I Got Reincarnated as the Game's Villain-Chapter 33: Ignia’s Breath

"How?!" I asked in disbelief.

Am I really dead?

Damn it!

And just when I got the chronos lock!

"No," he said, suddenly halting my train of thought.

"What?" I asked.

"You are not dead. Well, you should be. But…" he said, trailing off as he then turned to look at me. I followed his gaze, and there, I found the chronos lock glowing faintly. "…Let’s just say, we rewrote that reality," he smiled.

"So… what you’re saying is that… you created another reality to avoid my death?" I asked, based on the explanation I had received from him. After all, he said to change or alter a reality would lead to the creation of an alternate reality, as loose threads will emerge from the thread of time, which during canon events will eventually return to the original thread. Since this is not a canon event, in fact, it’s not even supposed to be an existing event, perhaps that’s why he was able to change the reality of my death.

Well, or so I think.

"Well… sort of, but that’s not completely correct," he said, then frowned a bit as though in deep thought.

"You see… you are not… complete," he said, turning to face me directly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Ignia. The keeper. The one who holds the cycle of reincarnation. All souls accounted for in the akashic records must possess the breath of Ignia, as one cannot pass the cycle without it," he said, then walked towards the leader of the shadows.

"Then… why do I not possess it and still am reincarnated?" I asked, since the way he said it made it seem as though it would be impossible to happen.

"I shouldn’t be telling you this, given how much ’she’ watches… but since this is stolen time, I will wager she can’t see what happens at this moment. So I will tell you a little," he said, now standing before the legion of the shadows.

"’She’ again?" I asked with narrowed eyes and clenched fists, recalling the true architect of my torment.

"Oh… it seems you know of ’her’ existence," he muttered in shock.

"… I do," I replied through gritted teeth, a frown on my face as I thought about ’her’.

"Well, that aside. The keeper is three entities in one. The first, Amon, the one who reads the karma of souls; the second, Ignia, the one and true keeper, the one who alone can permit a soul’s reincarnation; and the third, Elyion."

"Elyion?" I reiterated as I recalled the voice which said… I am Elyion. But if that’s true, does that mean he… doesn’t know?

I frowned even deeper as I began to realize how deep this might actually be.

"Yes, Elyion. But I know not his work. There exist many rumors about him, even among the gods themselves. Some say he is the creator of souls, some say he is the one who holds the records, and others say he is… the doorway to the END," he said, and suddenly, everything began to shake.

"What… what’s happening?!" I asked in fear. It looked as though time was frozen, but in the same way, reality was trembling.

"There is… a problem," he said, and I finally saw him frown.

"What?" I asked.

"I have felt this once before. It’s… the legion," he said, then looked up into the sky.

"Legion?"

"Yes. The hands of the keeper. But… why? What are they looking for?" he said in deep thought. He then turned to me. "There is not much time. Come," he said. Then suddenly, my katana, lying far from where I was, shot towards me, and I caught it.

"Here," he said, pointing towards the tree beside the leader of the shadows.

"Huh?" I mumbled in confusion.

"It is said that for one to defy death, one must first trade their soul to Ignia." He said, then suddenly, I was standing in front of the tree.

"What does that have to do with this?" I asked.

"Didn’t you notice? These are undead men," he said, pointing towards the shadows which still had their shadow swords stabbed through the suspended me.

"Undead?" Now it all made sense. No wonder I couldn’t kill them, yet it felt as though they were alive.

"He," he said, pointing towards the frozen leader, "sacrificed his own soul to be able to manipulate souls. But… it comes at a price. To hold the souls of others in his body, his soul can no longer remain there."

"Why?"

He then looked at me. "Simple. Ignia isn’t a generous deity. It wants him dead sooner or later, to retrieve his soul," he said. Then my eyes turned back to the tree, and I realized.

"Don’t tell me?!" I screamed with widened eyes.

"Yes. To remain in control of his body, his soul must remain close."

"So he hid it here," I finished.

"Correct," he replied.

"But souls should be ethereal beings… how can I possibly hurt it?" I asked.

"Well, that should have been the case, but…" he trailed off, then touched the tree. "Just like water, the soul takes on the form of whatever it is placed in."

"But that still doesn’t—" I tried to say but was halted midway.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

"Souls are untouchable. That’s probably what you have come to believe, but no," he said, then motioned for me to strike…

…and I did. "I once told you that time and fate are intertwined, but that’s not all. The very order of existence is intertwined with time itself. So in a time frozen in place, everything does not obey the WILL of creation. In this moment, when time is rendered non-existent, all things take on a form—souls being one of those things." And suddenly, the tree was sliced in half, and I could see something… bluish.

It was a bit transparent, but I could see it clearly.

"I see. But… you said I do not possess the breath of Ignia. What’s the connection between that and me avoiding my death" I asked.

....Author’s thought...

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