Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sung Jin-Woo looked up at the jeweled Cup. His face covered in blood and his body numbing to the pain of the sword that sticks out of him. Mana overflows it like water falling out of its sides. The essence, to those sensible enough to see it, flows like cristal water, evaporating into clouds before it can reach the ground. It is only when The Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light puts away the spear at hand, that Jin-Woo snaps out of its beauty. Ruler among Rulers greets him, and Jin-Woo, still feeling a human sensation overcome him, endows the presence of such a gorgeous armored being.

"I assure you, Shadow Monarch, that I wish to keep my word with you." Jin-Woo can feel his insides being healed by another Ruler, its skills able to even revive beings from death if it uses enough mana to hold the soul in place. However, it is of no use to him as he can feel it . He can feel his body start to disintegrate, in small amounts maybe but it is obvious to everyone around him. As such, The Brightest Fragment picks up its pace. "–But the wish you are asking for is too much."

It does not know how to confront Jin-Woo's narrowed gaze and scorching anger rising with the man's mana. It is not only terrifying to watch, but hopelessly bitter as he sees the eyes of Ashborn, the one it long wanted to apologize to, the one it can't bear to disappoint again, reflected in his heir. Words are tied up in his throat until another Ruler steps up. "Monarch, you must understand that we cannot lose– He raises his hand to the sea of Korea– this . You have defeated our greatest enemies by yourself, and we thank you for that, but we cannot lose our best outcome for a simple bet." 

"It isn't… a bet." Jin-Woo can hardly say. "I will kill it again, and all the other mona... I just... bring them back..." His breaths falter, this is the only hope he has, the only reason why he still kept fighting for so long, why he chose to go against the Dragon Emperor instead of simply going at its defense. He knew Ashborn could have taken care of the real thing, and maybe even done a better job at it if Jin-Woo let him take control over his body. He could have had it all in the Eternal Domain, become God and all live in a better version of his life all over again. He could ignore reality, they both would have had a better choice. 

And here is the outcome of their desicion.

The rulers looked at each other, then the brightest turned to look at him. It's hands held the cup, almost levitating around it, soon the mana would overflow to its brim, they needed to be quick. 

After what seemed like ages of silence, the leader sighed. "Do you, Shadow Monarch, accept the repercussions of doing this? We are to preserve this world as best as we can, and if it wasn't for you, every single life could have gone extinct... If you are to use this..." The Monarch felt his mind slipping in and out of his subconsciousness. " The whole world might die." 

I won't let that happen.

Whatever it takes.

I can't let that happen.

I must protect everything in this world dear to me .

So please.  

Jin-Woo couldn't feel his mouth anymore. He reached for the cup, weak fingers grasping at the air filled-mana, the healing stopped, his blood fell out again. 

Please .

Weak!

Weak!

Weak!

The Fragment of Transparency kept shouting back at the Brightest. Their whole work is useless, their whole lives are meaningless, they have tried time and time again to protect such worlds, to keep moving on despite the many soldiers that die from both sides. Though they don't know how the Monarchs feel about their losses, Transparency has made it quite clear that those beings of darkness would never feel the same loss and grief as they do. So it was all the more reason for Transparency to get mad, to be filled with rage as the cup stopped flowing with mana and instead came to absorb all the mana around them. 

The Fragment of Life gave no thought in this as it lay there, looking at the last remnants of the Shadow Monarch disintegrating with the wind. And the other Rulers... well they had no sway in the matter before the Cup filled everything up in a big void of clarity. The sensation of intense light was strong as a bomb that could destroy the whole universe. 

That's when the unexpected happened.

Instead of the usual blinding light, all the 7 dimensions shook by its power. The World Tree glowed for the first time, its branches appeared among the darkness of space like a chameleon as big as the milky way. Every dark spot in the universe was now filled with lights made of rainbows and darkness that could not be the simple darkness seen with the naked eye.

Khaos.

In what seemed like a second, a whole year has passed, then in ten, a decade. 

Something suddenly took a turn. The lights started to shatter, the past could be heard and listened, the subconsciousness of more than just the Rulers and the Monarchs began to slip in, to flow in the river only reserved for those powerful enough. It started as a small spark first, then a crack, until finally, a sudden break between reality. 

