The dead city breathed—not with lungs or life, but with the erratic passage of time. Ruins stretched beneath a sky stained red, as if the universe itself were bleeding slowly. Shattered fragments of buildings appeared and vanished between flashes of blue light. Broken clocks floated in the air, spinning without purpose. The wind blew in slow motion.
Kael Riven walked alone among the wreckage, his silhouette outlined against the temporal fog. He wore a tight black suit marked with golden sigils—a symbol of his D rank, though he no longer knew what that truly meant. Each step left cracks in the ground, as if time itself reacted to his presence.
"They say you can't kill time… but I've tried more times than I remember."
His voice echoed in his mind, cold, almost devoid of emotion. But beneath that icy façade, something else stirred—an echo of pain. Of loss. Of longing.
He stopped before what seemed to be an abandoned library. The walls had been consumed by the erratic passage of time. Books lay scattered on the floor, some intact, others simply gone. Kael picked up one of the volumes that still resisted. Its cover was covered in dust and ancient symbols.
When he opened it, a few pages glowed with a soft blue light, as if recognizing his touch.
"Memory detected: strong emotional connection. Possible lost memory."
The inner voice came unannounced. It was part of the system, though he didn't know how it had come to exist inside his head. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know.
He shut the book forcefully.
—I don't want to remember…
But the past does not always allow itself to be ignored.
From the shadows, a female figure emerged—Mira Lys. Her long dark hair swayed in the breeze, and her eyes reflected concern. She wore a green military jacket and carried a small backpack filled with research tools.
—Kael… is that you?
He wasn't surprised. He only lifted his gaze, as if he'd already foreseen her arrival.
—What are you doing here?
—I saw you enter this place, she replied, approaching cautiously. —I knew something was wrong.
Kael looked down at his left arm, where a deep scar marked his skin.
—Do you know why I'm Class D?
Mira crossed her arms, firm.
—Because no one trusts you.
Kael smiled bitterly.
—No. It's because I'm not human. Or so they say.
She studied him carefully, trying to find any hint of a joke in his words. There was none.
—When I was a child, I entered a forbidden Portal. I only survived because someone saved me. But that person… left something inside me. Something that now controls my life.
An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Kael gazed toward the horizon, as if he could see beyond the present.
—They told me I wasn't supposed to be born. That I shouldn't exist. And yet… I'm here.
Mira took a step forward, softening her expression.
—Then prove you can still be real.
Kael looked at her. For the first time in a long while, he felt something different from emptiness.
—Real… he repeated, as if it were a foreign word. —Maybe I don't know what that means anymore.
At that moment, the atmosphere changed. The air tensed. The flickering lights blinked violently, and a temporal rift tore open in the distance, releasing pulsating energy.
Kael clenched his jaw.
—This shouldn't be happening. Time is unstable.
—What does that mean? Mira asked, alert.
Kael went on guard.
—It means something big is about to break… and it might drag us with it.
As if confirming his words, a temporal creature emerged from the darkness. Small, but radiating pure energy. It moved as if it existed in multiple moments at once.
Kael observed it coldly.
—That's not a regular monster. It's part of something bigger.
Mira looked at him, ready to act.
—What do we do?
Kael took a deep breath.
—First, we find out who you really are. Second, we survive.
And without waiting for a reply, he stepped toward the creature. A new light shone in his eyes—one that was not entirely human.
The creature emerged from the shadows with a silent roar, as if time itself cracked when it moved. It was small, barely the size of an adult human, but it radiated raw energy. Its eyes shimmered with multiple reflections, like broken mirrors showing a thousand versions of themselves. It moved as if it weren't fully anchored in this moment.
Kael did not retreat.
He stood still, arms at his sides, staring at the being. His breathing was calm, but his pupils gleamed with a white flash. At that instant, he saw what no one else could—the creature existed across multiple timelines, appearing and vanishing between possible realities.
Mira took a step back.
—What the hell is that?
Kael didn't answer. He couldn't without losing focus. Something within him activated—something ancient, something he hadn't known he possessed until now.
"Weapon Detected: 'Reality Dagger'
Status: Unstable
Activate? [Yes] / [No]"
A voice resonated in his mind. Not his own. Not the system's. Something deeper. More primal.
He didn't hesitate.
—Yes.
In the blink of an eye, a dagger appeared in his right hand. It wasn't metallic, nor physical in any traditional sense. It looked forged from shards of broken space, fragments of shattered mirrors through which something dark and powerful seeped. Every time he moved it, the air around him twisted. The world seemed to question its own existence.
Mira stared wide-eyed.
—What is that thing?
