Reincarnated Hero System

Evan went over his Tarse Country-wide magic circle plan and confirmed there was nothing more he could do about it for now.

He considered many other things, from going to the locations of the Seven Deadly Sins to trying to discover the location of the Master of Dragondune, killing one of the Fallen Celestial Deities, or even taking out one of the Ten Fingers of the Demonic Hand, but he decided against them all since they’d interfere with the future he came from.

Either that, or ‘Time’ would simply correct everything when he left and render his efforts pointless.

“So what do I do…?” Evan pondered this question as he flew across the Divider Ocean, glancing down at the Zeraxes Archipelago below.

He slowed to a halt, his gaze trailing over the expansive line of islands that covered more than half of the Divider Ocean’s centre between the Alpha and Beta Continents.

The Archipelago consisted of 10 major islands, several dozen medium-sized ones, and countless smaller isles known to the locals as the Outlying Isles.

For the last century, all of it had been under the rule of one of Aidos’ Sovereigns, the Pirate Queen, Zara Dredgesea.

Before Zara’s rise, these islands had been independent nations with their own distinct histories and cultures, but one after another, they fell under her control, whether through overwhelming power or strategic surrender.

Evan, with Lethe still active, descended onto Zera, the central island where Zara’s personal fortress stood high on a cliff overlooking the sea.

The busy ports below housed the Pirate Queen’s main fleet, a navy strong enough to rival that of the World Power Nations on Aidos, one of the main reasons no individual nation had dared to act against her under the banner of opposing piracy.

Her influence over the surrounding waters allowed her to impose taxes on every trade ship passing through her waters, and those who refused to pay often found themselves boarded, plundered, or worse.

For the landlocked nations of the Alpha and Beta Continents, Zara’s rule over Zeraxes held little significance. They neither gained from her control of the ocean nor suffered directly from it.

At times, they would issue diplomatic condemnations of her actions, but for the most part, they ignored her as their affairs lay far from the oceans.

The coastal nations, however, viewed Zara as a necessary evil, a force that kept the lesser pirates in check and prevented the oceans from descending into anarchy.

They tolerated her rule, acknowledging that her iron-fisted governance deterred chaos that might otherwise disrupt their own naval operations.

However, this tolerance was conditional, and they weren’t hesitant to join forces to contain her if she ever overstepped.

Both the Alpha and Beta Continents had Major World Powers along their Divider Ocean coasts, and the combined strength of even two of them, each possessing at least ten Sovereign Level existences, could pose a serious threat to Zara’s reign.

She understood clearly that the strength of her Legendary Level Pirate Lords and her own Sovereign power would struggle to withstand a united attack from those forces.

Unfortunately for future Zara, those Coastal World Powers were about to become the least of her problems, since a certain Hero from the future, whose current strength easily eclipsed theirs, had set his sights on her because of the Unique Skill she used to command the Pirate Lords who acted as governors across the islands of the Archipelago.

‘With it, handling the aftermath of the Wolf of the END plan would be a lot easier.’

Evan’s disposition was originally one that allowed him to take actions others would consider violations of human rights, at least when it came to those he regarded as enemies, but the influence of his memories as Prisma had erased what little hesitation he once had.

As he moved through the island’s bustling streets, observing how the people of Zera viewed Zara’s rule, he pondered what he planned to do and how others might interpret it.

‘Zara seems to be quite popular, and loyalty to her runs fairly deep, so I guess that increases the backlash I’d face from the islands if I start anything.

In that case, I’d have to goad her into provoking me so my reaction looks completely justified, and it’d be ideal if she used her skills on me as well.’

For some reason, Zara, all the way in her castle, suddenly shivered, her instincts that had been sharpened since the days she was just a random harbour-dweller’s child warning her of danger.

However, by the time she could act on those instincts to uncover the source, Evan had already left her Archipelago, heading towards the Beta Continent.

