Blood soaked the earth, staining it a dark crimson. Shattered bodies lay scattered: some motionless, others gasping in their final throes, eyes lost between smoke and burning ruins. Infernal creatures, spawn of the abyss, roared with fury as they tore everything apart in their path.
In the midst of that hell, a lone warrior stood, defying death itself. His gaze burned with a mixture of rage and determination.
A dense, crackling darkness swirled around him, emanating from the black emerald he clenched in his bloodstained hand. His fists sparked with bolts of power, making the air tremble as though the storm itself answered his fury.
A colossal Ravager charged at him, its claws dragging across the ground, leaving smoking fissures behind. But the warrior did not retreat. With a roar that shook the valley, he unleashed a devastating strike. The entire earth quaked. The beast staggered back, wounded, yet its eyes blazed with hatred. The warrior, chest heaving and gaze fixed on his enemy, braced for the final clash. He squeezed the emerald until his blood dripped onto the ground. A scar, forever etched into his hand, flared with a dark glow.
—"Everything you destroyed… now burns within me."
That solitary figure, standing against the end… was me.
Years before all this…
The metallic sound of chains tore me from sleep. Cold. Heavy. Relentless. They bit into my skin, bound to my wrists and ankles, as if the world itself sought to crush me.
—"Take them away!" —a guard barked with a harsh, cutting voice.
I tried to move, but my knees scraped against the stone floor. Pain clenched my teeth. Beside me, my mother wept, begging through sobs to the men surrounding us.
—"Please! He did nothing! Let him go!"
No one answered. No one ever listened.
I wanted to scream, to bite, to escape… but I was weak. Just a weak child.
My brother stood next to me. Completely still. Tears streaming down his face without even understanding what was happening.
A man in shining armor stepped forward. A scroll in his hand. When he spoke, his voice struck like a hammer against my skull.
—"From this moment, Jack Kaelstrom, Jun Kaelstrom, and your mother, Junna Kaelstrom, are hereby exiled from Central City."
The words pierced my chest like an icy spear. I didn't understand. I couldn't remember doing anything to deserve it. But deep inside, a spark of rage ignited.
Why?
Why is the world like this?
Why me?
We were always told that living in a magical world was a dream come true: dragons, floating castles, heroes with gleaming swords and powerful spells. Lies. That's what they teach us as children… but the truth is something else: Wars. Destruction. Corruption. Death. That is the true face of the world I was born into.
Seven hundred years ago, the so-called Ravagers appeared. No one knew where they came from: some claimed they descended from the skies; others, that they rose from the abyss. The only certainty was that they brought the end with them.
The Dragon's Blood, an ancient clan of sorcerers, created the Legendary Knights to defend what little remained of the world. Thanks to their sacrifice, the largest continent, Ilaria, was united under a single banner. But that peace never reached the Lower District, the place where I grew up.
A spear struck my back, forcing me to move forward. I stumbled and fell to my knees; the chains clattered against the ground, a cruel reminder of my fate. My mother screamed my name, but was silenced with a blow. I forced myself to rise, feeling the cold stares of the guards digging into me.
Step by step, we moved through the streets of Central City. Each step another humiliation. We passed through Prosperity District, where families strolled smiling, completely oblivious to our existence. Further ahead stood the gleaming towers of Diamond Central, home to nobles who would never know what it meant to starve. And above it all, dominating the city, the imposing silhouette of the Royal Palace loomed, untouchable, unreachable. We left it behind without daring to look back, as though doing so would be an offense. The air began to change; the majesty faded with each step, replaced by a creeping cold.
The city gates rose before us, massive and merciless. Beyond them lay only dry land, hunger, and oblivion. That was where they wished to abandon us. The gates creaked open with a metallic groan. The guards shoved us out as if we were garbage.
—"If you ever cross this gate again… you will be executed." —one of them warned before turning away.
My hands trembled. My mind was blank. But something inside me burned, though I couldn't yet understand what it was. And then I closed my eyes. Everything turned to darkness.