The sands were filled to the brim with countless fallen foes and allies, as the wreckages of destroyed military vehicles and the corpses of fallen lesser dragons littered the battlefield like swirling masses of filth that were scattered throughout the shores.

And within the vast space of the skirmish's location, whose endless skies were littered and smoke and ash was the confrontation of the 2 leaders of both sides, who had, by pure coincidence, managed to discover each other in battle, instantly choosing to duel with each other to the death as their men tore each other apart in their ferocious, yet short-lived conflict.

"You've lost, human... There is no hope for your foolish race. Accept your death with grace, and I shall make it as painless as possible."

It had been a trap all along; what was originally supposed to be a rapid push into the expanses of europe that'd been taken over by the invaders had failed so utterly.

F-2 Sector, codenamed Khaenriah, a massive portal that resided within the island nation of Britannia; one of the last major gateways that remained opened in this world, as the others had already been sealed away through advanced containment procedures made by the combined efforts of the Global Front Initiative. It was supposed to be a breeze walk for at least a couple of days, since they'd assumed that their enemies would already have been busied by the other, countless fronts that had been opened against their other abominable gateways to this world. Despite their ferocious magic, humanity was still able to fend off, and even drive away the invaders from their lands due to its tremendous determination.

The operation was simple: it was to conduct a series of amphibious landings upon the conquered lands of Britain, to land quick assaults upon the enemies already stationed there in order to deal with the massive gateway that was residing there. However, before they could've even landed their troops upon the infested shores of Britannia's beaches, their enemies had somehow already been made aware of their plans. The elves knew of their every move; even from the slightest of strategic positions to the most convoluted of battlefield deployments, it was as if they could see the future with the help of that magic that they had been all too proud of.

"Don't be so conceited, you damn elf..." Novus Sturne, the battalion commander of the 41st GFR battalion spoke as he coughed up some blood, his voice modulated by the now crack-ridden, hole-peppered jet-black exo-suit that once fully protected his fragile human body from harm. "You're not going to be walking away unscathed from this either, seeing how you're nearly just as gravely injured as I am..."

The elf's eyes widened in surprise, baffled at how the human before him was managing to remain as arrogant as ever with his tone of voice. Despite this, he had already come to respect the mighty, worthy foe he had just faced; the human had indeed managed to inflict grievous injuries upon him after all, as he even managed to tear off his left arm and right eye. Unbeknownst to the battalion commander however, was that the elf also possessed a sort of warrior's honour not typically found amongst his kin, and because of this, he simply laughed lightly at Novus' remark, amazed by how bold he was being despite his defeat.

"... Well, you indeed aren't wrong with that, human." he said as the pointed edge of his radiant, blue sword remained fixated towards the defeated battalion commander. "... Although, I must admit... you were one of the strongest enemies I have ever faced within the countless shätri I've lived through... however..."

"... however, what?" Novus asked, his interest clearly peaked by what his foe had just stated.

"... Even if your assault had succeeded... my defeat in this battle will not have an effect on this terrible war of ours. Soon enough, the mightiest of our dragons will come descending from the great portal our mages have cast upon this blighted land..." the otherworlder stated bluntly. "And it is safe to say that none of your hapless, magickless weapons will work this time."

And it was then that the commander began laughing madly, coughing up more blood with each madness-induced cackle, which only served to confuse the proud, victorious warrior elf; for what mad reason would cause such a man to even laugh in such a miserable position?

"You're wrong with many things, elf... One of them in particular, and it's going to cost you a hell of a lot today..."

The elf's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "... What do you mean by this, human?"

A mad smile emerged from his battered face full of scars of wounds, a sardonic grin that would instill fear into even the most stoic of individuals.

"You should have killed me before you went yapping about, dumbass."

Despite the fact that the only clues of what was about to happen next were too vague and few in number, a honed, seasoned instinct had paved the way for a more reasonable action that he quickly made. He gritted his teeth in frustration, as he moved his blade through the air, desperately aiming for the unguarded neck of the disaster that was about to erupt.

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"Y-you lunatic!" the elf cursed as the blade swiftly struck to deal a slice. "You would kill yourself just so you can claim victory against me?!"

"Of course I will..." in a single moment's notice, the battered commander had managed to evade the attack by moving his head just slightly from the sword's pathway. "Your fault for talking too much, you stupid elf... Anyway..."

"Let's meet in hell after this, shall we?"

A series of red, blinking lights emerged from the exo-suit of the defeated battalion commander, as he had quickly activated the self-destruct measures of his armor to take down his foe and what few enemy soldiers remained beside him with his death.

KABOOOMM!

A bright, expansion of blue light and vaporizing heat instantly engulfed them both, erasing nearly every trace of their existence and leaving only ash and soot to remain in their place.

________________________________________

It didn't take long for death to quickly engulf the senses of what was already supposed to be a dead man: a bone-chilling coldness surrounded his consciousness, and an infinite void of darkness mercilessly shrouded his weary eyes. Though it would have horrified any sort of normal, sane man, a man hardened by years of bloodshed and war such as Novus easily weathered through what was supposed to be a nightmare.

"... Is this... is this supposed to be hell?"

