Chapter 166: The Reincarnated

Hemei Sakaguchi was a 19-year-old Japanese college student studying in Germany when he was hit by a bus on his way from school and died a painful death after the operation that was carried on him 15 hours later had failed. He did not have a happy life by any stretch of the imagination as he was a victim of severe bullying.

This actually came as a shock to him as he was usually the one doing the bullying back in high school days, while he had still been in Japan only a year before his death. After moving to Germany, the language barrier had prevented him from moving with his usual clique and thus he slowly became isolated and targeted.

At first, he fought back as he was far from a pushover and could generally handle himself in a fight even against multiple opponents, but he soon came to learn that he had made a grave mistake as this resistance only made him a bigger target to the bullies. Unable to make any of his usual type of friends, he felt the pain his usual targets back in high school had felt when he would torment them to escape from the shitty life he had at home with his whore of a mother.

Even as he was hit by the bus, he had felt nothing. There was no fear in his eyes and he even felt like death was a release for him. An escape from the messed-up world he had been born in. However, something strange and unexplainable happened the moment he died. 

He had not been released from life as he had hoped. No, instead, he had been reborn. It was what most would call a miracle. A second chance to set things right. Was he born in the past? If so, he would use the little knowledge he had from the future to make a fortune so he would not suffer the same fate as before. However, he was surprised yet again when he opened his eyes as a baby to see the maid that attended to him having red skin, a pair of curved horns, and a tail.

'Is this hell?'

'Did the devil give birth to me?'

'What is this place.'

To his surprise, this was not the same world he knew. There were demons all around him and even his normal-looking parents were called demons as well. He could not speak but unlike in Germany, the language here did not create a barrier for him as he could somehow understand them as though they were speaking Japanese.

'A fantasy world?' Hemei had not been the type that was into fantasy books, novels, manga, comics, and the likes, but he was still aware of what a fantasy world was. He had seized a few books from the nerds in high school that he sometimes read when he was bored so he knew a little about the troupe of reincarnation.

Usually, in those stories, only the main character was reincarnated with some kind of cheat ability or system to make his life easier. That would mean he had been chosen right? So where was his system? What cheat ability did he gain? He needed to figure it out as soon as possible.

With this thought in mind, he continuously tried to find or awaken his ability. However, even after spending a few months here living as a baby, he found nothing. Was I mistaken? I'm not the main character?

He felt devastated but just as he was about to curse the world, he overheard something interesting being taught to one of his brothers. Indeed, Magic does exist in this world and those that could form and stabilize their mana pool at a young age could shape their potential and how strong their mana body would eventually become.

What a miracle. It turns out his cheat was not something like a system but his awareness even as a baby. Even though the world was wrong in making him have to work for what he deserved, he could not worry about that while he was still so weak, thus, he wasted no time.

He spent the next few months listening in on his five-year-old younger brother's lessons and absorbing all the required information he needed and the moment he turned 1, he began to shape his mana pool and expand it. It was difficult but his determination was immersed. He was the chosen one. Someone that had been given a second chance at life even though he was currently a demon. That did not matter to him as he would become the strongest demon in existence.

Never again would he let anyone look down on him. Never again would he become bullied. He would absorb all the knowledge and power in this world and stand at the top. He would become the god that ruled with an iron fist and no one would be able to go against him.

His hard work all throughout his early years had paid off. Even though he was just the 8th son of a low-ranking noble family, his magic potential was recorded to be at the 7th Tier. That was an unprecedented level of strength even ordinary demon lords did not possess. 

He was now destined to become the next demon lord of his family even though he would not have even been considered if this was a human society. The demon continent valued strength over almost everything else and so, his eldest brother who also had an impressive potential of the 5th Tier was sidelined for him as it should be. However, this was not enough, he did not reincarnate here to just be the demon lord of a weak-ass Noble family whose region was not even half the size of Japan.

His thirst for power was met with an even greater surprise. The moment his mana body was formed he had been granted the innate ability. Archivist.

That innate ability was truly a sign that he was meant to rule over this world. It could record any skill he sees ones. The recorded skill is stored in his archive, an illusionary book that was formed from part of his soul and stored in his mana body. He would then be able to use that skill at its full proficiency without any drawbacks and even skills that required a weapon to use. He could use them without one.

