"Who did you kill this ti?" a soft but sharp female voice echoed through the clearing.
Upon hearing the voice, the King of Unicorns, Solareth, slowly raised his head. His gaze fell on the figure of his mate walking gracefully toward him through the forest.
She was slightly smaller in stature than Solareth. Upon her white, graceful head shimred three horns — the central one long and proud, while the two smaller ones at front and back of the middle horn.
They glowed with the rainbow hue and her eyes burned with a deep violet color.
Her entire form radiated a strange, divine purity. Her horse-like body was a flawless white, unmarred, as if sculpted from light itself.
There was a strange sense of divine purity in the way her presence seed to cleanse the very air around her.
Just as Solareth bore the trait of rainbow-colored eyes — a mark of the Unicorn King — his Queen, Lumielle, bore the sacred trait of the triple Horn.
"It was a human child... the one who tampered with fate," Solareth replied calmly, his voice carrying a weight of finality and wisdom.
"Father!"
Before another word could be spoken, a small unicorn—barely the size of a regular dog—ca bounding toward him, his tiny hooves kicking up bits of mist.
He shouted with all the enthusiasm of youth, his voice pure and untouched by the harshness of the world.
Atop his small head was a budding horn, just starting to form its spiral. His eyes glead with a rainbow sheen, a symbol of his bloodline and future as king.
Seeing his child running toward him with such unrestrained joy brought a rare, warm smile to Solareth's face. That small mont of innocence softened his hardened expression.
"I see... well, it doesn't matter who it was, but you should've at least cleaned up the scene. How will it affect our child to see sothing like this lying around?" Lumielle spoke without emotion, her gaze flickering over the lifeless body of Ash lying nearby, blood still pooling beneath him.
She spoke not out of judgnt for the act of killing—no, she was long past such sentints—but out of concern for her child's heart and the mories it would carry.
"I didn't expect you to co here with him," Solareth replied as he gently leaned down to lick his child's face. The young unicorn giggled uncontrollably, laughing in pure delight at the affection, completely unaware of the grimness behind his father's gentle touch.
Lumielle shook her head at Solareth's lack of foresight and walked toward the body, intending to finish what had begun and erase the remains of the human boy once and for all.
However, just as she focused her intent—
She froze.
A strange sensation, alien and ancient, washed over her like an icy wave. It wasn't fear. It was sothing deeper. Sothing primal.
Death.
Not the concept. Not the act of dying. No—this was Death itself.
Solareth's instincts scread at him, and he imdiately moved in front of his child, shielding him with his body.
The young unicorn, sensing sothing terrifying beyond comprehension, trembled and hid behind his father's legs, eyes wide with unspoken dread.
Their gazes locked on the body that had been lying lifeless just monts ago—Ash's corpse.
It was now floating above the ground, suspended in silence.
The blood and broken pieces of his brain that had spilled onto the earth monts ago began to stir. Slowly, they rose into the air, moving in reverse—like ti itself was unwinding.
The tissue, the blood, the fragnts—they returned, knitting themselves back into the skull with eerie precision.
Neither Solareth nor Lumielle dared to move. Not because of fear — they were kings and queens of a proud and ancient race — but because they felt it.
A presence beyond comprehension.
This wasn't magic.
This wasn't a miracle.
This was Death revealing its truest form.
How could one interfere casually with such a thing?
Before their eyes, Ash's body reford, whole and unbroken.
The stillness in the air was suffocating, charged with sothing older than ti.
Even as creatures who had walked the world for centuries, they had never seen anything like it.
Not even the dragons, possessed such a terrifying, unnatural power. Phoenixes, with their Flas of rebirth could have this power of resurrection.
But they were also almost near extinction.
Finding one now was akin to searching for a single grain of stardust in an endless, formless ocean.
Then... Ash opened his eyes.
And everything stilled.
---
What happened...?
That was the first thought to cross Ash's mind as the weightless darkness clung to him like fog.
He killed , didn't he...?
He recalled the mont. He had been speaking... and then suddenly, his mind went blank
He couldn't even rember the pain, only the abruptness of it all.
Now, here he was, floating in a strange, infinite darkness. A place where ti had no aning and thoughts echoed endlessly.
But despite dying, Ash's mind remained unnaturally calm— unnaturally so.
The Rune of Stability was at work, anchoring his soul in balance even in the face of death.
So what now?
His thoughts drifted, against his will, to Elysia. Or perhaps, Nancy.
In both lives, the echo of failure lingered, whispering guilt into his heart.
Even now, I couldn't protect her.
