New Brisbane City, Australia, September 10, 2007: New Era Calendar
"Anarchy, calamity, chaos, death, disaster, and discord—all of these things ran rampant in ancient times. Devils and demons ran amuck as even the deities and gods back then ruled while also roaming the mortal world."
"Ancient banes and evils enslaved human civilisation for thousands of years before the descent and birth of deities and gods. The idols and deities they had once prayed to in times more ancient than those had materialised and suppressed the devils and demons' supremacy over the human race."
"After many years, centuries, and millennia, humans had finally returned to where their civilisation had left off back in the year 2155, before the great disaster after which everybody lived happily ever after."
A certain woman peeled her eyes away from the book she was reading out loud to us.
Her eyes were violet, like a purple meteor flame. She had platinum-white hair, which she would disguise by dying it a darker colour. She wore a soft, gentle, and frivolous smile as she gazed at us.
"Whaaahhh!!! Whaaaahh!!!" My older sister, Julie, disrupted the calm and gentle atmosphere.
I turned my head at her in annoyance. This story was really interesting, but I doubted that our mother had told us the whole story. Well, it's not like I could complain or ask her to tell us more. Just like my sister Julie, I was just a baby.
Our mother lifted both of us in her arms as she walked from where we sat at the fireplace, seated on a sofa on her lap, as she began walking upstairs to lay us down to rest in our cradles. I raised my hand towards the woman I would call my mother as her sweet smile shone in the dark evening bedroom. Julie was already fast asleep, even after making such a fuss over the story. My mother accepted my hand and allowed me to pull on her finger as I smiled sleepily at her.
After tucking both of us into bed, she kissed both of us on the forehead before silently promising in a whisper, "Chris, Julie, both of you will be destined for great things in the future."
With that, she closed the door and headed downstairs.
What an irresponsible mother, telling her barely-year-old babies such a scary story!
I turned my infant body, which was a struggle to do as I stared at my older twin, Julie.
Although we were twins, she came out first, being born on the 31st of March, a few minutes before midnight, as I was born on April 1st.
I lay down for a few minutes before staring at the moon outside my window.
It's already been a few months now, but I still have trouble believing it.
I had reincarnated, and in a strange and magical world, no less.
This world was no different from my old one back in 2053.
Back then, I was just a normal 16-year-old kid. And if the story Mother was telling us about is accurate, a horrible disaster happened in the year 2155, which led the world into perhaps hundreds of thousands of years of despair. In fact, it should be a miracle that so much of what they'd call ancient culture was preserved.
After reincarnating here for over a few months, I discovered that the world was almost identical. There were phones, cars, public transport, schools, and no dystopian post-apocalyptic setting; it was no different than back in the 21st century.
However, after eavesdropping a few times on Mother, it seems that magic, demons, and monsters exist in this world as well.
I was strangely nervous, yet strangely excited. I had been given a second chance in a world that was once mine but is now ruled by mysterious forces.
I didn't know how to feel; in this life, I had a family, a sister, and a bright future to look forward to. I couldn't help but feel my eyes start to shine. And with that thought and reignited vigour, my infant self was so excited that I fell asleep.
…
The same day, 22:45
In a high-rise building at the heart of New Sydney, a bald man sat at his desk, which was on the highest floor of the building. The office space was his own, decorated with strange artefacts such as swords, shields, armour, and other weaponry. The space was also littered with strangely shaped skulls, like those of demons and monsters the man had once hunted. In the late evening, the man sat alone with a cold expression as he talked on the phone.
He wore dark sunglasses even though it was pitch dark outside; however, the sunglasses failed to hide the rage in his icy, meteor-purple eyes.
"Yes.
Yes.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
That's right.
I'm in contact with Japan's Asahina Clan. We suspect that the target is in this country.
Mhm.
Tch! Of all the countries, Australia is the worst place for us to investigate her whereabouts." The man was visibly unhappy as he spoke but hid his emotions perfectly as he talked over the phone. To ease his anger, he picked up and started playing with the pens and knives scattered all over his desk.
"No, this isn't due to the Australian government—far from it, actually—but it's due to the demon beasts that roam this country like pests."
"Apart from the Ten Major Cities, this place is infested with spider-type, snake-type, kangaroo-type, and crocodile-type demons, just to name a few. And don't even get me started with its waters and sea creatures."
"This country is practically only accessible through air travel, yet the aerial monsters are nothing to scoff at either."
"Only about 5% of this country is habitable, yet it's nearly as large as the United States and still a part of the commonwealth due to its history in the previous epochs."
After a few rounds of conversation, the man hung up the phone as he sat at his desk in deep thought.
He readjusted his messy tie from a long day of work but knew that he wouldn't rest easily if he didn't manage to locate his target.
