Prologue – The Quiet Before the Storm
The first sensation I felt was not pain. It was weight.
Weight, not of my limbs, but of existence itself.
I had died—an ordinary man whose story ended in the margins of obscurity. Yet instead of fading into nothingness, I opened my eyes to a sky not my own.
Nagazora.
A city destined to be carved into the annals of tragedy, its name forever tied to the Third Honkai Eruption.
But I wasn't just reborn into this world. I was remade.
The Birth of a Monster in Human Skin
I caught my reflection in the glass of an abandoned shop.
A tall youth stared back—broad-shouldered, yet graceful in proportion. A build that reminded me of how the Tensura light novels described Veldanava's beauty, except this wasn't divinity, just form.
Hair of silken white streaked with radiant gold at the tips flowed past my shoulders. Eyes glowed with a duality of azure and molten gold, as though two stars were caged within them. The face was androgynous, unnervingly perfect—yet still a man's.
And then the system voice resounded from within.
[Race established: Ultimate Slime (True Dragon class).]
[Integration complete: Rimuru Tempest (LN) skillset + Manas:Ciel full fusion.]
[Status panel initialized.]
Then came the torrent—oceans of knowledge, power, logic. Skills that could rewrite concepts, nullify existence, unravel time.
In another life, I would have collapsed beneath the weight of it.
But Manas:Ciel wasn't a companion whispering in my head. Ciel was me. Every calculation, every analysis, every optimization of power happened in my thoughts naturally.
I had no missing pieces.
Unlike Rimuru, I didn't need an external voice to guide me. I could see the whole board. My hands could move every piece.
I whispered to no one.
"…What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"
Choosing Peace
I had seen where power like this led. Endless wars, conquest, the isolation of supremacy.
I wanted none of it.
So I did the impossible: I chained myself.
• Infinite Regeneration — placed on manual trigger only.
• Aura, Soul Pressure, Dragon Spirit — compressed to nothing.
• Universal Perception — silenced until I allowed it to hum.
• Combat instincts — wrapped in seals, dormant.
The monster in my skin faded. What remained was just… Leo.
And in Nagazora, I began living as a student.
Three Years of Humanity
Three years passed.
Three years of mornings, uniforms, homework, laughter.
In gym class, I faked exhaustion, biting my lip to force my regeneration silent when I scraped a knee. In cafeteria lines, I groaned about food prices like the rest. In the library, I pretended to nap while my sealed perception begged to analyze every word.
And in those years, I learned what it meant to be alive.
The Girl Beside Me
"Leo! You're too slow!"
I turned just as Kiana Kaslana skidded down the sidewalk, white hair bouncing, cerulean eyes bright even under the morning sun. She waved, grinning as if the world couldn't touch her.
"You overslept again," I said flatly.
"Hmph, gentlemen are supposed to wait for ladies."
"And students are supposed to learn how alarms work."
She laughed, carefree, and despite myself, I smiled back.
Kiana was… impossible. Loud, reckless, impulsive—but she was one of the few who made my façade of normalcy feel genuine. For three years, she sat beside me in class. She doodled while I stared at formulas, teased me when I daydreamed, nudged me awake when I nearly nodded off.
Sometimes, her gaze lingered. She'd squint at me, as though sensing something hidden just beneath my skin.
Each time, I looked away before she could ask. Because if she knew… I wasn't sure I could keep lying.
Cracks in the Illusion
The city lived unaware. But I could feel it—every time rain struck pavement, every time the sky clouded gray. A tremor, faint yet undeniable, echoed in the sealed corner of my perception.
Nagazora's timeline was a blade balancing on a breath.
The Third Honkai Eruption drew nearer.
If I wished, I could unseal myself. Map every death, every flame, every ruin. Perhaps I could even prevent it.
But I had sworn to live as a person. Not a god. Not a dragon.
So I forced Ciel's logic into silence.
I walked beside Kiana.
I pretended not to hear the world screaming of the doom that awaited.
The Day Normalcy Died
It was an ordinary morning.
Classroom. Teacher's voice buzzing about equations. Kiana beside me, poking my arm with her pencil whenever I drifted off. A slice of peace.
And then—
[Ding! Multiversal Chat Group has been created.]
[Congratulations, Leo. You have been selected as Group Owner.]
[Initial Members: Leo (Owner), Tony Stark, Zhongli, Kiana Kaslana.]
[Features unlocked: Chat, Missions, Shop, Gacha.]
[Warning: Mission incoming. Multiversal interference detected.]
I froze.
A blue screen shimmered before me, unseen by anyone else. My heart hammered as words burned across it.
"...No. Not now," I whispered.
Kiana blinked. "Leo? What's wrong?"
I forced the screen to collapse, pasting on a smile. "Nothing."
But I knew.
Everything had changed. My three years of humanity shattered in a single notification.
The storm was coming, and this time—I could no longer stand aside.
[Prologue End]