“““I see you’re still the same as always. Time has done you well.”””

“Oh my god…”

It’s night now. The sun’s sleeping, the stars were blinking, and the moon was on full-spotlight. The starry sky looked particularly beautiful with the aurora coursing through it, accompanied with the soft howls of the chilly winds.

Atop the snowy mountain, where the sounds of explosions and crashing meteors were heard, Leo was sitting down on a pile of snow, his eyes looking up in despair as he saw ANOTHER batch of Oldruin clones coming to ruin his day.

…Well, it’s her day now.

You see, Leo’s original form was female, so after she began to run out of mana, she had no choice but to revert back to this form, which felt…odd, since he hasn’t used this female form in like…100, 200 years? Not sure, she lost count.

As she could change her appearance however she wanted, the female form she’s taken is that of a young girl, since moving was much easier and all. Her cute long white hair was neatly tied into a ponytail.

Back on track, while she was cursing to the gods for the absolute torture she was being put through, she knew full well that Oldruin wouldn’t go out of his way to kill her. He liked her after all.

Just, now that her hands were tied, countless lives were in danger against the other clones he probably sent off, and she couldn’t do sh*t to stop them.

Honestly, the bed of snow she was sitting on felt very tempting to sleep on. And if she wasn’t careful, she would probably fall asleep then and there.

She’s been fighting for hours now, so the fatigue was kinda a big deal, yeah?

*BOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!!*

She sighed as she watched the sky light up, as another volley of incoming meteors struck down onto the clones, decimating them completely, leaving behind a nice trail of dust and smoke, along with a very tired Leo.

But then, things took a turn…for the better?

“Hello there Laila, or should I say, ‘Leo’.”

“……Oldruin.”

Suddenly, the space above her warped, and the real Oldruin emerged out of the darkness. Unlike the clones, the actual Oldruin didn’t have a slightly emo hairstyle, which was a blessing, because it was kinda painful to look at.

On one hand, she was relieved that the real Oldruin was here, so the massive kingdoms should be safe. But on the other hand, while his clones didn’t even have 1% of his true power, they were still strong enough to flatten a fragile kingdom in a single flash.

That, and she’s somewhat scared, and excited, as to what he’s planning to do.

“So…what do you want?”

Her eyes shone a golden hue, but unlike the usual, it was a soft golden shine, not the sharp and piercing glare. Even if she hated it to some aspects, he was an old friend of hers, and there was some happiness to seeing him again.

“My? Is it such a crime to visit the one I love?”

“……Not really.”

Oldruin slowly made his way over, and sat besides her on the same pile of snow, looking up to enjoy the nice starry scenery.

“…Are you planning to ‘clean up’ humanity again?”

“That is my mission.”

He said so with confidence, his will to accomplish it still unwavering over the many decades that had passed by. He smiled, watching the stars pass by, reminding him of some of the travels he and his friends used to do.

And somehow…that simple adventure of theirs bloated in…this.

The nostalgia was enough to make him cry. Not that he will of course.

He promised he never will.

“Will you help me?” Oldruin abruptly asked, inciting a long silence from Leo, or Laila I should say.

After all, one of the reasons he was doing this was for her.

Laila looked down, somewhat seriously debating whether she should take the offer. Well, the obvious answer was, hell no. But…well, for one, the reason he’s doing this was so true that it actually sounded like a good idea, and second, she’ll be with…never mind.

A light blush appeared on her soft cheeks before she looked up to him and answered with the obvious,

“No.”

“I see.”

There was a look of disappointment in his face before he smiled and placed his hand on her head, just like he used to. Her faint blush continued to brighten.

…………………

Kill this man to save 99 innocent lives, but let thousands die to that consuming darkness.

Or let him sacrifice 1 more life to save sinful thousands?

She had to choose, and time was running out.

…Or, well, Diana had to choose, but…

“Ngu…?”

Last she recalled, she was standing atop that cliff together with her friends, getting ready to face off against that cloaked guy, and she-…she…huh?

“W-What!?”

It was like a jolt of electricity, the sudden realisation dawning quickly. She bolted upwards, mostly not noticing the massive strikes of pain that was coming from her abdomen, where her ‘blood’ was fiercely flowing out.

But more than that, looking around, there was no cliff, no kingdom, nothing. In fact, no sky, no moon, no stars, no grass. Just…pure white.

