The city moved as though nothing had changed.
Morning light spilled between skyscrapers, bouncing off glass facades in shards of gold. Car horns echoed, people hurried to work with coffee in hand, students in uniforms clustered around bus stops. Vendors shouted over the hiss of boiling oil and the clatter of metal pans. The air was alive with the familiar chaos of ordinary life.
But Light knew better.
Storm-grey eyes swept across the skyline as he walked with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The world looked the same, but it sounded wrong. Beneath the chatter, beneath the hum of machines, something low and resonant hummed in his bones.
It wasn't a sound others could hear. It was deeper. A vibration, faint but growing, like the city itself was holding its breath.
His jaw clenched. Why does it feel like the world is waiting for something to break?
Beside him, Feratinnia walked carefully, draped in the oversized hoodie Light had given her. The garment swallowed her slender frame, but her silver hair still gleamed beneath the hood, strands catching the sunlight. Her steps were unsteady, but her eyes—blue mixed with silver—searched the horizon with quiet intensity.
To Light, she looked fragile, a porcelain doll too easily broken.
To Feratinnia, the world looked fragile, like glass stretched thin and ready to shatter.
Her fingers brushed the mark on her wrist. It pulsed faintly, in rhythm with the chain of silver she had felt bind her to him.
It's close… The resonance is here.
The crowd bustled around them, oblivious. A man bumped into Light, muttered a distracted apology, and hurried off. Another passerby nearly collided with Feratinnia but didn't even notice her pale face or the way she clutched her chest.
No one saw. No one heard.
Only the two of them felt it—the whisper of power vibrating through the air, the call of something vast and ancient.
---
Light's storm-grey eyes flicked sideways. Feratinnia's lips were pale, her breaths shallow.
"You shouldn't be walking," he muttered, tone cool but edged with concern.
Her gaze lifted to him, soft but steady. "If I fall behind… you'll be alone when it happens."
He frowned. "When what happens?"
Her voice lowered, trembling with both fear and certainty. "…The Crack. I can feel it. The bond… it's warning us."
Light's chest tightened. He had no proof, but every instinct screamed agreement. The air around them vibrated faintly, like glass straining under pressure. His pendant grew warmer against his skin.
---
A breeze swept the street, too cold for morning. It carried with it a strange scent—not of smoke or gasoline, but something sharper, metallic, almost electric. Light inhaled, jaw tightening. The hair at the back of his neck stood on end.
Feratinnia felt it too. Her steps faltered, eyes widening.
It's here. The door is opening.
Her heart raced. The last time she felt this tremor, her world had been consumed.
She glanced at Light, her voice a whisper only he could hear.
"…Don't let go of me."
Her words hit him like a command and a plea at once. He turned his head slightly, storm-grey eyes locking onto her trembling hand. For a heartbeat, he almost reached for it.
But the ground trembled before he could decide.
The day had begun to break.
---
It began with a sound no one else heard.
A low hum, deep as thunder beneath the earth. To the crowd it was nothing, drowned beneath the chatter of morning rush hour. But to Light, it thrummed through his ribs, vibrating against the pendant at his chest.
His steps slowed. Storm-grey eyes narrowed, scanning the busy intersection ahead.
Feratinnia froze beside him. Her breath hitched, her hand clutching her chest where the Bond pulsed painfully.
No… it's too soon. Not here, not in his fragile world.
The hum deepened. Car alarms chirped. Windows rattled.
And then the air in the center of the street tore open.
A thin white seam appeared in midair, slicing reality like a knife through silk. It hung there for one impossible heartbeat—silent, unnatural—before widening.
Light's breath caught. "…What the—"
The seam spread, jagged and glowing, stretching upward like cracked glass. Sparks of white lightning spat from its edges, scorching the asphalt. The air stank of ozone, sharp and burning.
People screamed.
A delivery van skidded sideways, tires screeching, metal crunching as it slammed into a lamppost. Glass shattered in a rain of shards. Commuters stumbled, some running, others frozen as the seam widened into a rift.
The Crack.
Light staggered back, yet his chest pulled forward. The pendant blazed, silver light spilling through his shirt. His storm-grey eyes widened as the hum grew deafening—inside his skull, inside his veins.
