Chapter 28
The room was filled with collective smiles and relieved sighs as the nurses assessed the newborn.
Healthy.
Stable.
Alive.
One of the nurses lingered, her gaze fixed on the child. She frowned.
Earlier, when the baby had briefly opened his eyes, she could have sworn they glowed a hellish red.
That was impossible.
Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her. Stress. Fatigue. Long hours. It had to be something like that.
She shook her head and turned away.
The mother was being attended to quickly. Her pulse was weak, her energy nearly depleted. Giving birth to the child had taken far more from her than expected.
Healers worked nonstop, pouring restorative energy into her exhausted body.
Still, unease crept into the room.
What if this child is some devil reborn?
The nurse standing closest to the baby watched him carefully, waiting. Watching. Wanting to see what would happen when he woke again. Would he cry? Scream? Do anything unnatural?
Minutes passed.
The baby finally opened his eyes.
They were normal.
The nurse released the breath she did not realize she was holding.
What am I even thinking?
Of course the baby was normal.
She smiled, gently rubbing his soft cheek before turning away to continue her duties. The room was still stained with blood from the delivery. It needed to be cleaned.
Vastro woke up feeling… wrong.
Where am I?
He knew who he was.
Vastro Trasle.
The strongest usurper.
The most powerful slayer.
The strongest being across the entire Eight Realms.
The last thing he remembered was clearing the Hell Trial. Meeting Hell itself. Learning truths so insane they could shatter existence if exposed.
Chaos on an unimaginable scale.
And that was what made it fun.
There was also something about being Hellbound. Something intoxicating. The more he thought about it, the heavier his mind became.
Fatigue crushed him.
Darkness took him again.
When he woke the next time, he knew immediately.
Something was wrong.
His memories were fading.
Not all at once. Slowly. Like sand slipping through his fingers. He could still remember many things, but with every passing second, more details dissolved into nothing.
What is happening to me?
He tried to move.
He could not.
His body felt soft. Weak. Uncontrolled. Stiff and flexible at the same time. Wrong in every possible way.
Confusion flooded him.
He forced his eyes open and looked around the room.
His breath caught.
A sledgehammer of realization smashed into his soul.
What the hell is this?
He had been tricked.
Looking at the figures around him, sensing his own fragile vessel, he understood immediately.
He had been reborn.
But not how he wanted.
Not as something powerful.
Not as something worthy.
He had been reborn as a human.
A human.
Out of all races, humans were the one race he would never have chosen. They were weak. Fragile. Limited. The lowest existence across the realms.
And yet, here he was.
Reborn as a human.
Vastro's mind screamed as the truth settled in.
This was not rebirth.
This was punishment.
Of course, some would argue that in his past life he was already half human, yet he still reached an unbelievable height in the cultivation world.
That was true.
But only because of the other blood flowing through him.
Vastro was half primordial.
And the primordial side had always been the dominant force.
It carried him. Shielded him. Elevated him.
The human half had been buried, forgotten, irrelevant.
Human bodies were cursed with too many restrictions. Too many ceilings. Too many walls. They simply could not go far in cultivation.
The last thing Vastro remembered was this simple truth.
No human cultivator, no matter how powerful, had ever crossed Tier 60. None had stepped into the Sixth Realm. Not to mention the Seventh.
The Eighth Realm was nothing but a myth to them.
That alone showed how weak they were.
Even reaching the Fifth Realm was something only a handful of humans ever managed.
Rage surged through Vastro's tiny body.
His soul screamed, trying to unleash a roar at Hell itself for daring to trick him like this.
Instead, all that came out was a soft, helpless baby squeak.
Useless.
It did nothing to Hell.
But it caught attention.
Several female nurses rushed over immediately.
"Aww, he's making noise again."
"He's already clean."
"Still, let's tidy him up more."
They surrounded him, hands everywhere, poking and adjusting him despite the fact that there was nothing to fix.
They just wanted to touch him.
The perfectly delivered child. Handsome. Cute. Stress-free birth.
Only morons.
Get lost before I incinerate all of you morons.
That was what Vastro thought.
What came out of his mouth was more meaningless baby gibberish.
The nurses laughed and played with him even more.
His face grew red.
"Wait… is he shy?" one nurse speculated.
"No, I told you he's special," another said confidently. "Let's bathe him once more."
The others nodded.
They carried the helpless Vastro away.
