He woke up enveloped by tranquil silence. Everything seemed so calm that it was almost eerie. At first he could not move nor process his surroundings; his mental and spiritual fatigue were still far too severe for that. What felt both like an eternity and an instant to his half consious self passed, but he eventually fully awoke, recovered from his previous grievous wounds.

A glowing message appeared in the corner of his eyes as soon as he opened them. A gentle mental nodge was enough to cause a sting of messages to spring forth.

[10 Unread messages]

[612 days ago, condition *Sacrificed for the Crown* fulfilled, awarding title *Martyr to the Crown*, title already owned, increasing effect multiplier by 0.00, current multiplier 10.0]

[314,984 days ago, beginning transference to *Hell*]

[109,457 days ago, transference successful]

[109,457 days ago, all conditions met; automatically activating skill *Requiem*]

[109,457 days ago, Killed 2,598 creatures; unable to receive essence because race=*sentient soul*]

[109,457 days ago, Unable to receive titles because race=*sentient soul*]

[83,951 days ago, Killed a creature; unable to receive essence because race=*sentient soul*]

[51,478 days ago, Killed a creature; unable to receive essence because race=*sentient soul*]

[10,120 days ago, Killed a creature; unable to receive essence because race=*sentient soul*]

[158 days ago, Killed a creature; unable to receive essence because race=*sentient soul*]

[Showing current status]

[Action impossible because race=*sentient soul*]

He observed his surroundings; around him was a gargantuan crater shaped as though a meteorite struck the ground. The ground beneath his feat was blue and glittering, yet that glow grew much dimmer the further from the middle he looked. He couldn't quite see the land beyond the edge of the crater, but the things above were revealed to him in their full beauty. Countless tongues of living hell fire were reaching high into the pristine white sky which hosted countless suns, charring the entire realm beneath.

He stood up without any difficulty and observed his ghastly form; his body was featureless and transparent; he wore no clothes, yet at the same time no signs of a gender were present. He looked much like any other soul without a body, something this entire realm was overflowing with.

As he climbed over the edge of the crater before him appeared a blazing inferno; hundred suns scorched the ground, which melted and burned beneath the unbearable heat. Black smoke churned from the flames while the liquid ground shifted like a sea. To him it was a familiar and pleasant sight.

He stepped on the unstill ground, but he did not sink even slightly. He felt no heat from his feet, only pleasant warmth. Soon enough he noticed multiple other transparent bodies standing on top of an unmelted stone platform in the distance. Hell was a realm of rest and damnation. That meant that only bodiless souls could ‘live’ in this place. It was not the only such place, but Hell was special among them.

As he stepped throughout the shifting inferno the souls in the distance also seemed to notice him and hurriedly started walking towards him, when they approached it was easy to see that their features were very vague: Their faces were blurred, their bodies were monotone without hair and minor details like knuckles or nails were absent. They were in front of him in few moments, but when they saw him from such a close distance they all noticeably trembled. Eventually the one with the most detailed features spoke, barely stopping himself from stuttering.

“My lord, the appointed king of Hell, lord Inferos, has sincerely invited you to his palace. There is a carriage already prepared to depart.”

“Lead the way.” This was a completely routine trip; after each time he sacrificed himself he would come here for his brief rest. He had signed a contract with the king of Hell many millennia ago which would allow him to reincarnate after a suitable vessel was found for him.

Few formalities later and he was sitting inside a beautifully ornamented horseless carriage. That is, beautifully by the mortal standards; he personally disliked the intricate designs carved into the gold-like metal. It would not be difficult to just run straight to the palace in few moments, but he was not in a hurry; he expected to spend a long time this time around. Instead he decided to kill some time by musing the emissary that had seated himself opposite to him. The other few denizens were sitting on the roof or next to the driver. Just a single glance at the emissary told him there would be a conversation.

“I hope lord doesn't mind me asking, but why did a lord such as yourself arrive in our distopia?” the emissary eventually really spoke while awkwardly shifting on his seat.

“Why do you think I am not local?” They always asked the same questions and he did likewise. Sometimes their answers were entertaining.

“Because lord is clearly as powerful as the greater nobles, yet doesn't have their mannerisms and pride.” A common and boring answer unfortunately.

