A crumbling, abandoned city stretched across the horizon, its once-proud buildings reduced to fractured bones of steel and concrete. Rusted vehicles lay like carcasses beneath a thick layer of dust. The silence was suffocating.
Then, the ground began to tremble.
Cracks ripped through the earth as grotesque, shadowy creatures burst forth, crawling into the ruins like a swarm of death. Their limbs twitched unnaturally, and their eyes gleamed with hunger.
From the haze, a man appeared—clad in golden armor that shimmered in the dim light. In his hand, he wielded a gleaming Gada, its aura pulsating with raw power.
He didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
With one mighty swing, he shattered the oncoming creatures. His every motion was fluid and brutal, like a storm tearing through a forest. Bones snapped. Screeches echoed. Flesh was crushed beneath the weight of his fury.
Minutes later, he stood atop a mountain of corpses, his chest heaving. He raised his gaze to the blood-soaked sky.
Then—
A presence stirred behind him.
A figure cloaked in black stepped out from the shadows, wielding a massive axe. Without hesitation, it lunged.
Slash!
Blood sprayed across the rocks.
---
Bang!
Lioran jolted awake, falling from his bed.
His heart pounded in his chest.
"Brother? What happened?" his younger sister, Liara, peeked into the room.
He blinked, still caught between dream and reality. "It's nothing," he mumbled, getting to his feet and walking to the window. The world outside looked peaceful… too peaceful.
"That dream again… but why?"
From the kitchen, Liara called, "Hurry up, or your breakfast will get cold!"
"Yeah…" he replied with a faint smile.
His eyes drifted to a small photo frame on his desk. It showed a happy family: a smiling father, a gentle mother, a younger sister, and a boy who still had innocence in his eyes.
Now only two of them remained.
Lioran dressed and paused in front of the garlanded photograph of his parents hanging on the wall. He pressed his hands together, whispering a silent prayer.
At the table, he joined Liara, picking at his food.
"How's school going?" he asked between bites.
"There's a summer camp coming up. Everyone's excited," she replied, a cheerful note in her voice.
"Oh, right… summer vacation," Lioran mused, glancing up at the ceiling. "If you go, I'll be stuck here all alone."
She grinned. "Aww, you'll miss me."
"Naah." He smirked, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I'm off."
---
College was buzzing with noise, but in a quieter corner of the campus, trouble brewed.
A student named Tamrik, flanked by his gang, had cornered a timid boy named Sharin, grabbing him by the collar.
"How dare you bump into me?" Tamrik growled.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" Sharin stammered.
Tamrik shoved him to the ground with a sneer. "You didn't see Tamrik, the most popular guy in this college? Huh? Are you blind?"
He raised his foot to stomp down—
Wham!
A sudden kick sent Tamrik crashing to the ground.
Everyone turned.
Lioran stood there, eyes cold. "I'm Lioran. His best friend. And how dare you touch him."
Tamrik snarled, clambering up. "Get him!"
His gang lunged forward, surrounding Lioran like a pack of wolves.
The first one swung a punch.
Lioran caught the fist mid-air, twisted, and drove his own punch into the attacker's arm. The guy crumpled to the floor.
Another came in with a wild kick—Lioran ducked and countered with a spinning heel to the jaw. The second one dropped.
Three more attacked together.
Lioran blocked one, tossed him into the second. But the third got behind him, aiming a kick.
'No time to dodge—' he panicked.
A faint glow sparked beneath his foot. A circle of energy. A strange force surged from it, boosting his leg upward just in time to block the attack.
He grabbed his attacker by the face—and smashed it into the ground.
'Good thing I have this power now…' he thought grimly, glancing at the others. 'But I can't let my guard down.'
Tamrik's gang hesitated, shaken—but Tamrik barked, "What are you waiting for?! Get him!"
They swarmed him.
Lioran moved like a blur—dodging, striking, deflecting. His style was unrefined but brutal. One by one, they fell.
Within seconds, the courtyard was quiet again.
Only Tamrik remained. His bravado cracked.
"I'll get you for this!" he yelled, then turned and fled.
Lioran turned to Sharin, who was still on the ground. He extended a hand.
Sharin took it cautiously. "T-Thank you…"
Lioran's expression hardened. "You need to learn to fight your own battles. This world… doesn't go easy on anyone."
Sharin nodded, swallowing the lesson.
They began walking back toward class. But as they passed the main building, something caught Lioran's eye—a flyer on the bulletin board, ink still wet.
> HEADLESS BODY FOUND ON THE STREET – INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY
Lioran narrowed his eyes.
Far away, in a shadowed alley, a dark, hunched figure tore flesh from a corpse. Its limbs were twisted and unnatural. Its skin bubbled like melted wax. Its eyes… glowed red, like burning blood in the dark.
To be continued…