The man would never forget that day from nearly five months ago. From 23:55 on March 31st until the moment the clock hit midnight, an anomaly in the world happened. This anomaly was enough to warrant an investigation of the whole southern hemisphere.
On that day, the mana in the air was shaken and changed.
Many demonic beasts that had been suppressed in remote parts of the world had begun going into a frenzy and exhibiting abnormally violent behaviours.
Many mages had received what they claimed to be revelations from the magic god, while many sorcerers saw a qualitative change in their inner force and techniques.
This was the advent and the signs of the birth of a new era of magic and sorcery. However, it was evident that something had changed. There was a catalyst. A living being so unpredictable that the heavens and the earth had decided to strengthen all inhabitants of the earth, ranging from the demons to the mages and sorcerers, as an attempt to stabilise the power balance.
"Truly a nuisance." The man sighed before clearing his desk of any materials like knives, paper, documents, or pens lying around.
After clearing the desk, he grabbed one of the knives that he hadn't put away.
"That woman should consider herself lucky to have me use my technique on her."
"Blood Divination Technique:..." Before the man continued with the knife, he stopped to think about whether using the technique should suffice.
"No, I can't underestimate her."
"What's the price of a couple of eyes? The organisation will surely reimburse me with new eyes. Due to the uniqueness of my technique, I'll still be treasured no matter what."
And with that train of thought, the man decided to go all out to find the target.
He grabbed the knife once more and directly cut a large gash through his right arm from his wrist to his shoulder before finally stabbing a hole in his right palm.
"Extension of My Territory: Secrets Sacrificing Eyes
The mana in the air shook as the office space filled with blood. This was obviously more than the 5 litres of blood in a human body, but this seemed to have no effect on the man.
The paintings, skulls, windows, swords, armour, and shields shook before disappearing in a pitch-blood-black darkness.
Although this seems like a lot, all of this happened in no more than 0.25 seconds.
The man's original office was nowhere to be seen, as it looked like he was now just in a dark, black-blood-coloured pocket space dimension.
The only thing in this realm was the man and a pair of rainbow-iris eyes, which seemed to have the ability to see and know all things in this universe.
The eyes looked at the man as the pupils filled with infinite knowledge peered at him.
"This time, no sacrifice is needed. Your eyes alone will suffice." Said the eyes before showing the man a few images.
The first image was the geographical map of the Australian Federation. The second image showed the back of a mysterious woman with platinum-silver hair; however, as she turned around, her violet eyes shone like a pair of dazzling and mysterious meteors. Finally, the final image revealed a pair of fraternal twins peacefully sleeping in their cradle. Both of the twins had black hair, unlike the mysterious woman, but as if one of the twins were able to sense a presence watching him, the male twin suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of violet-purple irises akin to those of meteors.
With the man absorbing these images in his mind, the time to pay the price had come. The strange pair of rainbow eyes seemed to shut its eyelids as it began laughing mockingly like a strange monkey-beast hybrid.
Blood began flowing out of his eye sockets as a wave of excruciating pain hit the man. Although nothing had happened physically, he felt as if a pair of rabid monkeys were tearing at his eyes and pulling them away bit by bit.
He fell and knelt on the ground as his eyes disappeared with the rainbow-irised eye creature. The room slowly went back to its original state before the man had used his domain as the effects of the domain receded. The painting, furniture, and equipment were still messily scattered, but everything was somewhat back to normal.
The man breathed heavily before opening his eyelids.
There was nothing there. He couldn't see anything, but he could feel the cool air of the room's air conditioning pass through his eye sockets, where his eyes had once been.
The price this time was bearable. He didn't lose any lifespan in the process this time. It seemed even the gods wanted that bloodline and technique dead and never to resurface again.
Although he had to go through the trouble of getting a new pair of eyes, such a thing wasn't a huge ordeal for sorcerers like him.
Although a sorcerer's eyes would be the best replacement, sorcerers were quite rare to begin with, so he'll have to settle for a commoner's eyes. It may be inconvenient, but unlike sorcerers, commoners won't be able to resist.
Scrambling on his knees to find his phone while also using his senses for mana to facilitate the task, the man found his phone and used the voice assistant function to make a call, as even with mana, a blind man still can't read.
"There's no need to look further. Withdraw all unnecessary personnel from South America and Africa. The target is hiding in the Australian Federation."
"Do not disclose this information at any and all costs. Inform our moles, men, and spies with higher authority in the 10 Ancient Tines. Our only worry should be the Commonwealth and the 10 Giants of America."
"Our presence on foreign soil is obviously unwelcome."
A mysterious and disgusting grin could be seen creeping up on the man's face as he began chuckling silently to himself before hanging up the phone.
His eyes gleamed with sinister satisfaction, knowing that his plan to eliminate the target was well underway. With every passing moment, he relished in the thought of the chaos and fear that would soon consume the Australian Federation.