Feratinnia grabbed his arm, her voice breaking.
"Light! Stay back—it's resonating with you!"
He turned to her, fear edged with anger. "Resonating? You knew this would happen?"
Tears welled in her silver-blue eyes, but her grip tightened. "…I didn't want it to happen here."
The Crack roared, its edges ripping wider. Tendrils of white light lashed out, grazing cars, peeling concrete from the road like paper. The city shook beneath the force.
And then—it pulled.
A wind unlike any storm dragged everything toward the rift. Loose papers flew like knives, traffic cones whipped into the air, people screamed as they clung to anything they could.
Light's body lurched forward, pendant blazing hotter, chains of faint silver flickering around his chest. The Bond itself pulled him closer, invisible threads dragging him into destiny.
"Damn it—!" He dug his heels into the ground, but the pull was relentless.
Feratinnia's hood blew back, silver hair whipping wildly as she held onto him with both hands. Her voice was fierce despite her fear.
"If you go—I go. That's the Bond."
Their eyes locked—storm-grey and galaxy-blue.
And in that moment, the Crack swallowed them whole.
---
The world shattered.
Light's vision tore apart into streaks of white. His body no longer obeyed weight or gravity—he was falling, but also floating, pulled and torn in every direction at once. His stomach lurched, his chest burned. The hum that had called him before now roared, deafening, vibrating in his bones.
He gasped, but the air was gone. The city, the street, the screaming people—all dissolved into fragments of light.
For one terrifying heartbeat, he thought he was dying.
---
Feratinnia's fingers clutched his sleeve with desperate strength. The pull of the Crack was brutal, searing against her soul, threatening to rip her apart.
I can't… let go.
Her eyes stung against the blinding light. Around them, endless fragments of worlds floated—flashes of mountains, oceans, towers of stone—each one dissolving as quickly as it appeared.
This was the between-space. The void that separated dimensions.
Her lips moved, a prayer lost in the chaos: Please… protect him. Don't let the Bond break this early.
The chain of silver around her wrist pulsed in answer, linking her tighter to him. She felt his pain—his panic, his fear—but also his iron will refusing to shatter.
---
Light's storm-grey eyes strained open, barely able to focus. He saw her through the maelstrom—silver hair whipped into threads of light, her pale face contorted with determination even as blood trickled from her lip.
She was breaking apart, yet she held on.
Something surged in him, raw and instinctive. His hand reached out, fingers clawing through the violent current until they found hers. Their palms slammed together, the Bond searing bright.
A voice—neither his nor hers—whispered through the void:
"Two souls as one. Not broken. Not yet."
The agony eased. The chaos slowed. Their bodies steadied.
---
And then—impact.
They fell hard onto solid ground.
Light groaned, forcing himself upright. Dirt and grit clung to his palms. But the ground was wrong—cold and metallic, yet alive, like roots of iron twisting beneath glass.
He staggered to his feet, chest heaving, storm-grey eyes sweeping their new surroundings.
They stood in a forest.
But not of wood.
Trees towered around them, their trunks gleaming like steel, their leaves sharp as blades reflecting fractured light. The air shimmered faintly, heavy with the scent of ozone and something acrid. The sky above was a cracked mirror, fragments of stars scattered across its surface.
Light exhaled slowly, his voice hoarse. "…Where the hell are we?"
---
Feratinnia rose shakily, clutching her side. Her blue-silver eyes widened at the sight of the iron forest. Fear and awe mingled in her chest.
Another fragment world… born from the shattering of Origin.
Her lips parted. "…We're inside a dimension. A shard of what was once whole."
Her gaze slid to him, storm meeting galaxy. Her voice was soft but edged with certainty.
"And it pulled you here… because your blood resonated."
Light's hands curled into fists. His pendant glowed faintly at his chest. The truth pressed down on him, heavy, undeniable.
But before he could speak, the forest growled.
The growl rumbled again. Low, guttural, vibrating through the metallic ground.
Light froze, storm-grey eyes sweeping the twisted forest. Leaves of steel rattled in a wind that wasn't there. His hand went instinctively to his chest where the pendant glowed faintly, each pulse echoing in his veins.
