NOVEL WEB Chapter 6: Reincarnation or Transmigration
Damien's breaths came in sharp, ragged gasps, his chest rising and falling like a chaotic sea.
His limbs felt like they were bound tightly by chains, weighed down by exhaustion.
Around him, the whiteness stretched unnaturally, elongating like the eyes of wailing ghost. The ten remaining survivors stood around him, their bodies standing still, but something about them felt... very wrong.
Their faces were twisted in expressions that didn't belong to them, as if something else had hijacked their bodies.
And Jasmine—sweet, innocent Jasmine—stood among them, her small hands still clutching the dagger she had used to try and kill him some time ago. Her eyes flickered with emotion, confusion clashing with something darker, something alien.
Damien tried to push himself up, his hands pressing against the cold, blood-soaked ground, but his body refused to listen. His muscles spasmed violently, fatigue attacking his bones.
The earlier relentless battle and now this escape…
He had lost too much energy, pushed his body past its limits in a battle he hadn't even understood.
The middle-aged man—the one who had first stepped forward to brand him a monster—smiled thinly, the glint of his bloodied katana catching the eerie light.
"It's over, young one. You've done well to make it this far, but fate will not be kind to you."
The man's voice was slightly muffled, as if these words were not his own but a transmission that was spoken through time.
Fate?
Damien clenched his jaw. He had never believed in fate. Only strength.
His vision blurred, the world swaying dangerously. His mind screamed at him to move, to fight, but his body betrayed him.
"Die…"
The middle-aged man finally raised his katana and slashed.
"So this is how it ends…"
Damien clenched his hands tightly. He was given a second chance, but now it was forcefully taken away by someone.
"Just why…" All of his life flashed before his eyes like a movie, his younger struggle to feed his stomach.
Remembering these scenes, something inside Damien broke, and tears appeared at the corner of his eyes.
Jasmine, who was watching these scenes from afar, showed a panicked expression as she finally seemed to have gotten a hold of herself.
"Big brother…"
Realizing what was happening, she ran toward Damien with all her might, but however, it was too late.
However, just when the middle-aged man's katana was right above Damien's head, the world suddenly came to a standstill.
The katana froze mid-motion, right above Damien's Adam's apple. If the sword was allowed to move for just another inch, Damien's neck would have clearly been sliced off.
At this time, a majestic voice filled with ancientness resounded throughout the space.
"Arrogant!"
"Daring to interfere with the reincarnation cycle. Do you have a death wish, my child?"
Although the middle-aged man couldn't move, his eyes widened in horror as if he had seen the embodiment of death itself.
His body started to shiver and contract crazily, all the veins in his body seemed to have burst with blood flowing rampantly, dying the floor red.
Not just him, all the other survivors seemed to have been hit by a giant truck and were flying in the distance, their bodies coming slowly to a halt.
Jasmine's small body wasn't able to bear the abuse, and she immediately fainted.
Clarity also returned to Damien's head. He turned his gaze slightly upwards and muttered, "Reincarnation Lord."
Just then, a window appeared before his hazy eyes.
[Choose your preferred method]
[Reincarnation].
[Transmigration].
[An interference has been detected in the Reincarnation cycles, you only have thirty seconds to decide].
[30, 29…].
The sudden prompt didn't give Damien the luxury to entertain any other thoughts.
Time was running out.
Damien had some idea what each of these words represented. Reincarnation means starting as a baby...
Immediately he ruled out this option and selected the other.
[Transmigration confirmed].
This was the last thing that Damien heard before his consciousness was swallowed by darkness.
...
"Danger! Protect the young prince!"
Someone was shouting like an investment banker whose account had imploded in a single trade. Damien heard the noise. He forced open his sleepy eyes and focused on a bright object flying towards him. Damien's brain slowly identified the object as an arrow, which was hurtling towards him so fast that the air appeared to rip in front of it.
"What the hell..."
Damien immediately came out of his disoriented state, with all the hair on his body standing on end.
However, the arrow hit him before he was able to react.
Beng ———-
The arrow clanged against his helmet.
The arrow had not penetrated but had shaken the helmet, disorienting Damien. Damien felt his ears ringing, the sky and the ground were spinning, and stars were circling before his eyes. His body was knocked back, like a golf ball blown away in the distance.
"Ah.....Shit!"
Damien cried out in pain as his body ragdolled through the air.
"Oh god! The young Prince is wounded! Help!"
"Soldiers, why are you still standing here? Quickly catch the young prince!"
A young man in his early twenties came running, his face filled with panic as if the sky had just collapsed.
He quickly bent forward and picked Damien upward and shook his body fiercely.
"Little Brother, are you okay?"
Damien felt his face smacked by a powerful slap, forcing him to open his eyes.
Immediately the scene surprised him.
A young man with curly brown hair and sharp eyebrows was shaking his body fiercely with a panicked expression.
"Who?"
Damien looked at the man and thought in confusion, his mind failing to understand the situation.
Immediately a name appeared in his head.
"Drevok…Big brother Drevok Harrier."
"Yes, it is me!" Hearing his younger brother's confused mutterings, Drevok immediately cried out.
Damien, however, didn't seem to pay attention to his words, as he felt an intense pain assaulting his head.
Suddenly, the sensation of pain flooded his entire body. He collapsed on the floor, just like a dog that had been smashed by a donkey.