Power did not come quietly.
It did not settle gently into its new vessel, nor did it acknowledge the limits of the body it entered, because power—true power, ancient and unyielding—did not adapt.
It overwrote.
Raizen had barely taken a step forward after the inheritance stabilized when it began.
At first—
It was subtle.
A faint tremor beneath his skin, like something shifting where it did not belong, a slow, creeping sensation that spread from his chest outward, threading through his veins with deliberate intent, as though mapping every pathway, every weakness, every flaw.
Then—
It tightened.
Raizen's body froze.
Not by choice.
But by force.
"…So this is the cost," he murmured faintly, his voice steady for only a fraction of a second before it fractured beneath the weight of what followed.
Pain.
Not sharp.
Not immediate.
But absolute.
It did not strike in a single point.
It spread.
From his heart—
To his veins—
To his bones—
Everywhere.
Raizen's knees buckled as the sensation intensified beyond anything his body had ever experienced, his muscles locking as though resisting something far greater than themselves, his breath catching violently in his throat as the pressure within him surged without restraint.
"…Tch—!"
A sound escaped him, involuntary, strained, as his body collapsed forward, one hand striking the ground in a desperate attempt to stabilize himself, though stability no longer existed within him.
Something was changing.
No—
Something was being replaced.
His blood.
Raizen's eyes widened slightly as the realization struck, not through thought, but through sensation, as the flow within him twisted violently, his human blood rejecting what had entered it, only to be crushed, overwhelmed, and devoured by something far older, far stronger.
It burned.
Not like fire.
Like corrosion.
As though every drop within him was being melted down and reforged into something unrecognizable.
"—GH…!"
This time, the sound tore from him, raw and unrestrained, his body convulsing as the pain escalated beyond control, his vision fracturing as the world around him blurred into something distant, something irrelevant compared to what was happening inside him.
And then—
The memories came.
Not his.
But they felt real.
A battlefield.
Endless.
Drenched in blood that was not his own.
Screams.
Not of fear—
But of annihilation.
A presence standing above it all.
Watching.
Destroying.
Raizen's mind shook violently as fragments of the demon king's existence forced their way into him, not as coherent thoughts, but as raw, unfiltered experiences, each one carrying a weight that threatened to crush his consciousness entirely.
"…So this is your past…" he gasped, his voice trembling as his grip against the ground tightened.
The vision shifted.
Darkness.
Pursuit.
A figure—
No—
Something far worse.
An overwhelming force bearing down from above, its presence suffocating, its power absolute, forcing even the demon king to retreat, to flee, to abandon everything in the face of something it could not defeat.
The Regenerates.
Their leader.
Raizen's mind reeled as the memory collapsed, replaced instantly by something far more personal.
Something his own.
A room.
Cold.
"…Pathetic."
The voice echoed.
Raizen's breath caught.
He knew that voice.
He turned—
Darius Ashbourne stood there, his expression sharp, his gaze filled not with anger, but with something far worse—disappointment so deep it had long since turned into indifference.
"You call that mana control?" Darius continued, his tone laced with quiet disdain. "Even a child could do better."
The scene shifted before Raizen could respond.
Another voice.
Nyxar Ashbourne this time.
A laugh.
Light.
Dismissive.
"You're embarrassing the family," Nyxar said, crossing their arms. "Honestly, why are you even still here?"
Raizen's teeth clenched.
"…Illusions," he muttered, though his voice lacked the same certainty as before.
Because it wasn't just what they said.
It was how real it felt.
The weight of their words.
The familiarity.
The scene twisted again.
The hall.
The day of judgment.
Cassian Ashbourne stood before him, his presence overwhelming, his gaze cold and final.
"You are a stain," he said.
No anger.
No hesitation.
"Leave."
Beside him—
Sophia Ashbourne did not speak.
She simply—
Looked away.
That—
Hurt more.
"—Hah…!"
Raizen's body shook violently, his breathing uneven as the pain within him intensified further, feeding off the memories, amplifying them, turning them into something sharper, something far more difficult to ignore.
And then—
It went deeper.
Back.
Further back.
A street.
Rain falling.
Laughter.
Not theirs.
Others.
His old world.
Raizen Kyle.
"Look at him."
A shove.
He stumbled.
Books scattered across the ground.
"Always reading, always hiding… what a joke."
Another voice.
"Bet he thinks he's the main character or something."
Laughter.
Raizen's hands trembled as he saw it—not from the outside, but from within, reliving every moment with a clarity that left no room for distance, no space for detachment.
"…Stop," he said.
But the world did not listen.
A friend.
Or someone he thought was.
Turning away.
"You're too much work, man."
A shrug.
"Don't drag me down with you."
Raizen's chest tightened.
Betrayal.
Isolation.
Worthlessness.
All of it—
Layered.
Stacked.
Amplified.
The pain surged.
His body convulsed violently as the demon blood continued to overwrite his own, the two forces clashing within him, tearing through every limitation, every weakness, every boundary that defined his existence.
"…I… won't—"
His voice broke.
But his eyes—
Remained clear.
Even as everything else began to collapse.
"I won't… break… for this…"
The words were barely audible.
Yet they held.
Raizen's fingers dug into the ground, his nails cracking under the pressure as his body trembled uncontrollably, the pain reaching a level where consciousness itself became unstable, where the line between reality and illusion blurred beyond recognition.
The voices continued.
The memories repeated.
The pain did not stop.
And yet—
He endured.
Not because he was strong.
But because—
He refused to disappear.
"…I exist…"
The whisper escaped him.
"…so I endure…"
The world shattered.
Darkness consumed everything.
And Raizen—
Collapsed.
His body hit the ground without resistance, his consciousness fading completely as the last remnants of the transformation continued without him, his mind finally giving in to the only escape it had left.
Unconsciousness.
But even as he fell—
The change did not stop.
Because power—
Did not wait.