Heavenbreaker: The Rebirth of the cursed Hero

Chapter 2 - THE VILLAGE THAT HID A SECRET

The forest blurred past as Kai ran, branches whipping against his arms, lungs burning with every breath. Lira moved ahead of him, light-footed and fearless, as if she knew the forest like the back of her hand. Behind them, the torches grew brighter and the voices louder.

“Don’t slow down,” she whispered urgently. “They’re close.”

Kai glanced back. Figures moved between the trees, three, maybe four, armed with iron-tipped spears. Their movements were sharp, disciplined, military-like. These weren’t villagers. These were hunters.

“For a backwater place, they’re prepared,” Kai muttered under his breath.

“Not prepared,” Lira said. “Warned.”

The word struck him like a slap. Warned. Warned by who? Warned about what?

Or who.

Azeriel Dawnblade.

The hero they were supposed to have eliminated forever.

Kai clenched his jaw. “How long have they been looking for me?”

Lira didn’t answer, but the tension in her shoulders spoke enough.

They reached a narrow clearing. Lira held out an arm, stopping him.

“Careful,” she whispered. “They set a trap here yesterday.”

Kai’s eyes narrowed. He scanned the ground and immediately spotted it, thin lines of magical thread barely visible beneath the fallen leaves. A snare rune. If he had stepped on it, alarms would’ve echoed through the forest.

He stepped over it silently.

She watched him, startled. “You saw that? Most people don’t.”

Kai shrugged lightly. “Old instinct.”

Not old, ancient. Skills from his celestial life hadn’t completely disappeared.

They hurried onward until the trees thinned and the outline of a village appeared ahead. A cluster of stone huts, flickering lanterns, and the faint glow of hearth fires.

Kai slowed. “You want me to go back there?”

Lira nodded. “The forest isn’t safe. More Razorhounds appear at night, and those hunters won’t stop until they find you.”

Kai eyed her carefully. “And what exactly am I supposed to do in the village? Pretend nothing happened?”

“You’re going to have to.” She turned fully toward him. “Kai Ren died tonight. If people realize something changed… they’ll panic. Or worse.”

Her gaze hardened, chilling in the moonlight.

“They’ll try to kill you again.”

Again. The word hit heavier than the Razorhound’s claws.

Kai frowned. “So the people in that village knew? They knew the boy was going to die?”

Lira’s silence was enough confirmation.

His fists tightened. “Why?”

“Because fear makes people cruel.” Lira’s voice was soft but sharp. “And Kai Ren… was cursed. Everyone believed he brought bad luck.”

Kai exhaled slowly. The original boy’s memories weren’t clear, but he remembered flashes,shoves, insults, thrown stones, cold stares. The villagers hadn’t just ignored him.

They hated him.

And they let him die.

“Wonderful,” Kai muttered. “So I’m walking back into a nest of cowards.”

“Cowards, yes,” Lira agreed, “but predictable cowards. That’s why it’s safer than being caught out here by trained hunters.”

She stepped back, gesturing toward the village gate. “Go home. And don’t speak to anyone if you can help it.”

Kai hesitated. One question weighed heavier than the rest.

“Why are you helping me?”

She met his eyes without flinching. “Because I know who you are.”

“Then tell me how,”

Lira raised a finger to silence him. “Later. Not here. Not now.”

Frustration simmered in his chest, but she wasn’t wrong. The torches were getting closer. He could already hear boots pounding the ground.

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” she whispered. “At sunrise. Behind the old barn outside the village. Come alone.”

She stepped back into the shadows.

And then, she was gone.

Kai stared at the spot she’d stood in, the air still trembling from her presence. She was strange. Calm. Observant. Too knowledgeable. Far too familiar with the truth he himself barely remembered.

But he didn’t have time to process.

Voices exploded behind him.

“He went this way!”

“Spread out!”

“Don’t let him escape!”

Kai sprinted toward the village, breathing hard, pulse hammering. The moment he reached the old wooden gates, the sounds of the forest faded and were replaced with the quiet crackle of torches.

The village was asleep, Peaceful.

He hated how peaceful it looked.

