That day, the sky broke. Not metaphorically. Not like a storm. It fractured—literally, impossibly, violently—like a vast sheet of glass splintering across the heavens, tearing apart the very thing humanity had always believed to be untouchable.
It bled a white light that swallowed the sun whole. For a moment, the world froze—cars halted mid-road, conversations died in people's throats, and even the wind seemed to hesitate. Then the screaming began. From the fracture, they descended.
Beings of impossible scale and presence—some wreathed in flame, others cloaked in darkness so dense that it devoured the light around them. Their eyes burned like collapsing stars. And with their arrival, the world ended. Humanity ended. Mountains folded like paper. Oceans split apart. Entire cities vanished without leaving behind even a single speck of dust. They gave no warning. They showed no mercy. They simply annihilated every human being that entered their sight.
Kazuki stood alone in the ruins of what had once been a city. Blood dripped steadily from the tip of his blade. Around him, battlefields stretched as far as the eye could see, bodies littering the ground at every step.
And yet, he still stood tall.
"Still… not enough," he muttered.
Suddenly, a creature lunged at him—something born from those cracks in the sky. It had too many limbs, too many eyes. Kazuki's sword moved once. A single, clean slash. The creature split in half before it could even react. Kazuki exhaled slowly. His movements were precise, perfect, and better than anyone else in the world. He had spent his whole life chasing the peak of the blade. And he had reached it. The strongest. The greatest swordsman humanity had ever produced.
In the distance, massive spaceships rose into the sky. They were humanity's last hope—evacuation ships carrying the lucky remaining survivors away to safety. "So, that's it," he said quietly. He knew they were never going to win. This was never a war. It was extermination. The extermination of the entire human race.
A presence descended. No—it arrived. The ground didn't shake. The air didn't move. And yet, everything around him suddenly felt heavier. Kazuki's instincts screamed. In front of him stood one of them. And not just any of them—it was one of the strongest, perhaps the strongest itself. It was almost humanoid in shape. Tall. Flawless. A face that looked more like a mask than flesh. Its expression was calm—too calm. Like a human observing insects.
"You're still alive," the being said, tilting its head slightly. Its voice wasn't heard. It was understood.
Kazuki tightened his grip on his sword. "Yeah," he replied. "Quite unfortunate for you."
For the first time, the being smiled. "Interesting," it said.
Neither of them had time to waste. They stood in the middle of a battlefield where one of them was certain to die.
Kazuki moved first. The ground shattered beneath his feet as he closed the distance between them in an instant. His blade moved faster than sound—faster than thought. He gave it everything he had. And the blade connected. A clean, elegant strike nobody would have expected. For a brief moment, it felt as though he had stopped time itself. A thin line appeared across the being's chest. Then—a single golden drop of blood fell.
Kazuki's eyes widened.
"I… cut it," Kazuki said, his voice filled with disbelief and satisfaction.
The being looked down at its wound with a curious expression. Then it laughed.
"Remarkable. A mere human can manage this much."
But then—before Kazuki could even react—something pierced his chest.
He never saw the being move. He never felt the attack.
His body froze. His sword slipped from his hands, clattering against the blood-soaked battleground.
"So… this is it," he thought.
His strength faded rapidly. His vision blurred. Above him, the evacuation ships continued their ascent toward survival.
"At least… some made it," he whispered.
"Not enough," he said with regret.
He was not strong enough. He was not fast enough. Not enough to protect anything. Anyone.
Darkness swallowed him, second by second. The being's voice echoed faintly within his fading mind.
"If your kind survives, they may one day become a problem for us," it said calmly.
Kazuki's eyes slowly closed, but his lips curled into a faint smile.
"Next time… I'll take you down with everything I've got," he said weakly, yet seriously.
Then, another voice echoed through the darkness.
"You had the potential to defeat those heavenly beings, but unfortunately, they were too strong, too experienced, and possessed powers far beyond your own. I see great potential in you. Given more time, you may have truly become capable of defeating them. Then… I shall grant you a second chance. A second life to achieve your goal. Do not disappoint me."
An unknown deity.
Then—a heartbeat. A sudden rush of air filled his lungs. Light flooded his vision.
Kazuki's eyes snapped open.
"Hah—!"
He gasped and instinctively tried to move. But his body felt… small.
"Light? A ceiling? Wood? What is going on?" His thoughts raced. "Who are these people?"
A woman and a man stood beside him.
"He looks so healthy," the man said with a proud grin. "I'll make him the greatest swordsman in the world. Won't I, my dear son, Nick?"
The man then proceeded to smooch Kazuki on the cheek.
"No, no—what are you trying to do?!" Kazuki thought, trying to stop him with his hands. But the moment he raised them, he froze.
His hands were tiny.
Very tiny.
His eyes widened in horror.
"I literally just witnessed death… and now I'm in the body of an infant? What is even going on? Is this what people say… reincarnation?"