Reincarnated as the Death God's Vessel

The banging sound of the heads of the beings with crimson-black wings echoed inside the Ancient Throne Hall.

Its once dilapidated and destroyed columns were now back to their lustrous design.

Angels flapped their wings, a sight that could be seen outside the opened door.

The sandy desert was gone, replaced by a burning dark and gloomy forest with thousands... no, millions of soldiers of creatures marching towards the castle.

Lidien felt nothing... no excitement, no fear. Just dead.

Then...

Suddenly...

He was pulled out from the memory, no... the History.

"You are not ready yet."

Lidien hardly focused his eyes, and the next thing he saw was his own image, reflected by the ocean of verve, slowly dissipating.

His eyes were red, bloodshot... bleeding... his lips chapped and faded, even his skin turned so pale that it almost became transparent as he could see his blood veins.

Without strength, Lidien weakly raised his head...

There, once again... the God of Death was present.

"Ascend, Lidien."

With a gentle wave of his hand, the Dreamflow that had almost shattered, its cracks showing the sandy desert outside and the ancient hall where his body was, slowly filled up with his ocean of verve, streaming to patch the broken dream... and was once again replaced by the starry skies.

Lidien's body glowed, till his dissipation stopped, and reversed... turning him back to his former image.

Then, as he felt his body regain its strength again... he watched the God of Death disintegrate into the Crimson Shard.

He slowly stood and scanned around... and there, beside the fragmented shattered shards, the Monarch of Blood was kneeling, sweating... with undisguised fear as he bowed his head, his panic reflected on the ocean of verve.

Lidien smiled, his body trembling... as the thought of him almost dying just by sitting on the throne came back to haunt him.

Yet, he was excited... by the power to command those crimson-black winged beings, that he knew fully well were more powerful than he was... as of now.

He walked towards the Monarch of Blood, now prostrating at the Crimson Shard.

As Lidien's smile turned to mockery, he said,

"Imagine... you tried to attach your Blood Rune where the God of Death was resting... Idiot Monarch."

The Monarch of Blood, after realizing that Lidien would not have been able to survive the memory of the Rift, tried to detach his Blood Rune from the fragmented shattered shards. Yet, he did not expect that a presence, more powerful than any he had met, emerged from the Crimson Shard.

Panic engulfed him, and he tried to leave using the gap from the crack of the Dreamflow... however, he was stopped.

As the God of Death, the one who controlled the Essence of Death, destroyed his Blood Rune and made him a complete Soul Essence, and only stated that... He would let Lidien decide the fate of his soul.

The Monarch of Blood couldn't tell if he was lucky, or not... as he compared himself to the thousands of Soul Essences orbiting the Crimson Shard.

Yet, the realization that the one who stood before him was the God of Death itself made him prostrate, for seeing, face to face, even in his soul form... that the one he had worshipped since the start of his existence, was present... inside the child whose body he tried to steal.

However, Lidien, who did not know the truth behind the Monarch prostration... said something the Monarch wanted to hear.

"Let's make a trade."

The Monarch of Blood stopped his prostration and stood in front of Lidien, looking at him not with reverence but as an equal.

"Your ancient knowledge... for a new vessel."

Lidien raised his finger, stopping the Monarch from speaking.

"After I become much stronger than you..."

The Monarch of Blood held his gaze, before saying.

"Let me choose the body to be my next vessel."

Lidien then smiled, and offered him a hand... which the Monarch of Blood just stared at long enough before asking.

"What should I do with that?"

Lidien beamed, showing the nature of a child who had gotten his playmate.

"Just a handshake, to honor our deal..."

The Monarch of Blood reluctantly held his hand, before shaking...

Then...

Lidien felt his body getting pulled out of the Dreamflow, smiling towards the Monarch of Blood and nodding.

Lidien opened his eyes... and another flood of information seared his mind.

As he held his head from the sudden influx of pain, he watched amused as the broken debris and dust slowly floated... fixing the Ancient Throne Hall to its former design.

"The Rift of the Leaden Blood... now, like Lady Rose... I own one."

Then, a voice suddenly erupted in his mind, the Monarch of Blood.

'Not quite, in the case of your Mother, she would not be able to leave the Rift unless she could fully control it... unlike you, who got the help of the God of Death.'

Lidien nodded to himself, then smiled faintly.

'At least now I'm not talking alone with myself.'

Lidien's eyes wandered beyond the opened door, staring at the bones that hadn't budged since the fall of the Rift.

Though some of the memories were locked, and only the things he needed to know were available in his mind.

He learned that the formation of the Rift of the Leaden Blood came from a powerful being... that once followed the God of Death--Blodmire.

It was the amalgamation of memories, knowledge, and solidified essences that formed to make a new world of its own, ruled by its own understanding of law and concepts.

And the Rift of the Leaden Blood was based on Solidifying, and Stopping the Blood Circulation...

However, it was not the main reason why a Rift was needed to have an established clan in the Savage Expanse... or the whole world.

Because below the Ancient Throne Hall, the Core of the Rift existed... where it produced a Verve Stone, that was used as fuel for those who depleted their verve... Infinitely as long as it was not destroyed.

Making him realize that, the more a clan owned a Rift, the more wealthy and powerful they were.

"Now, Like them... I'll secretly make my own."