What are the odds of me dying so soon?

As soon as the announcement ended, I was under attack. Since I had no weapon, I had to face Pekra in close combat. He couldn’t risk me catching or taking his spear from the him so he didn’t throw it and opted for mid-range attacks. I was dodging several spears-that is, he moved the spear fast enough to create an illusion where he was thrusting multiple spears at once-by a hair’s breadth too soon in the fight. His speed made it impossible to withdraw to plan so any ideas I had, were put on standby.

Dammit! Is he getting faster? Luckily his blade wasn’t poisoned or else I’d be long dead by now. I keep getting cut and evasion is looking impossible. One wrong move here and I’m done. How is he so fast? Is it a skill or magic?

As I ducked under the approaching spear, I received a kick in the stomach that sent me reeling.

Gleergh-I vomited up some blood as I hit the ground hard. I barely had time to feel the pain when the spear came at me again. I tried rolling over to the left but was stabbed in my right thigh.

“Aaaah! Holy-aargh! My leg’s on FIRE!!”

Using magic, Pekra poured scorching hot flames into my leg. The scent of burning skin was only tolerable because of the immense pain he was inflicting on me.

I feel like screaming…but I can’t. I feel like fainting…but I can’t. I want it to stop…but I don’t. I don’t want to die, I want to fight, I want to kill him.

“Let gooo…”

Who’s that? Where are you?

“Let go boyyy…”

Are you death? Why is everything black? Who is there? What is there? Who’s tapping me?

“Masayuki…let go Masayuki…”

Okayy…wait, okay? This is fine…no its not, I have to end this fight quickly.

I pulled myself back to reality with the intention of killing Pekra. He saw me waking up from my trance and pulled his spear out of my leg. Seeing the chance, I shot up on my left leg to seize his spear. He side stepped to his right, evading my attempt, then stabbed me in the back, once again releasing flames into me. He pulled me back, launched me into the air with a powerful kick then threw his spear into my heart. I would have been in awe of his accuracy, if not for the fact that I was his opponent.

I landed on my back with a thud, that was it. I couldn’t move.

Game over.

I died.

………………

…………

……

“Masayuki is going to fight now, Hana. What do you think will happen?”

“Oh, he’ll die.”

“Wait, what?”

“Aha ha ha ha ha, even you know it’s futile to oppose my brother.” Petra intruded.

“Petra, right? Yeah, well I did say he’ll die, but I never said he’ll lose.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Do you think he’ll destroy himself along with my brother? Ridi-”

“So as I was saying…”

“Hey! I know you can hea-”

“…Masayuki will die, but he’ll win and come back alive. That’s what he said anyway.”

“Hm? And why do you believe in him so much, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Umu, you’re that girl he said he felt a connection with, what was your name again?”

Connection huh? Yeah, I do feel a sense of familiarity with him.

“…Yume”

“Yeah, whatever, I believe in him because he never lies… also because it was written in his da-”

“Hana!”

“-oh! Sorry Aoyama, I forgot.”

“His what?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all.”

“Sure, whatever, it’s probably something stupid.”

There’s definitely something there but I can’t make it obvious that I’m interested. This all depends on whether that guy can beat the odds stacked against him.

“Competitors in the ring!”

Why the hell isn’t she screaming like she did during my match? Or she announced it the same but magic?

“Begin trial!”

“Whoa, that guy is really fast.”

“You are…?”

Yume asked the girl Kell brought along, now noticing her existence. The girl in question had long blonde hair with curls on the sides, yellow eyes and a small scar on her right cheek. She looked half asleep, mostly because she was asleep during Kell’s battle.

“Hum…? Ohh I’m, umu, I’m…ugh, what was my name again?”

Seriously? Okay, she must be pulling my leg. She looks like she just woke up so maybe she was asleep when I killed her…brother? What is their relationship anyway?

“Ah! That’s right, my name is Elsie. Elsie… yeah, that’s all I got.”

“Sure, your brother or whatever is dead though.”

