"You really are a hard man to kill, my love."
Reyna spoke cheerfully. Her pale skin and snow-white hair illuminated this grey, timeless world. She was just as beautiful as when he first laid eyes on her. But unlike before, her idealistic and righteous gaze has become cold and calculative. He could now see that she was wearing a mask.
She slowly walked towards him and cupped his face with her hands.
"I know you have a lot of questions. But I have my own reasons for doing this. This is the path to the best outcome, Adrian."
For a moment, she gave a sad smile.
"We were wrong about so much. One true god who was supposed to look after us, Aetherion, is dead, killed by the demonic god, his own son. Existence is not what we thought it was."
She came closer to his ear and whispered, "It's a prison. It contains something ancient and powerful. A being who possesses both creation and destruction, a being who can rewrite reality itself. A being known as The Monarch."
Her words sent a chill down his spine.
"I have seen it through the codex. Aetherion imprisoned that being within existence, the only place that could hold it. He created a key for the prison. Then, to prevent it from being used, he split it into parts: Fate, time, and world."
She caressed his hair. "That being's five senses were stripped and scattered across reality. What was left, the vessel with all its power, was imprisoned. But not for long. One day, the demonic god will seek this power. He is currently waiting for the perfect host to be born."
"Someone who can inherit the power of all 3 primordials. The avatar of fate, time, and world. That is why I must reset the timeline, my love."
Adrian could not reply. He could not think. He was frozen, forced to listen to what she was saying. Reyna hugged him tightly.
"One day, a descendant of ours will be born with the power to embody all 3 aspects. She will make her last stand against the demon god who acquired the power to rewrite reality. That future must not come to pass, no matter how painful my sacrifice is. This is my resolve."
She then smiled at him.
"Adrian, even though our story ended like this, there is no need to feel despair. In another life, you have already succeeded in all your goals. We had our happy ending. Let our story end here now. Consider this my final farewell."
She softly kissed his forehead. With that, memories of the other timeline barraged into his brain. How the war never happened, how Arden became the emperor, how he and Reyna married each other, and how all of them created a peaceful world.
He could do nothing, but tears slowly started flowing down his cheeks. He felt sadness and emptiness. She might've thought that she was being considerate, but he was only shown what could've been and what he could never have in this timeline.
Reyna started walking away from him,
"This area is under the authority of 'Time'. Ellefreya can't help you. You will never hear her voice again. Goodbye, my love, it has truly been my greatest fortune knowing you."
She tapped Thalia in the head, and she unfroze.
"Wha-"
"It is done. Finish your task. Then your brother will return. Everything will go back to how they were."
With that, Reyna vanished. Thalia sighed, looking at Adrian and everything else frozen, and took out a golden dagger. She marched towards him, and he was forced to watch powerlessly, frozen in time.
"Forgive me, brother. This is the only way I can keep you by my side."
With that, she stabbed him, severing his connection to this world.
"I have to take away what makes you different… what makes you strong. I will erase the one who tries to change our destiny."
"This blade has the power to harm only what I desire."
"I will kill the transmigrator… and things will return to how they were meant to be."
Adrian felt it. His soul was losing control over his body. He felt like his existence was slipping away. The time bind became undone, but it was too late. There was nothing he could do. He raised his pain fully and tried to keep standing until the last moment. He will not fall down, no matter what. He just had one wish.
"Please don't let this world end up as it did in the novel."
(Why do good things happen? Some people are born with incredible luck. Some work hard to achieve results. Good things happen because of the choices they make. But that's not all, is it? Sometimes, at the right place at the right time, small miracles do happen, which change the trajectory of many lives. This event has already happened. This is just a memory of the past. The Transmigrator is already dead. But at that moment, Adrian's desperate wish created a small miracle that connected the past with the present, giving birth to a whole different story.)
After stabbing him, Thalia started walking away. The battle was already over. People started cheering, seeing their preferred result. Adrian, being near the doors of death, slowly felt his vision blurring.
He always wondered what would happen when someone died. He heard that their entire life would flash before their eyes. At first, he thought that's what was happening. But he was only seeing a single scene.
He saw two people standing in the arena, looking at him. One was a red-haired woman with purple eyes. He did not know who she was. But the other one?
A familiar face with black hair and piercing blue eyes. He had the same face as Adrian. No, rather, Adrian had the same face as him.
UNIQUE SKILL – APPRAISAL
THEON RIVENHART IGNISBORN
MANA CORE – UNDEFINED
CORE POTENTIAL – UNDEFINED
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY – FIRE
BLOODLINE – NONE
SKILLS - MONARCH'S GAZE (UNIQUE)
UNYIELDING FLAME (UNIQUE)
STIGMA OF WAR (UNIQUE?)
TITLE - WORLD'S BELOVED
CHILD OF THE VOID
SEEKER OF VICTORY
Adrian widened his eyes. He instinctively understood who this person was. There was no doubt. He is looking at Theon. Not the one from the novel, but someone else.
Seeing that Adrian was looking at him, Theon was surprised. He had a sad look on his face. Despite that, he gave Adrian a reassuring smile. Behind Theon, Adrian saw different scenes. He saw Theon with his companions, exploring a dungeon and fighting side by side. Adrian saw him leading an army against an oncoming swarm of monsters and even taking down a giant Behemoth. Then he saw Theon confronting someone, the demon king, Azrivel.
"Azrivel, you are right. I'm not Adrian. And I have no intention of ever becoming him. I will do my own thing."
"Regression, transmigration, and reincarnation. I don't give a damn about your so-called cheats. When we clash again, I will win."
Seeing all this, Adrian smiled. "Darn kid. Looks like you finally grew up. I guess I can leave everything to you now."
Adrian understood what he had to do. Summoning every ounce of energy left, he spoke,
"System, activate project Lazarus."