Reincarnated Hero System

Unnamed Lake

Ulutera Continent

Vuketis Prime

December 30th

Year 5012 of the 50th General Calendar

The heavy footfalls of an armoured man echoed across the quiet, moonlit meadow. His black mechanical armour, once pristine, was now drenched in so much blood that crimson droplets trickled down his frame, staining the ground beneath him.

Shredded fragments of flesh clung to the steel plating, remnants of whatever carnage he had walked away from.

Yet, despite the gruesome state of his armour, his stride was casual, unhurried. The soft grass flattened beneath his weight, delicate flowers crushed underfoot as he moved toward the distant lake, its surface glistening beneath the light of the stars.

With each step, he began to remove pieces of his armour.

The first to go were the pauldrons, unstrapped and discarded onto the field without a second glance. Then the vambraces, their once-sharp edges dulled by battle, clattered to the ground. Bit by bit, he shed the bloodstained shell that encased him, leaving a trail of darkened metal in his wake.

By the time he reached the lake’s edge, only his underclothes remained—a simple black shirt and trousers tucked into laced combat boots.

He pulled out a simple wooden stool from a tear in space and sat down, gazing out at the water. The field surrounding the lake was in full bloom, vibrant petals swaying gently in the breeze.

“Nature is beautiful,” he murmured.

His eyes shifted upward, past the rolling fields and the calm waters, past the thin clouds in the sky, and toward the celestial abyss above.

But the night was not completely dark. A ginormous entity loomed in the distance, its sheer presence distorting the illusion of a normal sky.

A colossal black void, surrounded by a swirling, luminous accretion disk of searing energy.

It was the true sovereign of this region of space, a force so immense that even this planet’s host star was merely one of many celestial bodies bound within its dominion—close enough to feel its pull, yet distant enough to escape the inevitable descent into its abyss.

“And those guys are beautiful too.”

His voice was quiet, almost contemplative.

“The greater universe… so vast and beautiful it pisses me off.”

With a slow exhale, he let his gaze drift from the abyssal titan to the stars that dotted the sky.

Infinite, distant, unfeeling.

“What are the odds?”

He questioned with another sigh, lowering his gaze to the lake, where the reflection of a man stared back at him.

A young face, perhaps in his early twenties, framed by a head of black hair streaked with white—so many white strands, almost a quarter of his hair. A light stubble adorned his face, adding to his rugged handsomeness, but neither his hair nor his features were what stood out the most.

His irises were aflame. Not metaphorically, but literally burning with swirling iridescent fire. His pupils, a deep grey that leaned closer to black than white, held an eerie stillness in contrast to the restless blaze surrounding them.

He sighed for the third time, watching a school of fish glide effortlessly through the water.

“Nature really is beautiful,” he said once more, as if reaffirming it to himself.

Then, a sudden streak of light slashed through the sky, like a falling star carving its path through the night. Its brilliance swept past overhead before descending onto the flower field behind him.

The impact sent a rush of wind cascading through the meadow, scattering petals into the lake and setting gentle ripples across the water’s surface.

A soft voice followed in its wake, calling the man’s name.

“Evan.”

He didn’t turn immediately. He already knew who it was. He continued watching the school of fish until they descended below the surface.

Finally, he glanced over his shoulder, his eyes falling on the figure behind him.

A young woman, her impractically long white hair cascading past her knees, tied into a single braid. Hazel-brown eyes shone with warmth, set against delicate features that still carried a trace of childishness despite their beauty. She wore a loose off-white blouse tucked into high-waisted navy trousers, paired with ankle boots laced up neatly.

She approached with a bright smile, waving as she drew nearer, while he met her gaze with a calm, neutral expression before speaking.

“Ah yes, it’s you,” he began.

“The one who claims to have met the me of the future… yet for some reason, that ‘me’ was a child.”

His gaze lingered on her for a moment before he exhaled softly.

“Hello, Beatrix.”

“I’m not lying, you know? I really did meet the future you.”

She pouted as she reached his side, placing her hands on her waist in an exaggerated stance, while he simply responded in his usual even tone.

“I know you’re not. There’s no point in lying.”

“Really? That’s the only reason you believe me? And here I thought I’d earned some trust.”

Beatrix rolled her eyes before extending her right hand. A stool, identical to his, appeared before her. She set it down a short distance from him and took a seat, gazing out at the lake.

After a moment of silence, she turned her gaze to the discarded pieces of mechanical armour on the floor, a wry smile on her face as she spoke.

“The ‘Machine god King’ is dead, huh?”

“Why ask questions you already know the answers to?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, but she responded without taking her eyes on the armour pieces.

“You could’ve just forced him to abandon his armour and flee. It’s not like he hasn’t done it before. He sent his armour to fight on autopilot and ran away from my mother once.”

“Is that so? I never heard about that.”

There was genuine surprise in Evan’s voice, and Beatrix finally returned her gaze to him as she responded.

“Of course, you haven’t. He never told anyone—too much pride. And my mother never cared enough to bother mentioning it.”

She shrugged. “She only told me because it made her late for a family dinner that day.”

Evan let out a dry laugh at her response.

When his laughter stopped, silence reigned, save for the plopping sounds of fish jumping in and out of the lake.

