God Of Demons!

Adrian found himself on a mountain far from Antina. This was the very mountain where he had discovered the entrance to the ruins, where he had first encountered Demios.

In his previous life, after his mother's death, Adrian had moved to a city near this mountain to find work. He had begun his career at a healer's clinic, and it was during one of his trips to gather herbs for medicine that he had accidentally stumbled upon the ruins, along with the knowledge of different mana circulation techniques. This life-changing encounter had steered him toward his goal of becoming a knight.

"Hmm, I found it around here in my past life, but Why can't I find it?" Adrian's frustration grew as he realized he was at the right location but couldn't locate any trace of the passage.

After further searching, he noticed an anomaly. "Wait, this tree wasn't here in my past life. Could it be that it falls in the future and is here because I've arrived earlier than in my previous life?" Adrian contemplated, examining the suspicious tree.

After a few moments of inspection, Adrian decided to cut the tree to confirm if this was indeed the location of the passage. He was certain that the passage was supposed to be right where this tree stood. He concentrated his mana on his bident and struck the tree, uprooting it from the earth. To his surprise, the bident in Adrian's hand started vibrating, and moments later, it began to shake vigorously before leaving Adrian's grasp and flying into a white portal that became visible after the tree was removed. It had been concealed within the tree, rendering it impossible to see.

"This is it! Hahaha!" Adrian rejoiced. "But why did the bident fly inside on its own?" Adrian murmured. "Well, whatever. Let's go and retrieve Demios."

Adrian entered the portal and found himself in the familiar ruins, but his face displayed a surprised look as he blurted out in astonishment, "What—what happened to this place? Why is it in ruins like this?"

Adrian had not expected to see this. In his previous life, he had encountered a beautiful temple with Demios at its center. However, the place before him now resembled a war zone, as if a battle had just concluded. Everything lay in ruins, with not a single structure resembling his past memories.

Adrian cautiously stepped inside the ruined temple, where he had once discovered Demios. Each footstep echoed loudly in the silent surroundings, and he could distinctly hear his own breathing. When he reached the altar where the trident was supposed to be, his expression shifted to one of shock.

"What is that? That's not Demios! It's just a dirty, white stick that's utterly useless," Adrian exclaimed in disbelief.

In place of Demios was a white, cylindrical stick of roughly Adrian's height. It emitted a faint white light and spun in the air like a piece of treasure.

Now Adrian was becoming increasingly frustrated. Since entering this place, he had encountered nothing but surprises. Everything had diverged from his recollections, but he was willing to accept it as long as he could retrieve Demios. However, now even Demios had been replaced by a worthless, dirty, white stick.

With caution, Adrian approached the stick, as he had no choice but to investigate if it had any special properties. He gingerly placed his hand on it and lifted it, causing the light to vanish. It now appeared like any ordinary stick, and Adrian couldn't help but mutter, "Am I supposed to beat people senseless with this?"

Just as he completed his thought, the scene before him darkened abruptly, enveloping him in an inky void. It was as dark as a moonless night, rendering his surroundings invisible. It was as if a black hole had sucked away every trace of light.

"What happened? Why is it suddenly dark—" Adrian began to shout.

"Don't worry, Adrian. I merely wanted to speak with you, so I brought your consciousness here," a deep, authoritative voice interrupted his outburst.

"Who? Who are you?" Adrian shouted, frantically searching for the source of the voice.

"I am here. Stop looking around, you idiot," the voice echoed once more in Adrian's ears.

Adrian turned to look behind him, and suddenly, his surroundings brightened, and everything appeared white. It was as if he stood in the midst of an expansive, empty white space.

In Adrian's line of sight, a man appeared. He had a pair of black horns and eerie red eyes; his bulging muscles and powerful aura made it clear he was anything but ordinary. He had a handsome face with long black hair. It seemed like he was the ruler of some race.

[Picture in the paragraph comments]

"Who are you?" Adrian asked taking a step back. Something told him that this man was dangerous.

"I am the god of demons of the previous generation- Demios!" The man announced in a loud voice, spreading his hands horizontally with a proud look on his face.

"Wh-What?" Adrian's eyes widened in surprise. He could not believe he was standing in front of a god of the same race that had been his enemies in his previous life. What was even more shocking for him was the fact that, even in his prime, he had the same power as the king of the demons. He could not fathom how powerful their god would be.

"Don't be afraid, Adrian! I have no intention of harming you. Instead, I want to help you," Demios assured, carrying a gentle smile on his face.

"Help me? But why would you help me instead of someone of your own race?" Adrian questioned, keeping his guard up, although he didn't know if it would help.

"Well, I helped you in your past life, didn't I?" Demios answered, raising his eyebrows, looking forward to Adrian's response.

"What? When did you help-" Adrian stopped as his eyes widened in realization after hearing Demios's words.

Demios's smile widened as he saw Adrian's expression of realization. He spoke, "Yes, Adrian. I am the Trident of Destruction - Demios. But in your past life, I was not awake, and you used my power without my knowledge. As you met the conditions set by the 'person' who sealed me inside this trident, I was awoken from my sleep, and I received all the information about your past life."

As Demios remembered the moment when he got all the information about Adrian's life, the smile on his face disappeared as he commented, "And I must say your life was quite a tragedy."

Adrian ignored Demios's comment and focused on one thing: the talk about the person who sealed Demios. And what is this condition that he seemed to be talking about? After contemplating over this, Adrian couldn't help but ask Demios, "Who is the person who sealed you, and what is this condition?"

"Well, I also don't remember much about him as some parts in my memory are blank. So, the condition was, if the person who had me and Yuriel asks for a second chance in life just before dying and he was sincere enough in his wish, then with the help of the power which 'that person' had left inside me and Yuriel, he will regress and live his life completing some tasks given to him at different points in his life," Demios explained in a loud and clear voice.

"Oh, so that's the reason I was able to come back in the past. Well, the condition sounds fair enough in exchange for a second chance to live," Adrian nodded as he asked, "But I didn't receive any task until now."

"You needed to have either me or Yuriel to receive those tasks. That's the reason why you didn't receive any task until now. You will see text written in the air when a task is given to you," Demios answered.

"Oh, and one more thing," Adrian said as a curious look appeared on his face. "I bought a bident in Antinia, which had similar power to you, but it entered these ruins after escaping from my hands. Do you know what happened to it?"

"That bident was a part of my power, which 'that person' arranged for you. It helped me recover some of my power so that I could talk to you like this," Demios replied with a smile.

"What about that dirty white stick that I found instead of you before coming here? What was that?" Adrian inquired with a slight disgust on his face.

"What do you mean dirty stick? It is just that I had lost my powers, so that's why I appeared like that. But after absorbing some of your mana, I will be able to recover to my original form," Demios replied in an anxious voice. This was the first time he appeared flustered in all this time.

After recovering the smile on his face, Demios questioned, "So, What is your plan moving ahead?"