The growl grew louder. Branches snapped. Something moved.
Then it emerged.
From between the trees crawled a beast unlike anything he'd seen. Its body was armored with black scales veined in glowing red, its limbs too long, ending in hooked claws that screeched against the metal earth. Its head was twisted, split-jawed with rows of teeth that dripped molten saliva.
Its eyes—blood-red voids—locked onto him.
Light's muscles tensed. His breath slowed. Adrenaline surged hot and sharp in his chest.
---
Feratinnia staggered back, her pale face drained further of color. She knew this creature—a Riftborn, spawned from cracks in broken worlds. Even small ones could slaughter dozens.
Fear pricked her, sharp and cold. But when her gaze slid to Light, her heart clenched differently.
He doesn't even flinch… not truly. His aura—he's resonating already.
Her lips parted, voice trembling. "Light… you can't fight it. Not without—"
The beast lunged.
---
Light's body moved before thought. He shoved Feratinnia aside, teeth gritted as claws slashed across the ground where she'd stood. Sparks burst as metal earth tore open.
He stumbled back, breath ragged, eyes locked on the beast. He had nothing—no weapon, no armor—only instinct screaming at him.
The pendant seared against his chest.
Thump.
The hum inside him roared louder. His blood felt like it was boiling, vibrating with the same rhythm as the Crack.
Light's vision blurred. His storm-grey eyes widened as silver lines erupted across his skin, faint and flickering. His hand clenched—and something answered.
Light gasped as light coalesced, shaping itself in his grip. Metal sang into existence.
A short sword, shimmering silver, materialized in his hand. Its weight was unfamiliar yet perfect, as though it had always belonged to him.
---
Feratinnia's breath caught. Her silver-blue eyes widened, tears stinging at their edges.
He did it… without any guidance, without any training. He manifested a weapon.
Her chest ached, but her lips trembled into the faintest smile. The Hybrid awakens…
---
The Riftborn lunged again, jaws unhinging.
Light roared, swinging the sword. Steel and light met flesh. Sparks burst as the blade carved across the beast's jaw, severing half its teeth. The creature screeched, blood sizzling as it splattered onto the ground.
The impact jolted up Light's arm. His muscles screamed, but his grip held firm.
His breath came harsh, ragged. What… what is this power?
The sword hummed faintly in his hand, resonating with his heartbeat.
---
The beast staggered, then snarled, lunging once more.
Light braced, heart hammering, sword raised. Fear gnawed at his gut, but beneath it—something hotter. Something primal.
Resolve.
His storm-grey eyes blazed as he moved again, the blade flashing arcs of silver through the fractured light of the alien forest.
---
The Riftborn shrieked, its cry a jagged scream that made the steel leaves rattle and shiver.
Light staggered back, sweat stinging his eyes. The short sword in his grip pulsed faintly, flickering like a candle. His breaths came ragged, chest burning. His arm trembled from the force of each clash.
The beast circled, claws carving sparks into the metallic soil. Its blood dripped like molten tar, sizzling where it fell.
Light steadied his stance, eyes narrowing. I can't let it near her.
The Riftborn lunged.
Light swung, silver steel biting across its hide—too shallow. Claws whipped across his shoulder.
Pain exploded white-hot. He staggered, blood spraying from the wound.
He gritted his teeth, but before he could stop it, his voice tore free in a harsh gasp.
---
Feratinnia cried out, clutching her shoulder at the exact same spot. Pain flared through her body, mirrored by the Bond.
Her knees buckled. She collapsed against the cold metal earth, trembling.
His wound… I feel it too. If he dies, I die.
She lifted her head, eyes wide with terror. Light stood bleeding, sword trembling in his hand. The beast loomed, snarling, ready to strike again.
"No… please…" Tears blurred her vision. "Don't fall, Light. You can't… not yet!"
Her heart screamed with a desperate prayer: Awaken. Please, awaken more!
---
Light's vision blurred. The short sword flickered in his grip, fading. His knees threatened to give out.
Blood dripped from his shoulder, warm against his skin. His breath came shallow, harsh.
The beast lunged again, shadow swallowing him whole.
In that instant, he saw Feratinnia.
