Past Life

The red glow climbed along his neck at a snail's pace.

'As I thought. Nothing of use.'

Hikaru's flashback was meaningless.

It grew beyond the ears and isn't stopping for anything.

It greedily consumed every square centimetre of his shadow body. Enveloping it in red light, overwriting his very identity.

'Nothing… I don't feel anything. Not then, not now.'

The light reached the top of Hikaru's head.

The last piece felt like an eternity for the controller.

'What?'

Hikaru just saw a glimpse of light that went past.

"So, you have a soul after all." The parasite said sounding surprised.

It chased after the ball of light in the soul's corridor.

'A soul? Is that real after all?' He thought.

For the first time, he felt a feeling of dread gnawing at his chest.

The ball of light was dancing left and right, disappearing into the dark and appearing from another corner.

The slime with its tentacles was flitting after it like a cat chasing a ball of string. The string being the streak of light tailing the ball across the air.

They were both moving very fast but eventually stopped as the slime held the ball of light in the air.

"!!!"

He felt like something was caught in his throat. It hurt…

The tentacles were gathering around the ball and smothering it.

"Stop…"

Only a streak of light was escaping the darkness and even that was about to be snuffed out.

"STOP IIIIIT!!!"

As if in response, the ball of light burst and started growing larger until everything was covered in white.

***

After killing the hero, Rowan sat on the throne in the castle of the Holy Light Kingdom. The shiny gold throne contrasted against his dark armour, making his purple and red armour very vivid.

The throne room was empty and vast. On the side of the walls were flags of all the nations that had united against the Dark Legion. The Holy Light Kingdom was the headquarters of the Great Alliance.

Rowan summoned a small whirlpool of revolving darkness on his finger and pointed it at the flags. A miniature version of a tier 7 magic spell called [Dark Maelstrom]. It was a complex spell. Even more difficult as the user shot out a tiny dark maelstrom from his finger, something that would take precision and mastery over magic control.

So difficult that nothing short of the gods or demi-gods could do. The Hero or Demon Lord could ascend to the demi-god level. As a demon lord, this was eating cake for Rowan.

The dark maelstrom was like a mini black hole. When it passed through the flags, the poles were snapped broken from the suction force.

It didn't end there.

As all demon lords were intimate with magic, they were basically a type of battle mage or dark magic knight. The dark maelstrom curved back and broke the poles of the flags on the opposite wall then dissipated into the air.

While some spells like the fireball could be controlled in mid-air, redirecting the dark maelstrom which doesn't possess that magic property, the same way is unheard of.

Also, even the fireball can only be controlled by a slight angle - 30 degrees at most. To break that limit is to break the natural law of magic, which only the demi-gods and gods who so often manipulate the natural law can do so.

Among the demon lord reincarnations, Rowan was the most powerful of all. Even the hero was killed, which had never happened before.

The heavy doors to the throne room were opened. There were no guards because every able combatant was currently invading the Holy Light Kingdom and preventing any interference to the battle of their demon lord and the hero.

One warrior walked inside on the red carpet. He looked to the fallen flags on the floor and then to a dead person wearing bright gold armour on the ground before the throne.

Ulric the hero was dead in a pool of his blood.

The warrior wearing a dark purple armour kneeled before Rowan.

"I congratulate you for your victory my lord."

"You bastard, are you trying to ruin my mood?" Rowan said coldly.

"Not at all my lord." The warrior said with an over-the-top sincerity and smirked.

Rowan smiled back.

When the warrior stood up, Rowan teleported to his side and casually rested his arm on his companion's shoulder. He looked at him and spoke.

"Supreme Commander of the Dark Legion and second in command to the empire of Demon Lord Rowan, Walter... Isn't it about time you get married?" Rowan asked.

Rowan and Walter talked about their plans after uniting the world. On a drunken night, Rowan was worried his friend was going to die a virgin. Walter said that it wasn't time for him to think of such things with the war going on between light and dark and said he would consider it after.

However, the war didn't last long, and he didn't expect Rowan would conclude it so smoothly.

"You jest. There are still a great number of forces to contend before Pangea is united."

40% of the world population were pockets of resistance including demi-human and heteromorph tribes and other small countries that chickened out of the war. However, since they weren't united, they pose little threat. Even if they did unite, their total military strength would be a small fraction of what was currently the Dark Legion despite losing numbers in the final battle.

"Excuses, excuses. We do not even need to join the battle. The war is over my friend. Come."

Rowan pointed his finger at the wall on his right.

A 5 by 5-metre square section of the wall was curved by an invisible force before falling over the castle. The outside is revealed.

He brought his trusted general and closest friend to the square window he had just made.

Overlooking from the castle there were many beautiful tall towers made of sandstone and white marble. The architecture of the Holy Light Kingdom was the best in the world. It was said that they created it in the image of the silver city in heaven.