River of Reincarnation

Afterlife, The Fields of Judgment.

Depressed-looking souls wandered down a colorless road, their eyes filled with regret and longing. They regretted their life choices and longed for a second chance to make things right.

However, it was too late.

Currently, they were en route to the chamber of judgment, where a final verdict would be handed down, sealing their fate for eternity.

They would either go to heaven or be condemned to hell.

In some rare cases, the purest souls had a chance for reincarnation. However, it had been centuries since the last soul had been deemed worthy of this opportunity.

In the skies of a depressing-looking landscape, a man wearing black robes and a hood floated silently, watching over the solemn-looking souls.

They were walking down a road that was surrounded by rocky mountains, their heads hanging low. The rocky mountains loomed over them like ancient guardians, casting long shadows in the fading light of the day.

After a short while, they left the mountainside and entered a long, straight road. It led them towards a strange temple that seemed to shimmer in the distance, beckoning them closer.

Beside the road, a beautiful, flowing river reflected the setting sun's colors like a mirror. The sound of the river sounded like a lullaby, as if there were violins playing in the background.

As soon as the depressed-looking souls saw the river, their eyes glowed with greed and desire. It was the river of reincarnation!

A soul, looking ethereal with a shimmering glow, stepped closer to the river. He greedily licked his lips, as if he could taste the second chance.

He didn't live a good life; instead, it was pretty poor—he was a loanshark, a con artist, and a thief.

He had ruined countless families with his deceitful ways.

Someone like him would never get a chance at reincarnation.

'If I just keep walking, I'll just be condemned to hell!' He thought to himself as he stared at the river. 'This is my second chance. Reincarnation!'

As soon as his thoughts ended, the man stepped another step closer to the river. Instantly, his body exploded into a million ethereal pieces.

As soon as other souls saw that, they looked frightened.

This was an even more frightening fate than hell—that man was now trapped in an endless cycle of death. He would continue to be torn apart and regenerated for eternity.

"Hmph." A man in the sky scoffed while pointing his finger down. "That's your punishment, insolent soul. A trash like you doesn't deserve a second chance. Thus, your punishment is a million years of death."

His voice sounded like thunder rumbling through the clouds.

Every soul heard him.

"That's…" A frightened-looking soul gasped in horror. "I-Is that… Death?"

Death, the man wearing black rags, stared down with a cold and calculative gaze.

At that moment, his cold look changed for a moment.

A soul stepped out of the line, walking towards the river of reincarnation. This soul was different.

He didn't look depressed like the others.

His expression looked serious and deviant, like that of a wild tiger waiting to be unleashed.

"Is he a fool?!" The souls cried out. "He just saw someone get sentenced to a million years of misery!"

"Does he have a death wish?"

"Huh?" Death looked down at the strange soul and frowned. "Every year, when a new batch of souls arrives, there's always one soul that tries to jump to the river of reincarnation.

"However, once I punish that one, everyone else usually falls in line and behaves. This is strange."

Death crossed his arms and vanished from the skies. He then appeared on the riverbed, standing in front of the deviant-looking soul.

"Are you deaf?" Death pointed his long, slender finger at the soul. "Do you want to die?"

"I am already dead." The soul said with a cold tone while slowly approaching the river. "I know where my judgment takes me. I'll fight until the end."

"Is that so?" Death swiped his hand through the air, and suddenly letters appeared on top of the soul's head.

It told the soul's name, where he was from, the cause of death, and his karma points.

"Alright." Death looked over and said, "Kiernan Hunter, and you're from Earth. Yeah, earthlings are usually pretty arrogant.

"Your cause of death, oh, how surprising."

Kiernan silently looked at Death. He had stopped walking forward.

"Old age." Death chuckled. "And your karma points…"

As soon as he saw it, his eyes turned cold. "Oh, you are definitely going to hell."

He again swiped his hand, making all of the text disappear.