“Why do you think I arrived?” He asked another old question, at this point no longer hoping for much amusement.

“Considering everything I believe that lord was summoned by king Inferos to help him deal with the fallout of the recent rebellion.” The emissary stated with clearly artificial discomfort.

The word rebellion renewed his attention. It was almost flabbergasting that there was anyone in hell stupid enough to rebel against Inferos. Not only did Inferos have a hefty amount of power within, but he also had firm support of the duke houses. Something tremendous must had shaken Hell to the core if there was anyone willing to rebel. The idea of the dukes rebelling never even crossed his mind; only those completely unaware of his existence would dare even think about defying the order of hell.

“I wonder how it even began; I have just arrived and don't know much.” It was likely wiser to pretent he was not utterly unaware.

“It was about 10,000 days ago, my lord, on an annual meeting among the ten ancient Duke houses. One of the countless suns above our heads fell down directly onto their meeting place resulting in forceful reincarnation of half the houses’ heads and elders.” The emissary described while looking down on the floor.

An empyrian fell to Hell? That was curious. And rare, so rare that it might not be a coincidence. An empyrian would only ever descend exactly on the moment of his death; not sooner, not later. And empyrians had nigh infinite lifespan. To an ignorant mongrel it might look like a sun descending, but it was in reality the empyrian who descended; the star merely followed. A star was a home of an empyrian; the light giving giants might appear unfathomable at first, but it was the being within which granted them that fantastical power. Upon death of the being within, the star would significantly shrink before following their occupant in their doom, but the amount of power that was contained would not change.

“And the younger houses wanting to a bite of their status and power took the opportunity to start a rebellion in an attempt to reorganise the powers in Hell,” he took a guess based on the information he already had. Not many other options seemed feasable in his mind.

“Yes, exactly,” The emissary nodded in affirmation “ever since then chaos began. Soon enough it became a full blown civil war; the younger generation is trying to overthrow Inferos while the remaining old nobles stubbornly refuse to cave in. All of that despite some of the duke houses already being eradicated and replaced by the rebellion.”

“That must have had enormous impact on the cycle of reincarnation,” he raised an eyebrow; such a thing would attract unwanted attention and make things generally more troublesome.

“not that much actually; we don't want outsiders interfering with this so both sides made an agreement that those defeated will be reincarnated instead of erased. I am surprised you are even aware of the cycle”

I was there when it was created. He thought, although didn't say it out loud. Few people dared speak freely when he revealed his identity and the minority which did were hopeless fools. After a short period of silence the emissary spoke again.

“I was wondering who lord is; it is rare for anyone to willingly come here for any price, especially because of our kings reputation.” the emissary spoke again, sounding awkward.

“Reputation?” He asked with renewed curiosity while also avoiding the question about his identity. There now also was a well founded suspicion on what was going on in his mind and decided to play along for now.

“It is no secret that our king makes the process of reincarnating with one's soul and memories intact sound far easier than it actually is.” The emissary spoke out the least surprising argument. It was a safe guess to assume that anyone who willingly arrived in Hell was promised at the very least that much.

“That means?” He still played along, raising an eyebrow and generally pretending to be disturbed.

“After the contact is fulfilled Inferos would often attempt to find any sort of breach of the literal meaning of that contact; then he would use that as a loophole that allows him to secretly terminate it and stealthily reincarnate the person the normal way: by syphoning the soul until it reaches its nascent state.” The 'emissary' had a sparkle in his eyes as he far too passionately told these words

“A curious story. Especially considering you are supposed to be on the king's side.” He finally grinned, once again composed.

“Oh, you misunderstand. I am a servant to the king of Hell.” He said with slightly higher pitch that he probably inteded.

“Of course, but you believe that person to be someone else than Inferos.” The smile grew mocking while the 'emissary’ became grim. After giving up any further pretence he spoke.

“Inferos is an unworthy tyrant. He doesn't care about anyone lesser than himself, murdering entire cities at a time if he doesn't have enough volunteers to meet his reincarnation quota. There are some who welcome their end, but most of us do not. We had all already died once, expecting that there might be nothing beyond. The we found ourselves here. And now we are in the same situation, but this time know for a fact that we will lose everything we are this time around.” His voice was much lower than before, attempting to appear grim.