It was there that Evan spent the rest of his time, doing all sorts of things from going on gourmet trips to saving an orphaned Duke’s daughter who was about to be assassinated by her uncles, becoming her guardian, helping her contract with spirits, and eventually aiding her in regaining her rightful position as Duchess.

That month turned out to be the most turbulent period the Johnston Duchy had faced since its founding several centuries ago, and Evan was right at the centre of the chaos alongside the young Duchess, Ciel.

Oh, had it been mentioned that this all took place in the Aelum Kingdom’s Johnston Duchy? Well, it was, and that was how Evan ended up creating another ‘Masked’ persona that would be remembered for decades to come.

On one fateful afternoon, while he was conversing with the young Duchess he’d saved, ‘Aidos’ appeared and informed him that Idrilla’s soul had been incarnated, and mere seconds after she said that, reality began to distort and a portal opened.

The sight naturally stunned the young Duchess, who had no idea that Evan was from the future, and Evan had simply told her that he was returning to where he came from, bidding her farewell as the portal pulled him inside.

◇　◇　◇

Top on the list of things Evan had no desire to experience again was being sent through time and space.

But alas, things rarely ever went the way one wanted them to.

To return to the Aidos he knew, Evan had no choice but to be pushed through the deadly waterslide of the spatial tunnel, where he had no control over his descent.

He was once again propelled through space-time with the force of a speeding bullet train.

The return journey was even faster this time, as the current of time, which naturally flowed upstream, simply carried him with its overwhelming pull. There was no resistance like when he was moving back in time, since then, he’d been pushing against the current.

Thankfully, he was only moving forward about 20+ years, so it didn’t take long before he was brought back to the point in time he should’ve reached, had he not made that additional deal with the EOSR to reincarnate Idrilla’s soul.

That point was the 12th of September, Year 1055 of the 51st General Calendar, nine months after the fateful day Evan had been sent back in time.

◇　◇　◇

The spatial law energy within the tunnel pushed Evan out through a rift, sending him tumbling onto the ground with a dull thud and a burst of energy.

Evan sighed deeply as he lay on the floor, thinking that the laws of time and space seemed to enjoy tossing their targets around.

They always threw him out of rifts without a care each time.

He lay on his back for a while, staring up at the night sky in silence, taking in the familiar constellations above.

After a moment, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and muttered, “I’m really back…”

A faint smile crept onto his face, one he couldn’t hold back, and as he rose to his feet, he brushed the dust from his clothes and looked around.

The landscape was ruined, with collapsed buildings lying in heaps of rubble and shattered monuments scattered across the ground.

“Looks like I got sent back to Tarse.”

He looked up and noticed the magic barrier encasing the city, most likely meant to keep people out.

“I guess they kept everything as is.”

‘Two million people used to live here. Now it’s a ghost town…’

That game reference passed through Evan’s mind just as he took a step forward, and immediately, his senses, far sharper than the last time he was here, picked up a familiar ripple of spatial distortion ahead.

“Huh? Someone’s teleporting i—?”

He didn’t even finish the question before he felt something inside him reconnecting to a familiar presence, and his eyes widened in realisation.

Simultaneously, a streak of green light shot toward him, faster than sound, closing the distance in an instant. It collided with him with enough force to knock him off his feet and send him crashing to the ground.

Evan could have dodged it. He could have stopped it. But he didn’t.

No sane man would avoid what he wanted most if it came rushing toward him like that, after all.

The glowing light faded to reveal a young woman with golden-blonde hair cascading down her back and blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. She clung to him, arms wrapped tightly around his body, unwilling to let go.

Evan silently lifted his arms, resting them against her back before pulling her into an embrace of his own.

Neither of them cared that they were still on the ground, simply holding onto each other, lost in the overwhelming relief of being reunited.

“…welcome… back,” Eliza managed to say between quiet sniffles, her voice trembling.

Holding her closer, as if afraid she might disappear if he let go, Evan leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before murmuring,

“Yeah… I’m back.”

|Reconnection to Prime World [Aidos]: Confirmed|

|Designation [Rogue Hero]: Revoked|