A group of eight people stood before a ravaged ground that stretched to the horizon. There were no clashing sounds of attacks, screams of agony, or spraying of blood... Only a silence that felt like dread, suffocating. The stench of blood lingered in the air. Lifeless bodies were scattered everywhere.
"What just happened here? How did all of our soldiers die?" A man in his fifties asked, his eyes wide with bewilderment.
"Look over there." Suddenly, another person from the group shouted.
All eyes darted in a direction. A man stood among a pile of corpses.
"What?! Hurry up." The man standing at the front shouted. He was wearing high-quality robes and a crown that set him apart even in a group of people who all looked like men of power.
He rushed toward that lone man standing, and everyone followed.
When they got closer, they could finally see what had happened. And it made all of them freeze in their spots.
A single man stood before them. His eyes were lifeless, body fully motionless. Yet those two blood-drenched swords in both his hands sent a chill down all their spines. His body was riddled with spears and swords, yet he stood like a mountain, his presence pressing down all of them.
One person from the group walked even closer and put two fingers below his nostrils. "He's dead." The man said in a trembling voice.
"He... He didn't single-handedly slaughter everyone here, did he?" Another person asked, his voice stammering.
Finally, the man with the crown spoke. "You can't tell who this person is?"
"Your Grace, you know this person?"
The man with the crown nodded. "Who else can defy the heavens? Who else can still stand with pride even after death? Who else can still have a lingering smile after fighting thousands on his own? It's the legend himself. Ronan Sleinger, the general of Shadow Guards."
Everyone staggered back in fear. Just that name alone was enough to fill their hearts with fear.
"Shadow Guards, the elite troops of Zeinserg." One of them whispered.
This was a battle between two kingdoms, Zeinserg and Valhalla. It lasted for the last two months. It had finally ended, yet there was no one alive to celebrate the victory.
That man with the crown and all his companions stared at Ronan in a daze.
Finally, the man at the front broke the silence.
"I wish we were never on the opposing side." His right hand raised into a salute. This was the utmost respect one could show toward another person.
And here he was, the King of Valhalla himself, showing that highest respect to his enemy — the very same person who had slaughtered the whole army of Valhalla.
"The world might never come across a genius like him ever again. His name will echo throughout history." Another person added.
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Meanwhile Ronan.... From whose eyes light had totally vanished, he suddenly felt his body falling into an abyss. "What the!!! What's going on?"
He instinctively tried to move his limbs, but strangely, nothing happened.
And then, suddenly, he felt himself hitting rock bottom. But there was no pain. Only a warmth.
The sensation in his limbs started to return. He could again feel the breeze brushing against his skin.
He opened his eyes. His gaze remained blurry, but it was enough to see what lay ahead. What welcomed him was a totally unfamiliar place.
"Where am I? Am I still alive? Or is this what life feels like after death?" He whispered.
Before he could try to process what was happening further...
A scream!
"Young master. You are awake!"
Ronan looked at his side. A middle-aged woman in strange clothes sat beside her. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks.
'Young? Is she mentally imbalanced, or are her eyes not working properly? Can't she tell how old I am?' Ronan thought.
"I will inform Miss right away." Before Ronan could say anything, she said that and left the room in a hurry.
Ronan's eyes swept the whole room slowly. Everything seemed strange, as if from a different world. "Didn't I just die? That sneaky 8th-level god ascension realm cultivator! He used an artifact to freeze my movement for a second. Damn! Why did I have to die so pathetically?" Ronan slammed his fist on the bed in anger."
Suddenly, before Ronan could vent his anger further....
A translucent screen shimmered into existence before him.
[Congratulations, Host. You have been selected as a player for the system 'Eternal's Grace'. Do you accept it?]
"What? Eternal's Grace?"
[Initial system acceptance reward: Memories of the previous owner of this body.]
"Previous owner of this body?" Ronan repeated those words in a daze. "Don't tell me.... That I actually..."
'A system? Previous owner of this body? Doesn't that mean I actually transmigrated? What the hell is going on?' Ronan fell into deep thought.
Just when his head was about to buzz with these thoughts, someone came rushing through the door and threw herself over his body, hugging him tight.
"Leo." The newcomer was a woman in her early forties. She sobbed. "You're finally awake. We all thought that you actually....." The person failed to finish those words, her voice trembling. It was as if she didn't even want to imagine that other possibility.
'Leo? Is he the previous owner of this body? Where is he now? And her? Is she the mother? What should I do now? Should I just come clean and say who I am? Or should I pretend to be Leo?'
Ronan didn't say anything for a long time. The woman also didn't ask anything immediately. But when she noticed Ronan wasn't saying anything, she let him off her embrace and looked at him, worried.
"Leo, are you not okay? Should I call the doctor?"
"I... I am fine." Finally, Ronan spoke. 'I don't know what's going on, but I should go along with what they say, at least for the moment.' He thought.
"You had all of us worried, Leo. Please don't do something like that again. So what if you have no special attributes? You are still my son. And don't go around and believe whatever nonsense people try to sell you. No potion or weird stuff can awaken a special ability. Either you are born with it, or you can stay normal. But normal doesn't mean you are useless, Leo. So never again belittle yourself. Alright?"
Ronan stared at her. He didn't even know who she was. Yet he felt a strange familiarity as if something inside him had recognized her.
"Alright, mother." He said that without him even realizing. Tears swelled up in his eyes.