[NARRATOR POV]
As you've already known, Claude is a Miko.
But what is a Miko in the first place?
Miko is an entity that exists beyond human understanding—a presence that defies conventional explanation.
These enigmatic beings grasp concepts without formal knowledge, powered by forces that science cannot name.
Their abilities manifest as intuitive understanding rather than learned skill—power that flows through them like a river current, dangerous when left unchecked.
Without proper control, a Miko risks becoming consumed by their own abilities, losing their sense of self to the overwhelming force that dwells within.
Consider Shirone Zanoba, the infamous Miko from the Shirone Kingdom.
His body harbored strength so devastating that even a casual touch could extinguish life. Since birth, this power had been inseparable from his existence, a constant companion that painted his hands with the blood of his own siblings. The castle whispers still carried the echoes of their final breaths.
In the eyes of his kingdom, Zanoba existed as both miracle and nightmare—a living weapon inspiring both reverence and terror.
No one could predict when his control might slip, when the monster within might awaken to reduce the castle to rubble.
Some courtiers had suggested imprisonment, but their foolishness was evident; no earthly cage could contain what dwelled within him.
Fred Alphonse's story unfolded differently—the Claude from another universe who met his end in the jaws of a Troll.
His was a power of intellect, a Miko's gift tempered by human understanding. Having lived previously as an ordinary person, Fred comprehended how normal minds worked.
His academic background and experiences granted him perspective that pure Mikos often lacked. This allowed him to channel his abilities with precision and purpose.
In his short life, Fred found contentment in modest applications of his gift, primarily assisting his father at the smithy by manipulating heat through his innate talents.
The forge fires danced to his silent commands, metal yielding to his will without the need for bellows or coal.
Yet he harbored ambitions for deeper research—dreams that died with him during the metastasis event. His fingers still reached for knowledge as the Troll's teeth closed around him.
Then there was Alex Cromwell, the Sword Saint Claude from another timeline.
One could rightfully call him the Miko of Swords, for his understanding of the blade transcended what language could articulate.
His body moved as though the sword was merely an extension of his soul—cuts flowing with impossible precision, each movement seemingly guided by some higher understanding of space and time itself.
Unlike more obvious Mikos, Alex's gift manifested as extraordinary talent rather than supernatural power, allowing him to walk the line between human and other.
These examples pale when compared to Sadogashima Kuro—the Miko who only discovered his true nature after death had claimed him, only to reject death's hold.
Unlike the others, Kuro possessed an ability that should have rendered him immortal. And in truth, he did survive in the end, though not before experiencing death in ways no human mind was designed to endure.
What Claude has yet to fully comprehend is that his own Miko nature—the power of Convergence—operates under stricter rules than he imagines.
His connection to the multiverse isn't universal. He doesn't receive memories from every possible Claude across infinite timelines.
No, the truth is more selective, more painful.
Claude is the Miko of Convergence, a focal point for only the most powerful emotional imprints. Only those experiences marked by overwhelming feeling—desperation, regret, terror, loss—can breach the barriers between universes to reach him.
These emotions act as beacons, drawing memories across the void like moths to flame.
He remains unaware that this convergence isn't a one-time occurrence. It will continue throughout his existence, memories arriving without warning whenever another Claude experiences moments of profound emotional intensity.
...
..
Alex Cromwell's regret burned like acid in his final moments—the inability to save the children and villagers of Buena Village.
Fury at his own weakness consumed him as he watched the settlement burn, his skills proving insufficient against the Troll's overwhelming might.
His sword, sharp enough to cleave stone, could not cut through his own helplessness as the monster claimed his life before he could even attempt revenge for those he'd failed.
Fred Alphonse's regret manifested differently—the quiet despair of knowledge lost forever. As a teacher, his life had been dedicated to passing wisdom to the next generation.
In death, he grieved not for himself but for the lessons that would die with him, for the students who would never benefit from his discoveries.
This profound sorrow opened a channel, allowing his knowledge of enchantment and magical theory to flow across realities, finding harbor in Claude's receptive mind.
And Sadogashima Kuro? His was not regret, but something more primal.
Fear.
Bone-deep, soul-consuming terror that etched itself into his very being. This fear wasn't selfish—it was a warning. Through the shared agony of his deaths, Kuro communicated a message to Claude: Prepare. The threat approaches. Death awaits. Feel this pain now so you might avoid it later.
