The moment Cael Drake opened his eyes on the cold stone slab, he realized he was dead. Or rather, that he had been dead. The hole in his chest was still vivid, but his heart was beating again. The wound from the Black Dragon Baltor's attack remained as a scar.
"This place is..."
Looking around, he found himself in what looked like an altar in an ancient ruin. Faintly glowing dragon script was carved into the walls. Cael, who had learned to decipher dragon script during his twenty years of fighting dragons, understood their meaning.
'To the one who has transcended time. To the one granted a chance for revenge. We grant you another life.'
"Revenge..."
The word had barely left his lips when memories of his past life surged through Cael like a tidal wave. Twenty years ago, the world was plunged into chaos by a sudden dragon invasion. Cael, known as humanity's strongest swordsman, fought alongside his comrades against the dragons. But in the end, he met his death when the Black Dragon Arkbahar's claws pierced his heart.
Yet now, he was back twenty years in the past.
"This time... this time, I'll do things differently."
As Cael stood up, his eyes fell upon a sword lying on the altar. Its blade, seemingly made of black steel, was etched with crimson runes. The moment he grasped the hilt, a surge of hot power enveloped his entire body.
[Dragonbane - The Dragon Slayer's Sword awakens!][Deals 3x damage to all dragonkin!][Experience gain increased by 2x!]
A translucent window suddenly appeared in his vision, startling Cael. It was something he had never seen in his previous life.
"A system... is that what this is?" he muttered, and another window popped up.
[Cael Drake - Level 1][Class: Dragon Slayer][HP: 100/100][MP: 50/50][Strength: 15] [Agility: 12] [Intelligence: 10] [Luck: 8][Special Abilities]
Regressor's Memory: Possesses memories of the future. Dragon Killer: Deals additional damage to all dragonkin. Former Life's Swordsmanship: Retains 20 years of accumulated swordsmanship skill.
Though it showed Level 1, Cael still perfectly remembered his swordsmanship from his previous life. His body was young, but his mind and skills remained.
Leaving the altar, a familiar landscape unfolded before him. It was a peaceful world, before the dragons' invasion. This ruin near the capital of the Barencia Kingdom was a place Cael often visited as a child, dreaming of adventure.
"There's still time. Three months until the dragons' first invasion..."
Cael clenched his fist. The helplessness he'd felt in his previous life, watching his comrades die one by one. The despair of dying without protecting anything. A burning resolve flared within him: this time, he would change everything.
"First, I'll grow stronger. And then..." Cael's eyes turned cold. "I need to deal with the traitors."
In his previous life, there were humans who had sided with the dragons, betraying their own kind. Knowing all their identities and plans gave Cael an absolute advantage.
With the sword at his hip, Cael's retreating figure as he left the ruins was not that of a mere avenger, but of a hero setting out to save the world. However, there was one thing he didn't know: that this regression wasn't a simple rewind of time. And that this world was also undergoing changes.
Above Cael's head, as he walked towards the capital, a small red dot flew across the sky. No one knew it yet, but it was a dragon scout.
The gears of fate had begun to turn again.