Rebirth in the Golden Sun's Flesh
Where the hell am I?
“Goddamn it. My gut’s been torn to absolute shit.” Calion spat out the blood welling in his throat with a wet, hacking cough and muttered through clenched teeth. His stomach was the worst of it, but the rest of him wasn’t far behind. His limbs were crushed and twisted, and the mana that had once filled his body was now completely spent. The staff that had accompanied him through countless battlefields lay shattered beside him. He was in a state where death should have claimed him long ago—yet he still drew breath only because the enemy before him was in equally dire condition.
A low, agonized groan echoed through the air. The Demon King. The being who had invaded the surface and turned the middle realm into hell for sixty long years. Because of that single bastard, Calion had endured a lifetime of pain and loss beyond anything words could describe.
“Stubborn son of a bitch. After all that, the least you could do is die properly.”
The lord of the Shadow Legion. Infinite regeneration, endless mana, and nine heads that granted absolute immortality so long as even one remained. Calion had annihilated the Shadow Legion, ravaged the Demon King’s body beyond what even its regeneration and mana could repair, and destroyed eight of those nine heads. Only one remained, barely clinging to the ruined neck.
He wanted nothing more than to sever that final head, but he no longer possessed the strength or mana to do so.
“You…… You!!! A mere mortal!!! I curse you!! How can an old, withered thing like you refuse to die and cling to life so tenaciously?!”
“Because your kind slaughtered my parents and left me an orphan on the streets. Because I grew up gnawing on corpses. Because from my youth until now I’ve been forced into wars I never wanted, watching my comrades die in droves. So tell me—why the hell wouldn’t I hate you?”
Calion’s eyes slowly scanned his surroundings. The Night Crows. His comrades who had stayed by his side until the very end. Many of them were still young and full of promise, unlike him, who had reached the age of sixty and grown old and worn. A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
“You’re right about that, you bastard. I don’t understand it either—why the old man refuses to die while the young ones keep falling. The heavens really are heartless. My only wish was to see you die, and now I won’t even get that…… Khack!! Cough!!”
His vision blurred. Death approached with slow, inevitable steps.
“I will grow stronger!!! I will recover from every wound you gave me, gather my power, and return!!! And when I do, I will wipe every last mortal from this middle realm!!!”
He wanted to answer, but his body kept sinking. In the end, the Demon King’s subjugation had failed. What had gone wrong? Was it the Hero Party—five members, two of whom died early and the rest fled? Or was it the loss of every comrade while breaking through the Demon King’s army? No. Calion knew the true cause all too well.
“Kek…… This damned body of mine.”
Calion had been a genius. He mastered spells that others found difficult faster than anyone, making them his own. But his body had been the problem. Congenital mana deficiency. He had racked his brain, developed countless artifacts, and refined new techniques to use his mana as efficiently as possible, yet in the final moment, that innate flaw had betrayed him. A one-on-one battle with the Demon King. If only he had possessed enough mana, he would have won…… The regret cut deep into his bones.
“Mad Mage Calion!!!!!! Your defeat is certain!!! I will resurrect and sweep the middle realm clean!!!!!!”
Hearing the Demon King’s roar, Calion laughed even at the very end.
“See you…… in the next life, you bastard.”
Before their final confrontation, he had looked at the hopeless Hero Party and felt an overwhelming need for insurance. It had been an experimental spell, but he had searched the forbidden archives of the Magic Tower and placed an ancient magic upon his own body. The risk was total annihilation of the soul should it fail, yet Calion trusted his own skill. He was a genius, after all. Therefore, this ancient magic that had never succeeded in history would surely—surely—succeed.
Even in his final moments, Calion refused to abandon that single thread of hope and lowered his head. Cold darkness came for him. His body felt weightless. The sensation of death was unexpectedly quiet. If the spell failed…… would he go to heaven? Or to hell? He didn’t know what the goddess would think, but he suspected hell was far more likely. He had failed to protect countless comrades. So many precious people had died before his eyes. He had walked over their corpses to face the Demon King—and still lost. Someone like him had no business in heaven. He would fall straight to hell. That was what he believed.
But he was wrong.
The silence began to fade. Familiar sensations returned. The scent of air. The distant murmur of daily life. The beating of a heart. The rumbling of an empty stomach. These sensations told him his soul had not left the middle realm. Could it be? Had that absurdly low-probability spell actually succeeded?
