Reincarnated Hero System

[Recognise this?]

Evan silently nodded, and as he did, a system message appeared before him, confirming what Ranus held in his palm.

|Your ‘Blessing of Destruction’ repels the ‘Aspect of the Concept of Destruction’.|

The light that had been slowly moving toward Evan immediately receded, and the glow of the Aspect in Ranus’ hand dimmed, causing Ranus to glance at him.

[Ah, right. That Conceptual Blessing of yours. Detecting that thing on you is the only reason I stayed in this universe until now. I was supposed to leave not long after you arrived from the future, actually.

The presence of an ‘Unfamiliar Eternal’, however, caught my attention, and to my surprise, it turned out to be someone from the future blessed by the existence who’d go on to win the Candidate Selection.

To think that the Candidate Selection ends in a mere 10,000 years…]

After making it clear that Evan’s arrival was the reason he had remained long enough for the battle against Bewússtsein to happen, Ranus went on.

[But that’s beside the point.]

He gestured toward the object floating over his palm and said, [You see, Candidates are only supposed to have one of these.]

“But Bewússtsein had two…”

[That, he did.]

At Ranus’ reply, Evan slowly narrowed his eyes, already beginning to understand why Ranus had brought him here.

[If word gets out that a Dual Candidate once existed, it’d cause a cosmic mess, so I’d rather avoid that by taking care of a few loose ends.

Like I just said to Arthur, I suppose you could say I’m offering you a bit of hush money.]

The last part caught Evan’s attention, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Like you just said?”

[Yes. I’m speaking with Arthur right now. I’m also speaking with the two goddess and demon pairs.]

Evan stayed quiet for a moment, but he quickly figured that for someone capable of warping reality, holding six conversations at once wasn’t exactly difficult.

While he thought about it, Ranus went on.

[As you now know, there currently isn’t an Eternal presiding over ‘Time’, and as its Interim Governor, who found your battle against Akasha’s test subject rather entertaining despite it disrupting his experiment, I’ve decided to reward you for resolving a Nexus Event.]

Ranus’ words once again reminded Evan that the Cruotis Prime’s Apocalypse had indeed been an unavoidable Nexus Event.

‘I get the feeling there usually aren’t rewards for resolving Nexus Events…’

Evan kept that thought to himself while Ranus went on.

[So, I’d like you to stay quiet about Bewússtsein’s Dual Candidacy. You won’t be able to reveal it even if someone tries to read your memory, and in return, I’ll be giving you a reward.]

“And what exactly is this reward you’re offering us?” Evan asked, and at that, Ranus’ lips curved into an amused grin.

[The reward? Well, why don’t you decide?]

“…What?”

Evan blinked, caught off guard by the response that didn’t match what he was expecting, and Ranus, noticing his confusion, explained.

[I’m giving you a blank cheque. Make a wish upon a star, and I’ll grant it! I’ll have you know your friends are asking for some rather interesting things.]

Ranus kept speaking with a smile, but after a moment, his expression cracked, and he sighed softly before adding,

[Besides Arthur, that is. That one just asked me if destroying a universe was on the table.]

‘The fuck are you doing, bro!?’

Evan screamed internally, his brows twitching as he asked, “Mind patching me through to Arthur for a moment? I just wanna give him a quick whack.”

[Nahh,] Ranus replied, shaking his head. [No contact till I’m done with all of you.]

Tilting his now-empty glass slightly, it refilled itself with red wine in an instant.

[Go on. Ask for anything.]

“Anything?” Evan repeated.

[Yes. Anything.]

“Anything?” Evan asked again, eyes narrowing in suspicion, and at that, Ranus silently sipped his wine, his gaze wandering elsewhere as he answered.

[Anything within the limits, yes.]

“Called it.”

Evan shook his head, confirming what he already suspected. There was no way an offer like this came without strings attached.

“Mind telling me what those limits are?”

At Evan’s reasonable question, Ranus suddenly transformed into an animated form, pointed straight at him, and said,

[Daga kotowaru.]

“…”

[You don’t get the reference?]

“I do. I definitely do. I just didn’t expect that from you of all people,” Evan replied with a sigh, shaking his head as his gaze drifted back to the crashing waves.

‘So he says there’s a limit to what I can wish for, but he won’t tell me what that limit is.’

