Prologue - Reborn

"What the hell is that bastard Rai doing?! Does he want to take us all to Hell with him?! Hurry up and stop him!"

"We can't, General! We have to get out of here!"

"General, behind you!"

"Rai! Come back here! That's an order, Rai!"

"Rai!"

Silence then struck the radiant battlefield, as if the war had come to an abrupt stop. The sensation of absolute quietness would be followed by the sensation of absolute nothingness, leaving only Rai standing in the middle of the infinite vacuum that came to be in what seemed a matter of seconds.

Rai had never witnessed such a scenario - one that had absolutely nothing to witness. There was not a single thing to see or hear around him. "Is this what being dead feels like?", he thought.

"That is a fairly correct assumption, I dare say. Allow me to change the set, as it will make things more comprehensible for the two of us."

Before he could process who or what was it that had just talked to him, the background became pitch black and a solid ground formed, allowing for Rai to once again feel and understand what was happening. In contrast, a majestic, male humanoid figure appeared in front of him, humbly dressed all in white and carrying a gigantic book that looked like it could harbour the universe and many others to come.

"Talk about a cliche, would you not agree, Rai? Speaking of which, what should I address you as?"

"Rai… Rai's just fine.", said the young man with a dazed look on his face.

"I see. You are oddly calm for someone who just woke up next to a complete stranger in a completely strange place. Is there not a thing you wish to question?"

"This place feels familiar, that's all... I don't remember being here, though. Exactly what just happened? Am I actually getting sent to Hell?"

Noticing how confused he still was, the identity who Rai believed to be some kind of God forced the pace up, almost as if to not let Rai recover from his still puzzled state.

"What kind of fantasy is that? I am unable to understand the reasoning behind such a line of thought. I believe these sixteen years as a human have brainwashed you, Rai."

"As a human?"

"Yes, indeed. You humans have long created your own standards of what is morally acceptable and what is not, relying on things like religion and philosophy to comply and achieve those values. That is not a bad thing, per se, but it gives most people a skewed idea of how impactful their actions truly are. Hell is nothing but a myth - although there do exist places with which it can be compared to. I am here to help you pass, nothing more."

Then, following the mysterious figure's sudden snap of a finger, the uncountable darkness made place for a spacious, wooden corridor that connected to an open room where the two found themselves in almost instantaneously, leaving Rai, once again, with little to no time to process what was happening around him.

"Care to make a guess on where we now are?"

"A public library for the dead?" Rai asked in a sarcastic tone, right after seeing how many books filled the room that had just been created.

"Ever the jest, are we not? It is a simple matter, truly - this place represents the accumulation of all knowledge you have gathered throughout all your past lives. It is not exactly something that can be put into words, but I assure you it is not a scheme of any kind. It is very rare for that knowledge to manifest itself in the form of a library of sorts, though."

After getting up, Rai proceeded to slowly walk around the gigantic room that was still expanding in front of him, observing each book with the utmost attention. Despite generally disliking books, having a library of his own was a dream he had been carrying since his childhood years, and thus getting to witness this sight meant a lot to him. While Rai did all this, the other man kept a very close eye on him, as if he wanted Rai to grab and analyze the content of any one of the books.

"Are you telling me that I have accumulated this much knowledge so far?"

"That is exactly what I am telling you. To be more specific, each book corresponds to one of your past lives, subject to certain exceptions. Some books will be shorter than others, of course, since some of your lives have been shorter-lived, but the story of not Rai, the individual, but Rai, the being, is all contained within this room. Tempting, is it not?"

"Where I come from, nothing is ever for free. There is a cost for everything, even if only in the mental realm of things.", said Rai, as he slowly realized where this conversation was heading. "I'm assuming the same thing can be said about the books here present, right?"

The god-like figure's eyes crooked slightly, showing now a more authentic side of his personality. "I am glad you are this quick to catch up on things, Rai."

Turning his back to the young man, the figure resumed talking as he walked through the room at a steady and thoughtful pace.

"Your assumption is once again correct - color me impressed. In fact, you have not done a single wrong thing in the time you were here, acting with care and quickly grasping the situation with what little time you were given. Some people really are special, would you not agree?"