He decided to keep his innate ability a secret for a while as he secretly watched all the members of his family train and record their skills. Spells were a different story. While he could not directly copy and use the spells he sees, his ability could still record the spell in detail and as long as he could understand or memorize the magic runes and magic circle, he would be able to use the spells although he would need practice to be able to use them effectively.

However, flanks to a few of the skills he had recorded along the way called 'Prudent student' and 'Accelerate Thoughts', he could easily memorize the spells without even learning to read magic runes. Hemei then decided he would spend the following years amassing more powerful skills and spells.

However, there was something he had failed to calculate. In this world, the Noble families valued their Heritage more than actual Strength. His failure to inherit the family's innate ability had Disappointed his parents, making him no longer viable for the demon lord seats as his older brother regained his position.

Forced to suffer such humiliation ones again. Hemei killed his brother and left his family at a young age and soon became known as one of the seven great behemoths, The behemoth of Greed - Mammon. Thus was after defeating one of the original great behemoths in the tournament. According to the rules of the tournament , he inherited the throne and used the future competitions as a way to gain more skills as he prepared for when he would claim this continent for himself before moving on to the entire world.

This had been over a century ago and after amassing so much power, he had realized that he could not achieve his dreams by strength alone. Neither could he do it alone.

Hemei walked out of the cave the same way he came without the guards even being aware of his presence as he strolled through the Darknar forest without fear or worry. He had just left the forest as he headed toward the red river when someone suddenly spoke to him even though non should be aware of his presence.

"Hiya~"

Hemei turned his head around and smiled. He saw the figure of a young lady suddenly appear before him as he replied to her flighty greetings.

"Oh Citrus, I guess My Null Existence can't fool you Huh."

His skill "Null Experience." Didn't actually make him invisible as he also had the stealth skill but found this to be a lot more effective and fun to use. The skill practically forces his existence into the blind spot of anyone looking in his direction, thus, forcing them to 'willingly' ignore his presence. It was quite a powerful skill but still had its flaws.

Citrus had a wild smile on her face as he walked out of the forest and towards Hemei who just stood in place waiting for her. She approached the standing young man and gave him a kiss in which Hemei did not hesitate to respond in kind while his hand roamed around her body.

she soon broke off from him and spoke. "It's been a while, wanna head somewhere?~"

"Sure, but before that, how's the Brimstones doing these days?"

Citrus shrugged her shoulders but replied in a lazy but flighty manner. "I can't exactly tell you that for free you know. But since we're on the topic. Can you do me just a tiny little favor pwess~"

"Ohh, now that might be interesting."

"Tots would be~"

"Alright, what's this favor?"

"I have a few trash from the Zorak region with me. Since you plan on breaking into that castle already, can you take them with you?~"

"Why?"

"Well you know~ the usual. Just a precaution in case the other family found out about this, they can put the blame on the Zoraks~"

"Ahh even someone like you are still worried about consequences. What, don't believe I can achieve my goal anymore."

"You're surely strong no doubt. Stronger than me even but still. The Great five demon lords are on a whole different level. I may be crazy, but even I have my limits." 

This was the first time Hemei heard her speak in such a serious and straightforward manner which surprised him a little.

"What's there to fear, it's only a matter of time before I surpass eve them as well."

Citrus stared strangely at him for a while as she cocked her head and the silver moonlight reflected beautifully off her short silver hair. Her doll-like eyes seem to stare into his soul probably wondering if he was truly serious about his statement and of course he was.

He may have only recently broken into the basic level of the seventh tier but he was already in the realms of the divine and thus a demigod. Even if all the other great five were far more experienced in this level, his vast arrays of skills would no doubt give him the ultimate advantage. 

Not to mention he only needed to be able to stand on equal footing as them so as not to be one short, and once a fight began. He could simply just record their skills. There was literally no way he would lose, but he had no intentions of telling Citrus that.

"Sure. Oh yeah, I should probably mention this as well, there are currently people who somehow manage to enter and are currently living in the castle."

For a moment Hemei thought he had heard wrong and then he thought she was messing with him. But after getting to know her for years now, he knew there was no way she would joke about something like this and the thought of what she said had almost blown him off his feet.

"What? When did this happen?"