NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 2: Reincarnation
"Whe….where am I?"
The maundering voice of Craig echoed, a groan escaped his lips. Gently moving his limbs, he could feel the surrounding atmosphere.
His eyes blurred. He struggled to stand up.
He staggered back the second he rose up to his feet, the blur in his eyes cleared. Craig's face was filled with confusion.
Left puzzled.
He found himse standing stacked naked in a world filled with nothingness. The mystical realm was a boundless expanse of shimmering white.
A canvas of pure potentiality that stretched out to infinity. The air was alive with a soft, pulsing light that seemed to emanate from the very fabric of existence.
Time itself was lost in this realm, where past, present and future converged in a single, eternal moment.
In this place, the boundaries between self and universe dissolved, and his soul was free to soar.
He spent a few minutes dredging through the whiteness.
"Hello?"
He called out, but his words echoed back to him.
"Is anybody there?" He questioned, all he could hear was the vibrant echoes of his own question.
There was no sign of life existing in this plain.
Craig who was frustrated regarding his situation collasped on his knees, he could be seen panting loudly.
With loads of thoughts flooding his mind.
This was the time he recalled who he was. He winced painfully as memories flooded through his brain.
He clenched his fist, with his teeths gritted.
He remembered everything.
His eyes bulged.
"Wait a damn minute, wasn't I just dead? Didn't I die just trying to lobotomies myself?" Craig asked himself.
"If I'm dead, shouldn't I be in Hell or something?" He thought.
"Where the hell am I?"
He got up from his knees, still observing the space he found himself in, even though he's nothing but a soul.
He still felt the uprising tension.
Just then an unearthly voice echoed from the unknown. Untraced and perfect.
[It seems you're starting to remember who you are, child]
[That's good…..we can proceed then]
The unearthly distorted voice echoed from all corners of the realm, Craig's eyes widened, left in a state of shock.
And before him existed an illuminating light which flickered from every direction.
Existing before him was an humanoid shaped figure draped in white cloak, his appearance evokes imagery of mysteries.
Enveloped in godly authority.
His face remained unseen, faceless and unknown.
Craig's eyes twitched, he could feel himself engulfed in the bright seering light.
"Who are you?"
He built up the courage to ask, stammering before the eloquent entity levitating above him.
[I am nothing, a Sentry whose role is to preserve the reality of the Hades Project, a concept of nothingness]
[My existence matters not. We're here because of you]
The distorted voice was heard once again.
His heart skipped a beat and his brows curled up.
"We?" He asked.
[Yes, we...We're something known as the Adminstrators. Syers whose role is to govern the Hades Project]
A second distorting voice echoed behind Craig.
Craig was left in a state of shock, he tilted his gaze to see a mysterious figure levitating behind him.
Unlike the one draped in white cloak, this mysterious creature was draped in black cloak.
Resonating the darkness from the depth of the abyss.
It's presence sent shivers down the spine of Craig.
He gulped down the content with his throat, he exhaled a sigh. There's no reason for him to be engulfed in fear.
They're in control of everything, what he needs to do is gather informations, to determine his fate.
"There's two of you?"
"What do you want from me?" Craig asked.
"Since I'm a dead man already, shouldn't I have been simply thrown in Hell already?" Craig added another question.
[Well that's true, it's a normal occurrence for dead souls to be shipped into the Underworld for judgement]
[But in this scenario. The Underworld is already filled up with trillions of souls, it's not accepting new souls]
[This is why the Hades Project was created]
The one draped in white cloak answered.
"The Hades Project? What's that?" Craig asked.
[Its a game created by the god of the underworld Hades. A fallen dimension reconstructed by Hades to house Hell in it]
[But not only that. It's a domain which houses other ruinations dumped by outer gods and monarchs]
[To mere mortals like you, this is a world filled with opportunities for mankind to level up and grow stronger]
[But to the outer gods and monarchs. It's nothing but a dump site and naturally we would have simply reincarnated you in the Hades Project]
[But there seems to be a change of plans]
The one draped in black coat uttered.
"A change of plans? What do you meant by that?" Craig curiously asked.
The one draped in white coat crossed his arms, slowly descending from where it stood. It made its landing on the ground.
Standing before Craig.
[The Demon Lord is dead]
The one draped in white cloak answered. It's voice echoed.
Craig's brows curled up.
"The Demon Lord?" He asked.
[Yes. The Demon Lord, the game's system is constructed using four demon lords whose role are completely different]
[Each Demon Lords controlling their respective domain of Hell while the players hunts them down]
[They are the principalities of Order designated by Us in the Hades Project]
[Guardians who guards the eight gates of Damnation]
[None were designated to die, since the most important of the Demon Lords is dead. We're in for trouble]
[Hades who commissioned this Demon Lords in the Hades Project will surely be enraged by the news]
The one draped in white cloak elucidated.
[Since only the soul of the Demon Lord was destroyed, the body's still intact. We just have to make use of another soul]
The one draped in black cloak added.
"Huh? Make use of another soul? What are you talking about?" Craig questioned.
[Instead of reincarnating as a player in the Hades Project. You will be taking the role of the Demon Lord]
The one draped in white cloak revealed.
Craig staggered back with a startled look on his face, his face dripped with sweats. His eyes filled with horrors.
"I will be the Demon Lord?" Craig asked.
[Yes. That's correct]
The one draped in white cloak answered.
"Huh? But what if i don't want to? As you can see, I'm just a normal guy. I don't have what it takes to become a Demon Lord and Lord over a domain"
"Shouldn't you pick someone else for this role?" Craig asked.
[If we do that then we risk alerting Hades about the death of a fixed Demon Lord. Don't you worry….]
[The duties and role of the Demon Lord isn't heavy. All you need to do is not die by the hands of the Heroes]
[The more humans die, the more heroes will be sent into the Hades Project. And more heroes shall come to kill you]
[All you need to do is stay alive and kill them all]
[That's the duty of the Demon Lord]
The one draped in white cloak declared, slowly approaching Craig from where it stood. It placed its right hand on Craig's right shoulder.
Craig could feel himself enveloped by the unadulterated concentration of Starlight Energy.
[You have been selected already….]
[The only thing we need to do is cleanse you of this mortal soul]
"But…but I have a quest?" Craig asked.
[What question do you have?]
The one draped in black cloak asked.
"You mentioned something about Hell right? Isn't Hell known as the Underworld?" Craig asked.
[Well in some mythologies. Hell could be referred to as the Underworld but Hell isn't the Underworld]
[The Underworld is the domain of souls, the fiefdom of Hades, the god of the underworld]
[While Hell is the domain of death and chaos. Ruled by the four Demon Lords and the seven Princes of Hell]
[Only until recently was Hell transferred into the Hades Project and where you will be heading to is...]
[Hell!]
The one draped in white cloak whispered, the eerie waves brushed through his face.
Craig could feel his strength draining as he collasped to the ground.
"Wha….what are you doing to me?" He stammered.
His eyes blurred.
And a radiating emerald light shimmered across the horizon. Taking the shape of a megastar.
Their gaze fell upon the unconscious body of Craig. Watching his flesh burn.
[We will commence your reincarnation]
Their voice echoed in unison.
****
A systematic voice echoed from the nothingness.
{Notice. Your mortal soul has transitioned}
{Congratulations}
{Your mortal soul has been deleted. You have awakened your Soul Fragment}
{You have awakened a SSS-ranked Concept}
{SSS rank Reincarnation confirmed}
{90% of your powers has been sealed}
{Welcome to the