Kai approached the small hut that belonged to the boy whose life he now carried. The wooden door creaked as he pushed it open. Inside, the air smelled of dried herbs and old ash. The bed was made of straw, thin and uncomfortable. A chipped bowl sat on the table. A torn blanket hung on the wall.

It was lonely.

So painfully lonely.

Kai walked to a small cracked mirror. A weak flame from a dying candle illuminated his reflection. The bruises. The dirt. The cut Lira had wrapped. The exhaustion.

“This life was suffering,” he murmured. “He died alone.”

And the village let it happen.

[System Notification.]

[Emotional Trigger Detected: Sympathy.]

[Memory Fragment Unlocked.]

A flash stabbed through Kai’s vision.

Azeriel standing on the Celestial Balcony, speaking to a crying boy, Kai Ren, the original soul. A memory he never knew existed.

“Why are you crying?” Azeriel had asked.

“Because they hate me,” the boy whispered. “Everyone does.”

Azeriel had knelt, placing a gentle hand on the boy’s head.

“Then I’ll stand beside you. Always.”

Kai staggered back as the vision faded.

He hadn’t remembered that. Not as Azeriel. Not as Kai Ren. Something deeper, something hidden in the cracks of fate, had connected them long before reincarnation.

“Why… why was I there?” he whispered to himself.

No answer.

A knock suddenly rattled the door.

A deep male voice called out, “Kai Ren. Wake up. We need to speak.”

Kai froze.

He recognized that voice.

Elder Haron, the one who had declared the boy cursed.

Kai’s jaw tightened. “What do you want?”

“Open the door.”

Kai didn’t move. Haron’s tone shifted from stern to commanding.

“Now.”

Kai opened the door a crack. Haron’s rough face appeared, lit by torchlight, his eyes searching Kai up and down. “You’re late. You were out past curfew.”

“I got lost,” Kai answered flatly.

“Lost,” Haron repeated, eyes narrowing. “Strange… considering the Razorhound near the forest was slain tonight. By who, I wonder?”

Kai met his gaze evenly. “I wouldn’t know.”

Haron leaned closer, lips curling. “Be careful, boy. Bad luck follows you. Don’t cause the village trouble again.”

He turned and walked off, torchlight disappearing into the night. Kai shut the door, breathing deeply to calm the boiling frustration.

He sat on the straw bed.

Sleep didn’t come.

Only questions.

Only memories.

Only anger.

Hours passed. Dawn began to touch the sky.

A soft knock came at the window, three taps, a pause, two taps.

Lira’s pattern.

Kai stood, slipped outside, and followed the narrow path to the abandoned barn. Morning mist swirled around him as he walked, swallowing the world in pale gray.

Lira was already there, leaning against the wooden wall, arms crossed.

“You came,” she said quietly.

“Start talking,” Kai replied.

She stepped closer, eyes unreadable. “You want the truth?”

“Yes.”

She exhaled slowly, as if gathering courage. “The night you died, the sky changed color. The moment your heart stopped, a divine echo rippled across the world.”

Kai’s stomach tightened.

“And tonight…” Her voice lowered. “When you came back, that echo awakened again.”

She met his gaze, no fear, no hesitation.

“You weren’t reborn by accident. Someone in the Celestial Realm wants you alive.”

Kai’s pulse raced. “Who?”

Before she could answer, Footsteps crunched behind them.

Kai spun around.

The hunters stood at the barn entrance, spears pointed, eyes cold.

The lead hunter raised his voice.

“There he is. Kai Ren. The cursed boy… and the murderer.”

Lira’s expression didn’t change, but her fingers curled tightly.

Kai stepped forward slowly, eyes narrowing.

“Murderer?” he echoed.

The hunter smirked. “Yes. You killed Elder Haron.”

Kai froze.

“What?”

Lira inhaled sharply.

The lead hunter pointed his spear. “The elder was found dead at sunrise. And you were the last person seen with him.”

A trap. A setup, Kai clenched his fists.

The hunter stepped forward.

“In the name of the kingdom,” he declared, “Kai Ren”

He lowered the spear toward Kai’s throat.

“you are sentenced to death.”