1086 Lunar Era. The war between the nations was far more terrible than expected. The casualties were high for all sides.

The Beast Nation lost their King and Queen and half of their cities.

The Demon Kingdom was hit the hardest, with the demons being driven to near extinction. I reckon it'll take about 50 years for the demons to recuperate to a point they could at least be called a nation again.

Although the Human Empire fended off the intruders, they still had a casualty of 65%. Many unnecessary deaths because of betrayals and corruption. If the war didn't devastate them first, the Human Empire would've fallen to ruin sooner or later.

The Fairies and Elves were caught in the crossfire. The already dwindling population of the fairies became extinct and the peace-loving elves captured and sold as slaves in all nations. Truly lamentable.

With the continent in dire straits, if the war wasn't brought to an end, each nation believed that it would be an end to them. Thus, as a last resort, they summoned heroes from various worlds. Each nation summoned four heroes to give them an edge in the war.

I, along with many of my brethren was part of the Mage Society. Any mage with the hope of becoming stronger and uncovering the secrets of the world joined the Society. However, that didn't mean that the nations didn't have their own mages. The mages working for the nations were different from us; they had no interest in the secrets of the world and were more attached to material goods. They sought gold and fame. Although their greed did cause the mages of the Society to look down upon them, the Society wasn't a cult and didn't take any action to stop them. The Society was aloof and unless it concerned them, usually didn't meddle in the affairs of the nations.

Usually, the mages of the Society were far stronger than national and traveling mages. In their pursuit of knowledge, they honed their magic skills, found the optimal way to increase one's mana capacity and the truth of the world, well rather worlds.

Every generation, the Society would have two mages at its top, overseeing and regulating everything in the society. The Society would crown a Great Sage who was benevolent, kind and would be the teachers of the next generations of mages in the Society. The Society would also crown a Devil Mage, who were known for their power-hungry and ruthless ways of protecting the Society.

I joined the Mage Society in my late teens and spent the entirety of my twenties and thirties aiming to become one of the top mages of the Society so that I could access the Akashic Records and learn the truth of this world. Well, I wasn't that obsessed with knowledge that I didn't have any hobbies. I loved music and fell in love with the beauty of space. Anyways, by the time I was 45, I achieved my dreams, becoming the Devil Mage of my generation, and finally got my hands on the Akashic Records. The truth was beyond anything I expected. The existence of multiple worlds was already known through the existence of the summoned heroes. However, the structure of the world and the existence of the elemental and dimensional laws ended up empowering us to an unimaginable degree. Both I and the Great Sage at our peaks could control the rotations of the sun and moon, though we knew not to as it bore great risks to do so.

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When the war was at its peak, it even started to affect the Society. As we didn't advocate cutting off all ties with the world, many of the members became agitated and began to cause internal strife. Both I and the Great Sage understood the problems. I thought that we should teach the nations a good lesson through brute force but the Sage thought that it would be better to write a peace treaty between the nations. After a lot of bickering, I reluctantly agreed with his suggestion and told(read: threatened) the nations to make peace.

But what did I get? We called the then leaders of the nations to a neutral zone, to sign the treaty. I was the overseer and didn't bring anyone as I thought it would be a waste. But never had I imagined that all 3 of the nations would use their royal artifacts to launch an attack on me. I died from a combined attack of their artifacts and mages. Well, unfortunately, the artifacts did contain the power of law which contributed a lot to my death. This bit of information I understood as I was dying. What a waste.

I guess this is the price of my arrogance. Should I count this as a declaration of war against the Mage Society? Well, no use thinking about it since I'm dead. Ahh fuck, if I had known they'd attacked me, I would've beaten the shit out of all of them including their relatives in the grave.

Well, dying in a war is one of the most honorable ways to die. So guess I'm not too angry. All I hope is that that the Sage is wise enough to wipe out those greedy fuckers for messing with the Society.

If I ever happen to reincarnate, I would live my life a bit normally. Since I pursued knowledge in this life, I hope to at least live my next life peacefully.

Anyways.... where is this place? Why is my body translucent? Ahh right, I've died so this is my soul.

Also, why is it black everywh-

Is this limbo? The Akashic Records mentioned limbo as a sort of waiting room for reincarnation. If that's right, then that means I'm getting reincarnated.

Yippee!

No, wait! Then what comes next is-

Before I can even finish my thoughts, I feel burdened by a huge pressure. At the same moment, a light pierced me and a sharp pain assaulted me before spreading through my entire body.

Yep! This should be the combined efforts of the laws of life and death to aid me in my reincarnation by wiping my soul clean. Like hell, I'm gonna let that happen!

I too have ways to control the laws through my magic. Let's see who wins.

.......

Fuck! What is this shit?! How are these laws so strong? Is it limbo that is strengthening them or my lack of a physical body that isn't allowing me to control them well? If this goes on, I won't be able to fully retain my memories.

Shit! I am losing fragments of life. I'll have to really exert myself to keep a hold of myself.

......

I think it's finally over. But what is this dark place? Where am I?

I think I was in.... no I can't seem to remember where I was. What's my name? I can't even remember that. What are these melodies in my head?

"......."

They're soothing. I wish I had the instruments to play these. I can't even do mana exercises in this state.

Eh?

Why do I know these things? What the hell happe-

Again my thoughts were interrupted, and I was engulfed by a blinding white light.

.......

I open my eyes but everything seems fuzzy. All I see is white with a few splashes of metallic grey. I try to look around but find that I can't turn my head nor move my limbs.

SLAP

As I try to ascertain where I am, I hear a slapping sound and feel a stinging pain rushing from my butt. It was enough to make me cry even though I couldn't understand how I became that weak.

I try to see who attacked me with eyes blurred with tears and my mouth trying to hold back sobs.

"Congratulations! It's a boy", says a lady in white.

.......

Shit.