Aiden shot upright, breath tearing from his lungs as if he had drowned and resurfaced in the same instant. For a moment, he couldn't see—only the lingering afterimage of the blinding white light that had erased the army, erased the Paragons, erased him.
His heart hammered wildly. His hands—shaking—gripped the blanket beneath him.
A blanket.
He blinked.
No smoke choking the air.
No scorched earth shaking beneath enemy footsteps.
No roar of Apocalyptical Entities.
No blood.
Just… his room.
The same small, cramped room from when he was twenty. The faded posters. The old desk. The hum of the ceiling fan that always sputtered on cold mornings.
His throat tightened.
"What…? No. This isn't…"
He grabbed his face with trembling fingers—no burned skin, no split lip, no jagged scars. His body felt whole. Young. Unscarred by ten years of fighting.
He stumbled out of bed and rushed to the mirror.
The reflection staring at him was a boy.
A boy he had once been.
Rounder cheeks. Softer eyes. No hardened, death-weary gaze. No exhaustion of a man who'd watched humanity collapse.
"A dream?" he whispered. But even as he breathed the words, he knew. No dream could mimic the terror, the agony, the betrayal he lived through.
His fingers dug into his hair.
"I… came back."
Memories surged—violent, unstoppable.
Ineb's final stand.
The two traitors striking without warning.
Seven Apocalyptical Entities descending like gods.
Ineb releasing his Yuan Spirit, the crystallization of his existence.
The spirit drifting… searching… choosing him.
And then—
The world-ending blast that swallowed everything.
His legs buckled. He pressed a hand to the wall to stay upright.
Why here?
Why this time?
Why him?
Before he could gather himself, footsteps sounded outside his door.
"Aiden? Are you awake?"
A voice he had heard screaming in death—now soft, alive, whole.
His mother.
He froze. His lungs refused to work.
When the door creaked open, she stepped inside, her face warm with concern.
"Aiden? You look pale, sweetheart. Did you have a nightmare?"
Nightmare.
If only it were.
Seeing her alive—breathing—
It shattered him.
Tears broke free before he could stop them, raw and uncontrollable. His mother rushed forward, cupping his cheeks.
"Aiden! What's wrong? Talk to me."
"I…" His voice cracked. "I'm okay. I'm… okay now."
He swallowed hard, forcing his emotions down.
"It was just a nightmare, Mom."
Her expression softened into relief. She drew him close, and he clung to the warmth of a mother he had buried in another life.
"Come eat," she murmured. "You'll feel better."
Aiden followed her to the dining area. Each familiar detail cut into him—the chipped plates, the smell of warm broth, even the squeaky chair he always avoided. He ate quietly, savoring every bite like someone starved, because in truth… he was.
Every moment felt stolen.
A miracle.
A second chance.
After breakfast, he excused himself and returned to his room.
He closed the door and leaned back against it, exhaling shakily.
"What now…? If I really came back…"
The air stirred.
A subtle shift—too faint for a normal person to notice—brushed his soul. Aiden stiffened.
"What… was that?"
Then the room dimmed. The temperature dropped.
Something formed in front of him—slowly, steadily—like light shaping itself into a humanoid silhouette.
A figure emerged.
Tall. Ethereal.
Its presence radiated an overwhelming, ancient pressure.
Aiden's breath hitched.
The Yuan Spirit.
Ineb's final essence.
The legacy of the strongest Paragon humanity had ever seen.
"You…" Aiden whispered. "How… how are you here?"
The spirit's eyes—brilliant, deep, terrifyingly wise—studied him with a calm that made Aiden's skin prickle.
When it finally spoke, the voice echoed inside his soul rather than his ears.
"You were chosen, Aiden Revale."
Aiden swallowed.
"Chosen for… what?"
"To carry Ineb's legacy. To inherit the last bastion of humanity."
Aiden's pulse thundered.
The Yuan Spirit stepped closer, its presence pressing down on the room like an immovable mountain.
"You have returned to a world unaware of the storm approaching. Ten years from now, the apocalypse descends. You alone possess the knowledge needed to alter humanity's fate."
Silence filled the room—heavy, suffocating.
Aiden clenched his fists. His heartbeat steadied.
This was his second life.
His second chance.
This time, he wouldn't be weak.
Wouldn't be helpless.
Wouldn't watch humanity die.
He lifted his chin.
"I'll prepare."
The Yuan Spirit's eyes gleamed with approval.
"Then your second life begins now."