“First of all, he’s not my brother. And second, I know. I saw you kill him, that was funny. Haven’t you guys noticed yet?”

“…Noticed wha-”

Before she could ask, Elsie pointed her finger at the fight going on in the dome. It was a horrific scene.

As Yume turned toward the fight, she saw Masayuki with a spear in his leg with flames pouring in. She couldn’t smell the smoke or the burning either so she figured the barrier blocked out scents. She looked at Masayuki’s friends who both had calm expressions on their faces, perhaps they wanted him to die, perhaps they didn’t care, perhaps they thought Masayuki could win even then, either way they wore calm expressions and watched the fight.

“Is that magic?! Hey Six, I thought we couldn’t use magic during the trial!”

“That is correct, you can’t use magic because you have none…yet. Plus, your levels are too low to cast any magic.”

“I’m guessing that guy is high level, I noticed him training his body since we woke up.” Elsie said.

“That is right, my brother is a bea-”

“Yes, you see, he has the {Natural Talent} skill which allows him to gain experience points by training his body. He must have been given the [Evaluate Self] command by his parent somehow, used it early on and gone up a few levels.”

“You know, I’m not even going to try any-”

“How many levels are we talking?”

“That’s a good question, in your eyes at least. It’s below me to answer such a stupid question, Six, answer the girl.”

Thwack-“Four, and although that may sound neglectible, it’s a huge gap between normal fighters. Masayuki will be hard pressed to win this fight.”

“Hey you there, watch my brother kill your friend with ease. Burn that into your memory so you never try to oppose us. Ahahahaha!”

At that moment, Pekra had launched Masayuki into the air and thrown the spear into his chest as he fell. Masayuki still had that arrogant smile his friends knew all too well. The smile he had when things were guaranteed to go his way.

“Against any other person…” Six started, “Pekra would have won by a landslide, but against Masayuki, sadly, it won’t play out the same way.”

“Huh?! What do you mean? My brother’s victory is clear is it not?”

“You won’t remember this conversation anyway so I won’t bother explaining now.”

“Wha--?”

………………

…………

……

The world seemed to slow down. In the air, falling with a spear in his chest and blood all around, was me with a smile on my face. I seemed to be about 13 meters above ground gradually descending, vomiting blood. We were on a large deserted terrain. On the ground was Pekra, the obviously strong nut case who never speaks. He wore no expression on his face so I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Sometime during the fight, he knocked my mask off with a kick I barely saw coming. There was a purpose for facing him straight on of course, and he obliged my request perfectly.

I thought I wouldn’t feel any pain, but death is a real thing even against my power. Ugh, too late…my life is flashing before my eyes…I’m fading…

EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO…

In an apartment building somewhere in Saitama…

“Huh, where am I? I don’t recognize this place, where was I a few minutes ago…? Ah! I can’t remember anything.”

“Hiro!”

Hearing a familiar voice, I ran into the left hallway the entered the last room down the corridor. I was surprised, happy, confused and felt other emotions all at once when I found my dad sitting in his signature lounge chair--indoors.

“Dad?!”

“Hey kid.”

I rushed forward to hug him as he got up but I passed right through him and fell face first on the ground. He turned toward me with the same smile he had on when he pranked me.

“Hahahaha, I didn’t tell you I’m real. I’m just a memory I locked recorded and locked away to keep you safe for the trials. Hahahaha, you should have seen your face, hilarious!”

“Same old dad…wait--”

At that point, I had many questions but I forgot them at the same time. That’s when I noticed a baby me asleep in a crib in the corner of the room.

“—what?”

“Well, you’ve noticed that I know a lot about what’s going on. I’m going to take it upon myself to explain. First thing’s first, you are a fresh born child right now. You never even saw your mother’s face before we were pulled from my world—which by the way, you’re currently in. You can’t ask me or talk to me because, as I said before, I’m a recording. Well, there is too much to say and time is limited so I’ll drop in a major piece of info on you now; there are eight memories locked in your mind, including this one of course.”