The Tree disappeared again. The lights dimmed. The colors that were never known faded out of existence. The darkness became much more bearable to look at. 

Mana was no longer anywhere on Earth.

Supposedly.

The Brightest Fragment opened up its eyes and found itself sitting upon the former throne of the Absolute Being. Next to it were The Fragment of Life and The Fragment of Magic. Their armor had been off at that time, revealing Life to be an androgynous angel, while Magic held off its identity behind a large cloak.  

The Brightest sat up, its senses keen as it looked around to discern where that  wave of mana running towards the castle came from. Regaining the last set of memories, The Ruler among Rulers felt as though they could deal with Transparency's anger later. Right now, the Brightest turned to Life and Magic instead as it asked:

"Did any of you feel the sudden cracks between the travels?"

"Cracks!?" Magic went first. "You call that cracks?! I can already sense The World Tree's branches falling out and disintegrating! Aura, you know what that means right?"

It knows, it very well knows and can feel the consequences coming to them. It also knows how to act all composed despite most of the World Tree's pain being transferred through the mana waves. It can be dealt with, Brightest reassures itself.

The reason why the Cup of Reincarnation is used so sparingly is because of things like this. 

The Absolute Being created the Cup of Reincarnation with a limit, not a limit to be used, but a limit to be handled. The Rulers would have to give the cup a lot of mana in turn of traveling back in time for only a decade. For minimum it would take a Solar System's worth of Mana, if said system had more than 50 planets all with high abundance of Mana that is. A hundred suns could also be a good trade, but the magic worked mostly separate to physical matter so it wouldn't be of much use unless they were desperate.

However, due to the quick actions of the Brightest Fragment, the World Tree had to sacrifice its own mana to restore the balance, and even then, it wasn't enough, cracks still appeared. 

They can feel it. It can feel it.

Some memories lingered.  

Other memories were closed off. 

Some still held their powers.

Others lost it all. 

None of this made sense.

All the separations were so random. 

More than a dozen people all around the world, at night, suddenly woke up in a world without monsters, without their skills or power or gates. They tried to calm their migraines down, some began to cry and wail out. Others thought it was a bad dream. A few even went back to sleep again in hopes to learn more or to ease the pain.

Some saw 10 years of their life go by, others saw only a glimpse of a day close to a man whose shadows fought against huge dragons. A few even had a small month worth of knowledge. 

Dreams of all kinds.

In the middle of it all was a little boy who just woken up, not due to the sudden noises of his father screaming, or his sister crying due to a bad dream, or even his mother trying to soothe their worries. 

Instead he felt something in his chest beating loudly, so loudly it just had to wake him up in the middle of the night, his dream covered in darkness, only pure darkness until he was back in his tiny bedroom.

And for a moment, Jin-Woo could swear he saw a pair of blue eyes staring back at him through the mirror in his room. 

Chapter Text

The first to cry is a girl. 

Her hands clutch the bedsheets when she wakes up. Sweat comes dripping down her neck and face as deep breaths cut into the silence of her room. In a fraction of a second, eyes speed to her hands and find that the sword has disappeared from her palm. She can no longer see the armies of dragons and other magic beasts coming in to attack her. She can no longer feel her heart race as she kept impaling every last one of them.

She is not the sole S rank huntress from South Korea anymore. She isnt 22 and capturing the light that envelops the whole world at the end of an apocalyptic nightmare. There is darkness all around her, an apodictic silence that comes from living in a farm. Everything weighs upon her nostalgia as she looks through her old room. Pictures destroyed from a future fire, carvings burned to the ground, a bed long torn up by a beast let loose. They used to say it was one of those rare cases where the gates did not appear in cities, but elsewhere.

Cha Hae-In gets up, lowering her eyesight to the ground. The harsh smells of mana no longer cloud her senses. It takes a while to get used to it, to get used to this safety that she feels inside her old home. It won't last long, she knows it, but for now she wants to feel as though Earth can still preserve life of her own. This world that for millions of years has maintained its peace, only to get destroyed within a decade? less even. Despite living in the outskirts most of her life, she never cared as much about nature as the rest of her family. But feeling the cold wood on her feet, the fresh air sliding through the window, birds chirping and dogs barking...  