“And the rebellion believes that everything will change if he is overthrown?” He raised an eyebrow again, finding this situation rather ridiculous.

“Yes, of course, we would not be doing something like this otherwise. I wonder if you are willing to join us after hearing all this,” the emissary's eyebrows, nose and mouth all rose as he stated this. His persuation was unfortunately founded on the assumption that he would be insecure about his reincarnation.

“I do have one last question.”

“Ask away.” the ambassador almost smugly smiled.

“Do you honestly believe that drivel?” he frowned

“Why wouldn't I?” The emissary's face grew dark once again when he heard that.

“It is beyond obvious that the nobility of Hell would never care for a stranded soul or a million. Why would they do something as dangerous if not purely too steal away Inferos’ power? So I repeat my last question, are you the one manipulating or the one being manipulated?”

“I admit you are far smarter than most of the stranded souls I encounter, but in this case you're too smart for your own good. There is an entire army stationed near here; they had already started to surround us a while ago. Let me offer you a deal. You will sign a contract to not spread chaos among our troops and to fight for our cause or you will be erased here; not just reincarnated, but removed forever. I can clearly see you are powerful, but few can face an entire army by themselves.” He claimed, this time fully smug.

“Hahaha” a ridiculing laughter was the only answer. In the end the trip turned out to be mildly entertaining.

“What is so funny?” The emissary's said, spark flickered in his eyes as he frowned.

“Even Abaxxoth himself does not dare to make threats in front of me. If the emperor of the void dares not, what gives a little stranded soul such courage?” He said and let loose his presence.

In a realm of souls only one thing mattered when it came to power: the might of the soul. In the entire universe there was currently likely only one person who could compare with him in that. The result was almost hilarious as the emissary began to visibly deflate under the pressure, just like a popped balloon.

“There is a reason why the old greedy bastards from the noble families never dared to attempt grabbing a bigger piece of the cake. Inferos remains the king and ruler of Hell exactly as long as I desire him to; not a moment less, not a moment more. Thinking you can change that is the peak of hubris.” Before the emissary could retort he vanished. There was no sound, no wave of energy, no anything. He simply ceased to exist. The same applied to his entourage, including the driver.

The carriage came to a gradual stop and he stepped back into the blazing inferno; this time he even saw a few molten hills. He felt that there was indeed an entire army encircling him, but that was by no means a problem. It was not difficult to deduce that someone got his hands on the information that Inferos expected an honoured guest to arrive through the large crater, and when the leaders of the rebellion heard those news they made up their minds about not letting him arrive at the court.

In the ended it was a futile attempt, but their dedication was almost commendable. He momentarily pondered whether he should slaughter the entire army or just bypass them. In the end the latter was the better option; he did not yet know what the intentions of his friend were. Perhaps this rebellion could be settled peacefully, or at least in a way that would not put a stain on his long relationship with Inferos.

He could now already see groups of soldiers in the distance. A breeze of power covered his legs, and he took a step forward. The scenery around him utterly changed in an instant, molten magma exploded under the impact of his feet and there were no longer any signs of the army around him.

He took another step, and once again as magma exploded; the scenery instantly shifted. He took five more steps before something appeared on the horizon: it was the top of a tower. It was not possible to see the bottom, but judging by the distance the thing was at least a 200 meters tall. He took another step and appeared right at its base. This time he was not greeted by an explosion of melted rock, but instead by a cracking of a solid stone road.

Before him was a large castle complex with a humongous tower right in the middle. It was almost three millennia since he has last been here and he felt slightly nostalgic even though he spent most of that time either unconscious or mindless.

“Hey, who are you?” A startled guard yelled at him from behind; his features were almost invisible.

“An honoured guest,” He spoke truthfully and turned around. The guard who was about to shout something more swallowed his words and suddenly started stuttering.

“I-I see, does lord need a guide?” the guard said with a tremble.

“I know the way,” he said before turning away from the guard, heading directly for the largest gate in sight. The guard just stood frozen in place by terror and stupor. After a while he realized that he forgot to mention something important, but by then he was already way out of earshot.

