The world is made up of eight Realms.
The Human Realm, where humans live.
The Spirit Realm, home to the spirits.
The Beast Realm, where mythical beasts find rest.
The Dragon Realm, homeland of the dragons.
The Celestial Realm, where angels serve the will of the gods.
The Demon Realm, ruled by demons.
The Abyss, which devours everything.
And the world where those who have fallen from godhood live.
The Fallen Realm.
For countless ages, the eight Realms had maintained a balance, each guarding its own domain.
And above them.
The Upper Realm, existing in a dimension apart from the eight Realms.
The world where all gods dwelled.
The Divine Realm existed.
Countless gods lived in the Divine Realm.
Those who had become gods from humans.
Those who had become gods from spirits.
Those who had become gods from angels.
Those who had become gods from demons.
And even those who had become gods from dragons.
The being whose story would now be told was one of those gods.
His name was—
Siegmund.
A being who had ascended to the divine throne in a dragon's body.
The one who had been called the Dragon God.
But now,
he stood at the end of his life.
"Cough...!"
"Cough!"
Siegmund spat up golden blood as he glared at the man before him.
His vision was fading.
His divine throne was crumbling.
And his body was slowly growing cold.
There was only one cause behind it all.
"Why... why..."
"Why did you do this?!"
"Luke!"
Siegmund's roar shook the space around them.
But the man standing before him only wore a calm smile.
"Pfft..."
Luke covered the corner of his mouth as if he could not hold back his laughter.
"Why, you ask?"
"Do you really not know?"
Siegmund's eyes trembled.
Looking at him, Luke spoke with a mocking sneer.
"Why did you trust me?"
"Was being my friend really that wonderful?"
"Luke...!"
BOOM!
Enraged, Siegmund slammed down his massive foreleg.
But Luke casually twisted his body and avoided the attack.
As if he were dealing with a child's prank.
"Don't move."
"Do you want to die sooner?"
Luke spoke with a sneer on his lips.
"Your Dragon Heart is already in my hands."
"And now even your divine throne is collapsing."
"You really don't have much time left."
"Heh heh heh..."
A massive heart glowing red rested in Luke's hand.
The Dragon Heart.
The source of every dragon's power.
And the reason Siegmund had been able to ascend to the divine throne.
"You bastard..."
"You, of all people...!"
Siegmund squeezed out the last of his strength and swung his foreleg once more.
But his attack was far too slow, his body already a battered wreck.
Luke shook his head and sighed.
"What a shame."
"To see the Dragon God himself fall this far."
There was not the slightest trace of pity in his voice.
Only mockery.
Luke slowly turned his back.
Then he spoke one last time.
"Farewell."
"My friend."
In that moment,
Siegmund felt it.
His divine throne was collapsing completely.
His soul was splitting apart.
His consciousness was slipping away.
*Is this... the end...?*
Thousands of years.
The life he had lived—from being born a dragon to rising to the seat of a god—flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
But his rage did not disappear.
*Luke...!*
*You, of all people...!*
FLASH!
Luke's figure vanished in an instant.
And then.
DRIP.
A cold sensation brushed the back of Siegmund's neck.
Luke was suddenly standing behind him.
"Go quietly."
SLICE.
Siegmund's massive body crumpled helplessly to the ground.
Luke shook the blood from his hand and muttered,
"In the end, I got blood on my hands."
His voice was indifferent.
Like someone throwing away an old tool.
Darkness slowly began to consume Siegmund's vision.
His shattered divine throne.
His scattering soul.
And complete annihilation drawing near.
*Is this the end...?*
*Poor thing...*
*This time... is the last.*
*Please, this time...*
*Again...*
It was a gentle voice.
But he could not understand what the words meant.
*This time is the last...?*
*Again...?*
Siegmund thought with what little consciousness remained.
But soon, he shook his head.
*There's no need to worry about that now.*
*I'm already dead.*
His shattered divine throne.
His scattered soul.
He tried to calmly accept the death approaching him.
At that moment.
"B...ba...by..."
A faint sound reached him.
*What was that?*
"Congratu...lations..."
*What are they talking about...?*
The voice grew clearer and clearer.
"Hahaha! A healthy... ah..."
*How noisy.*
*I was definitely dead...*
*Who on earth are they talking about?*
And then—
FLASH!
