As I closed my eyes once again, I couldn't help but remember the first time I died. The irony of this all stuck to me like tape, refusing to get off.

My first life was spent as a somewhat rich man, however, the woman I loved betrayed me for my money and was aided by countless lawyers and other people from the shadows.

During my second life, I spent it ravaging this wonderful fantasy-like world. Countless people fell by my hands, kingdoms were left in ruins and a number of races went extinct because of me.

Now, I stood on a pool of my own blood, surrounded by enemies on all sides. My army had been routed and was no doubt on it's way to destruction as it lacked me, the central leadership. 

And this kiddo, this very kiddo I thought as a useless hindrance, somehow defeated me. Not only did he survive countless of my attacks, he constantly got power-ups from the Manager knows where.

He wasn't anything overpowering, just an average teenager surrounded by girls. And yet, he defeated me. Defeated ME! 

I spent hundreds of years slowly getting stronger, training, devouring my enemies without mercy, planning the destruction of the world... Me, the one known as the King of Darkness and Destruction, the Blood Monarch, the King of Monsters...

And yet, despite all of these titles, I still lost. At first, I could easily overpower him and his little friends. However, as the battle continued, it seemed as though all the injuries I dealt him simply... didn't exist. 

Now, I had lost. My arms felt weak, my legs wanted to give in, my eyes weighted like mountains and my chest hurt like a bitch. Because of course it did, I had a sword shoved right into my heart. My only weakness, which nobody but a fellow earthling should know about.

As the soldiers around us cheered, the 6 girls that seemed to always be glued to this kiddo ran up to him and hugged him, laughing. He too began laughing and raised his fist in victory.

My eyes were unfocused. I could barely see anything and it felt like I was underwater. However, my will which had been trained through countless years spent in suffering and persistence did not allow me to die yet. 

I slowly raised my hand and grabbed the holy sword stuck in my chest. This mere movement caught the attention of everyone, and they all soon stopped whatever they were doing and looked at me.

With a painful grinding-like sound, I removed the sword from my chest and threw it away. It landed with a loud 'clang'. Despite the loud noise in the painful silence, everyone's eyes remained on me.

Slowly, I looked at the sky. The clouds that had followed me since my rebirth were slowly dissipating. I knew that the moment the sun came out would be the moment I would die...

With a dry laugh that wasn't really a laugh, I looked at the kiddo... no, the man who had killed me. My unfocused eyes regained their luster and a small smile that was a mix of relief, sadness, and happiness appeared on my face.

For the first time since our fight, I let out coherent words instead of roars or grunts, "... 2638... years."

The man got up and stared at me with wide eyes, "What?"

Snorting lightly, I repeated, "2638... that is how many years... I have lived."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Before anyone could say anything, I continued as blood flowed from my mouth and chest, "For my entire life... I sought vengeance. Vengeance over a single person, a single event. However, only now, at the end of it all, do I finally ask myself... was it worth it? Was it worth wasting this life over?"

"The answer is no... How sad that I did not realize this sooner..." I said as the clouds in the sky finally disappeared, revealing the sun.

This feeling of sunlight on my skin... How long has it been? For too long, I suppose...

As my body turned to dust and was blown away by the wind, a single tear made of blood fell from my face as I stared at the sky. For the first time, I laughed. It was a true laugh of happiness, not one of my staple evil laughs. As my body fell apart, a slight whisper escaped from my pale lips, a small whisper that should be inaudible normally. However, in this case, it felt so, so loud.

"... Thank you..."

The moment before my complete death, I heard sounds of sobbing. As the sounds amplified, I felt the hatred that had been plaguing my heart slowly disappear.

Of course, I still felt regret and a great deal of anger, but the majority of the cold, undying hatred went away. After all, thousands of years of constant fighting and killing made my heart a cold and harsh place already, and it would not go away easily.

----------------------------------------

Once again, I found myself floating in the nothingness of death. I had been here once before, however, I was 'rescued' by a mighty existence, The Manager.

Thinking back on it, The Manager had no real reason to help me other than boredom. His powers are basically infinite, and he has absolute authority over this universe, so why did he take pity in a lowly being like me?

Unfortunately, I will never know. Or so I thought until a voice once again appeared in my mind.

"Heh, that was a dramatic death. I even shed a tear, you know? Here, have an award for the best actor of the season!" A voice said, and immediately after a small, golden medal appeared in front of me.

Snorting, I 'turned' away. Sighing, The Manager made the medal disappear before floating over to me. Of course, he had no body to float with, but I just kinda knew he did.

"Look, I know you had it hard these two lives. I'm going to once again take an exception for you and reincarnate you again, how is that?" He asked with a small wink, not impressing me.

"And in exchange?" I was familiar with how this guy worked. Last time, he wanted entertainment. This time, I honestly don't know what he wanted. However, I was now far, far more familiar with how minds worked, so I sort of knew what to expect.

"Heh, you've grown from the last time we talked. Well, I just want more entertainment. I had a lot of fun watching you during this life, so I'm going to send you off again! Just like a father sending off his... So do you accept?" The Manager asked, his 'eyes' twinkling with excitement. I have no idea how I knew, but I just sort of did, which is strange...?

"... What else can I do?" I asked, unsure. However, he just HAD to smash all my hopes before they even formed "Well, you theoretically should be judged and, based on your karma, go to hell to suffer for the rest of eternity... Although that's not exactly what happens, you would still suffer. It's complicated, so don't worry about it. Just reincarnate already..." The Manager said as his patience ran out and he grabbed my body... soul? and brought me back to the world of the living.

It was a strange experience, but it happened once already, so I wasn't worried. "What race do you wish to be?" He asked as we flew around the world, invisible to everyone. Thinking about it for a bit, I decided to just remain my previous life's race. "I'd rather remain a vampire. I quite liked my abilities, and since I already know many vampiric spells and techniques, I don't want to just throw them away."

With a twinkle in his eyes, The Manager nodded and laughed as he said, "Fine, however, since you want to be so boring, I'll spice things up a bit. I'm going to make you a beautiful girl!" He said. 

Before I could retort, I found myself inside of an undeveloped body. The soul in this body wasn't yet developed, so I took it over without a problem. I had already possessed people a couple times before, including the first time, so it was easy. My soul itself had become vampiric, so possession was easier for me too. 

But that wasn't the problem god damn it, "Wait, hold on!? You bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaaardddd!!" I roared, unheard by everyone but the Manager. I just KNEW he was laughing his ass off right now. You jerk! I'm going to find you and beat you up one day, just wait for it!

Before I could continue, I suddenly felt very sleepy. This body was too weak for me to remain conscious, so I fell asleep. A new, different, life was over the horizon, and yet dark clouds loomed ahead, which is ironic because without dark clouds, I'd die. Such irony, such irony...