at the end.

But through merit and achievements that he had gained in that life, he was able to exchange it all with the god he had sworn himself under. So with that, he received another chance.

This time around though he could feel it. The magic in his body flowed strongly. Yet not strong enough to feel secure.

He outstretched his hand and a collum of the dark mist-like energy coiled around his arm. Then it shot out in front of him and another Corvus stood in front of him. A perfect copy.

"Looks like at least one Shadow Clone is possible. With this, I can become stronger before I go back there again." His clone said and became a shadow again and merged with the original.

His power was not strong enough to be of any use yet since it would only bring forth a copy of himself that was basically just a mere normal mortal like himself. But at least there was room for improvement later.

His wish definitely was not wasted.

Standing up he could see his phone lying on his cupboard. When he picked it up he also saw a small black chess piece standing there.

It was a small pawn and when he picked it up suddenly glowed and vanished. Leaving only a small mark on his hand.

Wondering what this was about he inspected his palm a little but could not see the difference it made.

Only the ring of his door brought him out of his thinking.

Walking over to the door and opening it he didn't see anyone. Only a lonely letter that was placed on the ground. Picking it up and opening it he saw an invitation to paradise.

A small smirk appeared on his face. Paradise was a different dimensional world that existed together with this world that looked like the normal earth.

But unlike here where magic and items like potions were nearly non-existent. On the other side it was always normal there. That is also why people chosen can travel to that dimension to gain benefits that could result in bringing items over to this world.

Even powers could be gained from there. Just like he had demonstrated a few seconds ago himself.

In the letter, it was stated that a certain time he would be teleported to a certain place where he would meet up with other entries that tried to gain access to that paradise.

Some of the people would end up being slaves to contracts that they had signed for various reasons. And others, like himself this time around, would receive an invitation letter that had certain benefits.

Stretching himself he put the letter into his pocket and went back into his apartment waiting for the time when everything started anew.

This time he would change so much. And he would definitely not die again.