A blinding light burst forth.
It felt as if something were wrapping around his soul.
It was warm.
Soft.
And...
unfamiliar.
*What... is this...?*
Siegmund slowly opened his eyes.
His blurry vision gradually came into focus.
The first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.
And then.
"My lady! It's a healthy baby boy!"
"Congratulations!"
Voices filled with joy rang throughout the room.
"Darling, it's a boy who looks just like you!"
"You did well."
The man gently kissed the cheek of his wife, who lay on the bed.
"Haa... haa..."
"Show me... our son."
"Here he is, my lady."
The handmaiden carefully placed the baby in the woman's arms.
The woman smiled as she gazed down at the child she held.
"Hehe... It's true."
"He looks exactly like me."
"Though I think his eyebrows look like yours."
"Ahem..."
The man cleared his throat.
"I was hoping he wouldn't inherit my eyebrows."
Watching them, Siegmund fell into confusion.
*I definitely died.*
*My divine throne was destroyed, too.*
*Even my soul was being annihilated.*
And yet.
Sieg lifted his hand.
It was small.
Far too small.
Fingers tinier than his fingernails.
A frail body that could not muster even a hint of strength.
"Waa..."
In that instant.
Siegmund's eyes flew wide open.
*Waa...?*
*Wait.*
*Don't tell me...*
*I'm a newborn baby?!*
"WAAAAAAAAH!"
Shocked, Sieg instinctively burst into tears.
"Hahaha!"
"I was worried because the baby wasn't crying."
"I suppose I was worried for nothing."
The man laughed heartily.
"What a spirited son."
*...Ha.*
*I've become a human baby.*
*No...*
*This might be an opportunity.*
Siegmund remembered the voice he had heard moments ago.
*This time... is the last.*
*That voice.*
*I don't know who it belonged to, but...*
*It said this time was the last.*
*I don't know what that means.*
*But I won't waste this opportunity. Never.*
For the sake of revenge.
For the sake of ascending to the divine throne once more.
He had to survive.
"WAAAAAAAAH!"
*More importantly, could someone please make this crying stop?!*
"WAAAAAAAAH!"
"Hahaha."
"I'm already worried about him."
At the man's words, the woman tilted her head.
"Why is that?"
"You raised Adrion just fine."
"Ahem..."
Kairon cleared his throat for no particular reason.
"Well, that's..."
"Kairon—"
The woman had only just given birth, but there was not the slightest sharpness in her gaze.
Even so, Kairon flinched.
"All right, all right."
"If you're so worried, then you hold him."
The woman took the baby into her arms.
And, strangely enough, Siegmund's crying stopped.
"Hehe..."
The smile slipped out unconsciously.
Kairon watched his son and found himself bursting into laughter.
"Haha..."
"All right."
"Let's do that."
He gently clasped his wife's hand.
"Let's raise him well this time, too."
"Darling."
Anna smiled and nodded.
"But..."
"What will we name him?"
At her question, Kairon fell silent for a moment.
He looked at his son's face.
The baby who had been crying just moments ago was now smiling brightly, as if it had never happened.
Seeing that sight, Kairon spoke as though he had made up his mind.
"To be honest, I hadn't decided yet."
"But I have now."
"This child's name will be..."
At that moment.
Siegmund, too, waited for the name he would be given.
And then.
ZAP—
A forgotten memory somewhere in his mind came rushing back.
A memory that had never existed.
No.
It had definitely existed, but he had forgotten it.
Someone's voice rang out.
"The child's name is Siegmund."
Kairon's voice followed.
"Siegmund."
"Siegmund Kronos."
"What do you think?"
"Siegmund..."
Anna repeated the name several times.
Then she smiled brightly.
"I like it."
"It's a wonderful name."
But Siegmund, the owner of that name, was the one left confused.
The memory that had surfaced just moments ago.
And the name Kairon had given him.
They were exactly the same.
*Siegmund...*
*Why...?*
It was far too strange to be a coincidence.
But Siegmund had no way of knowing the answer now.
Only one thing was certain.
He, who had died, had come back to life.
*Good.*
*Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter.*
*I've been given another chance.*
Luke.
The traitor.
And the shattered divine throne.
He would reclaim everything.
This time, he would never meet the same end.
And so.
The Dragon God's second life began.