Born In Ashes: The Enigma

Hearing the sound of footsteps growing closer, Azrael's mind raced and he quickly walked to the bed he had been sleeping in earlier.

As he neared the bed, he suddenly noticed a set of pajamas—suitable for a young boy—and a pendant lying on the other side of the mattress.

Seeing the position of the clothes and the pendant, a possibility suddenly occurred to him, but with the sound of footsteps drawing nearer, he had no time to dwell on it.

He quickly threw the pajamas under the bed and picked up the pendant.

The moment he picked it up, just like with the pocket watch, an information window appeared before his eyes.

Thanks to his Infinite Comprehension trait, he read the details in an instant. Realizing the pendant's nature, he quickly stopped himself from putting it on and placed it on the table beside the bed.

Knock! Knock! — — —

"Young Lord, are you alright?"

A hurried knock on the door followed, accompanied by a man's urgent voice.

Azrael carefully tried to recall if he recognized the voice, but he was certain he had never heard it before. That meant the man outside was someone he had never met.

"Master Azrael, I am coming in. Please forgive my intrusion," The man said. After knocking a few more times and still receiving no response, he pushed open the door.

Before the door fully opened, Azrael quickly closed his eyes and fell face-first onto the bed—his legs dangling off the side, giving the impression that he had just stood up but had suddenly lost consciousness.

As the door opened, a man who looked to be in his fifties rushed inside. He had neatly combed grey hair and was dressed in a classic butler uniform.

Seeing Azrael lying face-down with his legs hanging off the bed, the man's expression changed dramatically. He instantly appeared beside Azrael, as if teleporting.

He gently adjusted Azrael's position and checked his vitals. Only after confirming that Azrael was breathing evenly and that there didn't seem to be anything wrong with his body did he finally sigh in relief.

"It seems he just exhausted all his cosmic energy and lost consciousness," The man muttered, finding no trace of cosmic energy within Azrael's body.

Just as he finished checking, another sound of footsteps echoed from outside, and a woman in a maid's outfit entered the room.

"How is Young Lord Kael?" Rowan—the man—quickly asked upon seeing the maid.

"He's fine. He was wearing a protection prop, and it shielded him from the pressure that occurred earlier," The maid replied respectfully, then looked at Azrael.

"How is Young Lord Azrael?"

Rowan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Kael was unharmed and answered in a composed tone.

"He's alright. He just lost consciousness from exhausting his cosmic energy."

Lia, the maid, tilted her head slightly in confusion as she glanced at Azrael.

"That's strange. Young Lord Kael was perfectly fine due to the protection prop. Wasn't Young Lord Azrael wearing one as well?"

Rowan turned his gaze to the coffee table beside the bed, and his eyes landed on a blue pendant placed upon it.

"He must have taken it off before going to sleep last night," He said, shaking his head as a serious expression settled on his face.

"Anyway, have you found out what caused that disturbance earlier?"

Lia shook her head, her tone grave.

"We haven't found the source, but based on the information I received, it wasn't just our area that was affected. The entire planet experienced the same thing."

"What?!" Rowan's face changed drastically. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I've already confirmed it."

Rowan remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Let's wait and see… I have already informed My Lady of what happened, but it'll take them three days to return."

Lia nodded and looked down at Azrael.

"Should I call a healer?"

Rowan shook his head and started to leave.

"Wait a while. If he doesn't wake up in a few hours, you can ask Thia to check on him."

"Yes," Lia replied. After covering Azrael with a blanket, she also exited the room.

Once they were gone, Azrael opened his eyes and looked at the closed door with a thoughtful expression.

'I don't know who that man in the butler suit was, but the woman… that was definitely Lia,' He thought, frowning slightly as he recalled the way she spoke.

'Her voice was the same, but it feels like she is a completely different person from the Lia I knew. Instead of the timid, pushover woman I remember, she sounded calm and composed.'

Many thoughts raced through Azrael's mind, and from what had just occurred, he came to two conclusions.

First, besides the people he knew, there were others in this world whom he had never met in his previous life—such as the butler who rushed into his room.

Second, there was a high possibility that the personalities of people he once knew on Earth might be entirely different here.

'Is it possible that those two are also different from what I remember?' He thought with a blank expression and slowly turned his head toward the other side of the bed—where he had found the pendant and clothes earlier.

'The clothes and the pendant were placed in such a way that it looked like someone had been sleeping here but disappeared, leaving behind only what they wore.'

He considered the idea of another version of himself existing in this world and frowned in confusion.

'Could it be that the version of me from this world was sleeping here, but disappeared the moment I arrived?'

Although he wasn't sure, the theory gave him some peace of mind. It meant he didn't have to worry about being exposed if the real Azrael of this world suddenly reappeared in front of others.

"From the way that man and Lia spoke, it's clear that what happened earlier wasn't some everyday occurrence…" He muttered, his eyes flashing with calculation.

"In that case, I can take advantage of the confusion and solve the biggest problem I'm facing—my lack of knowledge about this world and the personality of the version of me that existed here."