The air was thick with ancient mana.
Rie stepped into the vault, her sharp eyes scanning the crystalline cases that stretched endlessly along the walls. Each item sat perfectly still, sealed in enchanted glass. Nameplates hovered in front of them, inscribed with glowing runes. They detailed origin, effect, and value—relics from wars long buried and worlds long dead.
But Rie wasn't here to shop.
She wasn't supposed to be here at all.
Right now, she should've been back in her chamber, forcing mana into her limbs, trying to awaken like every other noble-born demon of her age.
But she wasn't like them.
She couldn't awaken. Not naturally. Not like the rest.
Her Blood was both a Curse and a Gift
She wasn't a "pure" demon. And they never let her forget that.
In the Demon King's Castle, no one ever called her "Princess Rie."
Only "Lady Rie." A title of distance.
Disrespect.
Rumors were whispered behind closed doors. "She's not the king's real daughter." And to make those whispers real, the Demon King himself fueled them—claiming she was adopted. Just a child he took in.
A burden.
An obligation.
But the truth was worse than any rumor.
Her mother was half elf and half demon. And Rie? She was more than that.
She was half demon, half elf, and half vampire.
A being of impossible contradiction.
Magic rejected her. Her body refused to synchronize with mana. The forces within her—demonic rage, elven harmony, vampiric hunger—all clashed in a constant battle. And because of that, she could never absorb mana naturally.
In her first life, it took her 75 years before she managed to force even a single magic circle into her heart.
In this world, there were two paths:
The Path of the Mind – Mages who carved magic circles and controlled spells.
The Path of the Body – Warriors who built a mana core and enhanced themselves physically.
And it's common sense that you can only walk on one path at a time
But Rie? Her body, cursed and gifted both, allowed her to walk both. In her later years, she discovered she could create a core and circles—a feat thought to be impossible.
She was always wanted to get strong so she can protect herself.
Because of this stubbornness she constantly tried to surpass her limit and found a way to possess both circle and core
And yet, even that wasn't enough.
A hundred years later, as she approached the limits of her power once again, she stumbled into a ruin forgotten by time itself.
It nearly killed her.
the horror she seen their she will never forget.
But deep within its ancient walls, written in crumbling glyphs and fading light, was a path older than civilization:
The Path of the Soul.
Not of body. Not of mind. But of essence itself.
She called it.
Soul Sling.
It was a path with no limits. Unlike mages or warriors, it didn't lock one into casting or swordplay. It blended both. Improved both. It transcended the flaws of either.
But it had a price.
Creating a Soul Sling required one to form both a core and circle simultaneously—then destroy them at the moment of completion, letting the collapsing forces fuse into a new form.
The process had a 1% survival rate.
And even that was generous.
But Rie had done it once. In her last life, after nearly two hundred years of study, she succeeded. And in just 300 years, she became a being powerful enough to challenge her brother the demon kings.
This time, she wouldn't wait.
She wouldn't waste decades crawling toward knowledge.
She already has it.
This time, she's going to walk the Soul Path from the very beginning.
But the chance of survival was too low.
That's why she was here with the help of artifacts and item she will increase her chances of survival
Rie stood before the vault with burning eyes. Each item before her wasn't just a tool—it was a key to her rebirth. Things she remembered from her past life. Hidden treasures scattered through time.
And now, she would take them all.
She will take everything all for herself…