The world didn't end with fire.
It ended with a silence so loud it broke him.
---
Joe Lanzeta sat at the edge of the ruin, his legs dangling over the crumbling ledge like they belonged to someone else. Below, mist rolled across the valley like a burial shroud, swallowing what was left of the city that had spit him out.
Once, this place had been sacred. A temple to the Moonbound gods.
Now it was just ash, stone, and shattered statues.
Like him.
He gripped the worn rope in his hand—the same one he'd stolen from a warehouse behind the factory. Thick, frayed. More than enough. He'd tied the knot three times just to be sure.
"Any last words, Joe?" he muttered to himself with a hollow laugh.
No one answered.
No family. No friends. No home. No light. No warmth.
His breath fogged in the cold air, despite the dry season. Like the world itself was holding its breath.
Joe stood, wrapped the rope around the broken arch overhead, and tied it off.
This was it.
Two steps forward.
One final breath.
Then—
CRACK.
The stone beneath him gave way.
Not the ledge. Not the rope.
Something beneath.
A sound like glass shattering beneath the skin of reality echoed through the ruin, and the air went heavy—like a thousand invisible hands pressed against his chest.
Then came the whisper.
Not heard—but felt. Inside his spine. Inside his teeth. Inside his soul.
> "HOST FOUND."
Joe staggered backward, dropping the rope.
"What... the hell?"
A glyph flared beneath his feet—silver and red, bleeding light through the cracks in the stone. The ruin trembled. Something ancient screamed beneath it. Then the glyph moved—sliding like liquid fire toward a shattered altar.
Stone exploded. Light erupted. Wind howled.
And then she fell.
From the altar.
From the sky.
From wherever gods go to die.
---
She hit the ground like a comet—white hair, nine tails, and blood.
Joe stumbled backward as the dust cleared. She didn't move. Her skin was cracked like porcelain. Her robes were soaked red. One of her tails twitched once, then went still.
He should've run. He should've turned and fled.
Instead, he took a step closer.
"...Are you okay?"
> Stupid.
But she opened her eyes.
Crimson. Glowing. Not like fire, but like something far older—like moonlight left to rot.
Then she spoke, her voice sharp as winter glass.
> "You touched the seal."
Joe froze.
"I didn't mean—"
> "You woke me."
"You broke the law."
"And now we are bound."
---
The glyph under Joe's feet surged up his legs, searing into his skin. He screamed, falling to his knees. His veins lit up like molten silver. His breath caught—then stopped. The cold air vanished. His vision blurred.
———————————————
> [COVENANT PROTOCOL: INITIATED.]
———————————————
He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. His heart pounded too fast. His thoughts scattered.
Then—
Silence.
Then—
A voice, not his own:
———————————————
> [Soul-match unstable.]
> [Sync rate: 27%. Compatibility: critical.]
> [First Divine Task assigned: SURVIVE.]
———————————————
Joe gasped as air returned to his lungs.
The woman—no, the fox—rose to her feet, staggering, clutching her ribs.
"You... you're one of them," she said bitterly. "A vessel. But you're weak."
He didn't answer.
She stared at him, disappointed. Bleeding. Dying.
"I hate this," she whispered. "But I'd rather bind to a broken dog than die in a cage."
---
And then she reached out.
Her hand touched his chest.
His body locked up. The system flared again. A second glyph burned against his skin—this one deep crimson.
———————————————
> [SOUL-BOND CONFIRMED.]
> [NAME: JOE LANZETA.]
> [RANK: HOLLOW.]
> [STATUS: FIRST VOW PENDING.]
———————————————
Joe's vision blurred again.
In his ears, the world was screaming.
In his chest, something cracked open.
And in the sky above, light began to fall—like spears thrown from heaven.