Reincarnation

It took a second for Devon to realize he had died. As he swirled in the darkness of the realm between life and death, he heard cheering. It sounded... like it was the villagers. 'Are they cheering because they haven't realized that beast ate me yet?' He pondered to himself.

This was because, to him, no time had passed since he was eaten by that beast he used to call a dad. He thought that they just hadn't realized what had actually occurred. That they still thought he showed his ability to use magic and were cheering him on.

 'They... they're cheering that BEAST?! The one who ate me even though I had every right to live? This... this can't be true!' Devon's entire body began shaking with pure hatred, a hatred so large that even the divines shuddered against it.

His bloodshot eyes bulging from pure anger would terrify even Jideva. Devon pressed his fingers into his palm with such a force that they began bleeding immediately. The veins in his neck stood out in a way that they never had before. Short heavy breaths accentuated his furious voice.

Roaring with vitriol enough to fill the entire abyss of the place between life and death, Devon shouted, "I'm going to murder you all! None of you deserve the life I gave you! I'm going to find a way to come back to life, and when I do, when I do... I'll slaughter each and every one of you. I'm going to tear you apart rip you to shreds KILL ALL-OF-YOU!!!"

His voice hoarse from shouting he whispered in a deadly voice, "I'll force myself to have power. Even if the damned gods themselves don't want me to have any!"

His eyes narrowed as his pupils became slit, similar to a snake's or another such reptile. An aura that enticed even the Goddess of Death began emanating from him as he continued, "I'm going to claw my way back to life. Then I'm going to conquer you all. Every last one of you that denied me my right to live... I'll show you true strength. I can promise you that."

Looking around the vast emptiness, Devon tried to find anything that could lead him back to the land of the living. Alas, all he saw was the purple shadows of death that awaited him.

This defeat didn't weaken his resolve, however. Conversely, it actually strengthened his resolve. 'Just another obstacle for me to overcome? I get it. Wouldn't want to hand me anything.'

He began experimenting with ways to move through this landscape. Since there was no ground he obviously couldn't walk. Observing that the emptiness acted like water in the sense it surrounded him and kept him suspended in the air, he hypothesized that some sort of swimming motion could lead him through this abyss.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. His efforts just made him look like a fool. No matter how he moved his body, nothing changed. He was still floating in an empty space, unable to move.

'Damn it! What can I do?!' Devon thought as he looked over his circumstances again.

'No matter what I try, I can't get my body to move through this space! My arms move, but I'm stuck; my legs move, but I'm stuck. This just doesn't make any sense!'

Trying to gain any inspiration Devon stared through the abyss. There was no time, space, or anything here. No bearing of reality. 'Yet, I feel as though I can still tell my place in this void. Even though it's not physical. It is more... mental.'

With that realization, Devon had a new hypothesis. Moving his body physically didn't do anything, but that could be just because he's in a more metaphorical space. A space that was unbounded by the usual limitations of physics. Therefore, he didn't need to move his arms or legs to travel.

He had to imagine himself traversing this place. Closing his eyes, Devon proceeded to focus. To look for any irregularities in the seemingly pitch-black canvas of the void. Slowly, one by one, those irregularities began to show themselves. He quickly noticed that this 'perfect' landscape was actually dotted with millions of inconsistencies.

He became keenly aware of the infinite lost souls that were making the very journey he had just escaped from. The journey he had refused to partake in. The journey to the afterlife.

Turning his mental state to the other way, he saw a blinding light that acted as a gate between the living and dead. Even though he was seeing all of this in his head, he still imagined lifting an arm to block that light. The light wouldn't be so easily thwarted. Instead, it seemed to shine right through his arm as if it wasn't even there.

He knew that's where he needed to go.

As he began his journey to that blinding light, back to the reality he wished to destroy, he felt some force pushing him back. His necklace. The Goddess of Death Jideva was still trying to claim him. 'Like hell.' He thought as he yanked the necklace off of his neck and threw it into the abyss.

This final act of defiance didn't miff Jideva though. As she watched her disciple fight against her clutches, she felt nothing but pure intrigue. She wanted to study the new life he had forged for himself. So instead of trying to stop him, she set the framework for his new adventure.

She gave her blessings as Devon pushed himself into the new life. A purple energy traveled from her metaphorical space to where he was, seconds (or whatever counted as seconds here) before he returned to the world of the living.

This energy was the greatest spell known to even the gods. The SSS rank spell, corruption.

'Let's see how many mortals you can conquer, how many fates you can create that are similar to your own. Let's see if you conquer my power and become a transcendent force amongst not just the beasts, but us divines. Or will you fall to my spell, as the corruption finally takes over and turns you into a mindless puppet?'

Jideva's curiosity reverberated amongst all the souls in the in-between place before she absorbed them all with a burst of shrewd laughter.

...

Today was the day! The great Lord Shuzen Gafka would finally have his first heir. Servants bustled around, knocking each other in their haste to aid in the delivery of the baby. Lady Sasha's screams rang through the hall as the legendary baby was being born.

"Hurry! She has come to term!"

"How long ago did the water break!"

"Pay no mind to that you scoundrel! The great God Isces has given us this wondrous gift!"

"What does that silly goblin god of life have to do with this? The baby is human, it follows human gods!"

"Never mind your pathetic religious squabbles you 2! Come, hurry! The baby is making its entrance into the world!"

"I can't wait to have a little man to care for!"

"I can't wait to teach him my tricks."

"You mean pranks, you evil man!"

The servants' little quarrel came to a sudden stop as they entered the Lady's quarters. The midwife had already ushered the baby into the world. The servants were too slow to witness that miracle firsthand, but they intended to make up for it.

Showering the baby with praise, they once again tripped over each other in their efforts to provide some form of assistance. 2 of them fought over towels and blankets, and others pushed in front of each other trying to give their Lady some refreshments. An old man, potentially the one who was looking to turn the young master into a trickster, simply stood back and surveyed the chaos.

After a few bellows from the midwife, "Hey, easy! There's a newborn here!" The servants had finally reached at least some modicum of calmness. The man, knowing that he finally had an opening, made his way to the Lady before taking a seat next to her. The midwife was going to protest, but when he offered the Lady his hand she promptly squeezed it, shutting the midwife up.

With a soft smile decorating her delicate lips, the Lady mumbled, "Old Ty. I trust that you decided to behave just this once?"

He returned his own smile, saying, "But of course. For the most part."

Turning her eyes away from him to stare at the ceiling, she laughed as she said, "Yeah, that tracks. Just make sure your little games don't affect me. Or Shuzen. He's going to return from his hunt soon, remember? I want little Khazi to have a good first impression of his father."

The man solemnly nodded his head as he said, "But of course."

The Lady reached for her newborn. After a second of hesitance, the midwife obliged and handed her child to her. Cradling Khazi in her arms, she marveled at his beautiful red eyes.

Just a few miles away, one of the elven servant families was celebrating their own new addition. A simple, plain mother cradled her baby she had given birth to herself. She cried, wishing that her husband, his father, was here. Her only comfort was this little bundle of tears she held.

Wrapping a purple necklace around his neck, she whispered, "I'll never let you leave me, Kai. I'll never let anything hurt you."

Kai (Devon) stopped crying for a second, instead giving a soft baby giggle. His mom joined with her own laughter, brushing her eyes against her bloodstained tunic to wipe away her tears.