“And the reason?” Evan suddenly asked, and Ranus tilted his head slightly, looking puzzled.

[Reason for what?]

Seeing his obvious confusion, Evan narrowed his eyes and asked.

“You’re not reading my mind?”

[That makes things boring, so I’m not,] Ranus admitted, and realising Evan had thrown out that half-question just to test him, he added, [If you were asking about why I won’t tell you the limits, that’s simple. It’s more fun to watch you try to stay within limits you don’t even know.]

“So it’s purely for your entertainment, huh? Got it.”

With that confirmed, Evan took a moment with Time Difference to organise his thoughts and consider what he could possibly ask for.

‘I suppose I’ve got three main categories. Items, information, or power.’

After thinking for a moment, he sighed and shook his head, immediately ruling out the first two.

‘Power, all the way.’

He mentally opened his Prisma Book, skimming through its pages as he pondered what kind of power he could ask for, eventually arriving at a particular memory.

Diving into it, he relived the entire moment within seconds before snapping back to awareness, now fully understanding everything that ‘Prisma’ Evan had planned in that memory.

“I want to take Mesarthim even further beyond. To wield the personalised expression of my understanding of Flames as an Authority in itself.”

When Evan said this, Ranus glanced at the orb of energy—the Aspect of Destruction—still hovering beside him, then looked back at Evan and spoke.

[You’re asking me for an Aspect. That’s far above your pay grade. Only a Soul refined at the Firmaments can wield a Personalised Aspect.]

Ranus’ response didn’t surprise Evan, since he already knew this from his Prisma Book, so he only nodded quietly before continuing.

“Then how about this?”

Evan sat up, turning fully to face Ranus as he began speaking.

“At some point in the future, seven stars would malfunction and create an anomaly that would’ve thrown them out of orbit and caused uncontrollable destruction.

This universe’s Error Correction Systems would then intervene, extract the core of that anomaly, and fuse it with a soul to contain it.”

Before Evan could continue, Ranus cut in.

[Not just one soul.]

“What?” Evan asked.

[You don’t actually believe a single soul could contain a Universal Error capable of generating a Grade 7 Singularity, do you?]

“So you’re saying I’m made up of multiple souls?” Evan asked, his brow raised, and Ranus pursed his lips slightly before responding.

[Not exactly. Your soul became the core, but to help it withstand the Singularity Core, several other souls were broken down into pure energy, and their spiritual material was used to reinforce yours, allowing it to survive long enough to endure the containment process until the anomaly was fully subsumed into your existence. That’s what gave rise to those flames of yours.

Of course, your ability to distort certain fundamental laws of the universe, possess a higher causality index, passively absorb flame law energies, and even hold the potential to hack this universe’s System like Jamie does, all stem from that core that was subsumed into your soul.]

Evan felt that Ranus had slipped something outrageous into that explanation, and though he wanted to let it pass, his curiosity got the better of him.

“Jamie’s hacking the system?”

[Yes. He’s hacking,] Ranus confirmed.

[How else do you think he’s able to switch his Race Ruler Authority to whatever race he wants?]

Evan nodded slightly, realising that such a feat wasn’t remotely normal, and Ranus went on.

[You just have the potential to do the same. Your understanding of universal laws isn’t anywhere near sufficient. I’m one of the people who created that thing, so there’s no way it’d be easy to hack.]

At that revelation, Evan raised an eyebrow.

[One of? Who else was involved?]

He was eager to learn more about this Devour Class System that governed the entire Valmone Universe, and while ‘Prisma’ had some knowledge of it, all of that had been second-hand information.

[The other Eternals, obviously.

When you think about it, it’s pretty clear which Concepts are involved.

Creation is the reason the thing even Exists. Wisdom’s responsible for its Autonomy and all its Matrixes. Knowledge allows it to store Existential Information.

Death handles the distribution of EXP when someone dies, souls, and many other functions. Life governs Stat Growth and Level Progression.

Space, my Concept, allows the System to span the entire universe, while Reality ensures that no matter how hard you search, even across dimensions, you’ll never physically locate it.

Causality does the System’s police work, while Laws oversees both Comprehensions and the ‘Ultimate Skill’ sub-system.

There are others involved, but these are the main ones.]

