The night I died, the world was silent.
There was no thunder. No sirens. No last minute miracle racing through the dark to save me. There was only the crackling of flames eating through old wood and the slow, steady drip of blood sliding down my ribs.
I lay chained to a steel chair. My wrists were bound so tightly that bone scraped against metal. The warehouse around me was a furnace. Orange light carved long shadows across the concrete floor. Smoke stung my eyes, but I refused to close them.
I would watch them. My last sight would be their faces.
Lucas stood in front of me.
He was perfectly composed in a black suit that probably cost more than this entire building. My brother. The man I had trusted with my life, my money, my back. He had always hated fire. Yet tonight his eyes shone with the reflection of the burning walls, and a small smile curved the corner of his mouth.
"You should have listened, Aiden," he said softly. His voice was steady. Almost gentle. "You built an empire and believed you were untouchable. Power makes people stupid. Even you."
I tasted copper as I forced a laugh. "Is that what this is? A lecture?"
He crouched down, bringing his face level with mine. His cologne smelled expensive and poisonous under the reek of smoke.
"No," he said. "This is the end. And I wanted to savor it."
Footsteps echoed behind him. High heels clicking on concrete. Slow. Confident.
I did not need to turn my head to know who it was.
Evelyn.
The woman I loved. The woman I would have died for without hesitation.
Apparently, she knew that.
She stepped forward until her silhouette cut through the haze. Her long dark hair fell over the shoulder of her white coat. Her eyes were the color of winter. In her hand, she held a silver dagger that caught the firelight and threw it back in sharp flashes.
She did not look at me.
She looked through me.
"Sorry, Aiden," she murmured. "But you were always destined to fall. You climbed too high."
Something broke inside my chest. It was not bone. It was worse.
"Was it ever real?" I asked. My voice was raw, shredded by smoke and betrayal.
She hesitated. Only for a heartbeat.
Then she smiled.
"No."
Lucas straightened and clasped his hands behind his back.
"This city will belong to me now," he said. "And you? You will fade into ash. Forgotten."
He nodded to the men waiting in the shadows behind me.
They dragged a metal cross across the floor, chains clattering. They embedded it into the concrete in front of me. The moment I saw the carved runes etched along its arms, my heart clenched.
Holy seals.
Pain from those runes would burn spirit, flesh, and soul. They were not just killing me.
They were erasing me.
"Light it," Lucas ordered.
The floor detonated in white fire.
My body arched violently. Skin blistered, muscles tore. Holy flame raced up my veins like molten metal. Every nerve in my body screamed. I screamed with them until my throat tore open.
They watched.
They enjoyed it.
The world dimmed at the edges. My heartbeat slowed to a crawl.
I looked at Evelyn one last time.
She finally met my eyes.
There was no pity there. Only triumph.
"Goodbye, Aiden," she whispered.
The world burst apart.
Warmth.
Not fire.
Sunlight.
I gasped and sat upright, lungs clawing for air. No chains. No warehouse. I was lying in a hospital bed. A heart monitor shrieked beside me, racing as fast as my pulse.
I stared at my hands.
No burns.
No scars.
My wrists were clean. Smooth.
Eighteen again.
"No," I breathed. "Impossible."
I tore the thin blanket away and stumbled to the mirror mounted on the wall. The face that stared back at me was younger. Sharper. Eyes blazing with life instead of death.
The door burst open and a nurse rushed in.
"Aiden! Easy, easy. You just woke up from surgery!"
I ignored her. I grabbed her arm.
"What year is it?"
She blinked, startled by the intensity in my voice. "What? It is 2026. February."
Ten years before my death.
I let go of her. My hands were trembling. My breath fogged the glass even though the room was not cold.
A voice echoed inside my skull.
Clear. Mechanical. Merciless.
[System initializing]
[Sin Protocol activated]
[Welcome back, Aiden Crow]
My heart stuttered.
[Objective: Rewrite your fate]
[Primary directive: Enact vengeance upon those who betrayed you]
[Reward structure: Power gained through fear, domination, conquest, and sin]
Red text burned across my vision, layering over the hospital room.
[First task assigned][Humiliate your future murderer publicly within the next 24 hours][Target: Lucas Crow][Reward: 500 Sin Points + first ability unlock][Consequence for failure: Permanent system lock]
The hospital lights flickered. Reality seemed to tilt sideways.
In the mirror, my reflection smiled.
I did not.
"Lucas," I whispered.
"This time, you die screaming."
I pulled the IV from my arm. The nurse shouted something, but I did not hear her. I walked past her, out of the room, and through the hallways that still smelled of disinfectant and sleep.
I stepped out of the hospital into the night, barefoot, wearing only a thin gown, and burning with a cold purpose.
The world was waiting.
And I was coming to take it all.