He focused his senses once more. It was real. He was still in the middle realm. It had worked. The spell had succeeded!!! Tears welled up in his eyes at the overwhelming emotion.
But the moment he began to cry, an unfamiliar, sharp voice struck his ears.
“Crying? It won’t change anything. Don’t act like you know me at the academy anymore. I’m dating Horace now.”
A cold voice. Calion opened his eyes. Where was this? Had the spell activated properly? Unable to make sense of anything, he winced at the dull ache spreading through his entire body. The owner of the sharp voice seemed to interpret his pained expression differently.
“Feel bad all you want, it won’t help. Honestly, I was getting tired of you anyway. After spending time with you, I realized that guys who give everything away aren’t actually that attractive. I like men who take what they want.”
What was she talking about? As his vision slowly returned, Calion looked around and finally saw the speaker. A pretty girl with beautiful platinum-white hair. She wore unfamiliar clothes and wore a mocking expression as she looked down at him. What on earth was going on? Where was he? He reached out toward her to ask about the time and place, but she coldly brushed his hand away.
“Seriously…… You got into a motorcycle accident because we fought? The Calidos family expelled you over it. You’re not a noble’s son anymore. One more failed year in the Knight Department and you’re out. You know that, right? Your situation is the worst it’s ever been.”
His senses still hadn’t fully returned. Calion wanted to speak, but his body wouldn’t obey. Everything hurt. Something was definitely broken. He recognized the pain all too well—fractures. Even in this ruined state, one question burned in his mind if he was truly still in the middle realm.
“The Demon……”
What had happened to the Demon King? Had he revived? Since Calion hadn’t finished him off, the bastard was surely struggling to return. He needed to know the status of that dangerous enemy first. Had the Demon King resurrected? What state was humanity in? Was everyone safe? Those were the questions he wanted to ask the girl. But she only continued speaking her own mind.
“My father said he’ll soon file papers with the court to nullify our engagement. Once that happens, you and I will be complete strangers. Got it?”
The girl suddenly stood up.
“I knew you were stupid, but I still tried to make it work because you treated me well…… I can’t do this anymore. Let’s break up. Don’t contact me again. Don’t even pretend to know me at school. Actually……” She shot him a contemptuous glare. “Given your current situation, I doubt you’ll even last long at the academy. Once you’re expelled, there’s no coming back. You know that, right?”
She walked away, heels clicking sharply against the floor. Only then did Calion’s senses fully return.
“What the hell is she talking about, that girl.”
Whatever was happening, one thing was clear. He quickly scanned his surroundings. Everything was unfamiliar. He had no idea where he was. He looked down at his own body. Bandages were wrapped around him, and he lay in an unfamiliar bed wearing strange clothes.
“……The reincarnation spell seems to have worked, but what era is this?”
When he tried to stand, sharp pain shot through his entire body.
“……Couldn’t have possessed a healthy body, could I. Tch……”
It was frustrating, but what could he do? Surviving that minuscule probability was already a miracle. Calion forced himself off the bed and threw open the curtain-covered window.
“The furniture is all in a style I’ve never seen. I hope we’re not too far from the imperial capital……”
The window opened to bright sunlight and a clear blue sky. But that wasn’t what made him freeze. It wasn’t the blue sky he hadn’t seen since the Demon King’s summoning had turned every day gray and overcast.
“Th-This is……”
Towering skyscrapers. Roads paved smooth with concrete. Countless cars—thousands, tens of thousands of them. Billboards blared with words he had never heard before:
[LUMILION CITY SUCCESSFULLY ATTRACTS NEW MAGIC-ENGINEERING INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX!]
[IMPERIAL CENTRAL BANK ANNOUNCES 0.25% INTEREST RATE HIKE FOR SECOND HALF OF YEAR!!]
[INNOVATION! MORE INNOVATION! A SHOCKING DESIGN AND UNPRECEDENTED PERFORMANCE! CALTECH H34! OPENING A NEW ERA FOR SMARTPHONES!!]
Every familiar sight from his world had vanished, replaced by this strange new landscape.
“……Where the hell am I?”
The Mad Mage Calion, who had earned the title of Archmage through pure magical talent alone despite his cursed body, let out a stunned voice for what was perhaps the first time in his life—like air escaping a punctured balloon.