After giving Evan that quick breakdown of the inner workings of the System, the man brought the focus back to the main topic.

[Anyway, you were onto something with your little narration there. Carry on.]

“Ah, about that. What I was getting at is that I want the original power of that Singularity before the Universe’s Error Correction System got to it. The ‘Ultimate Form’ of that Singularity, so to speak.

What kind of chaos would it have caused? I want to be able to channel that raw power it had before it was subsumed into my existence.”

Taking a deep breath, Evan met Ranus’ eyes and finished.

“I want the Origin Singularity of my Prismatic Flames.”

That was Evan’s bold and dangerous wish.

He wasn’t asking for a new power or ability, but for the unlocking of the potential within his existence, the contained version of it.

He wanted to wield the power the Singularity was meant to possess before the universe intervened, to gain that unfiltered version of it.

Ranus, one of the Eternals who helped create the System, was uniquely positioned to either grant access to or enable him to channel the raw power of the subsumed Singularity core.

Of course, there were dangers.

He, the result of its containment, wasn’t classified as a Grade 7 Singularity for nothing.

This showed that the potential destruction that stellar error could have caused was on a massive scale, and naturally, accessing its Origin could bring risks.

Anything from Self-Erasure, Soul Collapse, or even having his identity overwritten by the raw power of the flames was possible.

‘But I already gamble with all three through Mesarthim Ultimate Skill form anyway. There’s a reason Kayla never let me use VIOLET, after all.’

[You’re asking for quite the bold thing,] Ranus finally said after a moment of silence.

“Yes. I want it at the highest potential it could possibly be,” Evan replied instantly, and Ranus’ expression changed at that.

[Ah, there you’ve messed up, little Hero. Your existence can’t withstand what you’re asking for.]

“Then tone it down to the level my existence can handle.”

[That’s still above your wish’s limit,] Ranus said with a shrug.

“What?”

Evan frowned, and at that, Ranus raised an eyebrow and asked,

[Do you have all the memories of your previous incarnation?]

“Yes. Does that matter?”

[It does. I just wanted to know if you remember what your soul was before it fell to the level it reached when you reincarnated.]

At Ranus’ question, Evan went silent for a moment, thinking about the centuries that ‘Prisma’ had spent outside Valmone and the power he’d gained during that time before replying, “Yes, I do.”

[Good. The maximum your soul can handle is greater than the level of the wish you can make.]

“I see…”

Evan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and after a few moments, he then asked.

“Then can you limit it to below the scale of the wish I’m allowed? Let’s say, around 90%. But the Origin power should grow alongside my own strength and become stronger as I do.”

[That’s fine,] Ranus replied. [But some things would have to be trimmed off.]

“Like what?” Evan asked curiously, and Ranus shrugged as he began to explain.

[Well, if you want to keep it under the scale of the wish, the first thing to go would b—]

The man suddenly froze, his eyes narrowing as he turned toward Evan.

[Yeah, nice try.]

“Tsk…”

Evan clicked his tongue as he realised Ranus had seen through his attempt to trick him into revealing the scale of the wish.

“You’re giving me a wish shopping cart, but you’re not telling me how big the cart is. That’s kinda hard to work with, you know?”

When Evan said that while leaning back in his chair, Ranus blinked, turned to him, and asked.

[Shopping cart? That’s quite the analogy. I like it. I’ll throw in a little freebie for that.]

“!”

Evan’s eyes widened at those words as he snapped his head toward Ranus and saw the man casually sipping his wine. He didn’t say anything, only pursing his lips and refocusing on his wish.

‘Prisma’ had been working on pushing Mesarthim ‘even further beyond’, and because of that, he’d gone back to study the foundation of the power that was Mesarthim, the singularity at its core. After analysing it, he’d managed to deduce potential abilities of the unfiltered version based on the destruction it would have caused.

Evan sifted through that knowledge and began selecting abilities from the list.

“Hey, I can make certain laws like Knowledge and the others bug out because of my Singularity Nature, right?”

[Of course.]

“Then can I become able to bug out other universal laws not in that category?”

Evan was thinking about abilities that relied on manipulating those laws to function, but just as the thought came to him, he shook his head and changed direction.

“Wait. My powers are flame-based, so how about this? I gain the ability to burn the energy of universal laws…”