Ash rained from the crimson sky.
Once a thriving city now just concrete skeletons and blood-soaked glass. Wind howled through torn banners, and the air reeked of rusted steel, rotting flesh… and something worse. A lone figure stood atop a shattered skyscraper, his tattered coat fluttering like a flag of war. Half of his face was smeared with blood, the other half hidden behind a cracked mask etched with glowing sigils. Below him… chaos.
Thousands of undead mutated, twisted surged through abandoned streets. Not the slow, groaning corpses from ancient legends. These were hunters. Fast. Intelligent. Cruel. And they had finally found him. "Captain, the South Gate's down! I repeat they've broken through!"
A girl's voice screamed through his earpiece, distorted with static and desperation. "We're losing everyone!"
The man didn't flinch. He gazed at the army of death marching toward him and whispered so soft only the wind heard him:
"Good…"
He unsheathed his weapon not a sword, not a gun but a hybrid of both. A fusion of Qi crystal and military-grade alloy, glowing with unstable energy. His System interface flickered before him:
🔻 SYSTEM ERROR: Cultivation Core [Corrupted]
🔹 Emergency Protocol: Survival Mode Activated
🔹 Last Skill Used: [Heaven-Sunder — Overclocked Ver.]
⚠️ WARNING: Vitality Threshold – 13%
But he didn't care.
"Let them come," he muttered, stepping to the edge of the roof, "The dead, the devils, the past… I'll bury them all." The wind shifted. From the shadows behind him, a figure emerged. Cloaked in black, eyes glowing purple, a demonic aura swirling like a serpent.
"Arashi Kuroda," the figure hissed, voice echoing like a broken machine. "You were never supposed to survive the first world. This… timeline is ours now." Arashi smiled. "That's what they all said… before I turned them into ashes."
Without warning, he jumped straight into the horde below. Freefall. Time slowed. Bullets. Screams. Flame. Static system alerts.
And then...BOOOOOOOOM.
A blinding explosion erupted as his blade tore through the ground, slicing undead like paper. Screams turned to silence.
And in that silence, a lone voice rang in his memory distant, echoing from a life long gone: "If you ever get a second chance, Arashi… burn brighter than the stars."
His eyes snapped open."I'm not here to survive." "I'm here to end everything."
Blood splashed like ink across the broken highway. With every step Arashi Kuroda took, the world screamed.
His bladeglowing red with Qi-tech overloadcarved through rotting flesh and titanium bone like it was slicing paper. The undead shrieked, mutated limbs flailing, some exploding on contact, others crawling even after beheading.
Clang!
CRACK!
SHHHINGGG
A zombie with a serpentine tongue launched at him he caught it mid-air and crushed its skull with one bare hand, sparks erupting as cybernetic implants snapped apart.
System Notification: Killing Intent Detected Host Bloodlust Rising
Activating Passive Skill: [Predator Domain]
A black aura pulsed around him. Suddenly, the horde… paused. Even monsters could smell death. Even hellspawn… feared a beast stronger than them. But fear doesn't stop the dead for long.
From behind the smoke, a Titan-class Devourer emerged 10 meters tall, part machine, part flesh, with chainsaws for arms and cables slithering like worms from its spine. It roared.
KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!
Buildings shook. Cars flipped. And the mutant charged. Arashi narrowed his eyes.
"Noisy," he muttered.
He vanished.
Blink Step. A relic skill from the ancient realm long lost in this world. But not to him.
He reappeared above the Titan's skull mid-air and slammed his blade downward.
CRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSHHHH!!
Half the creature's face exploded. But it didn't fall. It howled and swung a chainsaw toward himhe barely twisted in time, the blade grazing his ribs, blood spraying.
System Alert: Vitality -2%... 10% Remaining
WARNING: Organ Damage Detected. Host approaching Collapse State.
But Arashi didn't stop.
"Not yet…"
"Not until I remind this world... who I am."
He stabbed his corrupted Qi-core into his weapon's hilt. The energy surged, turning unstable, volatile pure death compressed into steel.
Skill Loaded: Heaven-Sunder Forbidden Mode
⚠️ Activation will cause Permanent Soul Fracture
The system tried to stop him. But Arashi… smiled. "Dead men don't kneel. They burn." He raised the blade to the stormy sky it crackled with red lightning, the clouds above splitting open. Below, the horde had surrounded him. Above, the Titan prepared one final attack. Behind, the cloaked figure watched in silence. And Arashi… moved.
He cut. The sky roared.
A crimson arc of pure annihilation swept through the battlefield zombies, buildings, even the Titan split in half by one unstoppable wave. A moment later… silence. Ash floated.
His knees hit the ground. Blood dripped from his mouth. One hand still gripped his sword, half-melted and cracking. "Still not enough…" he whispered.
"They're not the true enemy."
His eyes turned toward the distant city skyline… where towers floated mid-air and machines worshipped a false god. "The real war… hasn't even begun."
Arashi Kuroda's breath came ragged fire and blood painted across his skin like a warrior's tattoo. Around him, ruins smoldered. The battlefield lay silent, but the echoes of destruction screamed louder than any voice. His corrupted system interface flickered wildly:
🔻 SYSTEM CRITICAL: Core Stability [3%]
🔹 Emergency Override: Last Skill – Heaven-Sunder (Forbidden Mode) Active
⚠️ WARNING: Soul Fracture Imminent
His body screamed for rest, but his mind burned hotter. A cold voice sliced through the quiet. "You're a fool to fight a war you cannot win."
From the shadows stepped the cloaked figure eyes like dark stars, lips curling into a sinister smile. "This world is mine to command. Your ancient power is nothing here. But you…You carry something else.
Something dangerous."
Arashi slowly rose, gripping his shattered blade. "Then I guess we're both dangerous." Suddenly, the sky split open with a deafening roar. From the rift above, glowing shards rained down pieces of a fractured world colliding with this one.
Reality bent. A whisper echoed in his mind faint, distant, but undeniable. "Remember who you are, Arashi. Your destiny transcends realms."
Pain surged memories from another life flooding back. His cult of warriors, his fallen comrades, the betrayal that shattered his soul. The MC's gaze hardened. He was no longer just a survivor. He was a revenant. A reckoning. "I won't just survive this apocalypse." "I'll become the nightmare that ends it."
With a roar that shook the heavens, Arashi plunged his blade into the ground. The earth cracked. From the depths, an ancient power awakened. Flames burst, lightning danced, and the corrupted system began to stabilize not because it wanted to, but because he willed it. The cloaked figure hissed, retreating into the shadows. "This is far from over."
Arashi looked up.
"No.
This is just the beginning."
The camera pulls back. City ruins stretch endlessly. Undead roam the streets. And somewhere, in the chaos… the future awaits.
THE END — FOR NOW