For a demon capable of dying an unlimited number of times outside the Abyss, I sure hadn't experienced rebirth much. The only other time I had actually died was as a mortal. Even then, it was a lousy trick on the part of my uncle, whom I'd rather not be related to.
I took my continued survival as a badge of honor. Still, I had wondered what it would be like to get reborn in the Abyss as a proper, full demon. A Noble demon, at that!
Well, I wasn't quite there yet. I'd managed the dying part, of course. But while I waited for rebirth, I got to enjoy a brief stint in the 'afterlife.'
I didn't like it. At all.
Everything burned. White energy coursed around every inch of me like a billion snakes, struggling to tie me down. I was on the verge of drowning. Of being snuffed out.
It was then that a deep, reddish blackness erupted out of my chest, blowing back the light and wrapping around me like a cocoon.
That didn't mean all bits of me were spared.
Just before I was cocooned off into safety, my left arm and leg were torn clean off my body. Cyan sparks of sputtering soul-stuff leaked out of me, lighting up the confines of my cocoon. Oddly enough, while the pain was blinding at first, it quickly died down to a manageable throb. Barely even noticeable, really.
I was far more interested in the sensation of my cocoon getting yoinked away, pulled across an indefinable stretch of space and time that felt like an eternity and a single heartbeat all at once.
At last, the cocoon seemed to hit the surface of a vast, all-encompassing lake and sink straight down. Then the cocoon popped, depositing me before the burning eye of my celestial parent.
I was enfolded in the familiar embrace of the Abyss.
Power rushed into me. Exploring, healing, mitigating the severity of the damage I'd taken. It wasn't a complete fix. My leg and arm had reformed, yes, but they were flickering, ghost-like limbs that didn't really feel functional.
At the same time, the essence of my soul stretched out, filling the ghostly limbs and strengthening them at the cost of… dilution? That was the best way I could describe it as my soul essence was distributed evenly across my entire soul, growing wispier in order to fill me up properly.
That done, I felt the Abyss suddenly relinquish much of its control on me. I began to hurtle down into its confines, falling endlessly…
My entire body shuddered as I desperately drew breath. The rush of oxygen that filled my lungs forced me to cough and sputter. Just like the last time I'd gone through the ordeal, my limbs felt numb and weak. I was a jerky wet noodle at first, even if the sensation was fading away much faster than it had when I did the whole thing as a human.
Honestly? I was just happy I was alive. If Mia hadn't been quick on her feet and decided to throw us into a portal to Cradle instead of hanging around to get blown up by angels inside Desire, we would both have been toast. And that would have been one hell of an embarrassing way to go.
Not to say I was particularly thrilled to be hanging out naked in a massive resurrection square, copping eyefuls of naked demon flesh on every side as I struggled to get myself functional. Even worse, as I looked around, a niggling sense of doubt and panic began to build in my chest.
Mia wasn't there.
I couldn't spot her anywhere, no matter how frantically I made my eyes move. I tried to stretch out my other senses and explore, but that just made a rush of pain well up from deep within me, leaving me briefly insensate. When awareness began to creep back in, I very cautiously sent my mind plunging inwards.
I gasped at the state of my soul.
It was… uniform. That was the best thing I could say about it. My arm and leg were, in fact, back to where they should have been. But hairline cracks covered most of my opaque, glowy form, and any attempt to use mana sent shudders of agony surging out of those cracks.
Oh, it was getting better. I was already down from 'blinding pain' to 'extreme discomfort.' Still, I doubted I would be using mana seriously for another couple hours, at least. And I wouldn't be fighting fit for days. Not without serious assistance and healing.
How was I even supposed to find Mia in this state, let alone help her if she was in trouble?
Frustration colored my every motion as I pulled myself partially upright again — just in time to witness the fabric of Torment waver, distend, and then pop out the naked body of a cat demoness, which fell lightly onto the cobblestone floor.
The building panic in my chest receded instantly, replaced by relief and warm fuzzies.
As I dragged myself closer to her, I caught another welcome sight from the corner of my vision. Glaustro was speed-walking towards us from the edge of the square, happiness shining on his face.
Then a shudder of panic and fear shot through me, and I threw myself to the side without even thinking. Well, more like flopped to the side. Still, it was enough for me to dodge the sudden descent of a blade as it buried itself an inch away from my chest.
My gaze snapped to my assailant, only to land on two glowing pinpricks of dull light where their eyes should have been. The figure hovering above me was completely wrapped in strips of colorful cloths without rhyme or reason. The cloths covered every inch of my attacker's body, threatening to block even their eyesight.
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Glaustro's enraged roar echoed in the distance as something thundered through the air beside me, buffeting me with the wind of its passing. But I couldn't turn to see what it was. I could hardly move as the wrapped figure pulled their sword out of the cobblestones and poised it for another strike.
I immediately called on both my soul-bound items and my mana.
My soul blade, still sheathed, popped up in my hand. My grimoire fell limply to the ground next to me. A barely noticeable weight settled in place around my ankle.
My mana, however, betrayed me once again.
The second I tried to form a proper shield, the web of mana inside me went out of control, thrashing wildly all over the place and causing the cracks in my soul to flare up. I could do little but scream in frustration, fear, and pain as the figure brought their sword down again.
It was an extremely well-executed textbook thrust, the result of what must have been countless hours of practice. Not that I could appreciate the swordsmanship as the blade sliced right through my chest. Whatever the sword was made of, my flesh burned in response, melting and sloughing away from the point of impact.
