Part 1: ReStart

I was expecting death.

As I felt the infinite black void envelope me– my body felt light. My senses dull; vision, sight, sensensation and smell.

Please no more.

Suddenly a flash of light washed over me, like a bunch of waves bringing back what was lost– the feeling of a cold breeze touching my skin, the hard concrete aching against my back.

Oh, the feeling of being alive is like no other but how?

In the guise of lifting myself off the ground– I found myself beside some burning buildings and rubble. The scene before was familiar but I couldn't quite recall why.

Yuki and Korihiri were nowhere to be found– and then it hit me like a brick. This place is where I first arrived in this world two years ago.

I checked my body and realized there was no puncture in my chest. 

Remembering the broken mirror, I turned to my left, where it was in front of me.

"Oh my God."

I stared at my reflection, which revealed that I had become two years younger.

Had Astral sent me back? Could my death have been the catalyst?

My life had transformed into something which I could have never imagined.

Walking down the familiar path from my past life, I reached the hill where I had first encountered Haruto. My heart raced as I scanned the area. There was no sign of Haruto anywhere, and the pile of bodies that had once littered the ground was gone.

"No, no, no," I muttered to myself. This couldn't possibly be happening. Had I arrived too early? While lost in thought, a group of individuals suddenly rushed towards me. Initially surprised, I quickly regained my composure and stood my ground.

"We have a strong one here, don't we, boss?" one of the underlings commented.

As they chatted, it dawned on me that these were the same people Haruto had defeated in my previous life. With him absent, these gangs seemed to roam freely now.

I chuckled to myself, realizing that he might not have been as useless as I once thought.

They all charged me simultaneously, but I dispatched them with ease. A little too easy– as if my strength has doubled. Even though I knew I didn't have the capability to wield Igma.

After a few decisive strikes, I had wiped them all out. As I cleaned my fists from their blood, I realized that stage 2 of Igma had not yet dawned on Earth. As I scanned the surrounding area, there was nothing but me and the lifeless bodies.

No Lucien or Haruto in sight. This was becoming increasingly intriguing. I decided to continue my journey towards the small town that Lucien had previously guided me to.

After hours of walking, I reached a place dominated by gangs. There was no sign of a town, markets, or inns.

Just some rogue gangs…

My mind raced as I tried to make sense of the situation. The absence of the town and any sign of Lucien or his sister was deeply troubling. It felt like something had gone terribly wrong, and I couldn't help but fear that this could be the worst-case scenario.

As the days went by, I came to fully realize my situation. That is, there is no ally to be found, only some thugs. The once mighty Aurelium had never even begun. 

What a messed up story that is. 

As I pondered about my doubtful situation. I picked up a voice behind me, and as I turned around, it was Astral smiling as if she knew this would happen.

"What do you want?" I said as if things couldn't get worse.

"Lighten up, would you? You are not the only one who has made this mistake."

I froze as I heard her say those words; "I'm not the only one?"

"You're not the first person who has experienced this, is what I mean."

"So this is like a game to you," I confronted.

"Yes, exactly. I want you to be my toy. A person entertaining me but of course I don't want my toy to die so fast either, so to keep it interesting I'll say this. Haruto does not exist any longer and his existence played a crucial role, in what Lucien is and was going to be. My advice is to get the hell out of here and go to the kingdom of Kogasha and take shelter there so you can finally start up your power, after all. You don't follow the stages of Igma. You are not from here after all. Or did you somehow make yourself forget that?"

"After all, connecting to somebody does not mean trying to fit in with them, so stop trying to act like you can use Igma. It won't help anybody, and neither will it benefit you."

With that, Astral vanished into thin air, and time continued into its normal passage.

I always knew that something was wrong but I was too scared to confront it myself and now that Astral told this straight to my face, I now realized my mistakes have caught up to me in the most heinous way.

If only I had listened to that fit of rage I had from two years ago.

Why did Astral choose me from all the other people? How was I so special?

After some thinking, I finally began my long journey toward the Kingdom of Kogasha, or soon-to-be.