Kael didn't look away from the monster.
—I don't know. But it belongs to me.
The creature launched an attack, fast as lightning. Kael didn't move. He simply raised the dagger. The blade cut through the air—and somehow, also through the creature's reality.
The beast shrieked.
Not from pain. From confusion. Because for a brief moment, it ceased to exist.
Its forms overlapped. One image showed the creature alive. Another showed it dead. Another showed it never having been born. And another… simply erased.
Kael seized that second of existential hesitation.
He swept the dagger in a wide arc. It didn't slice flesh or bone. It sliced the creature's coherence in this plane. With every movement, the beast distorted, like a reflection in a shattered mirror.
Finally, Kael extended the palm of his left hand toward the creature. The dagger flared with intensity. The air vibrated. The ground cracked beneath them.
—This isn't a cut, he murmured, his voice low, almost reverent. —It's a decision.
With one final motion, he plunged the dagger straight into the creature's chest.
The impact wasn't physical. It was conceptual.
The creature froze. Its eyes widened. Its body began to fade—not in blood or flesh, but in nullified possibilities. As if it no longer had the right to be there.
With a hollow sound, like a door closing in another universe, the creature vanished. It didn't die. It simply… ceased to be.
Silence filled the air.
Mira watched him as if seeing him for the first real time.
—What did you do?
Kael lowered the dagger. It still glowed faintly, as if it had spent part of its essence in the attack.
—I didn't kill it, he said, his voice tense. —I denied its place in this reality.
Mira swallowed hard.
—How?
Kael slid the dagger into a hidden compartment in his left arm. The metal fused with his suit, as if it were part of him.
—I'm not a normal warrior. I'm a walking puzzle. And this dagger… it's the wrong answer to the right question.
Mira looked at him, a mix of admiration and fear in her eyes.
—What do you mean?
Kael walked toward her slowly. His eyes gleamed with a grayish hue, as if the weapon had absorbed part of his humanity.
—It means I'm not here to win battles. I'm here to change them.
Mira followed him as the echoes of the fight still lingered in the air.
—Since when have you had that weapon?
Kael didn't answer immediately. He ran a hand over where the dagger had been. He could still feel the weight of what he'd just done.
—I haven't always had it, he finally said. —It has me.
Mira frowned.
—That doesn't make sense.
—It will… someday.
She grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.
—Kael, tell me the truth. Does that thing control you?
He looked at her steadily. No anger, no arrogance. Just exhaustion.
—I don't know. But it doesn't matter. If I don't use it, someone else will. And they won't be as merciful.
—Merciful? she repeated. —You destroyed something you don't even understand. That doesn't seem very merciful.
Kael closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was a different light—not power, but doubt.
—I didn't take its life. I took its certainty of existing. That's worse than killing it.
—Why?
—Because when you no longer know if you exist… you start to wonder if you ever did.
Mira let go of his arm. She didn't know what to say.
—Is it changing you?
Kael smiled, but there was no joy in it.
—I'm not who I was. I don't know who I am now. I only know that if I don't use it… we'll all die.
[Description of the Reality Dagger]
Name: Reality Dagger
Origin: Unknown. It may have been created by the Silence, or perhaps it existed even before time itself.
Function: Distorts the opponent's perception of their own existence. It doesn't kill—it makes them cease to be real.
Limitations: Each use alters Kael's perception of his own existence. It may erase parts of his memory, body, or identity.
Appearance: Fragments of spacetime embedded in a black hilt. It glows with shifting colors, like a broken mirror.
The battle had ended, but Kael didn't feel victorious. He felt… incomplete.
Mira watched him with concern, as if she could see the price he had paid for using that weapon.
—Are you going to keep doing this? she asked. —Using things you don't understand?
Kael remained silent for a long moment. Then he murmured:
—I don't have a choice. I can't run from this. Not when I feel something… calling me.
—Something?
He nodded.
—Something that shouldn't exist. And yet… it's waiting for me.
Mira swallowed.
—Where?
Kael didn't need to answer. They both knew.
—In the bunker, she said softly.
Kael nodded.
—I have to go. Not because they pay me. Not for orders. But because… it recognizes me.
Mira looked at him as if she were seeing the last version of him—the man he still was.
—And if you don't come back?
Kael met her gaze. There was no arrogance in his words, no false bravado. Only certainty.
—Then I probably wasn't the one who was meant to do it.
Without waiting for a response, Kael turned and started walking toward the armored vehicle that would take them to the bunker. The sky was red. Cracks in the ground still glowed. And somewhere, behind that sealed door, something waited for him.
Something that knew his name