Surprisingly however, despite the extremities that the void possessed, qualities which would have proved to be inhospitable to human life, Novus didn't even feel a single ounce of pain from neither the sheer cold nor the deafening silence. However, despite the unnatural serenity, the cold, dark silence slowly turned into something more akin to a form of torture.

Several minutes would pass since he had arrived at this place after his supposed death, and yet there was a feeling of both dread and anxiety as he stared into the void that housed him. Was this truly the final destination of his life after countless hardships? A cold void that left him with nothing else to do but to wait until the end of existence itself?

Well, this was probably what he deserved anyway. Novus, while he had never laid his hands upon the lives of the innocent, he could easily tell that he was already more sinful than most due to the dark life he had led before.

"... You won't die... now is not the time... nor ever..."

A faint, soothing, ethereal voice whispered into his ears, temporarily dispelling the dreadful silence of the void. Novus found himself in awe at the beautiful splendor of its tone, although... there was also the wonder of where the voice came from as it traveled through his line of thought as well.

"... Let me guess... Satan? Or some other fucked up demon? Y'know, I was expecting something worse. This is kind of disappointing-"

"... I am not the being you call 'Satan', nor am I any other form of demonic creature." it retorted, seemingly rather slightly annoyed with his remark.

"Then, pray tell, just who are you exactly? And why are you even talking to me in the first place?"

And the voice responded once more, this time rather meekly. "... My identity does not matter. Your rebirth is what is truly relevant here. Close your eyes, and accept the new life that awaits you..."

This instead confused Novus, and with furrowed eyebrows, he asked the voice once more. "Wait, what exactly do you mean by this? Close your eyes? New life? What the hell are you talking about?"

"... I apologize if you don't understand... just please wait for a moment..."

A few seconds then passed, as Novus waited for what the voice was ultimately referring to. Suddenly, a series of white, flashing lights met his sensitive eyes, as they engulfed his entire body in lightning-quick speeds.

"There now ... This time... please live your life to the fullest..." for one last time did the voice utter telepathically. "... I cannot explain much as of now, since now is not the time for you to know... may you find it in your heart to forgive me once more..."

"H-huh?! What is even happening right now?!" Novus shouted, his confusion spiraling out of control as things continued to go in ways he wouldn't have thought to be possible. "Would you mind explaining this to me, you damn ghost?! Hey?! Hey! He-"

The radiant lights had fully engulfed him by this point, and almost instantly, they all faded into nothingness. Novus would no longer belong to the cold, dark domain of the void, but rather... he would be brought into a different plane of existence whose possibility he never would have initially expected...

"We'll meet again someday, and it will definitely be at a time you won't expect..." the voice last whispered, before it slowly faded into nothingness. "... My dear beloved..."

________________________________________

"... That bastard... it didn't even bother to explain anything..."

Novus could feel the prickling touch of the grass poking nearly every corner of his skin, as his body slowly came back to its once numbed senses and gradually returned to their proper functions.

As he slowly got up from his resting position on the ground, Novus then quickly looked around to see where he was. Gone, it was, of course, the void that once surrounded him had completely disappeared, and had instead been replaced with a vast forest full of snow, trees and grass, with a small, seemingly unmoving body of water with large patches of frozen ice just beside the place where he woke up from.

"... Where the hell even am I?"

His eyes darted around to see where exactly he was, though of course, it would ultimately prove to be useless. For some reason he couldn't know nor explain yet, he had been brought to a completely different location that he wasn't even aware of. Just what had happened back in the void he was summoned to after his death in his previous life? And what and who even was that voice that spoke to him in the first place?

"Damn it... why does it hurt so much..."

Blood... wounds... pain... even the cold... his body was full of it, as the slight, searing pain all throughout his body, as well as the small cuts on his hands have all served as quick evidences to his current status. Although, as he looked at his bruised and battered hands, he could definitely notice that there was something different...

"... Wait..." he muttered to himself, confused as he noticed how smaller than usual his 2, torn-up hands were: they were more comparable to those of a child's than that of an aged adult's. "... Could it be..."

He could vaguely remember that the voice had previously mentioned something about a new life, as well as his second chance: naturally, his mind immediately rushed to form a hypothetical guess based on everything that had just happened to him right now, and as he gradually came to his final answer, he made one simple action to verify it all.

He rushed to the still, partially frozen river to look at his own reflection like he was to look at a sort of mirror of himself, and as he laid his eyes upon what was supposed to be his mirage, an immediate shock engulfed his mind, as it took a while for his body to eventually express the emotions it wanted to show as he discovered the mysterious thing that had just transpired before him.

In bizarre turn of events, he had found himself in a young, youthful body that didn't look like him, nor did it even belong to him in the first place.

... Although, he had to admit that this new body of his had some pretty impressive and handsome looks despite being just that of a young man's- the body he was in right now had impressive emerald-iris eyes, unruly hair of a beautiful red shade, as well as an unnaturally impressive look despite the dust and snow that had enveloped his face.

Just what the hell had truly happened to him? He thought to himself silently, as he tried to think of ways to cope up with the bizarre situation he was currently in.

Well, at least he did get a second chance in life, though of course, it came in a way that he definitely didn't expect.