Reincarnated Hero System

Soul Devils weren’t born of flesh and blood. They came into existence through the fusion of countless wandering souls within the Infernal Dimension.

These souls that, for whatever reason, avoided the law of death’s pull, merged over time, condensing into a single entity.

The strongest soul among them became the core, and the resulting Soul Devil’s identity was shaped around it.

But while Soul Devils had their strengths, they also had a critical weakness: the lack of a physical body.

Any strike, whether energy-based or purely physical, struck their soul directly.

For them, pain wasn’t something felt by the body but was the root of their existence.

This particular Soul Devil, who called himself Azzonnin, sought one thing above all else—a physical body.

Because his core soul was that of a White Dragon, he could only inhabit a body sharing the same bloodline.

At present, Azzonnin’s power was limited to the Superior Legendary Realm, unable to break through to Transcendence until he obtained a suitable vessel.

Now, Evan was his target.

As Azzonnin made his intentions clear, Vonun, the Archdevil who had earlier used his wood manipulation to bury the Denerth Sect disciples’ corpses, placed a hand thoughtfully on his chin.

“That means I will have to concentrate my attacks on the silver-haired boy. From what I can sense, he is the greatest threat.

I can’t pinpoint the exact Existence Realm he is in, but when he obliterated that forest yesterday, I caught a glimpse of his real destruction power.

Now, we have seen that he also controls time, as he slowed the movements of those foolish humans who I just killed.”

Vonun then turned to the female Archdevil and said, “I do not think he is a Transcendent with how young he is, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.

Yujia, I’ll count on you to seal his time powers. There’s a chance he might possess the ability to see the future, and we cannot afford that.”

Yujia nodded silently, a small grin spreading across her face at the thought of locking down a time manipulator.

With his plan set, Vonun shifted his gaze back to the dungeon and murmured a command.

“Come out, my pets.”

At his feet, the shadow he cast began to ripple and writhe, spreading into a vast pool of darkness.

From within that darkness, twelve pairs of crimson eyes stared at the entrance to the volcano dungeon.

◇　◇　◇

Arthur, Evan, Artemisia, Beatrix, Crim, and Hibiki descended deeper into the Volcano Dungeon, where magma flowed dangerously close along the paths and strange magma bubbles floated in the air around.

When Evan’s eyes caught sight of the first of the bubbles, his brow furrowed.

“That looks suspicious as hell.”

He didn’t need to be a gamer to recognize an obvious trap.

Everyone heard his muttered comment and agreed. To confirm his thoughts, Evan flicked his fingers and sent a small humanoid-shaped ice construct toward the magma bubble.

As soon as the construct got close, the bubble exploded, sending molten droplets spraying outward in a fiery burst.

“Yeah, definitely suspicious.”

After confirming that the bubbles were explosive hazards, the group continued down the dungeon, the oppressive heat growing unbearably intense. Even with Arthur using his gravity powers to shield them, it wasn’t enough to fully counter the rising temperature.

The heat pressed down on them, soaking their clothes and draining their strength, even leading to a little incident where Hibiki’s succubus physiology caused her natural pheromones to intensify, unintentionally charming both Beatrix and Crim.

Fortunately, she realized it quickly and broke them out of it.

Arthur, Evan, and Artemisia, who were moving ahead, hadn’t noticed anything strange until they sensed Hibiki’s magic activate, and when they turned around, Artemisia almost instantly fell under the charm.

However, Artemisia, being…herself, had a failsafe in place. Before her mind could be overtaken, a burst of lightning crackled around her head, jolting her back to her senses.

The sudden burst of lightning confused the others at first, but they quickly recalled that Artemisia had been very wary of Hibiki from the start, which explained the presence of the failsafe.

Hibiki had… questions, but chose to set them aside as the group was ambushed by lava-horned sharks at that moment, forcing them to fight while also contending with the exhausting effects of the heat.

Despite the rising heat that wore down the others, Arthur and Evan remained completely unaffected.

When Evan’s Adaptive Evolution activated and increased his mental resistance, he realised that the heat was not purely physical, but also a mental attack designed to exhaust their minds and bodies.

His theory was sound, and Arthur agreed with it, guessing that this was the dungeon’s way of weakening them while forcing them to fight.

And as if the dungeon had become aware that Evan and Arthur were unaffected, all subsequent attacks began concentrating on them. However, the fire-spewing giant salamanders it sent at them, dangerous enough to threaten any average Legendary Level existence, were effortlessly eliminated by the two boys.

It seemed this revelation was going to bring even more stress to the group, but Evan saw it as a blessing.

“So, I’m pulling all the aggro now? Perfect. Let’s hit 785 before we’re out of here. Aim for that skill slot.”

With that, he jumped ahead, moving with an almost childlike skip. His sword gleamed as creatures burst from the magma to attack him, only to be frozen solid in an instant and shattered into icy shards that quickly melted away in the heat.