Why does he look so smug every time he rambles on and on? Eight memories…whoa… I feel weird…

“Okay, that’s enough of that. Now introduction to the ‘Pride Dorm’. My own part of you. I recorded this for many reasons but you’ll have to die later to get stuck here again. As I used to tell you--”

He turned to face the baby me.

“—or I will tell you, I’m a demon. The thing is, we demons have one rule or binding, like our angel counterparts but slightly different. Demons cannot…most demons cannot lie. I say most because the originals can but a few of them choose not to. I am the Original Demon Pride. I know what you’re thinking…literally, hahaha…oh. Yeah. Right. Well, I know what you’re thinking and the answer is simple, you can’t remember anything including questions you’re thinking of asking me right?”

When he asked, I instinctively nodded a ‘yes’. He waited a few seconds then replied.

“Well, your memories are all jammed here so you can’t think at all. You forget everything while you’re in here, including everything I say, but-!”

He exclaimed suddenly, almost making me trip.

“—Fret not! I have many plans. You remember anything and everything once you’re alive again.”

Alive again? Oh yeahh, I was doing something but died but something about a {Persistence} skill or something…just forgot it.

“My time’s running out so here this; most of your power is locked under several layers. I’ll be unlocking your complete demon power now but your other powers will be unlocked by you.”

I felt an incredible headache. My head was pounding and my dad was fading. It felt like I was being pulled by an invisible source from the room but I want to hear what my dad was saying so I ignored it to the best of my ability.

“Around this time you should have been pulled out already but, you are my son so I have no dou--.”

“Aaaah! Hurry up you--!”

“Oh! Right! Your locked weapon is in the box. To open it, you need your mother’s blood and mine…”

The room began crumbling around us. I got swept off my feet by the dragging force and was holding on to the door edges to stay in the room.

“Your mother goes by Zeros or Shizu, I’m an Original Demon so I’m most likely revived somewhere in the world. Finding me will be tough so good lu--”

The walls caved in on him and I was pulled back to reality forcefully.

Four minutes ago…

“Huh?”

I’m alive again, or I never died? Strong sense of déjà vu here. Did all that really happen? I feel sick but great at the same time. Dad? I saw dad right? Whoa!

As I looked around, I saw Pekra lying on the ground unconscious with his spear in hand. My body was coated by a dark energy which felt warm to the touch. It barely hovered above my skin. It was close enough to follow my movements like a glove, and far enough to not touch my skin—about 2 millimeters apart.

The blast of energy surrounding me must have blown him away. Whoa, my leg is healed, don’t even feel any pain. That’s awesome. I should capitalize on this chance.

I ran toward Pekra, who was still unconscious on the ground and took his spear. I shook him with my foot to wake him then plunged my—technically his—spear into his leg. I was expecting to find a scared look on his face but he looked more surprised than anything.

“Why are you so surprised? Don’t you realize you’re about to die?”

At the question, he smiled at me and nodded.

“Are you dumb? Ugh… doesn’t matter anyway, but before you die I have a question for you. Can’t you speak?”

He looked at me with a quizzical expression. Maybe he expected a better question, or he wanted me to say a bad ass line, in that moment all I thought was…

Is it because I asked, ‘are you dumb’ then later asked whether he can speak? Meh, I’ll just kill him now.

I plunged the sword into his chest, then withdrew the spear after he bled out for some time. He had the same idea I had when I was in his position so the moment he lunged forward on his good leg, I side stepped him and stabbed him clean through his head.

“THE TRIALS ARE OVER, WINNER OF THE FINAL TRIAL…THAT BOY!”

The moment Pekra’s body dropped, I heard Six announce the trials’ completion.

Why didn’t I hear her announcement when I died the first time? What’s up with the ‘that boy’? Sigh, problems for later I guess.

Five and six descended gracefully to the ground in front of me. The moment their feet touched the ground, the barrier broke. I ran toward where I knew Hana would fall and caught her in the nick of time. With the exception of Yume and Elsie, all the others fell in painful positions.

“Ooooww”

“Ooohhh”

“Son of a--!”

“Whoa there!”

