REINCARNATION OF WAR

CHAPTER 3 — SHADOWS THAT REMEMBER

The three Dominion Hunters lunged at once, silent blurs of darkness ripping through the rain. “Derick, MOVE!” Kael barked.

Derick stumbled back instinctively, heart slamming in his chest. The nearest Hunter’s hand sliced through the air like a blade, aimed directly at his throat. Kael intercepted him.

Steel clashed, though neither man held a weapon. Sparks burst from their bare hands. Derick froze. “How ?!”

Kael shouted without looking back, “DON’T just stand there! Stay behind me!”

The second Hunter shot toward Derick from the side. Derick ducked, tripping over the curb, hitting the ground hard. “Get up, Warborn,” the Hunter hissed. “Running is pointless.”

“I don’t even know you!” Derick yelled, scrambling backward.

“Your past remembers us,” the Hunter replied. “That’s enough.”

Derick’s breath hitched as the Hunter raised his hand. Shadows coiled around his palm, forming a dagger made of darkness itself.

Kael’s voice cut through the chaos. “Derick! Focus on your breath!”

“I’m busy not dying!” Derick shouted.

“FOCUS!”

Derick inhaled sharply, And the world bent again. Rain slowed. Heartbeats became echoes. Every movement around him glowed in faint lines, as if the world was drawn in light.

Life-Pulse Vision awakened fully. The Hunter lunging at him suddenly had three glowing weakness points: shoulder, knee, side of the neck.

Derick didn’t want to attack him. Didn’t want to kill anyone. But he couldn’t die here. He grabbed a rusted metal rod from the ground, something broken off a railing, and thrust it upward.

The Hunter swerved with supernatural speed, but Derick’s body adjusted, shifting angle mid-motion. The rod struck the glowing point on the Hunter’s knee.

The man crumpled with a choked grunt. Derick gasped. “I—I didn’t mean to”

“Don’t apologize to enemies!” Kael snapped, blocking another strike with his forearm. “They don’t value your life!”

“But I”

A shadow blade sliced past Derick’s cheek, missing by inches. “Stop holding back!” Kael shouted. “You are not fragile!”

Derick’s pulse thundered. He rose to his feet, gripping the metal rod. Another Hunter lunged, cloak snapping like wings.

Derick dodged barely, and parried the strike. His instincts moved faster than his fear. “Why won’t you leave me alone!?” Derick yelled.

The Hunter’s voice was cold. “Because your existence is the death of us all.”

“WHY!?”

“You destroyed everything once,” the Hunter hissed. “You won’t get the chance again.”

He raised his blade, Lightning flickered across Derick’s fingertips. The Hunter’s eyes widened. “No… impossible”

Derick’s hand moved first. A crack of blue energy burst from his palm, slamming into the Hunter’s chest. The man was thrown backward, crashing into a bus shelter and collapsing in a twitching heap.

Derick stared at his own hand, horrified. “I—I didn’t… mean to do that!”

Kael didn’t look back. “Lightning is the first element the Warborn awakens. You’re accelerating faster than expected.”

Derick shook with fear. “I’m not trying to attack anyone! I’m just trying to survive!”

“And that,”

Kael said, pushing the last Hunter back with a burst of golden force, “is exactly why you survived your rebirth. You do not kill for pleasure.”

The last standing Hunter spat blood. “You cannot hide him, Kael.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” Kael replied, eyes hard. “But he will survive this night.”

“You underestimate the Dominion.”

“No,” Kael said softly. “You underestimate him.”

The Hunter lunged with a roar. Derick moved without thinking, stepping into Kael’s blind spot, grabbing the Hunter’s arm, and striking a glowing point along the ribcage.

A cracking sound echoed. The Hunter fell, gasping. Derick stumbled backward, chest heaving, eyes wide with disbelief. Kael placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “Derick. Look at me.”

Derick looked up, trembling. “You survived,” Kael said. “Because you fought.”

“I hurt them,” Derick whispered. “I didn’t want to… but I did.”

Kael shook his head. “You defended your life. There is no shame in that.”

Derick swallowed hard. “Why are they saying I destroyed the world? I didn’t do anything.”