The gate opened by itself when he reached it as the magic inside recognised his soul. There were guards who wanted to stop him, but when they saw him from up close they rather swallowed their words. They would probably look scared if their features were distinct enough to portray emotions.

As he swaggered through the castle he met no opposition whatsoever. At least until just before he reached his destination. Eventually he approached an ornamented gate guarded by at least dozen souls. Not only were they much better equipped, they also had much more distinct features.

“Halt! Who are you?” one of them spoke, visibly frowning.

“An honoured guest,” He answered the same way as before while staying composed.

“His majesty is in an audience with his remaining loyal noble subjects; you are not welcome to interfere at this moment.” the frown deepened as the guard spoke again.

“I am always welcome. I was welcome on the day this castle was built and I will be on the day it crumbles. Now hush.” He waved his hand and all the guards were instantly frozen in place, utterly unable to even put up any resistance.

“You are trespassing and attacking members of the royal guard; you will not get away with this!” The same guard screamed, his eyes going wild.

“Being overzealous is not a good quality youngster.” He advised as he passed them and pushed the throne room door open. Inside was a noisy gathering of at least hundred souls. Each and every one of them had distinct features, hair and even small details like nails or knuckles. Each one of them had thin invisible strings attached to them, droplets of power passing through them.

But the most distinct was a man sitting atop his throne. His features were so detailed they could only be told apart from an actual living person by his transparency. He looked mostly human, but there was one significant anomaly: a white glowing gem inside his forehead. The invisible strings attached to him were at least as numerous as those of everyone else in the room combined.

His expression was without emotion, but when he noticed the newcomer he stood up and slightly smiled. It was the same smile he gave to the mindless puppet of the Crown whe he looked down at him from the Spire. He was without a doubt the king of Hell, Inferos.

The disturbance also attracted all gazes within the room; when they saw him about half of them froze while the rest of them became angry. One of those who apparently did not recognise his face scoffed at him.

“Who do you think you are to trespass on this place?” A frown appeared on the speaker's face.

“It is good to see all of you again,” he ignored that person and instead spoke to everyone present with a slight smile “I see that there are many new faces among you; it appears that there are various currents shifting in Hell.”

“Yes, the current situation is rather troubling,” spoke Inferos “but it is not nearly out of control. However, there is one thing everyone is neglecting,” He spoke calmly at first, but then he deeply frowned and shouted the following words: “You are in the presence of the son of the first flame and of the aspect of light, Ignis Lumen himself! Why are any of you still standing!” after those words he himself gave a deep bow, albeit not kneeling.

Some souls in the room were at first surprised, then shocked and finally terrified as they processed the implications and knelt down, almost kowtowing. There were also those who still had distant memories from over 3,000 years ago and those words from their king were all they needed to immediately bend the knee.

“You can stand up, I am not much for formality, I had enough of it over the many years of eternity.” The man himself spoke. He felt slightly awkward whenever people reacted so strongly to his name; it was not fully his afterall. Ignis was the name of his late father, the first forming flame and the progenitor of existence, and Lumen was the name of his late mother, the aspect of light and the mother of empyrians. He simply inherited their names.

“I assume you are already working on that thing Inferos.” Ignis Lumen looked at his old friend

“Of course,” Inferos straightened his back “we are already looking for a vessel for your reincarnation, although you missed a suitable one just few years ago.”

“That's fine: I am looking for a perfect one this time around. Anyway, we should move on. I am rather curious why is the revolution still ongoing.”

“Because of you arriving, of course. Since I knew long before the whole fiasco of one of my former kin taking half of my supporters down with him, I did not want to inflict too much damage to Hell by launching an all out assault,” clearly implying how he wanted to solve it.

“We have a contract; I will do whatever you want me to within its wording,” Ignis Lumen smiled slightly.

“Yes, I am aware; even you cannot breach a contract written with the blood of Ignis. But no need to worry; you can most likely get this over with very quickly.” He said those words as a warning to those present rather than to Ignis Lumen himself.

“Just tell me what you want me to do,” his expression once again became serious.

“Oh, that is quite simple. You see, for the longest time the rebel forces are demanding a single guardless person of high status to become an ambassador.” Inferos made a slight smug grin.