"You filth think that you can just enter the river of reincarnation?" Death looked angry. "You think you can just escape the punishment?"

At that moment, Kiernan lunged forward towards Death. He slowly formed a fist with his right hand.

"Death, a worthy opponent." He said as he prepared to strike.

"What a foolish individual." Death pointed his hand at him. "Earthlings are the weakest of all twenty realms."

'Weakest?' Kiernan narrowed his eyes, a fire burning within him. 'So, there're twenty realms. There must be pretty strong people there.'

"A ten million years worth of training wouldn't make you a match for me." Death said and at that moment, his palm started smoking. "I don't want to punish you myself. I am sure the Lord of the Hell has some interesting activities for you."

As Kiernan's front foot landed on the ground, the ground cracked beneath.

"Iron Style, Ghost Spring!"

At that moment, Kiernan vanished for just a moment, but then a dozen identical-looking souls appeared in the air around Death. They looked just like Kiernan, with their hands clenched into a fist.

'Afterimages?' Death frowned as he looked around. 'What is this? If I hadn't read through his files, I would think that he was from that world… This man's level of martial arts must've reached the peak of Earthlings.

'Still, I am Death.'

The dozen Kiernan's punched through the air, towards Death, each strike powerful enough to shatter a boulder and crack the earth.

Death swiped his hand casually, and around him, a transparent mirror appeared, reflecting the Kiernan's attacks back at them with even greater force.

"The Mirror of Reflection." He whispered coldly.

All the afterimages vanished as the mirror reflected their attacks back at them with much greater strength. It was a flawless defense mechanism.

However, a single soul survived, and that soul jumped straight towards the river of reincarnation.

Kiernan somehow managed to dodge the attack from the Mirror of Reflection, and while Death was rejoicing in his victory, he used that small window of opportunity to jump towards the river.

However.

"Pointless." Death pointed his palm at Kiernan, and then several black chains flew out of his hand and wrapped around Kiernan. 

"Chains of Punishment."

"Urgh!" Kiernan writhed in pain as the chains constricted around him, tightening their grip.

The chains coiled around his limbs and even around his throat, squeezing so hard that he couldn't breathe. It also felt like the chains were burning, bringing even greater agony to the human.

"Do you see now?" Death asked coldly. "Or do you need more convincing?"

"Hahahaha!"

Suddenly, Kiernan started laughing, the sound echoing through the valley in a manic frenzy.

"Huh?" Death frowned.

The souls watched the spectacle unfold, some feeling a twinge of pity for Kiernan. They thought he had lost his mind out of despair.

"You're pretty strong!" Kiernan shouted, and even though his throat was being crushed by the chains, he still managed to turn his head around to stare straight at Death.

"Next time I die, I'll have my rematch with you!"

"Next time?" Death frowned and pulled Kiernan closer to him. "There won't be a next time!"

At that moment, the Kiernan, which was trapped by the chains, slowly vanished. It was as if he was made out of air.

"What?!" Death exclaimed in shock, then widened his field of vision and saw a person fall to the river of reincarnation.

He snapped his head to the left and saw Kiernan slowly fall towards the river, smiling blissfully.

'I trapped his afterimage?!' Death's eyes shook violently. 'How was his afterimage so real?!'

'His afterimage even managed to fool me, Death!'

At that moment, Kiernan fell to the river and was immediately submerged by the golden water. 

Death moved his chains to the river, but as soon as they touched the water, they evaporated. Even his powers couldn't break through the powers of reincarnation.

"That's bad!" Death exclaimed. "Usually, those who reincarnate will take a pill that makes them forget their previous memories. However, this man didn't take anything, so he will remember everything!

"What's worse is that every reincarnate receives their own system. It is a way to gift them and help them in their next life!"

Death quickly swiped his hand, bringing more information in front of him. He wanted to find out which world Kiernan landed in.

[Destination - Martial Arts World]

"That's even worse…" Death looked paler than usual.