On a certain floor in the HQ of Heavenly corp, a winged figure scribbled angrily while complaining.
''How dare they demote me! I am the great Variel, a Virtue, not a puny archangel! And the great me doing paperwork? Really?''
The tall employee hit the desk of his new office in frustration before going back to work.
''Why do I have to go through ten billion souls to find the one to reincarnate? Is it so expensive to get an AI to do it? Fucking corpo-rats!''
After hours of reading file after file, the pile of paperwork didn't decreases. Seeing this, the archangel threw his pen in anger.
''You know what, screw it! I'll just pick one at random!''
Taking a file near the middle of the pile, the employee then threw the remaining papers into the bin.
''Good, now let's see. Species of origin : human. Average karma, average abilities, short life, and average luck. How can someone be so average in every points? Anyways, it'll do the job. Now what's left? Ah yes, the wishes. A measly soul doesn't deserves an audience with me so I'll take the most popular ones instead.''
Saying that, the archangel begun searching through the files on his computer.
''Here, top 3 most popular wishes among reincarnators. Number one, becoming their favorite fictional character. For this soul it's... Where was it? Ah, found it. Herrscher of Sentience? Good luck working with fifty thousand years worth of memories.''
Chucking mockingly, the angel continued.
''Number two, going to their favorite world. What the hell is Honkai Star Rail? It isn't in the database. Lemme check. No wonder it wasn't, this game is less than a year old and I updated this thing two years ago. Now number three is... A system? No way I'm doing one, too much work to program one of those. Instead I'll give you a something else. Yeah, that should to the job.''
Finishing writing the reincarnation permit, the ex virtue stamped the paper and sent it to the DIRT, the Dominion of Interbranching Reincarnation and Transmigration.
_______________
On a ruined planet, hundreds of hooded figures kneel around an anomaly, a rift in space. Ancient whispers escape their mouth, only accompanied by the whistling of the cold, biting wind. On the third day, after more than half of them fell to the harsh environment, a change finally happens. From the rift emerges a silouhette, falling out of it. After an hour, the closest figure stands up and approaches the fallen body, and despairs
''It is dead. Has our lord forsaken us? Oh great Ruin Author, I beg of you, answer our prayers. The loyalty of your fidels is unmovable. We swear to eternally be your subjects.''
Suddenly, the ground starts shaking and in the distance, the cultists see a gigantic being. Present, yet absent. Material, yet etheral. The golden blood flowing from the wounds on IT's body, contrasting with IT's dark skin.
As the cultist rejoice, having recieved a sign of their deity, the corpse starts to move.
Pain. The only thing she could feel was pain. Seeing flash after flash of a life she didn't live. Feeling her newly born ego crushed by the ammount of memories. Memories of fifty thousand years of life crushing both the 24 years of her human life and the few seconds of her current one, leaving one question to be answered. Who is she? Is she Fu Hua, the phoenix? Is she **********, the human? Or is she the unnamed Herrscher of sentience?
After a few seconds that were, for her, millennias, her vision returns.
''Our lord has answered our prayers! She is our savior, sent to lead us and spread the will of the Destruction far and wide.''
Those words attracted her attention but she couldn't pay any mind to them for before her was a being of a higher magnitude. A being of power who was looking straight at her. She didn't know what it was but she realized something. It was the one who gave life to this dead body, it was the one to blame for her pain. She defiantly raised her line of sight, intending to face it in the eyes.
Meeting it's gaze however, she felt a sense of weightlessness, as if nothing mattered and she could give up her everything to it. But as soon as she realized, she only felt two things. The fear of losing herself even more and an indescribable anger. A fire blazing inside her, refusing to be controlled by this higher being, refusing to be a mindless puppet. And from this fire rose power, for now, too weak to cut it down but strong enough to massacre the cult.
As the Ruin Author retracted it's gaze and disappeared, the bloodbath started. She didn't know who she was. She didn't know where she was. All she knows is that around her are enemies and that she must kill. And so she did. Her bare hands splaying apart cultist covering this ruined land with the glistening gore of her prey.
Soon, all that remained of the cult was a pile of dismembered bodies. Suffering forever engraved on their faces.
Having finished murdering everything around her. She just stood in place, fingers dripping blood and feeling a sense of loss.
Who was she? What should she do? How can she kill the being from before? So many questions and yet so few answers.
She stood there unmovingly for twelve hours, pondering on all these questions before being interrupted by a footstep.
___
''Quite the massacre you did here. If the IPC learned about that it would be game over for you, you know?''
Whitout answering, she tried to kick the new arrival but her attack phased through the face of the speaking person.
''It's just a hologram, you can't hit it. Now can we talk or do I have to wait for you to tire yourself by trying to kill some light?'
''What do you want from me?''
''I just want to ask a few questions. First of all who are you?''
''That's what I'd like to know! I think I know what I am but not who.''
''Then what are you?''
''I think I'm something called a Herrscher. The Herescher of Sentience. But I'm not sure of what a Herrscher exactly is.''
''Then from now on your name will be Senti. Now a more important question. Do you want to kill Nanook, the Ruin Author, the Aeon of Destruction?''
''You mean the thing I saw before? The one that bled gold? If so the yes, I want to kill it. He tried to take control of me and he is the cause of my suffering.''
''Then what would you say about joining our organization? Our end goal is to kill the Ruin Author.''
''Give me more details about the group and I'll think about it.''
''We are a group called the Stellaron Hunters, and as the name say we hunt Stellarons, seeds of the Destruction. We are few in numbers but you better not underestimate us.''
''And why did a Stellaron Hunter come here, is one of this seeds here?''
''No, no. I came here for you. Elio, our leader, sent me to recruit you. And for now, everything went according to the script.''
''I see... I'll join you, for now and I'll see what happens. But be warned, if you lied to me I'll find you and kill you.''
''Then I'll spare you finding me, I'm here.''
As the hologram said that, it flickered before disappearing. Being replaced by a bored looking woman coming from a portal of some kind.
''I'm Silver Wolf by the way, welcome to the team.''