His eyelids slowly fluttered shut, but not a second passed before a sudden crackling suddenly reached his ears.

“Mallory!!”

Beatrix’s excited voice rang out, and by the time his eyes opened, Beatrix had already abandoned the stool beside him, launching herself at the new arrival in an enthusiastic hug.

Evan didn’t bother looking, as he knew there was only one person who could evoke such a reaction from the woman named Beatrix Xagna.

‘Ah, besides that demon she’s in love with, I suppose.’

“Hello, Evan.”

The calm voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he turned to see Beatrix clinging tightly to another woman, nuzzling against her as if unwilling to let go.

She stood at the same height as him, around six feet, with long black hair that reached her lower back, even when tied into a high ponytail. Despite her mature beauty, her face remained devoid of expression—so much so that, if not for the light in her golden eyes, one might mistake her for an eerily lifelike doll.

She wore a simple black collared shirt paired with long white trousers and leather shoes, giving her the appearance of an ordinary office worker rather than the ‘god Ruler she was.

“Hello, Artemisia.”

Evan responded to the greeting before returning his gaze to the lake, ignoring Beatrix as she continued to cling to Artemisia, muttering something strange under her breath.

“A Mallory a day keeps the terrors of the universe at bay.”

“…what do you think I am, Beatrix?”

When Artemisia finally responded, Beatrix’s expression shifted, and she abruptly pulled away. Just as quickly, she grasped the sides of Artemisia’s face, narrowing her brows as she spoke.

“Repeat after me: Kirone.”

“…”

“Repeat after me: Kirone.”

“…”

“Repeat a—”

“Kirone.”

Artemisia quickly realized Beatrix wouldn’t stop until she complied, so she relented, earning a satisfied smile from Beatrix.

Noticing the exchange, Evan raised a brow, confusion clouding his expression as he asked.

“Why so insistent on the name?”

“Because it’s different!”

Beatrix spun around, throwing her arms up dramatically before continuing.

“It sets our relationship apart from everyone else! Even our parents don’t use our middle names, so they’re the perfect exclusive identifiers for us—the BESTEST BEST FRIENDS in the whole universe!”

She puffed out her chest as she spoke, clearly proud of her status as Artemisia’s best friend, while Artemisia simply sighed and shook her head.

Ignoring Beatrix’s antics, Artemisa moved her gaze to the scattered pieces of armour on the ground, immediately recognizing whom they belonged to.

For them to be here, their owner had to be dead.

“You killed the ‘Machine god King’… you’re far stronger than I thought.”

Artemisia’s voice, usually neutral, carried a hint of envy—an unusual shift that Evan immediately noticed.

Beatrix caught on as well but chose not to mention it. Instead, she threw up her hands and followed up with an overly dramatic reaction.

“I know, right?! We had a nearly 100-year head start, yet he still surpassed us and became a High-Tier Deity before we did!

It’s vexing!”

Her words revealed the significant age gap between Evan and the two women—99 years, to be exact.

Even though Evan had overtaken them in strength despite being a mere infant when they were already Deities, he didn’t seem particularly proud of it.

Instead, he had a melancholic demeanour.

“Artemisia, Beatrix.”

“Hmm?”

“??”

Both goddesses turned to him when called, and without looking their way, Evan asked.

“I wonder… what do people across the universe call me?”

It was an odd question, but Artemisia had always found him to be an odd person, so she wasn’t particularly surprised. Instead, she calmly walked to his left side, pulling a chair from her subspace as she responded.

“The ‘Mercenary King’.

The ‘Strongest godslayer’

Wielder of the flames of the Aries Constellation.”

Taking a seat, she finished with his most famous title.

“Prisma.”

At her response, Evan let out a humourless laugh, shaking his head as he spoke.

“Really? ‘Strongest godslayer’. Did they forget the existence of Stelan Adrovach or something? He is a direct subordinate of the Progenitor godslayer.”

Pausing, he raised a hand to his chin, muttering to himself.

“What were they called again? ‘Zodiac godslayers’, was it?”

“Well, Stelan is the strongest godslayer from this universe. You are the strongest currently in it.”

Artemisia offered a slight correction, and Evan chuckled at her wording.

“Nice wordplay.”

“It’s the truth, though.” Beatrix chimed in.

“Besides, Stelan is the Progenitor’s subordinate. You, on the other hand, are the Progenitor’s friend. In my book, you’re higher on the list.”

When Beatrix gave her thoughts on the topic, Evan raised a finger, shaking it in correction.

“The future me, who was inexplicably a ‘child’ and travelled back in time to meet teenage you, is a friend of the Progenitor. The current me doesn’t even know what he looks like.”

“Huh? You don’t?”

Surprised by his admission, Beatrix conjured a hologram with light magic and showed it to him. Evan studied the image before glancing at her and remarking,

“You have similar-coloured hair.”

“His is silver. Mine is white. We are not the same.”

Beatrix flicked her hair dramatically as she spoke, earning a chuckle from Evan. However, his amusement quickly faded, replaced by a self-deprecating expression as he stared at the lake and muttered,

“I wonder…if the people of the universe realize that the one they adorn with glorious titles is nothing more than a glorified slave of the gods.”