As they ventured deeper, the variety of monsters grew, including bats dripping molten lava, eel-like creatures leaving trails of bubbling stone, flaming porcupines, camouflaged chameleons, and gravity-defying snakes.

Conventional spells and attacks no longer sufficed after a point, and they had to use skills and special techniques for each kill.

The monsters’ magma-coated bodies provided natural defence and camouflage, allowing them to use the environment itself as a weapon for ambushes, attacks, and strategic retreats, turning every aspect of the magma-filled dungeon into a deadly advantage.

Even with bodies tough enough to endure entire mountains collapsing on them, they didn’t dare let the magma touch them, as the magically infused liquid could drain their durability within seconds.

It was difficult to clear, but the rewards made it worth the effort.

Remember when Evan mentioned aiming for Level 785? Yeah, he hit that shit twenty floors ago.

“I’m guessing this dungeon doesn’t go much deeper, I can’t sense any more floors below us.”

“Finally! We’re done!”

That was the exchange between Arthur and Crim as Arthur flew through the air while Crim ran along the walls.

At floor fifty, the challenges took a brutal turn, depriving them of the luxury of solid ground beneath them. Instead, they found themselves navigating a vast river of molten magma carving through the dungeon.

With no safe platforms, the group had to fly or run along the walls, carefully balancing their movements above the deadly flow.

The oppressive heat also intensified, and the magma bubbled ominously below, waiting for a single misstep.

Everyone except Crim could fly, leaving her to navigate the walls, though flight offered little advantage as the monsters were airborne too.

As they progressed, the river widened, signalling they were near its end, which led not to a safe exit but a massive magma waterfall that poured into a vast ocean of molten fire far below.

“Oof… this looks like it could turn someone to ash in seconds,” Evan remarked as he flapped his wings to stay afloat.

Arthur was about to agree when suddenly the river behind them surged with violent force. The molten waves rose like a towering tsunami, crashing toward them with devastating speed.

Without hesitation, they leapt out of the tunnel, diving into the vast magma ocean below.

Arthur and the others landed on a series of jagged rocky footholds jutting out from the magma sea. But their feet had barely touched the ground when the next threat appeared.

A flock of magma bats swooped down from the darkness, their screeches piercing the heated air.

At first glance, the bats didn’t seem like much. They flew fast and launched magma fireballs, but alone, none could challenge Evan or the others.

However, wherever one bat appeared, many more followed. Dozens, then hundreds, spilt out from every crack and crevice in the walls, swarming like a writhing mass of fiery cockroaches.

“Uh-oh… I think we’re in a monster room,” Evan muttered under his breath, already preparing for battle.

And just like that, the fight began.

◇　◇　◇

For thirty long, gruelling minutes, the group battled wave after wave of magma-infused creatures.

Evan’s Harbinger of Ice worked on overdrive, freezing enemies mid-flight before shattering them. Beatrix boosted the group’s speed while slowing and freezing the monsters in space, occasionally unleashing spatial slashes.

Artemisia hurled lightning bolts that arced through the swarm, quickly frying them, while Crim’s blood spears pierced and blasted their bodies apart.

Hibiki used illusions to confuse the creatures, causing them to crash into one another, while Arthur wielded his destruction powers to reduce clusters of enemies to dust.

Despite their combined efforts, the overwhelming number of enemies took a heavy toll, and even Arthur, who possessed the greatest amount of energy, found the constant onslaught to be an exhausting headache.

But like all things, this irritating battle eventually ended.

When Evan finally sliced through the last bat, a heavy silence fell over the cavern. The volcano trembled violently, rumbling as if acknowledging their victory.

Below them, the vast magma sea began to recede, revealing a solid rock platform rising above it.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, and in that moment, they all felt the clear reward—five levels’ worth of EXP, regardless of their current level.

As they caught their breath, a small elevated platform appeared in the centre of the hall, marked with a glowing magic circle.

It was unmistakably the dungeon’s end magic circle Crim had mentioned.

Arthur tapped the ground, confirming it was solid enough to support their weight, then stepped forward toward the magic circle. Unlike the others, he felt far less exhausted thanks to his greater stamina and energy.

“Dude, how can you still walk after all that?” Evan asked, and Arthur turned with a laugh.

“I’ve got Stamina!”

Evan understood the song reference and chuckled, about to respond, when suddenly his blood ran cold.

For a moment, he couldn’t hear a thing—then, he realized all other sounds were drowned out by the piercing alarm of his Danger Sense skill.

Arthur froze for a moment as the ambient laws of time thrummed around him, his expression contorting.

Someone had just attempted to interfere with his time powers, trying to block his control over the law. However, because of Arthur’s superior comprehension, the attempt failed.

Moreover, his Pseudo-Authority of Time immediately detected the interference and revealed the location of the attacker.

A brilliant aurora of light descended from above.

“Ab-!

The sound was cut off before it could fully escape his lips.

His hastily formed gravity shield was useless.

The destructive light engulfed Arthur completely, and he vanished without a trace.