“Huh?”

Hana thanked me then immediately proceeded to scolding Aoyama for ‘almost swearing’ in front of her. I looked around to find Petra over her brother’s body, checking for a pulse. She had no remorse in her eyes though so I was puzzled. Noticing my confused look, Yume replied.

“You should have seen her face when you blasted him away, it was priceless hahaha.”

“Hehe, yeah it must have been.”

“I can’t believe you died though…”

“Hmm, yes, your power gives you access to certain time based abilities, of course you’ll notice it.”

“Yeah, no duh!”

“Silence!”

“Sigh, thank you Five.”

“No problem, take the stage Six.”

“Sigh…anyway, you have completed the trials today so now you may receive your ultimate quest.”

“Ultimate quest?! They just fought to the death agai--”

“Aoyama be quiet!” Hana quickly hushed him.

“Sigh…I’m getting rather bored with you. The next interruption dies!”

Her eyes narrowed on us, no one dared move lest lose their lives. I had already used my trump card for the day, {Persistence}—Once a day, the skill allows one to resurrect to 4 minutes before death.

“The ultimate quest given to all summoned ones is to save Seven, the seventh True God. He is currently imprisoned in the True Void and needs to be freed.”

A True God needs our help? Imprisoned? How could we beat whoever beat a True God? He is seven so was it another numbered god?

Six turned to face me as she continued.

“The key to the True Void is with The Last First. He has been stripped of most of his power and resides in the Banished Lands. We cannot kill other True Gods so we summoned fighters like you to kill him. You have True Divine Protection from his godly power but he could still kill you so be warned.”

“You don’t have to risk your lives to kill him though. You could choose to live a normal life, or rule the world, perhaps even become gods yourselves. Rule over your own nations as kings and queens? Anything is possible. You could live your lives without ever stepping foot in the Banished Lands.”

“Whoever does manage to save Seven, with or without killing The Last First in the process, will get one wish. That one wish could give you anything you desire; your own universe, planet or even a single lowly car. Infinite mana reserves, anything you want.”

That sounds too good to be true. There must be a catch.

“Any questions?”

“I have two.” (Yume)

“I have a few too.”(Elsie)

“I have one.”(Masayuki…, wait, that’s me. Umu…ignore that. Crap!)

“You there, Yume, ask yours.”

“Why don’t you guys just open the prison yourselves? You said True Gods can’t kill other True Gods, so…just work together to overpower that last guy and take the key if you can’t just break the prison with your combined power.”

“Well, we cannot interfere with Seven’s bet. A human was supposed to free Seven, thus your existences. Next question.”

“You just said a human had to rescue Seven, but you also said that we are half human. What’s the reason?”

“A normal human cannot receive the full benefits of the protection, and since most humans are too lazy to commit to the level of training required, we chose mixed races. Next question.”

“Next is mine. I have only one question now, are we full humans? We the tag-alongs I mean.”

“Very perceptive, no normal human can traverse worlds so every single one of you has the blood of other races within you. To answer the next obvious question, you weren’t summoned because your human genes are too much when comparing race balance. Also, your parents must have known about each other, one way or another, and set you up to be friends or in your case, fiancés. Final question.”

“Where is…”

I couldn’t decide whether to find my mom first or my dad.

After thinking it over a lot, I settled on my dad. I figured he’d be able to help me find mom if I found him. Even if he couldn’t, he told me finding him would be difficult so it made sense.

“Pride. Where is Pride?”

When I asked my question, Five and Six both looked surprised for a brief moment. Hana and Aoyama were used to me asking strange questions so they remained neutral. The others, with the exception of Petra, looked surprised as well.

“Hm! That one’s your father?”

“Pride, as in the Demon Progenitor Pride?”

“Yes.”

“No need thinking too much on it, you’ll find that one in the Holy Kingdom Derunbel.”

“We’re done with you. You each have a gold coin in your right pockets, go nuts.”

“Wait! What about me?!”

Everyone turned their attention to Petra, then to me.

“I know exactly what to do to you…