In the vast forest where sunlight once danced through green leaves, now only harsh rays cut through the smoky air, lighting up a scene of complete destruction. What should have been a peaceful meadow surrounded by trees had become a battlefield painted in crimson and ash.
Jagged cuts scarred every surface - tree trunks split open like broken bones, rocks shattered into dust, and the very ground torn apart as if giant claws had raked across it. Dark blood dripped steadily from twisted branches that somehow still reached toward the sky, each drop hitting the earth with a soft 'plink' that echoed in the eerie silence.
Heavy breathing cut through the quiet - ragged, desperate gasps that grew louder and more frantic, like someone drowning in air itself.
"Human!" A voice cracked through the stillness, rough as grinding stone and twice as cold. "Your kind has been nothing but stubborn cockroaches crawling in the dirt. You're tough, I'll give you that - tougher than we expected. But being tough won't save you from what's coming."
The words came from something that had once been powerful but now looked like it had been put through a meat grinder. Deep gashes covered its alien form, black ichor oozing from wounds that refused to heal. It swayed on its feet like a drunk trying to stand straight.
"You just float there, silent as a gravestone. What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" The creature let out a bitter laugh that sounded more like a death rattle.
High above, suspended in the air like gravity was just a suggestion, floated a young man who looked like he'd stepped out of a master painter's dream. Anyone seeing him for the first time would swear he was a god who'd gotten bored and decided to visit Earth.
He was tall and lean, built like a dancer but with the stillness of a predator. His face looked like it had been carved from marble by someone who really knew what they were doing - sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw, and skin so perfect it almost glowed. A white kimono with delicate cherry blossom patterns fluttered around him even though there was no wind, and his snow-white hair was pulled back in a high ponytail that made him look both elegant and dangerous.
His eyes were closed, but slowly - oh so slowly - the lids began to part. He took his sweet time about it, like he was savoring a good dream before waking up. Unlike the beaten creature below, he looked completely untouched. Not a speck of dirt on his clothes, not a hair out of place. It was almost insulting how clean he was.
When his eyes finally opened all the way, they revealed the most striking red pupils anyone had ever seen - like liquid rubies catching firelight, bright enough to make you forget to breathe.
From the moment the creature had started its little speech, the young man hadn't said a single word. He just floated there, calm as a lake on a windless day, watching like the creature was a mildly interesting bug he might step on later. At his waist hung a katana with a pure white handle that seemed to hum with barely contained energy, like a caged tiger pacing back and forth.
The young man's hand drifted toward his sword's grip in one smooth, flowing motion - so graceful it looked like a dance move. The creature saw this and panicked, releasing a wave of crushing pressure that could have flattened a small city. The air itself became thick and heavy, like trying to breathe underwater.
But the boy just smiled - a small, amused smile like someone had told him a pretty good joke.
As he slowly drew his katana from its sheath, the creature felt something that made its alien blood turn to ice water. A pressure so intense, so overwhelmingly powerful, that its own energy felt like a candle flame next to the sun. For the first time in its long, violent life, the creature knew what real fear tasted like.
Then the boy spoke. Just one word, but it carried the weight of mountains and the fury of storms.
"Collapse."
He swept his katana through the air in a perfect arc. At first, absolutely nothing happened. The silence stretched on so long it was almost comedic - like when you pull the pin from a grenade and then have to wait for it to go off.
Then the world exploded.
A wave of pure black energy wrapped in brilliant white light tore through the space between them, cutting through everything in its path like reality was made of paper. Trees that had stood for centuries were sliced clean in half. Boulders the size of houses crumbled to dust. Even the air itself seemed to scream as the attack raced toward its target.
The creature's survival instincts finally kicked in, and it teleported to the far side of the forest in a burst of desperate energy, appearing among the distant trees like a bloody, broken puppet. It collapsed to its knees, gasping and wheezing like it had just outrun death itself - which, technically, it had.
Where the creature had been standing, there was now nothing but a deep scar carved into the earth, as if a god had taken a giant sword and sliced the world in half. The attack had cut so deep it hit underground streams, and water began bubbling up like the earth was bleeding.
The explosion that followed shook the entire forest. Birds scattered from trees miles away, and somewhere in the distance, a pack of wolves howled in confusion and fear.
