“Welcome, youngster.”
When I appeared in this black space, the man in the middle seat greeted me. Among the five, he gave off the most adult-like feeling, as if he had lived hundreds of thousands of years longer than anyone else.
The sigil that floated softly behind him depicted a prominent yin-yang symbol with a fiercely burning flame surrounding it. It was the sigil that depicted my first Blood Trace, the bloodline of an ancient God.
“You must be confused. First, how about taking a seat?”
As he added, suddenly, a small table and a chair appeared before me, as if manifesting from thin air. I looked around once more and found a familiar-looking figure. Although I hadn’t seen his figure before, I had heard his voice a lot of times already.
He had bulky muscles that gave off a tough appearance. Given that behind him was the Blood Trace Sigil depicting the turtle with hundreds of indecipherable runes written all over its shell, that man was definitely Brother Mountain. ．
I sat down and took a deep breath. Then, with slight trepidation, I asked the five of them.
“Am I dead?”
The first man just smiled at my question. For some reason, I can’t see their faces or their features, but I can clearly see their bodies. It’s a weird sensation, like a part of your vision was censored or something.
“No, you’re still alive. For now, at least.”
From the side, a familiar voice echoed.
“Right now, you’re on the brink of death. In a few seconds later, you’d definitely pass away.”
Brother Mountain said it with a confident smile. When I heard that I was near death, the faces of all the girls passed through my mind for an instant.
“… I can’t die yet.”
“We know, and that’s why we called you here earlier than planned—to prevent that from happening.”
The first one spoke once again with a commanding tone.
“Will, aren’t you curious about our identities? Why do you possess five God bloodlines?”
I just nodded my head to his question. I mean, I do understand how I got the Luo and Seimei bloodlines in me, but these five bloodlines were a mystery. If it’s from either of the two said bloodlines, then it wouldn’t be unknown to others at all.
Probably seeing my confused expression, the first man laughed lightly.
“To answer your doubts, first let me introduce myself.”
He stood up and took a step forward. Instead of bumping into the table, he passed through it, like the table was just an illusion. Then, when he was finally on the other side, right before me, his sigil shone brighter than before, showing the colors of the drawing for the first time.
The yin-yang in the middle was, as expected, black and white; however, the flame wasn’t red but rather shone in a bright golden hue. It was a majestic and unrealistic flame, as if it didn’t exist in reality.
“I am the Flame of Evolution, the first regressor. I am Will!”
As he named himself, his face finally cleared up. As if waking up from a dream, I could finally see his face clearly. He looked just like me, other than his hair color being gold and his general appearance being a few years older.
“… You’re… Me?!”
It’s a bit weird seeing my own face, but older, smiling as he looked back at me. But, wait, something in his words was bothering me.
“Regressor?”
The first regressor nodded firmly at my question.
“Yes. All five of us here are you from a different time that followed a different path. Since we’re all Will, just call us by our order of regression. Call me Primo.”
I was about to ask why he did not just use “First” as his name, but I remembered that he was also me. He must’ve picked it since it sounds cooler or something. I’d definitely do that, yeah.
“And you know me already, right? I’m the Turtle of Longevity, Brother Second, or Brother Mountain, as you call me.”
The bulky guy spoke as he, too, walked before me. His face cleared up, showing a little different version of me, who had a chiseled and pretty muscular body paired with plain brown hair. He definitely looked broad and tough with just a glance, worthy of being called Brother Mountain.
“I’m next, right? I’m the Broken Phoenix. To change it up a little, call me Tres. Nice meeting you, finally, Will.”
The third one didn’t stand up from his seat. His sigil shone bright, depicting a phoenix with only half of its wings, surrounded by the same flame that Primo’s sigil had. Unlike the two, this one looked exactly like me, other than his orange hair. It’s like he didn’t age a single year and looked the same as how I look right now!
“My turn? Crouching Tiger. Bah, just call me Death. Don’t bother me.”
“Hey, we’re supposed to use numbers as names! That’s cheating! Then call me Mr. Invincible! My title is Dragon of Power! I’m the last one to come here and the youngest! Well, you’re the youngest now though.”
The last two introduced themselves. One had red hair, and unlike the rest, who had blue eyes similar to mine, his was a bloody red. His temperament was extremely thorny, like a thug from the streets.
The other one was a little different from me too, for he had no hair at all. He had a confident smile pasted on his face, giving him a unique presence. It was as if he were screaming, “I’m the best!” even without doing anything. Although he should be me too, I kind of doubt I’d reach that level of confidence even after hundreds of years.
Primo, Brother Mountain, Tres, Death, and Mr. Invincible… Although their names were all over the place, they were definitely all the same as me. No, rather than me…
“… Yes. That’s right.”
Primo nodded his head as if reading what I was thinking of.
“We are all regressors of [Will], the one who originally owned that body you currently possess.”
His words, filled with hidden hatred and sadness, pierced my heart like a cold blade. I felt sweat running down my back as I looked at Primo’s face, even though I shouldn’t have a physical body right now.