For Claude, these inherited memories represent more than information—they are lifelines. Each fragment serves a purpose in his development, pieces of a survival puzzle he continues to assemble.
Alex's combat training transformed Claude's body from that of a child to a weapon, muscles remembering techniques his mind never learned.
Fred's magical expertise and research opened pathways of power, granting Claude mastery over spells and enchantment that would have taken decades to develop independently.
Kuro's contribution was perhaps the most valuable—the gift of perpetual vigilance. His memories taught Claude to exist in a state of controlled fear, always preparing, never relaxing his guard. To assume safety was to invite death.
The memories varied in their horror. Alex and Fred experienced relatively quick ends, their suffering brief if intense.
Kuro's experiences, however, burned themselves into Claude's psyche like hot iron. To defeat the Vorpal rabbit alone, Kuro died twenty excruciating times.
Claude's Miko power forced him to feel each death as though it was his own—the tearing of flesh, the crunch of bone, the fading of consciousness only to awaken and face the same fate again.
The memory of being consumed alive haunted Claude's nights. After the Ancient Troll incident, these nightmares paralyzed him, keeping him from venturing outside for months. His small body would shake uncontrollably at the mere mention of forests or caves. Behind his eyes, the memories played on endless loop—teeth closing around limbs, organs exposed to open air, consciousness lingering far too long as his body was dismembered piece by piece.
It took Kuro five years to move forward after such trauma.
Those five years of experience compressed themselves into Claude's mind, enabling him to navigate the Dungeon in just half a year.
Every reaction, every instinct had been honed through Kuro's repeated deaths, allowing Claude to anticipate dangers before they manifested.
The last memory Claude received from Kuro showed a breakthrough—discovering the Troll's weakness.
Claude could only hope this meant Kuro survived afterward, as no further memories arrived. The absence of new trauma suggested success.
Those five years of borrowed experience became the foundation for Claude's plans against the Troll. Kuro's final discovery revealed that the Ancient Troll grew stronger when exposed to fire or light—its regenerative abilities accelerated in brightness, making conventional attacks not just useless but counterproductive.
How long did it take Kuro Sadogashima to defeat this seemingly invincible enemy?
Ten years.
Three years spent in active combat, dying and returning, testing strategies only to have them fail. Two more years followed, dedicated to recovering from the psychological devastation of his experiences.
No human mind could endure being eaten alive repeatedly, watching as limbs were severed and consumed before conscious eyes, without fracturing.
What united Kuro and Claude in their fear wasn't just the Troll's power, but its nature.
The Ancient Troll killed not from necessity but from pleasure. It found entertainment in prolonging suffering, in watching hope drain from eyes as its victims realized their fate.
It required no sustenance from flesh—the monster could survive millennia without conventional food. Its true nourishment came from light, any light source would do.
Except the ambient illumination of the Dungeon, which somehow remained inedible to the creature.
Why was this being called the Ancient Troll?
It existed before the Demon King himself, predating even the world's current structure. It had already achieved supremacy when the gods' realms crumbled into myth.
The Dungeon's mechanisms, created by some forgotten entity, had contained it for eons—an imprisonment that only intensified its malevolence.
The Ancient Troll carried another name in forgotten texts: The World Eating Troll.
The gods themselves had feared this entity for its casual destruction, its habit of devouring entire worlds simply to alleviate boredom.
Though its baseline strength merely matched a common Troll King, any exposure to fire or light elevated it to a realm of power beyond comprehension.
In Fred Alphonse's timeline, this creature escaped its prison and brought apocalypse. Not even Orsted or Human God—beings of immense power—could stand against it.
The world collapsed into ruin under its rampage, reduced to barren wasteland populated by scattered survivors.
The Troll's cruelty extended to its methods. It wouldn't simply obliterate everything at once—such efficiency would rob it of entertainment.
Instead, it methodically destroyed, leaving enough survivors to witness their world's end, to carry tales of horror to the next group of victims.
Before departing Fred's timeline, the Troll left a token of its existence—a gift that had allowed it to escape its confinement in the first place.
This meant Fred's universe had no future. It was already condemned, the timeline irreparably damaged by the Troll's emergence.
This ultimate destruction transformed Fred's dying will into something greater—a desperate message thrust across realities, seeking any chance to prevent the same fate from befalling another world.
And Claude had received that message, that burden, that responsibility.
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