Exact date unknown—before the apocalypse and the final judgment.
In a space surrounded by an invisible magnetic field, there were countless entities of different kinds.
Some had an appearance of pure darkness that swallowed light.
Others were pigs standing on two legs in a state of decay.
A few looked like normal people but had unnaturally wide eyes, grinning with grotesquely long tongues and drooling—an expression of madness and perversion.
Some took human forms in elegant suits, with neatly combed receding hairlines and large briefcases. Yet everything about them screamed hypocrisy.
Among so many different entities, it was impossible to distinguish them all.
Two figures manifested outside the magnetic field. One wore a milky shroud, the other an incomplete suit of armor.
The shrouded figure spoke to the armored one:
"You can attack the integrated systems behind things by exploiting gaps in the laws that govern them, correct?"
"That's right, Ghost of a Thousand Faces. But I can't use defensive abilities with it."
"Doesn't matter. What we need here is your offense. Also, why'd you suddenly call me by my name?"
"Sounded cool." The armored figure let out a chuckle.
"Ugh, you're always weird. Fine. Time to attack this negative concentration zone."
"And what will you do?"
"I'll wait until you're done, then pull us both out before the Remnants consume us."
"I see. Finally useful for something."
"Don't start. Need I remind you how you became an incomplete fragment of what you once were?"
The armored figure fell completely silent.
"Thought so. Now begin." The Ghost of a Thousand Faces commanded.
The armored figure drew a whitish spear with a black tip from its chest.
An illusory panel materialized before it.
The figure scrutinized the options displayed on the panel.
Spotting one that caught its interest, it aimed the spear. The weapon flickered with intermittent images, flashing in different colors.
The figure hurled the projectile toward the illusory panel. It pierced through, and the magnetic field began to fade.
"Good. My task is done. Now let's go."
One of the words written on the Ghost's shroud detached, and a mirror materialized before them.
"Always wondered—how do you do that?" the Ghost asked.
"Well, you explained it yourself, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but I don't get exactly which gap in the system you exploit."
"Ah, see—this time, the gap was this:
The rules governing the magnetic field stated that entities inside couldn't leave, and it couldn't be destroyed from the outside by physical or intangible attacks.
But what if the 'attack' wasn't technically either—just an object that's both tangible and nonexistent?"
"Intangible things exist even if untouchable. But nonexistent things don't. So I weaponized that oversight since the rules never specified this couldn't be done."
"That... makes no sense." The shrouded figure looked baffled.
"Exactly. But then again, neither do you or I."
As they spoke, the magnetic field dissolved completely.
Before the entities within could lunge at them, the two vanished through the mirror.
---
May 9th, District 5—the hour the world began to end.
The relentless firestorm scorched everything in its path—trees, grass, animals.
The stench of charred flesh and thick smoke choked the air.
Edward's lungs inhaled it all.
The young man coughed violently as his vision blurred. His ears clogged, muffling the distant sounds of chaos.
Just before blacking out, he saw a black-haired man with gray eyes pulling him up.
Through his haze, he caught a faint, ghastly smile on the man's face.
But before his sight could clear, darkness took him.