Her tears fall one by one. She doesn't know where to look anymore. Two small hands, the soft sheets, the forest next to the house, her vision blurs either way. Cha Hae-In goes back to bed instead, clutching the pillows as she cries out. Small chokes and sobs wet her face until the girl has fallen into a deep sleep.

She can't be grateful right now, because she still can't believe she is back to where it all began.

…

They made it.

The world is safe.

No, It was better to say 

He made it.

He saved us, all they saw, all they knew, all they cared for.

He is a hero, and yet...

The former huntress looked at the mirror stuck to the wall of her bathroom. When she went to check her body, there was not a single bruise or scar from the past. Well, that wasn't a total lie, she did have some cuts on her knees and a bruised up ankle. She can still remember when her father advised the girl to be careful or else it will swallow. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary though, unlike the scars from the dungeons. That was the problem, only wounds of a long forgotten past without magic remained.

Yet those battled wounds from monsters and hunters alike were still etched in her mind. Burns from fire slimes or mage attacks, cuts and claws around her chest, her hips and one below her tight. Despite healers doing their best to treat her, and they did, Hae-In liked them. Like a trophy, she would think, some of them screamed to her "I survived" and "I've gotten better than last time". Who wouldn't want to smile about such a thing?

She wasn't much of a loyalist per say, but the thought of being there for her family, for her nation... It made her feel like a princess willing to do anything for her country.

No longer.

Cha Hae-In shook her head. In less than an hour after waking up, she cleaned herself up and left her old room like it was. Looking for an opportunity to avoid her family (lest she wants to cry) Hae-In headed out the back door. If memory serves her right: Her parents are on a business trip. The youngest twins are being cared for by her eldest sister who lives in Busan. The only ones at home are her 20 year old brother and 24 year old sister. Those two don't wake up until 8:30 (or after 10 seeing that today was a weekend).

And, it is 4 in the morning right now, she has enough time to spare and find out who else has gotten their memories back.

"So..." The snow folk sat on top of a dragon's head as he dangled his feet mid air. A wicked smile plastered on his face as he looked down at the Grand Marshall.

"Hyakko, get down." And the snow folk obeyed– snow elf– his graceful landing back down to face the other 5 marshals by the King's side. Well, seven now, he counted, as that weird looking ant  and a high orc shaman had enhanced by a mile. 

The purple, mischievous light coming from Hyakko's eyes turned to his boss. "Is Grand Marshall Bellion still thinking of a plan after its been, what, a day?"

"Do you have any to help us then?" His tone made Hyakko back his chest away. The elf, much to Bellion's disappointment, only shrugged, while the ant cackled back at him.  

"Wanna say something? bug." His long ears rose with the flare of his eyes.

"What did you just call me, you old bastard?"

"Bug, did you not hear or are your antennas just for show?"

"Kiek! I can hear the muscles from your fucking head trying to come up with better insults." 

"Oh! as if you've ever gone into a battle of pure wits!" 

"KIEK!"

"HISS!"

Seconds before a fight began In the King's Territory, another marshall appeared. His presence between Beru and Hyakko without a single inch of fear. The tired eyes forget how many times this has happened in one night. Tusk knows though, if he recounted, it would be the fifth one this evening.

"We aren't getting anywhere if we keep bickering on like this, I say we don't interfere instead. Our master is still too young to grasp the power and all the responsibilities he inherited. With time I don't doubt he will regain his memories again. It's better for us, as servants, to stay quiet until the young master tells us to come."

Those were the words said by the Beast Slayer, Aros. The strongest commander of his century from the original army of the Beast Monarch.

Though he wasn't the most impactful figure here by a wide margin. Hyakko once held the title of the right hand man of the Frost Monarch. Bellion was the first and strongest among the original army of Ashborn. Igris, though human, managed to sustain the power that no other denizen managed to get in such a short amount of time. Beru, as he so boasted, was born to kill, the perfect weapon made by one of the loyal insects within the Plague Monarch's army. Tusk proved his strength by surpassing the magic of the strongest wizards within Ashborn's army. Solaris, the Ancient-Grade Dragon was nicknamed as "The Merciless" for the millenia in which she lived. And finally there was Radiru Esil: The noble demon with no significant achievements to her name until Ashborn raised her from the dead. What the others lacked, she didn't, and when the King needed its help the most, she stood there to give a solution. 