His snowy eyes narrowed once more, giving Rai an almost jealous glance as he continued talking.

"This is, to put things in a simple perspective, what you humans would equate to the "Purgatory". Upon dying, the soul comes here to cleanse itself, allowing for the transition to its next life to be smooth and pure. Usually, that cleansing process would be done by absorbing all past knowledge and understanding in what ways you may improve during your next life, but since you decided to go ahead and think of yourself as too mighty for that kind of event, I am now legally obliged to give you another option".

"I didn't know you guys had a legal system here in Heaven… there is no escaping bureaucracy anywhere, huh?"

"Of course, although this is no Heaven. Despite being up here, we all still have to live in society. For all I know, you might have been part of this same circle in one of your past lives… are you sure you do not intend on finding out how it is that your past lives were led?"

"I'm good for now.", said Rai in a very direct manner. The mysterious man could not help but laugh at such a determined and willful reply.

"Very well, then. I shall show you a different path, but bear in mind you have yet to bound yourself in any way to any of the two, meaning that even after I present you with a different choice you can opt to go about things the common way."

Having said that, the book that figure had been carrying all that time opened up and pages started flying left and right, filling the space with what seemed pearl-colored bubbles.

"What a beautiful scene. I wish I could spend the entire day looking at this, but I sadly am running out of time, forcing me to keep things brief. Time is a very precious thing for a being like me, after all. This second option will be explained once and once only, with an immediate reply afterwards being necessary. Is everything clear?"

Confident that whatever he was about to hear would be a better alternative than the one he had been offered previously, Rai leaned forward as to not miss what was about to be told to him.

"Don't push yourself too hard.", he said while chuckling.

"...well then, please listen carefully. Every world that you have ever been in and will one day be in is bound by a collection of rules, with bending those rules implying defying the Heavens themselves. It is not, though, possible to accomplish such a grand feat without the proper support and knowledge, which is where I come in."

Hearing that, Rai's face let out clear traits of excitement, almost as if he had made up his mind from the moment he found out a second option was available.

"To put things in a simple manner, you are being given the alternative to sign a contract with me. This contract would prohibit you from accessing the knowledge of your past lives but would, in exchange, spread all the floating pages you can now see on whatever world you are about to get sent to."

"And with that knowledge, I would be able to break those "limitations" you were referring to, is that it?"

"Exactly. There are three major downsides to signing this contract, though: firstly, all content that currently surrounds you would no longer be accessible, making it impossible for you to accurately discover how your past lives were lived; secondly, the cleansing process would simply not happen, making it very likely for you to go mad and throw your humanity aside when pushed to your very limit; lastly, - and the most important point out of the three - there is no guarantee whatsoever that even one page will be found, let alone all of them. Even if you do manage to find a page, it will be close to useless if you do not manage to do something with it.

With that out of the way, which path do you plan on undertaking?"

Rai, who not only had been listening carefully to everything that was being said but also had been thinking about the situation as a whole, immediately knew what the correct answer was.

"Such a gigantic library, so much accumulated knowledge, and yet I have no recollection of any of this. If I'm supposed to forget things as soon as I get kicked out of here, where's the value in the first option? It should go without saying that there is only one correct answer."

"I see...", said the cryptic being with a melancholic smile. "There is no need for further formalities, a verbal agreement is plenty. The dispatching shall start immediately. Is that fine with you?"

"Yeah, go ahead and do whatever it is that you have to do."

In an orchestrated manner, the enigmatic character started gesticulating in every direction, as he quietly chanted the words that would mark Rai's departure.

Rai, who was sitting right in front of the other man, remained extremely calm, unlike what could be seen after he had arrived at this so-called "Purgatory", excited over what new adventure he would be going through this time.

And then, their final words were exchanged, at last.

"Rai."

"Yes?"

"Try not to die so soon once again, brother… Do you plan to kill Mother of scare?"

"...Br-"

And with that, Rai, who despite managing to hear that was able to do nothing but exclamate and react with a deeply surprised look, one that had been caused by him remembering something that had been locked deep within him, was sent away towards his new life, regretting not having stayed there a bit longer.

"Have a safe trip, idiotic brother. The Heavens shall await you with open arms."