Pain.
That was the first thing I felt.
Not the sharp, tearing agony of a knife piercing flesh.
Not the burning sensation of poison spreading through my veins.
This was different.
Cold.
Heavy.
As if my entire body had been thrown into an ocean of darkness and left to sink.
For a long moment, I remained still, my mind trapped between death and consciousness.
Then a voice echoed in the deepest part of my mind.
Kings are meant to die when they become too powerful.
Evelyn.
The handler I had trusted for ten years.
The woman who had stood behind every mission, every assassination, every successful escape.
The woman who had smiled at me—
right before driving the blade through my heart.
My eyes snapped open.
I inhaled sharply.
The first thing I saw was the night sky.
Dark.
Cloudless.
A crescent moon hung above me like a silent witness.
For a moment, I simply stared upward, my mind blank.
Then instinct took over.
I rolled to the side in one fluid motion, my body moving before thought could catch up.
My hand shot toward my chest.
No wound.
No blood.
No torn suit.
No knife.
I froze.
That was impossible.
I had died.
I remembered it clearly.
The abandoned cathedral.
The elite assassins of my own organisation are surrounding me from all sides.
Gunfire.
Blades.
Blood.
Bodies dropping one after another beneath my hands.
And then Evelyn.
Her perfume.
Her smile.
Her betrayal.
The knife is sinking deep into my heart.
I should have been dead.
So why—
My gaze lowered.
And my breath caught.
I was lying inside a circle.
A strange, glowing circle carved into the ground at the corner of an empty street.
Blood-red lines formed intricate inscriptions beneath me.
Ancient symbols.
Runes.
Ten smaller circles surrounded the outer ring.
One large circle stood at the centre.
I was lying directly in the middle.
6
The air was cold.
But my body…
felt warm.
No.
More than warm.
Powerful.
I slowly pushed myself up.
The movement was effortless.
Too effortless.
I frowned.
The last thing I remembered before dying was exhaustion.
My body had been riddled with bullets, cuts, and poison.
Even if I had somehow survived, I should not be able to move like this.
Yet now—
I felt light.
Strong.
Sharper.
My breathing was steady.
My heartbeat was calm.
Every muscle in my body responded instantly.
Then I heard it.
Footsteps.
Far away.
At least two streets from here.
I turned my head instinctively toward the sound.
A stray dog is moving near an alley.
A man coughing behind a closed shop.
The rustling of leaves on a tree across the road.
I went still.
My eyes narrowed.
That distance…
No human should be able to hear that.
Slowly, I stood up.
The world around me seemed different.
Clearer.
I could see every crack in the pavement.
Every shadow beneath the streetlights.
Every movement in the darkness.
My senses were terrifyingly sharp.
What the hell happened to me?
Then—
It hit.
A flood of memories crashed into my mind like a storm.
I staggered back, gripping my head.
Images.
Voices.
Faces.
A classroom.
Books.
A library.
Three smiling girls.
A warm home.
A college campus.
Pain.
Mockery.
Bullies laughing.
A weak body is collapsing on the ground.
And then—
ten girls.
Beautiful.
Terrifyingly beautiful.
Each one is standing around this exact circle.
Silver hair.
Black hair.
Red eyes.
Elegant dresses.
Cold expressions.
Their hands were stained with blood.
And then darkness.
I clenched my fists.
These memories…
They weren't mine.
But they belonged to this body.
A name surfaced in my mind.
Aarav Malhotra.
Sixteen years old.
First-year college student.
A bookworm.
Weak.
Sickly.
Bullied.
A boy who spent more time in libraries than with people.
I slowly looked down at my hands.
Slim fingers.
Fair skin.
No scars.
Not a single mark from the countless kills of my previous life.
I was no longer in my original body.
I had been reborn.
Inside someone else.
A bitter smile formed on my lips.
"Reincarnation…"
If someone had told me this before, I would have laughed before putting a bullet in their skull.
But now I was standing inside a glowing blood circle in a stranger's body.
So maybe insanity was the new normal.
Then another memory surfaced.
This one is clearer.
A voice.
Cold.
Female.
"The bloodline is compatible."
"He will awaken."
"He must become the king."
King?
Before I could process it, a sudden breeze swept across the street.
The red glow beneath my feet flickered.
Then slowly faded.
As if the ritual had finally been completed.
I took a deep breath.
The smell in the air hit me instantly.
Blood.
Faint.
Fresh.
I turned sharply.
A single crimson droplet rested on the edge of the circle.
My gaze darkened.
Someone had been here.
Recently.
Very recently.
And whoever they were—
They knew what had happened to this body.
I looked toward the road stretching into the sleeping city.
Somewhere in this world, answers waited.
But first…
Another memory surfaced.
A home address.
And a familiar time.
4:00 AM.
I checked the clock tower in the distance.
Three fifty-two.
Eight minutes.
This body's family.
For some reason, the thought felt strange.
In my previous life, family had never existed.
Only missions.
Only blood.
Only betrayal.
But now…
I had parents.
Three elder sisters.
A home.
I turned away from the fading ritual circle.
My footsteps echoed softly in the empty street.
The night wind brushed against my face.
And for the first time in years—
I felt alive.
Yet deep inside, one thought remained.
Who were those ten girls?
And why did their eyes linger in my memory like a curse?