She tried to remember, she tried her hardest, but no matter how much RAM she was forcing her brain to use, she couldn’t remember anything past that moment.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

This was worrying.

What happened to her? Where was this place? Where were her friends? What happened to that cloaked guy? Questions after questions flooded into her mind, too many for her to answer rationally.

‘W-Where’s-?!...Where’s…huh?’

Okay~, this was…extremely worrying.

Who…Who were her friends again?

Did she even have friends?

She couldn’t remember. Or maybe they didn’t exist at all? Or was she the one that didn’t exist?

It was all so confusing.

It was also then she noticed something, right next to her feet. It was an orb, clear and pristine, with the colours of a rainbow shining inside it. Picking it up, it felt light and smooth, like glass, yet hard and durable, like steel.

It’s kinda like the Iris Gems from Zestiria.

She tapped on it once, and then twice, and then thrice, and then however many times she tapped it until she realised it’s not going to break from mere taps.

“Hmm…?”

Thinking more about it, wouldn’t it be a plausible idea for this orb thingy to be made of Crystal? That would explain the traits, but what about the colours inside? Ooh, so many questions and still no answers…

…Wait. Crystal?

‘Crystal!’

Then, she remembered, the magic enthusiast with a slight ‘sisterly’ love on Diana, the one who loved to talk to her but just couldn’t find the time and courage to do so! Yes, the beautiful girl with tsundere qualities! Crystal!

It was like a door being opened, the memories of her flooded in like an unrestrained current. From the moment where she practically dragged her out of her house, to her spending her time sleeping on her lap. Ah~, just recalling such things were making her warm inside.

But even then, no memories of what happened to her.

“…Huh?”

And by the time she noticed, no longer was she standing in a world of pure whiteness. Instead, she now stood in a world of pure whiteness, WITH a gigantic tree standing in the centre of it all.

Actually, this place felt oddly familiar to her. She wondered why, but she’ll save that for later, because-

*Oh! Diana! You’re finally back!*

“Hiya!? A-A sign!?”

When she noticed, a wooden sign was suddenly there before her, with those words written on it. As a rational person, she jumped back and shrieked in surprise, which was natural. But she felt kinda bad, for some reason.

*…You don’t remember me? Sig. Ring any bells?”

“Uuuhh…No? Why would I know a sign? W-Wait, how are you even responding to me?”

It was almost like a dream. The words on the sign disappeared and rearranged themselves into another sentence. Scary, but intriguing.

Sig took a moment to ‘ponder?’, before it turned to the right and displayed an arrow towards the large tree growing in the centre of this blankness. There wasn’t a need to follow, but…Hell, why not?

And so she walked, and walked…and walked…and, was the distance between her and the tree getting bigger?

*Hmm…This is a problem…*

“Huah!? S-Say something when you’re going to appear! And what’s your deal anyways!?”

*……Hah…If only you still remember…*

“Uh? Like, I am trying to remember, but what’s to remember anyways? What the hell are you anyways? Am I dreaming?”

The sign didn’t answer and merely pointed her in the direction of the tree. She pouted in annoyance before continuing her walk towards it, which, this time, the distance wasn’t widening, so that’s good!

But, once he actually got close, things were…not as they seemed from afar.

“W-Wha…?” In a single look, any normal person would realise that the tree wasn’t healthy, or even dying. The large roots were pale looking, the leaves were falling off, and most of the wood it had was crippling off. Even now, small chips of it was falling off the tree like a skin being shed.

*You see that? Remember anything new?*

“No, no I don’t…And, holy sh*t, you’re floating!?”

*…Hah…Just, imagine a chainsaw or something and cut open a path to the middle of the tree. Something inside should help you remember.*

“A…chain…saw? What’s that? Sounds cool!”

By this point, Sig ‘recoiled?’ back in ‘shock?’. It sure knew that Diana wasn’t in the best condition right now, in fact, it’s rather surprising she hasn’t noticed that wound on her stomach, and her memories are all over the place, but seriously!?

*It’s a tool from your previous life. It looks like this, *Shows picture*. You pull that string to activate it*

“Woah…That sounds awesome! And previous life? What does it mean?”

And just like that, once the image got into her head, bam! The chainsaw suddenly appeared in her hand. The slick design with an orange-coloured casing, easy to say, it looked like one hell of a tool. Could probably kill someone in seconds!

“And…cut!”