He looked around wildly, his gaze searching for his mother, silently begging her to save him from these lunatics.
Too late.
He was already being lowered into warm water.
Vastro finally forced his mind away from the irritating humans.
Anger flooded him again.
He had been tricked.
Reborn as a human.
Why. Why. Why.
This was, by far, the most disappointing thing that had ever happened to him.
He could have accepted being reborn as a celestial. They were inferior to his former state, yes, but manageable.
Humans?
Unmanageable.
Could his life get any worse?
As if answering him, a screen shattered into existence inside his mind.
System booting…
Warning. Soul host vessel unsuitable.
Warning. Dimensional soul, mind, and physical transfer damaged at 99.9 percent.
Vastro blinked, stunned, as more messages poured in.
System notification.
Host has successfully been reborn.
Current Realm: Mortal Realm.
Realm Tier: First Realm.
Realm Grade: Lowest class among all recognized planes.
Energy Density: Weak.
Existential Laws: Restrictive.
Note. Host former power exceeded current realm maximum by an absurd margin.
Alert. Host original power detected.
However, the current vessel is completely incapable of containing even 0.0000000001 percent of your previous strength.
In order to avoid vessel destruction and destabilization of the entire current realm, the following degradations have been enforced.
Your SSSSSSS Tier acquisition and comprehension ability has been forcibly reduced to FFF Tier.
Reason: Vessel is pathetically weak and cannot withstand higher comprehension flow.
Vastro's soul went silent.
Vastro's face widened.
His body went stiff as the seething, degrading notifications kept pouring in.
Your existential-tier talent: Law Comprehension has been sealed, alongside your Comprehended Laws.
Reason: the current realm and vessel cannot withstand exposure to any laws. Continued exposure will result in imminent destruction.
Your Abyssal Source Cultivation Realm has been erased.
Reason: realm compatibility failure. The host must start anew.
Your Destruction Aura has been forcefully nullified entirely.
Reason: exceeded mortal realm capacity. Aura would cause unimaginable collapse of the realm.
Activating Hellbrand System…
Error.
Error.
Error.
Error.
Hellbrand System unable to fully activate.
Authority code shattered due to weak energy density.
Error.
Error.
Several functions have been sealed or are missing.
Advanced combat modules sealed.
Law synthesizing interface sealed.
Hellbrand skill library sealed.
Ultimate skills and innate skill sealed.
Dimensional rift travel sealed.
Bloodline awakening sealed.
Destruction Authority Core shattered.
Overlord Commands sealed.
Hell Space sealed.
Summoning Matrix sealing.
Memory Archive sealing.
The notifications just kept coming.
Each one slammed into Vastro's heart like a hammer. His breath caught. His consciousness felt heavier, crushed layer by layer as the seconds passed.
System operating at 0.3 percent capacity.
System will slowly recover and heal itself.
Condition: the stronger the host becomes, the faster recovery will occur.
Primary objective achieved.
World energy absorbed. Soul stabilized. Cultivation initiated.
Minimum requirement: Do not die before system restoration.
Then came the remark.
Host. You were once a warlord feared across planes and realms.
Now you are a fragile infant who cannot lift his own head.
Either climb back up through endless suffering or remain a weakling dependent on constant breastfeeding.
Vastro felt like crying.
He held it together, barely.
This was too much.
Tears slipped from his eyes anyway.
The nurses noticed immediately. Fear flashed across their faces.
"Wait, what's wrong?"
"Did someone hold him too hard?"
"I think he's hungry," another nurse said, guessing.
"Yes, that must be it."
"Hand him to his mother."
They nodded and rushed over.
Vastro's human mother received him with a genuine smile. With practiced elegance and quiet affection, she held him close and began to breastfeed him.
Vastro stared at the annoying human.
His life was already miserable, and now this woman really intended to feed him with such a disgusting thing.
No way in hell he would....
…Mm.
That was kind of sweet.
For a while, the weight on his soul faded. The pain dulled. He felt warm. Safe. At peace.
He did not allow himself to fall into despair over the sentence passed on his existence. He had been cursed. Tricked by Hell itself.
He would have his revenge.
But for now, he drank more.
Lost in the strange comfort, Vastro failed to notice the final system message.
Quest Panel initialized.
New Quest received.
Quest: SURVIVE INFANCY
Reward: ?????
Remark:
Host, congratulations. You have been born for less than ten minute and are already at risk of death.
This must be a new record.
To be continued…