On the ground, clutching her chest, her silver hair spread like spilled light. Her galaxy-blue eyes glistened with terror—not for herself, but for him.
Something snapped inside him.
Not fear. Not panic. Something deeper.
Resolve.
His hand clenched tighter around the fading weapon. His chest burned as the pendant seared, flooding his veins with light.
---
The Bond roared.
Silver chains flared around them both, rattling with unseen power. Feratinnia gasped, clutching her chest as her body shook with the same surge.
Her lips parted, voice trembling. Yes… that's it… don't stop. Show me who you are.
---
The short sword shattered into sparks.
In Light's grip, energy surged, reshaping, elongating. Silver arcs flared, metal screaming into form.
A longsword materialized—broad, gleaming, heavy with power. Its blade shimmered with faint patterns of runes, pulsing with his heartbeat.
Light's storm-grey eyes blazed, locking onto the Riftborn.
The beast lunged.
He roared, swinging with both hands.
The longsword cleaved through the Riftborn's side, the impact sending a shockwave through the metal ground. Sparks exploded. Blood sprayed in arcs of molten crimson.
The Riftborn screeched, staggering back, half its torso carved open.
Light staggered too, gasping, the longsword heavy in his grip. But his stance was steady, his eyes fierce.
---
Feratinnia collapsed back, tears streaming, chest heaving. Her body ached with his wounds, but her heart surged with awe.
He did it… He resonated deeper. The Hybrid… he truly is…
Her lips trembled into a faint, broken smile.
"…You're stronger than I hoped."
---
The Riftborn snarled weakly, its body broken but not yet dead.
Light raised the longsword again, every muscle screaming, blood dripping down his arm. He exhaled sharply, storm-grey eyes blazing with resolve.
"This ends now."
The blade arced downward.
Steel met flesh.
Silence followed.
The Riftborn collapsed, dissolving into black ash that hissed as it touched the metallic earth.
---
Light fell to one knee, chest heaving, the longsword flickering before vanishing into motes of light. His hand still gripped the air as though holding it. His shoulder bled freely, but his storm-grey eyes didn't waver.
He looked at Feratinnia, who crawled weakly toward him, tears still glistening in her eyes.
Her voice cracked, but her words were steady.
"…That was only the beginning."
Light exhaled, his jaw tight, pendant pulsing against his chest.
"Then I'll survive the rest."
Silence fell heavy after the Riftborn's scream died away.
The metallic forest stood still, its steel leaves rattling faintly as if in mourning. Ash drifted across the ground where the beast had fallen, dissolving into the soil like it had never existed.
Light remained kneeling, chest heaving, sweat dripping into the dirt. His shoulder bled freely, but his grip on the vanished blade refused to loosen. His storm-grey eyes stared at the black ash, unwavering.
Slowly, he pushed himself upright.
The world tilted around him, but his stance held. The pendant at his chest pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat, like it approved.
"…So this is what you want from me," he muttered, his voice low but steady. "Then I'll fight it. On my own terms."
---
Feratinnia crawled closer, her body trembling from shared pain. Her hands were weak, but her eyes—blue-silver galaxies—never left him.
Her heart swelled with awe and sorrow all at once. Even broken and bleeding… he stands. Even terrified… he faces forward.
Her lips trembled into a smile that was half-tear, half-hope.
"…Yes. You are the Hybrid."
The Bond pulsed warm between them, sealing her words into truth.
---
Above them, the cracked mirror of a sky shuddered.
A deep rumble rolled through the alien forest. From beyond the horizon, a roar echoed—low, guttural, far larger than the Riftborn they had slain. The steel leaves shook violently.
Light raised his head, storm-grey eyes narrowing. His jaw clenched, but his stance didn't falter.
Feratinnia's chest tightened. Fear crawled up her spine, but her heart whispered a different truth. No matter what comes… we'll face it together.
She reached weakly for his hand. His storm-grey gaze flicked down, hesitated—then clasped hers firmly.
Their Bond pulsed, brighter than before.
---
The forest grew silent again, but the air was heavy. The roar still lingered, a promise of greater battles to come.
Light exhaled, eyes burning with grim resolve.
"…Then let them come."
The sky cracked wider, light spilling through the fractures.
And the hunt pressed closer.
---