Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Erste whose body had ceased functioning was still conscious. Even now in this state, he could feel his body rotting away.

'So is this what it's like to die? I guess I'm not fully dead yet since I'm not in the same state as Elena.'

Despite being in such a situation Erste was unfazed as he was confirming his current state. Despite his body ceasing to function, he could still feel, hear, taste, and smell, but his sense of sight had been blocked.

'I wonder what I should do now?...'

Erste who could not move or do almost anything started thinking about the past. It has been decades since he last seen his parents, if you count the time he had been trapped in a nightmare then it has been centuries.

'The two of them should have been long dead by now... I wonder what they did after I was gone?... Now that I think about it, why did I not go back to see them? I had so many chances to go back but my mind was filled with thoughts of killing those sh*tty Gods... No... That wasn't it what really consumed my mind was I wanted to fight.'

Erste did not know when it started but long before he slayed his first God he loved the feel of battle especially one where he felt like his life was on the line. A battle where life and death could change with every action he made was for him the best.

This love for battle seems to have intensified once he gained greater power, the stronger he became the more he thirsted for battle. If it was before that thirst was like he needed a drink from a cup but now it was like he was abandoned in a desert with nothing.

In the beginning, fighting a few Gods every now and then quenched his thirst for battle, but now even though he fought thousands of New Gods he would not feel satisfied. The ones he needed to fight to quench a bit of his thirst were the more powerful Old Gods or an Ancient One.

'Why am I so obsessed with battle?...' Erste had many theories in his mind about why he was so enamored by battle but none of those theories seemed to be fully right.

'In the end, does the reason really matter, also why am I even thinking about such things in my current situation?... Oh right, because there was nothing else to do. I wonder what am I supposed to do to gain full control over the authority of death...'

While Erste was thinking about what to do next he noticed that he could no longer hear anything.

'So I no longer have sight nor hearing, I guess my other senses will eventually disappear as well. Is this part of accepting the authority of death or am I truly dying, will the end of this ordeal not only be losing my senses but even my consciousness?'

Erste had no idea what he must do in order to truly gain the authority over death, even though he was not afraid of disappearing, he was not willing to disappear just yet.

'I still have promises I must fulfill.'

Until he was able to fulfill those promises Erste was not going to disappear. He needed to create a world were humanity had a chance to fight against fate, he needed to create a world where he and Elena could meet again, he needed to create a world where the ORIGIN could not reach.

'I still have many things that I need to accomplish, I cannot fail here!' As Erste became more and more excited the rotting of his body seemed to have increased in pace, not only that but his sense of taste and smell had disappeared as well.

Now only his sense of touch remained of his five senses, as for his spiritual sense that disappeared the very second he ate that star-like object. It was like his soul, body, and consciousness were separated.

'Based on the knowledge that sh*tty creator implanted in my mind, if I was too weak to became the vessel of the power of Death I should have imploded the moment I ate that object. Since my body is still intact, and I still have consciousness, that means this should be the ordeal I need to face. To gain power over Death one must first experience death and understand what death means.'

Erste tried to remember if there was any more knowledge about this so-called ordeal. There was not much to know, the knowledge he received was summed up as eating the object surviving the trial and that was it.

'As expected of sh*tty creator even the knowledge he gave was sh*tty... Well, it doesn't really matter since I never wanted that guy's help anyway. I will figure out how to overcome this so-called ordeal no matter how long it takes.'

Erste tried to move his body since he could still feel like he could. Erste who had achieved almost impossible feats, who had created miracles that even the very creator of everything was stunned by his actions, was now unable to even move a single finger of his body despite trying his hardest.

'Just what does it mean to understand death, what is death anyway? Isn't that just the cessation of life, what's more to it?... I have killed thousands upon thousands at this point, and I have not considered what is to die...'

It was at this point that even Erste's sense of touch disappeared and only his consciousness remained, but even that was becoming a bit hazy.

'Is this it, am I going to experience true death?... Wait since I can't use any mana or that power from the void, does that mean my soul is currently separated from my body and consciousness? So in a way, this isn't really true death, but some kind of pseudo-death... Or is it possible that my soul will eventually disappear as well... Damn it, I really don't have any clues...'

As Erste's consciousness was becoming unclear, and he could no longer think properly all he had left was not fear, but regrets. Those regrets then made him try and fight back until the last possible moment when the darkness took over his consciousness and everything just stopped.