So it was boggling Bellion's mind about why she, along with Igris, had been the most quiet tonight. And as much as he tried to bring them into the conversation, they would cut it with short answers. Not only that but the other Marshalls- apart from Aros, bless his heart- would not stop talking or complaining to one another. He also didn't want to push them too much into the whole conversation. Then again these two were the closest to the human race and their culture, so they should have at least a share of helpfulness, right?

"Igris." His helmet rose up to meet the eyes of the archangel‐like being.

"Lady Radiru." Esil turned her head away from the sky where one could see the view of Their Majesty.

Bellion was about to speak again until the noble clapped once to grab their attention. "I think Sir Aros is right. We should take a rest and come back later. Our worries are not far distant but the Monarchs cannot come without an abundance of mana covering the world." Her smile appeared. "Would an hour be enough? we still need to inform the lower ranks about the sudden... change of events! yes. Don't you think so, Grand Marshall Bellion?"

Like a mountain, he towered over the height of most, even her, who  looks smaller than a child next to him. Two seconds of silence went slower than she expected. The eyes of the commanders on him while he stares down at her, no emotion able to be interpreted under the light. Her smile fell a bit.

"One hour." Bellion sighs.

Once they all leave, Esil goes back to the couch, letting her body deflate upon the regal cushion. It is one of many that the 100th floor of the Demon Castle has. Igris says nothing as his eyes come to look back at the dark void. The boy above him is still looking around like a lost animal.

He can see the boy standing in front of the door to his parents' room, next to him would be Jin-Ah's room, or so Igris remembers. But Sung Jin-Woo can hear the girl cry inside. She always sleeps next to them, and they would let her comfortably stay in the middle until daytime came.

The fist never reaches the door. Jin-Woo goes back to his room, twice as wary over the smallest movements of the shadows. "An illusion." His eyes begin to avoid the darkness of the hallway, his pace quickens the closer he gets to his room.

Under the sheets, the boy, the soon-to-be King of Death, hides.

The Blood-Red Knight and the Noble Radiru stop looking back at the sky, darkness covering as the boy sleeps.

"How much time do you think we have, Sir Igris?"

"If I'm able to recall the time in which the Rulers set their plan to action, It would be two months from now."

"Two months... two months..." She leaned forward from the cushion.  The old Esil came back as her face paled and the cheeks rounded when she pouted.  

"Will we be able to make a Monarch in two months?"

[Morning]

The mark on his body made it very clear he didn't... didn't really know what was going on. There was suddenly a screen—hologram over him, in a red and black font.

Weird.

Very weird.

He must still be drunk.

He guessed though, that this wasn't just a hallucination. Because if it was... His eyes peered into the bag of trash, the cans of beer, cigarettes lying on the floor and the dirty clothes brought to the side... This kind of thing should have happened a long time ago.

There isn't anything else for him to do anyways. So he decides to answer back.

"He...hello." The hoarse voice makes him realize he hasn't had water in what feels like days, maybe more than a week has passed, but until he gets out of this house, he will never know. And maybe it's for the best.

[...]

'Is this really the best you could find?'

'Well, your highness It's not like there are people who can... well... hold even a fraction of your powers.'

'This has to be a joke, and if it is I won't hesitate to eternally make you suffer.'

'I swear it's not! It really isn't! But he was the last choice. The only really.'

'... Then do something about it, I don't ever want to see that thing ever again.'

SLAM!

'I also didn't know he was like this at the start dammit!'

[You have one unread message in your mailbox]

The screen changes just as he is about to touch it.

"Open the mailbox."

[Quest to become stronger: Head to [@'c8@$%] seaside park.]

A set of wailing and screams could be heard in the east side of the campus. Begrudgingly, and with a lot of irritation piled up inside after working the night shift, the office worker shouted out in fury:

"IF ANYONE IS HAVING A PARTY! TURN IT OFF!"

