Chapter 1 – Erased Memory
1345, August 17
I open my eyes to a strange reflection. The face staring back is young—too young. Pale skin, dark blue eyes, black hair, and the delicate frame of a fourteen-year-old girl named Salena Starfall.
Salena. First daughter of the Starfall family, one of the six duke houses in Arson Country. A noble lineage as prestigious as it is cursed. The room around me speaks of her status—a luxury bedroom draped in dark blue. Heavy curtains swallow the light, matching bed sheets ripple softly on the large canopy bed, and a thick floor mat muffles every sound beneath my feet. It's like a prison disguised as elegance.
A few days ago, Salena made a contract with me—Morgana Ruth, the Blood Demon. My true form, with its dark red hair and blood magic power, no longer exists. My demon body was destroyed because of this contract. And Salena's soul? I consumed it. A necessary price to claim her body and live on.
The terms… I can't recall. Perhaps the contract itself was cunning enough to erase them.
But I remember who I am. A Tier 8 Blood Demon—feared, respected, unstoppable. Before that? A mere human—Ruth Daniel, a chartered accountant from Earth. I died there, only to awaken in the screaming cradle of a demon child. From that moment, I clawed my way upward, spell by spell, until I stood on the brink of Tier 8… but never reached its peak.
Now? My body is gone. My power—stolen. My wealth—scattered.
But I am still breathing.
And as long as I draw breath… I will rise again.
What I do remember clearly is that the real Salena regressed in time and sold her soul to me, granting me glimpses of the future. She's gone now, but she left behind a journal—its pages filled with the events and secrets that may help me survive in her place.
The journal paints a miserable picture. Salena was only B-tier talent. Kind, gullible, naïve. Though her beauty and noble status kept most people at a polite distance, she was exploited mercilessly. First daughter of Duke Stuart Starfall, she had two elder brothers and one elder sister.
Her so-called "friends" turned on her until she became a laughingstock—a public clown, a villainess in society's eyes. She never married, partly due to a fragile mind, partly because of a growing drinking problem that softened the sharp edges of her misery.
At forty, she made a contract with Blood Daniel, a Tier 9 demon. She claimed he approached her first, and she accepted without hesitation. With his help, she rose to Tier 6 despite her limited talent.
But her family was executed for treason against the crown. Before her own execution, the demon gave her a spell—TD Regression—a magic only she could use, thanks to the Starfall family's rare time affinity.
He told her: "Make a contract with the demoness Ruth if you wish to change your family's fate."
And he left me a warning: "Demons have limits."
So she reached out across time… and made a contract with me.
But there's something Salena never realized—something I understood the moment I saw the name in her diary.
There is no demon called Blood Daniel in the demon realm.
It's a code name. One only I would recognize.
Because Ruth Daniel was my name on Earth.
Her journal says "Blood Daniel," but in truth… that's me. The only demon to reach Tier 8 in blood magic.
If Salena is from the future, it means the demon who aided her was none other than me—and she was my pawn.
The message my future self left—"Demons have limits"—now makes perfect sense.
When I first reincarnated as a demon, I learned from my studies that only humans or elves had ever achieved Tier 10. Never a demon, never a spirit. I laughed back then and swore I would be the first.
But if my future self, already a Tier 9, warns me of this limit… then it means she failed. Stuck at Tier 9. Unable to take that final step.
And so, she helped Salena in the future—not out of kindness, but to use her.
Even with B-tier talent, Salena's Starfall lineage and time affinity meant that at Tier 6, she could wield arcane-level magic.
That was enough for my future self's plans.
But why not just take Salena's body in the future?
Simple.
At forty-five, Salena was already physically and mentally unstable—a poor vessel.
Now?
I have inherited her at fourteen.
Young. Healthy. Untainted.
Perfect.
Suddenly, a voice breaks through my thoughts: "Morgana, remember the contract."
I see Salena was not that stupid after all.
But I'm okay with that.
Because of the contract, I will save Salena's family.
In return, I will ascend—past the skies, past the limits—beyond Tier 10, if such a thing even exists.
That is the day I, Morgana Ruth, began her second climb.
To be continued...