Bidding my farewell to them, I looked at the door in front of me.
With a gentle push, the big door opened without any issue.
I did not think too much about it and entered inside.
Those two seemed baffled by that scene.
There was a question mark above their head.
'How did he get inside so easily?' He thought.
At that time and even after this time, I wasn't or will never be aware of what happened here.
There was a reason why that dragon was outside this door and not inside of it.
But without that knowledge, I entered inside and closed the door.
The interior was a bit different than the outside; there were no more passageways here.
This room was the end.
It was a circular room, with a few statues on the walls, totalling 7 to be exact, but one of them was broken down.
All of them were almost the same looking, with similar size and facial features.
The only thing that set them apart was the clothing.
Looking at these statues, a familiar feeling developed inside me.
Even though I have never been here and have never seen them.
Yeah, when I came here the first time, there wasn't anything like this.
At the centre of the room, there was a circular stone.
I went near it and looked at it closely.
A single runic word was written there.
(Change.)
What does this mean?
I wondered. But nothing special came to my mind.
If you do not have any knowledge about something, then do not burden your mind to think about it.
I said to myself and ignored it.
There was nothing else than that. Completely empty.
What the hell?
Shouldn't there be at least something?
As I was thinking about it, I felt a great amount of mana outside.
They were fighting again, and the mage was successful in his summoning.
I also wanted to try doing it, but I haven't gotten the opportunity to do it yet. I wonder what can I summon? It better be good.
As I thought that to myself. I skimmed through my surroundings once again.
And still, I couldn't find anything.
Frustrated, I slammed my hand on the rock surface before me.
It crumbled down with the impact.
Then suddenly, beneath that rock, a magic circle appeared.
I was right in the middle of that circle.
Before I could react to that, that circle was laminated with a black aura.
I wasn't fast enough and was caught by that aura.
Those dark tendrils that appeared from that circle, caught me. Taking the shape of chains, it chained my hands, my legs and even my neck.
I couldn't even move with that putting me in my place, immobile.
As I was pinned there, suddenly I felt some movements inside that room.
Then a voice sounded in that room. It wasn't any human or any other person speaking, it was one of the statues.
"Hmm, yet another life."
Followed by it, another statue opened its mouth.
"How long has it even been?"
"I cannot remember anymore."
Then, one after another, all 6 of them became alive and chatted among themselves.
"A foolish dream..."
"Yet, we still continue."
One of them stayed silent.
"So, this is what we have become?"
"Marvellous."
"Still too weak."
"But if this fails, there will be more."
"Let's start now. We do not wish to have a wrecked body."
I stayed silent, while they chatted among themselves.
Listening to them, it was hard to deduce what they were actually talking about, but it feels like I understand them a little.
Zixane said that no matter what I become, she will forever remain by my side.
So this is what she meant.
7, or probably 6 of them are all me.
I not only had one past but 7 of them or maybe more.
So this is the battle of taking over this body. Among them, 6, whoever gets it, will be the owner of this body.
Imperfections... the thing that was mentioned in those walls, this might be the goal that they are hinting at. Reaching something that the creator has put a limit on.
So this was the plan all along, even though these 6 are me from the past, but it doesn't feel good when I think that I am about to be taken over by someone.
Yeah, this might be my plan; yeah, if I retaliate, then my plan might crumble.
But why would I care about that?
Reaching something that nobody can get? If I have the strength I will do it by myself.
Even if I fail, I will not have any regrets.
Maybe this was what I felt from the past as well? That's why I am taking this route?
It might be, but I cannot give my life, which I am starting to treasure so much, to anyone.
Even if that's me.
This is my life; giving it up means I am giving up on the family and people who have raised me.
I cannot have that.
With a trembling foot, I got up even though those chains were trying to pin me down.
I straightened my back, looking at the 6 statues.
"I hate to announce this to you all, but there is a change in plan. I will live my life myself, even if this wasn't something in your plan, but I can't help it." My voice then turned gravely cold, "I am not willing to give my body to any of you."
Then one of them spoke, unfazed by my retaliation.
"Hmm, you will understand why we are doing this. You are us, and we are you. Whatever we do, it's done by you, and whatever you do is done by us. There is no point in it."
"We have seen what you haven't."
"This feeling you have, that you have to get it on your own. We once felt that too."
"And here we all, sticking with that plan."
All of them turned into light particles. Even the one which was broken.
They all swarmed above my head, circling.
Then all of a sudden, those tiny light particles entered inside my brain.
My head buzzed... painfully.
As those particles entered inside me, countless memories that were familiar but, at the same time, unfamiliar poured into my brain.
That vast amount of memories and past life resurfaced before it like a sideshow.
Even though I haven't lived any of that, I began to feel like I have.
My years as Ravi or as the demon king, began to turn vivid.
Those years as the demon king were nowhere near enough to even compare with the number of years that my memories held right now.
Memories of different lives, not just 7, they were more... almost uncountable.
Filled my brain.
In each of life, it was clear... I followed the same path again and again.
Only to reach that perfection.
And why? I got the answer to that, too.
For that path, I sacrificed countless lives. I do not even recall correctly how many lives were sacrificed during it.
All the knowledge and skills of my past filled my brain, the knowledge became so much that I began to bleed from my orfices.
Slowly I was losing myself.
In the vast sea of memories... this life of mine couldn't amount to even a bucket of it.
The name of mine, the title that I held... were disappearing into a dark corner.
As the light particles above my head decreased, my head buzzed even more.
Then came a memory of mine which I was a bit familiar with, that memory made me realise what I was about to lose.
All of my other memories were the same except this one...
In this life, I did not go for that path, but instead fooled around.
With no purpose, I began to make everything my plaything.
All of these lives will die one day for sure, so why would it matter if I killed them right now? Why would it matter if I toyed with them?
This was my mentality in that life.
A life which was different from all, a life where my purpose wasn't just to grow stronger, a life where I understood that it wasn't my potential that bound me from reaching that place.
It was something else.
I searched for it and eventually found it.
An evil smirk appeared on my face, a playful look.
Toying with everyone, playing with them... it was my life.
Among all the suffering I caused during my other lives... I was called a demon. A mad demon.
But in this one... I was still called a demon, but that wasn't all.
I acted like a fool... a fool who didn't know anything and just fooled around without a single purpose in his life.
A demon, who was like a clown.
A demon clown.
Then suddenly, I began to laugh frantically...
"Hahahhahahahahahhahahaha...."
It sounded even outside the room.
Then, out of nowhere, a few strings of a translucent thread circled around me.
This was what had bound me... fate.
In that life, I played with this same fate, gaining a title that I laughed at...
A demon clown who plays with the strings of fate.
***
Thanks for reading everyone.
If this feels confusing, you can ask me if you have doubts in a comment or in Discord.
Stay tuned for more...