The room was already quiet by the time he got there. This didn't stop him as he was compelled to knock the door with the fury of all who lived here and wished to sleep.

"Open up!"

"Sorry." The door spoke. "Someone just came from a party! that won't happen again."

“That is no excuse to be this loud at 3 am!”

“I swear they have calmed down now.” He tried not to raise his voice.

A ripped pair of pants were heard at the same time, the student silently cursed out.

“Nonsense! What is going on there!?”

“Nothing, I promise!”

It took two more tries before Choi Jong-In convinced the officer, but when he did, his small smile and polite tone made a 180 when he faced Baek Yoon-Ho.

"What. The. Hell. Is. Wrong with you?!?" He was sure to only be loud enough for him to hear and not escape the room.

The Beast inside his house whimpered.

"Right. Don't answer." You can't.   Choi Jong-In sighed. His hands were sweating as he heard the feet fade away. It was exhausting, the acceleration of his heart couldn't be stopped until his senses left the door of the room and he stepped closer to the werebeast that was his roomate.

No, a college student was the closest that Baek Yoon-Ho could be to him. And honestly, it was quite a lucky coincidence that they had both gone to the same campus during their early years. (Oh how he would have wished to make his life hell here to compensate for all the migraines in the future.) Else, someone else would have called the cops immediately and Yoon-Ho would have had to escape the government facility that the army could trap him in. Honestly, it's not like couldn't escape, Jong-In of all people knew how far his strength could go, but this man was weak to pushing authority around. He would rather crawl up and be captured than hurting anyone, which is why it was so easy for Jong-In to snatch him up from the room he was howling in like a mad husky. The only evidence now was those security cameras around the campus that will never be taken seriously considering CGI advancements, and Yoon-Ho’s passed out roommate in the hallway. 

“Rawr…”  A sigh escaped his lips again as Jong-In walked towards the bathroom, regretting every step before taking out a towel and shoving that, plus his blanket, back to Yoon-Ho. 

“Hide yourself under that. I don't want to see your naked ass in my room.” 

And the beast has the audacity to grolw back at him. Here is his guild rival helping the man not get exposed and this is how he is treated?! If his fire powers were here the whole room would have heated up like an oven. 

Choi thinks he is better than that now as he ignores the white fangs and instead focuses on contacting the closest person to them. However, as he types out the number he remembers that Cha Hae-In is almost twelve now. She doesn't have a phone . Jong-In deletes the number and opens his computer instead, ignoring the files he has to send tonight just as he ignores Yoon-Ho’s attentive eyes on his back. 

He can't hurt me. He would have done so a long time ago. He can hardly raise his voice. I've seen the man be sad over Kimchi! And all other kinds of thoughts pass through Choi Jong-In’s mind trying not to shiver over the monster whose breaths grow when he comes closer. It is not until Yoon-Ho is practically breathing down his neck when he decides, with all the anger he can muster, to look back at the curious tiger hybrid and ask.

“What?”

“Grr..” His eyes move to the computer. 

“I’m searching for Go Gun Hee’s phone number.” He clicks the company’s information, the one he knows the old man used to work at before becoming a hunter. “Unless you have his number or someone else, then we really have no way to turn you back.” Or ask about what the hell all those visions were about!

His tiger eyes are back on him as the beast bobs his head up and down. 

For a second, he really does want to believe that Yoon-Ho has some useful information, but another memory comes back, and it takes a moment for him to speak again. 

“You have Min Byung-Gyu’s number don't you?”

He shook his head even faster. 

“No.” The puffy ears fell back down almost immediately. “It's better not to call him, he… If he has his memories back then he should have called you by now.” The two of them had been best friends for almost 9 years in the past (future?) ever since they entered the Fiend’s guild. Not only that but they participated in a lot of raids, including the four to Jeju, and while he can’t attest for the first, he can definitely say that the last three were something he doesn't want the healer to remember. 

It was almost tempting, really, but he was looking for information right now. He was looking to know why all this happened. What happened to the old earth, was this time travel or an alternative universe? Where are his powers? Where are the gates? The Magic Beasts? are they coming back again?

and most importantly,

Where the hell is the human-turned-god Sung Jin Woo that he knows?