Then I felt something. A connection I hadn't even known I had suddenly shattered and exploded in a shower of power, sending my assailant flying away from me.
Glaustro was on the figure in a heartbeat. Bellowing with rage, he treated the assassin as little more than a fleshy club to beat against the cobblestones.
I would have watched in glee, but I was a little preoccupied by the surge of power burning me up from the inside.
Except, instead of destruction or agony, all I felt was a comforting warmth blooming outwards from my ruined heart. A heart that was rapidly healing, even as my skin bubbled and began to close over my wounds.
The healing also finally jumpstarted my new body, allowing me to stagger to my feet. I was even able to summon some clothing directly onto me so my bits weren't swaying in the wind.
I frantically looked around. Mia was beginning to stir on the ground next to me, and I paused just long enough to throw one of my shirts over her. Then my eyes instinctively snapped over to the carnage Glaustro was producing.
By that point, the assassin was a limp noodle of broken bones and bruised flesh. I did, however, spot the slightest rise and fall of their chest. Despite his rage, Glaustro was keeping my attacker alive.
I smiled grimly. At least we would get some answers.
Far more alarming was the fact that another hurried glance around showed me a second figure wrapped in bandages. They were collapsed over an awakening, reborn demon, just a short distance from Mia…
I froze again as terror coursed through me.
Then I noticed all the blood pooled around the wrapped figure, and the massive axe lodged firmly in their chest. My tensed muscles relaxed. I seriously doubted this other assassin would be of any use to us, information-wise, but neither did they pose any further threat.
Looking closer, I realized that I recognized the weapon. That was definitely Glaustro's axe sticking out of the wrapped figure's chest. I remembered the whoosh of something flying past me…
Suddenly, it all clicked into place. That assassin must have been after Mia. Glaustro had taken them out while I was struggling with my assailant, hurling his axe with such force that it drove the wrapped figure onto another poor sap a few meters away.
I couldn't suppress a shiver.
"Hayden?! How are you standing? Lie back down and let me check your wound!" Glaustro's panicked voice rang out through the square, and I whirled towards him like a startled cat.
"I-I'm fine! I'm… I seriously don't know how, but…" My eyes fell to the ground where I'd woken up, lingering on the rather large, rapidly cooling pool of cyan-and-black blood. I froze for just a moment at the sight of something glittering there.
Then I was on my knees, fingers gingerly brushing over the rainbow-like crystal and the faded grooves of runes where enchantments once glowed. I recognized the accessory. It was hard not to, though with everything that had happened recently, I'd almost forgotten all about it.
It was the bangle. A gift from Tibath. Delivered by her daughter Yules just before my group and I left our conquered world, Breskwor, to set out on a campaign against the invading angels.
It was a token of appreciation for all the high-end crystals I had managed to duplicate for her. There had been two bangles: one for me, and one for Mia. 'They will protect you', Yules had said.
I felt like cackling in disbelief at how much of an understatement that was.
Then again… I couldn't help but frown as I thought about my explosive ending in Cradle. Did the bangle fail to activate then because I had detonated myself and the damage was too thorough? Or was it because I had meant to die that the bangle did nothing in that moment?
Regardless, it had certainly activated when it needed to.
I ran my fingers across my chest. Where the assassin's blade had pierced right through me, I felt nothing but unmarked, firm muscles.
"A gift from Tibath saved me," I muttered. "I think."
I was enjoying the confused look on Glaustro's face, but I honestly wasn't much better off. Yules hadn't given me any further explanation about her mother's gift. And while I'd tried out the bangle a few times, I really had forgotten all about it recently. I didn't even know that it had somehow established a soul link to me!
But it must have. I had nothing around my ankle now, and I distinctly remembered something materializing around it when I had called to my soul-bound items.
That did make me wonder what else Tibath could do, though.
If she could make an item that bound to people's souls as subtly as the bangle did, could she produce cursed armor and accessories and then slip them onto people without them knowing? Could she let her creations do the killing for her, without her victims ever even suspecting her?
I shuddered a little. But mostly, I was thankful that I had her friendship. At least it made any such schemes on her part unlikely to target me and mine.
"We'll sort out all of…this later," Glaustro growled, giving the limp-bodied assassin in his grasp a little shake. With Glaustro's height and build, he had absolutely no trouble dragging the other demon around by the ankle the way one would a large teddy bear. "You don't know how relieved I am to see you two."
"Good to see you as well," Mia croaked, throat obviously dry and irritated.
I was by her side in the blink of an eye, helping her sit up while dragging a water skin out of my spatial storage jewel. She latched onto my wrist and pulled the skin closer, greedily gulping the water. Then she sagged against me with a dreamy smile and stared straight into my eyes.
I resisted leaning down into a kiss only through a massive exertion of will, helped by the awkwardness of making out in the middle of a square full of freshly revived, naked demons. Most of whom were watching us wearily after all the violence that had just erupted in our area.
"We need to get out of here," I said quickly. My relief that both Mia and I were fine was fading. In its place, tension had begun dripping down my spine. "There could be more assassins lurking, and neither Mia nor I are in any condition to fight."
"Of course. Need any help?
"Nah, I'm good."
I really was. The healing hadn't done wonders for my ability to use mana, but it had mostly returned my physical body to normal. Scooping Mia up in my arms was extremely easy, even if I had to summon a blanket to burrito her in. Once she was properly bundled up, I followed Glaustro as he walked briskly away, dragging the assassin after him.
We were all okay. For now. Still, I couldn't hold back a forlorn sigh.
I had been alive for less than an hour, and already, drama was back on the menu.