Kael glanced at the fallen Hunters. “Now isn’t the time for”

“I want answers!” Derick shouted.

Kael’s jaw tightened. “Later.”

“NOW!”

Kael exhaled slowly, rain sliding down his face. “You were the God of War. A being of balance. Protector. Destroyer when necessary.”

Derick’s breath caught. “But near the end of your past life…” Kael hesitated. “Something changed. You lost control.”

“I don’t believe you,” Derick whispered. “I’m not… I’m not a monster.”

“No,” Kael said quietly. “You’re not.”

“Then why”

“Because your final act,” Kael said softly, “wasn’t destruction. It was sacrifice.”

Derick froze. Kael continued, voice low, “You unleashed a force meant to stop a catastrophic war. You used too much power. The Veiled World shattered. Clans fell. Sects collapsed. Thousands died.”

Derick’s voice cracked. “So I did destroy the world.”

“You tried to save it,” Kael corrected. “And the world broke under the weight of your power.”

Derick’s vision blurred. His throat tightened. “I didn’t want that… I don’t want to hurt people…”

“You won’t,” Kael said. “Not if you learn control. Not if you accept training.”

Derick shook violently. “I don’t want to be who I was.”

Kael gripped his shoulder tighter. “You are not who you were. You are Derick Hayford. You are human. And you have the right to choose the path ahead.”

Derick closed his eyes. “What if I fail again?” he whispered.

Kael’s voice was quiet. “Then the world ends.”

Lightning flickered again across Derick’s hand. He steadied his breath. “Then teach me. Teach me how to never let that happen.”

Kael nodded once. “We leave now.”

As they began moving, a groan rose from one of the fallen Hunters. He struggled to lift his head. Derick froze. “Kael… he’s still alive.”

Kael didn’t stop walking. “Leave him.”

“But he’ll come after us.”

“He can’t,” Kael said simply.

“How do you know?”

Kael didn’t answer. The Hunter coughed, chuckling weakly. “You think… this changes anything…? Dominion sees everything.”

“Quiet,” Kael muttered.

“You can kill us,” the Hunter rasped, “but more will come. Stronger. Smarter. Closer.”

Derick moved instinctively, crouching near him. “Why are you doing this? Why does the Dominion care so much about me?”

The Hunter looked up at him with hollow, trembling eyes. “You were… prophecy’s mistake.”

Derick frowned. “What does that mean?”

The Hunter’s lips curled. “Your rebirth wasn’t supposed to happen. The God of War was meant to stay dead.”

Derick’s blood ran cold. “But something went wrong,” the Hunter whispered. “Something interfered. Something changed the prophecy.”

Derick blinked. “What are you talking about?”

The Hunter’s voice dropped to a faint whisper.

“You weren’t reincarnated naturally… Derick.”

Derick leaned closer involuntarily. “You were brought back.”

Derick’s entire body froze. “By who?” he whispered.

The Hunter’s eyes widened suddenly, pure terror. “They’re here,” he choked. “They found me”

His body convulsed. Dark veins raced up his neck. Derick shouted, “KAEL! Something’s wrong with him!”

Kael spun around, But it was too late. The Hunter’s chest exploded outward in a burst of black smoke that twisted into the sky like a signal. Derick stumbled back in horror. “Wh—what just happened!?”

Kael’s face darkened. “They silenced him. The Dominion didn’t want him speaking.”

“But what did he mean I was brought back?” Derick’s voice cracked. “How? By who?”

Kael stepped toward him slowly. “Derick… listen to me.”

“No,” Derick said, backing away. “Tell me the truth.”

Kael hesitated. Then, A cold wind cut through the empty street. A voice echoed from the far rooftop: “I did.”

Derick’s heart stopped. A female silhouette stood on the edge of the roof, cloak billowing, eyes glowing faintly.

Kael’s face went pale. “No… it can’t be.”

Derick whispered, “Who is she?”

The woman stepped forward into the moonlight. “I’m the one who brought you back,” she said softly.

“And I’m here to finish what I started.”

Lightning cracked across the sky. Derick’s War Core pulsed violently. Kael whispered one word under his breath, “…Maya.”

Derick’s eyes widened. The person who saved his life is the person now coming to claim it.