Four Years Later
The world had not changed.
If anything—
it had become worse.
War consumed everything now.
Massive holographic billboards stretched across the towering skyscrapers of Novaris City broadcasting military propaganda endlessly while armed drones patrolled the neon-lit skies day and night. Entire districts had transformed into fortified military zones surrounded by energy barriers and anti-air cannons.
Children no longer dreamed about becoming artists or explorers.
They dreamed about surviving adulthood.
Kaien Veyr understood that long before he fully understood what childhood even meant.
At four years old, he already knew how to identify the sound of incoming artillery. He knew which military sirens meant airstrikes and which meant monster outbreaks beyond the city walls. He knew where emergency shelters were located inside every sector of District Eleven.
And most importantly—
he already knew how to fight.
The rain poured heavily across the rooftop training platform while distant thunder echoed between the skyscrapers surrounding the residential sector. Neon advertisements flickered through the storm while military aircraft crossed the dark skies above the city endlessly.
Kaien stood barefoot on the wet metal platform breathing heavily while holding a wooden combat staff nearly as tall as himself. His small hands trembled slightly from exhaustion now. Bruises covered both his arms already.
Across from him stood his father.
Elias Veyr held another staff calmly while watching the child carefully.
"Again."
Kaien tightened his grip immediately afterward.
Despite being only four years old, his stance already looked unnaturally disciplined. Too precise. Too controlled.
Not because of talent alone.
Because somewhere deep inside him—
his soul remembered war.
Kaien moved first this time.
The wooden staff cut through the rain quickly toward Elias, but his father effortlessly blocked the strike before immediately countering. Kaien barely managed to dodge backward before another hit nearly knocked the weapon from his hands completely.
"Your footing." Elias said calmly.
Kaien adjusted instantly afterward.
Then attacked again.
Faster this time.
Elias blocked three strikes in quick succession before suddenly pausing slightly.
That hesitation lasted less than a second.
But Kaien noticed it.
And reacted.
The wooden staff spun sharply through the rain before striking Elias directly against the ribs hard enough to force him backward slightly.
Silence followed afterward.
Rain continued falling across the rooftop while Kaien lowered the staff slowly breathing heavily now.
Elias stared at him quietly afterward.
Then sighed.
"…you did that on purpose."
Kaien blinked once.
"What?"
"You waited for me to lower my guard."
The child hesitated briefly afterward before quietly answering,
"…you always leave your left side open after blocking downward."
Elias froze slightly.
Because he did.
It was an old habit from military training decades earlier. One almost nobody noticed anymore.
Certainly not four-year-olds.
Kaien slowly looked down afterward.
"…sorry."
Elias remained silent for several moments afterward before kneeling slightly in front of him.
"Kaien."
The child looked back toward him quietly.
"Where did you learn that?"
And there it was again.
That question.
The one Kaien never knew how to answer.
Because the truth sounded impossible even inside his own mind.
He didn't learn these things.
He remembered them.
Every single day since this life began, fragments of his past lives continued returning slowly. More than before. Much more.
Not everything at once.
But enough.
Enough to remember battlefields.
Enough to remember Astras.
Enough to remember death.
Enough to remember her.
Kaien lowered his gaze afterward.
"I don't know."
It wasn't entirely a lie.
Because he truly didn't understand why his memories returned more clearly this time.
In his previous lives, the memories came in fragments much later. Broken visions. Half-remembered dreams.
But now—
they returned almost completely.
Karna.
Aditya.
Arin.
He remembered them all.
Not perfectly yet.
Some details still remained blurry.
But enough to know exactly what he was.
And enough to know this world was dangerous in ways ordinary people couldn't understand.
Elias eventually sighed softly afterward before standing back up.
"You're thinking too much again."
Kaien immediately looked away afterward.
His father noticed that habit often now.
The strange silence.
The distant expressions.
The unnatural maturity behind his eyes sometimes.
It unsettled both Elias and Mira occasionally.
Because Kaien never truly acted like a normal child.
Even when he tried to.
The rooftop door suddenly opened afterward.
"Training again?"
Lyra stepped onto the rain-covered platform carrying towels while shaking her head slightly. Her long dark hair moved gently in the wind while exhaustion still lingered beneath her eyes after another overnight medical shift.
Elias shrugged lightly.
"He insisted."
Lyra immediately looked toward Kaien afterward.
"You're four."
Kaien quietly answered,
"And?"
That made Elias laugh slightly despite himself.
Lyra walked over afterward before kneeling in front of her son and drying his wet hair carefully with one towel.
"You're supposed to play with toys."
Kaien stared quietly toward the neon skyline surrounding the city afterward.
"…kids in our district don't really play much."
Silence followed immediately afterward.
Because unfortunately—
he wasn't wrong.
District Eleven stood dangerously close to the outer industrial zones bordering active military territory. Children there grew up surrounded by soldiers, checkpoints, evacuation drills, and emergency alarms.
War shaped everything.
Even childhood.
Lyra gently touched Kaien's cheek afterward.
"That doesn't mean you have to grow up too fast."
The words struck something inside him strangely.
Because deep down—
he already felt ancient.
Not physically.
His body was still small. Weak. Young.
But his soul carried countless years of memories now.
Sometimes at night he woke up remembering Kurukshetra.
Sometimes he remembered standing beside Vijaya while the sky burned.
Sometimes he remembered Liora smiling beneath the stars beside the lake from his second life.
And every single time—
one thing always happened afterward.
Her face stayed.
That was new.
In every previous life, he eventually forgot her face first.
He remembered emotions.
Warmth.
Promises.
But never the details clearly.
This time was different.
Now whenever he closed his eyes—
he could still see her perfectly.
Silver hair.
Golden eyes.
The soft smile she gave him inside the collapsing void between lives.
Even now, the memory remained painfully clear.
And somehow—
that scared him more than the returning memories themselves.
Because it meant something had changed in the cycle.
Something important.
The rooftop suddenly shook slightly afterward.
A deep siren echoed across Novaris City immediately afterward.
WARNING.
OUTER DISTRICT BREACH DETECTED.
CIVILIANS SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
Kaien's expression changed instantly.
Monster breach.
Elias immediately turned serious afterward while moving toward the rooftop exit.
"Inside. Now."
Mira grabbed Kaien's hand immediately afterward before leading him downstairs quickly while the emergency sirens continued echoing across the city. Outside the skyline, military drones streaked across the rain-filled skies toward the outer districts.
Another attack.
Another ordinary day in this world.
Inside the apartment, news broadcasts already displayed live footage from the outer sectors. Massive distorted creatures crawled through destroyed industrial zones while Helios Dominion soldiers fought desperately using pulse rifles and plasma cannons.
Kaien watched silently from the living room afterward while Elias quickly prepared military equipment nearby.
Then suddenly—
something happened.
One of the creatures on the screen roared violently before tearing apart an armored vehicle instantly.
And the moment Kaien saw it—
a memory surged through him.
Not from this world.
A battlefield.
Darkness.
The Entity's underlings.
The feeling of war consuming everything endlessly.
Kaien grabbed the edge of the table immediately afterward as pain shot through his head violently.
Mira noticed instantly.
"Kaien?"
His breathing became uneven briefly.
Not again.
The memories were returning faster now.
Too fast.
Then through the chaos flooding his mind—
another image appeared.
A girl.
No.
Two girls.
The vision disappeared instantly afterward before he could see their faces clearly.
Kaien froze completely afterward.
Something inside him trembled faintly.
Not memory this time.
Recognition.
And deep within his soul—
he knew one terrifying truth already.
Liora had returned to this world too.