The human boy turned his head to look at the creature's new position, his expression curious and slightly disappointed.
"Hmm. You're still breathing?" He tilted his head like a confused puppy - if puppies could level mountains with a thought. "That's... unexpected."
The alien looked down at itself and discovered that one of its arms was completely gone - not cut, not broken, but completely vaporized. It let out a shriek of pain that echoed through the forest and brought tears streaming down its face. It looked pathetic, like a wounded animal that knew its time was up.
The human just stood there, unmoved as a statue, watching the creature's suffering with about as much emotion as someone watching grass grow.
He began descending from the air, floating down so gently that he didn't even disturb the dust on the ground when his feet touched earth. His red eyes never left the creature, tracking it like a hawk watching a mouse.
Then he took a step.
Just one step, but it changed everything. He had been playing with his food long enough, and now playtime was over.
The moment his foot hit the ground, the creature felt like a mountain had been dropped on its chest. The crushing weight of pure killing intent pressed down from all sides. In the space between one heartbeat and the next, the human appeared directly in front of the alien, moving so fast he might as well have teleported.
His fingers wrapped around the creature's throat like steel cables, lifting it off the ground with one hand. For a moment, they hung there in the air - predator and prey, hunter and hunted.
Then he slammed the creature into the earth with such devastating force that it created a crater deep enough to park a house in. The impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, cracking trees and splitting rocks for hundreds of yards in every direction.
The alien lay at the bottom of the crater, broken and bleeding, finally understanding the situation with crystal clarity. This was the end of the road. No clever escapes, no last-minute reinforcements, no miracle saves. Just death, patient and inevitable.
Its race had treated humans like insects - squashing them for fun, using them in twisted experiments, crushing them under heel just because they could. They had thought themselves so superior, so untouchable. But this human... this one human had torn through their forces like a hurricane through wheat fields. His power now rivaled the greatest legends of both their species.
A weak chuckle bubbled up from the creature's ruined throat, growing into broken laughter that echoed off the crater walls. Sure, this human might destroy its entire race, but what about the 'others'? The real threats that lurked in the shadows between worlds? This boy had no idea what was coming for him and his precious little planet.
"You really are something special," the alien wheezed, black blood frothing at its lips. "But you have no clue what's out there waiting for you. The things that make my kind look like harmless pets." It coughed up more blood, painting the crater floor darker. "Grant me one last request before you finish this. Tell me your name. I want to know who killed me so I can curse it properly when I reach the afterlife."
The human's face went through several expressions - annoyance, consideration, and finally amusement. A small smile played at the corners of his mouth as he opened his lips to speak.
"Fenix," he said, letting the name hang in the air for a moment. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "Fenix Ackerman."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he covered his free hand in crimson energy that formed into a blade sharp enough to cut through diamond. With one swift, almost casual motion, he swept it across the alien's neck.
The head rolled away from the body with a wet thud, and just like that, it was over.
Fenix straightened up and looked toward the distant horizon, his expression growing serious and thoughtful. The playful energy from the fight drained away, replaced by something deeper and more complicated.
He had been thrown into this world against his will, reborn into a reality where every day brought new threats and new battles. From his very first breath here, it had been one life-or-death struggle after another. But through it all, one thing kept him going - one burning desire that consumed everything else.
Survival.
Not just staying alive, but thriving. Becoming so powerful that nothing in this world or any other could threaten him. He would climb to the very peak of power, no matter what it cost or who he had to go through to get there.
As he stood among the ruins of the forest, surrounded by destruction and death, a small voice in the back of his mind whispered about the alien's final words. What had it meant about "the others"? What kinds of threats were still out there, lurking in the darkness?
He shrugged and started walking away from the crater. He'd find out soon enough. After all, trouble had a funny way of finding him whether he went looking for it or not. And when it did come knocking, he'd be ready.
The forest slowly began to settle back into silence, broken only by the gentle rustle of wind through shattered trees and the distant calls of animals cautiously returning to investigate the aftermath. In the crater, smoke still rose from the alien's remains, and somewhere deep underground, the earth continued to bleed water into the wound carved by a power too great for this world to contain.
But Fenix Ackerman was already walking toward his next challenge, his white kimono fluttering behind him like the wings of an avenging angel.