*Vrroooomm!!!*

In a single pull of the string, the chainsaw bursts into life! And just as instructed, she slowly carved a path, big enough for her to fit in, towards the centre of this ginormous tree.

“Hey, uh, so-, woah, you’re floating in the air!-, I mean, what’s inside this tree anyways?”

*I’m not too sure. But it should help to clear some things up…Or that’s what I believe at least*

“You don’t seem too sure.”

-I’m not. I’m you after all. Was what Sig wanted to say, but there’s a feeling that doing so might cause some problems, and Sig’s ‘gut?’ feeling was usually spot on.

“Aaaaannndd……Done! Alright! Ooh~? What’s this? A secret entrance perhaps!?”

Once Diana finished carving her way to the centre, her path opened up, and she saw a small room in the centre of the tree, with another one of those rainbow shining orbs floating in mid-air.

*Hey. Diana. Tap the orb you have earlier onto that one.*

“Huh? Uh, sure?”

Oddly, a feeling of tension could be felt from those words as she read over the sign. If Sig’s right, then tapping the orb in her hand with that floating orb should bring back her memories, right?

Could there have been something really bad that remembering them might be terrible?

Well, what’s stopping her at this point? She’s been wanting to get her memories back, and whatever sh*t’s gone down in her life it’s her duty to take that into her responsibility!

…Woah, that sounded oddly wise.

Anyways, with determination in her eyes, she brought the orb in her hand towards the floating orb, and tapped them together. Then-

“Urk!?”

It all came flooding in. All her memories about her past life on Earth, the day she arrived, her ‘reincarnation’, and her stand against that hooded man. Everything. Even all the pain she sustained from day one ‘til now. Everything.

“Ah…Agh…!?”

And all of that, was compressed, into a mere span of 5 seconds. It was unbearable. The pain, the emotions, they all smacked into her skull like a fighter jet crashing into her head. It was very unpleasant, so much so she could’ve probably fainted if it wasn’t for her focus.

But all that recalling also meant she finally managed to shed some light into the battle.

And, oh boy…she, REALLY wasn’t expecting to see what she did.

Okay, basically, she was still deciding on which side to pick, but her friend Gaz there already picked his answer and rushed in, soon followed by a quite angered and serious Ilgua. With no choice, she followed them, with Rei and Crystal by her side.

She didn’t notice it at first, but all the while they were clashing, the man in the cloak was constantly smiling at her, Diana I mean.

It was then, under the cover of the night, a stray magic bullet turned its course and went directly for her stomach. Her [Danger Perception] rang like crazy, but she was too late to react, and she received a good blow on her stomach.

Her ‘blood’ splashed into the air, which seemed to have caused a moment of shock for the cloaked man, but he made haste and grabbed her. Crystal, Gaz, and Ilgua all screamed for her name, and Rei quickly rushed in to close the gap between him and the man.

But alas, they were all too late.

The cloaked man spoke a chant with astounding speed, before he used ‘something’ to paralyse Diana’s movements and dropped her down the cliff. All beyond that point is a blur.

“…Wait, but, doesn’t that mean that I-“

*Yes. You died.*

“………Huh.”

*…You sound rather calm about it.*

“Yeah. I guess I am. Wonder why?”

Perhaps it was because she’s died once already. It sounded like the most plausible answer, but she doubted that’d be the case.

Actually, thinking more about it, if she did actually die, it meant that thousands of lives, innocent or sinful, have been saved due to her being a sacrifice, yeah? Maybe that’s why she felt so at peace, because her death actually meant something.

‘Woah, that’s deep.’ She chuckled to herself, her body now feeling the pain from the wound on her stomach. Aside from the fleety feeling and the oddly warm feeling, guess death hasn’t changed much from last time, huh?

Stuck in a room of white(usually), with your old memories striking back to haunt you, over and over. Heh, history repeats itself.

…Although, it’s odd. Her [Danger Perception] flared like crazy when she was about to get hit by that magic bullet, but when she was falling to her doom, it went silent. Isn’t that oddly peculiar?

And back when she died for the first time, didn’t all her injuries from her squash get healed? Why did she still have her wounds this time? And the pain’s even there.

“Hmm…”

Well, whatever the case, she’ll just say she’s dead for now.

And while she’s here, might as well continue that save of that game from last time! Now that she’s here, she’s safe from all the worldly troubles, so time to play!

…Or maybe that’s just a distraction from facing reality. Who knows?