That 'what if' clung to him like a shadow, coiling in the corners of his heart.
But before the spiral could take root, the darkness around him receded and light took its place.
His eyes opened.
Blink. Blink.
The first thing he saw was the unicorn who had killed him—Solareth—standing still, along with another unicorn by his side, and a third, smaller one peeking from behind.
What is going on...?
Ash's mind reeled as he tried to make sense of it.
Why was he here?
Why was he still standing?
He looked around and realized sothing that sent a shiver down his spine—he was standing in the exact sa spot where he had died. The ground where his blood had pooled was now pristine.
Before he could say or do anything, his system interface appeared—automatically, without being summoned.
His heart skipped a beat as he read the notifications that popped up one after another.
Could my theory... have been true?
If not, then this doesn't make any sense at all...
The pieces began to click, the fragnted knowledge he had gathered from countless books.
There was only one explanation that even remotely fit what had happened to him.
A rune that was never ntioned in the novel.
A rune that even that Ancient Civilization did not find.
The Rune of Death..
Ash's thoughts scattered for a mont, his mind caught in a haze as if the surrounding air had grown heavy with silence.
A strange pressure hung over the space like storm clouds ready to burst, and instinctively, his eyes lifted—only to et two pairs of eyes staring at him, cold and unreadable, as if trying to peer into his very soul.
Without hesitation, acting purely on instinct, he activated Omni Thought.
The change was imdiate and overwhelming. His mind shifted into overdrive, like a sudden surge of power flipping a hidden switch.
Everything around him slowed, as if ti itself had paused, and thoughts began to race in quick succession, layered one after another in perfect clarity.
So... now what exactly is going on here...?
He tried to breathe evenly, trying not to lose his grip on reality as he gave himself ti to think. That's why he had used Omni Thought—to make sense of this surreal mont.
Without wasting a second, he opened his status window, the familiar blue screen appearing before him like a silent companion.
***
[STATUS]
Na – Ash Burn
Race – Human
Age – 12
Class – Magic Swordsman (Unique)
Rank – Novice (F-Rank) – (89%)
Affinity – Lightning, Life, Death
---
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength – 171
Agility – 171
Vitality – 171
Intelligence – 171
Stamina – 171
Charm – 171
Mana – 171 {x 2}
---
[TRAITS]
- Codex of Creation (Novice Rank)
- Primordial Core (Incomplete) (Rank- ???)
[SKILLS]
- Omni Thought
--
[RUNES]
- Rune of Stability
- Rune of Knowledge
- Rune of Life
- Rune of Balance
- Rune of Concealnt
- Rune of Death
****
As Ash looked at the familiar window, his eyes locked onto the unfamiliar words nestled among the runes.
It's just as I thought…
Back when he was only a reader, not yet part of this world, he often wondered about things others might overlook.
One such thought lingered in his mory—if a Rune of Life existed, then shouldn't there also be a Rune of Death to balance it out?
The very thing he once guessed had quietly embedded itself into his reality.
His eyes drifted toward the Affinity section as well, where a new addition had silently appeared—Death.
Still, he chose to ignore it for now, not because it was unimportant, but because it wouldn't help him in this exact mont. That was sothing he'd deal with later, once he understood more.
With a flick of thought, he opened the details of the Rune of Death, hoping it would provide the answers he needed.
At the sa ti, he also noticed, that another strange symbol had appeared on both of his Primordial Cores
---
Rune: Rune of Death
Description:
As a bearer of Death itself, Death doesn't co to you.
---
Ash stared at the screen, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.
The description was short. Far too short. It lacked the detailed explanations the other runes had provided him in the past.
There were no visible effects, no abilities, not even a hint at how it could be used. It was vague, almost like a riddle waiting to be solved.
Bearer of death…? What exactly does that an?
Death doesn't co to ? Does that imply I can't die? Or does it an I can return from death—again and again?
Is there a limit to how many tis it works, or does it make truly immortal?
His thoughts spiraled, chasing one possibility after another, yet he knew deep down that no imdiate answer would co.
There were still too many unknowns, and this rune didn't seem like one that revealed its truths easily.
Understanding that speculation would only lead him in circles, Ash slowly deactivated Omni Thought and returned to the present, where ti began to flow normally once again.
His eyes t those of the unicorn couple, calm and unwavering.
There was no fear in him anymore.
He didn't know if this new power would make him immortal or unkillable, but just the possibility that he could revive endlessly… that alone shifted everything.
If it's true I can co back from death, again and again… then everything changes.
***
User Comments
0 comments from readers