Chapter 0 – Prologue
That night, the skies of Indosvara were no longer the peaceful shade of midnight blue. Black clouds coiled like serpents, layered with flashing violet lightning that shook the very earth beneath. Mount Brama, once the sacred ground where legendary sorcerers honed their craft, had now become a battlefield that would be etched into history.
Two figures stood face to face.
The night wind howled, carrying with it the stench of wet soil, blood, and ruin.
Rei Celestia.
The legendary sorcerer, clad in a black cloak, his long hair dancing in the storm's breath, his obsidian eyes gleaming with a ruthless light. His aura was so dense that the air itself trembled around him.
Jake Hill.
His friend—his brother-in-arms, once his companion in defeating countless enemies. His frame was broad, his right hand gripping a staff that shimmered with bluish-white light. Yet his hand trembled, not from fear, but from the deepest wound of all: having to face the man he once called a brother.
"Jake! If you want to stop me, then do it now!"
Rei's voice thundered, echoing with every crack of lightning that split the heavens. His cloak whipped violently, each word he spoke carrying the weight of an apocalypse.
Jake clenched his teeth, his eyes brimming with tears, his voice breaking.
"Rei… I can't fight you. You were more than a friend. You were like a brother to me."
But Rei only stared back coldly, a bitter smile curling at his lips.
"Don't be naïve, Jake. Empty words about friendship and justice are nothing but poison that makes humanity all the more vile. Don't you understand? This world is broken, Jake. Broken! And the only way to fix it… is to erase the disease itself—humanity."
BOOOOOM!!!
Lightning split the earth, tearing trees apart. Its brilliance lit Rei's face—handsome, but now twisted by despair and fury.
Jake's cry tore through the storm. "Not all humans are evil, Rei! You don't have the right to judge all of mankind! There are good people, there is hope! If you destroy them… then you're no different from the monsters you hate!"
Rei sneered, and in the next heartbeat, he vanished.
Duel of Brothers
In an instant, Rei appeared before Jake. His fist clenched, wrapped in a dense violet aura.
CRAAACK!!!
The punch slammed into Jake's gut. Time slowed—his insides twisted, blood spewed from his lips. His body was hurled dozens of meters away, crashing into a boulder that shattered into fragments.
"Ughhh…!" Jake coughed violently, staggering to his feet, drenched in blood.
Rei advanced with calm, deliberate steps, the ground cracking beneath each one.
"Get up, Jake. Entertain me before I destroy this world."
He laughed coldly, though behind that laugh lay a wound unseen.
Jake's tear-streaked gaze burned with fury.
"Then… I'll stop you, even if it costs me everything."
He roared, his body enveloped in a blazing blue aura. With a leap, he unleashed a tornado kick infused with magic. Rei met it with a violet-tinged counter-kick.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Their strikes collided, detonating like a bomb. Trees disintegrated, stones were flung skyward, the very mountain shook under their power.
The clash began.
They blurred like lightning.
Fist against fist. Kick against kick.
Each impact unleashed shockwaves, each spell tore through the earth and ripped the heavens apart.
Jake's staff unleashed thousands of arrows of light.
Rei spun, raising a violet barrier, then countered with spears of shadow that shredded the air.
Crash! BOOM!
Mount Brama quaked, trees were uprooted, even birds high above plummeted, burned alive by the remnants of their battle's aura.
But in the end, Rei prevailed.
He raised his left hand, pressing three fingers from his right against his palm.
The violet energy condensed, swirling into a massive orb of chaos.
Jake's eyes widened in horror. "N-no… that's your ultimate spell…!"
"Hollow Purple!" Rei roared, releasing the sphere.
Cataclysm
The violet orb struck Jake.
He resisted with every ounce of strength—his staff cracked, his hands bled, his body convulsed. But the force was too great.
DOOOOOOM!!!
Mount Brama erupted.
The explosion consumed all—trees, stone, even the air seemed to be torn apart. A violet radiance split the night, visible even from Indosvara's capital.
On the royal balcony, the King of Indosvara went pale at the sight of the blazing mountain.
"Wh… what is happening there…?" he whispered, before sending his forces to investigate.
When the dust finally cleared, Jake lay broken, his body drenched in blood, breath ragged. He staggered to his knees, searching.
"Rei… where are you…?"
But Rei was gone. Jake collapsed, trembling, tears mixing with blood.
"Rei… my brother… why did you choose this path…?!"
His scream of anguish echoed into the night.
Far away in a dark forest, Rei staggered through the trees, his cloak tattered, his handsome face marred by blood and tears. He gazed up at the full moon, his body shaking.
"Why… why must it be me?!" he cried.
Tears fell as he clutched his hair.
"Forgive me… Mother… Father… Jake… Elysia… Forgive me…"
Then a voice—cold, otherworldly—resounded in his mind.
"Rei… you are the chosen one. Fate has marked you. Fulfill the destruction."
Rei clamped his hands over his ears, screaming in agony.
"Why me?! I don't want this!!!"
But he knew there was no escaping destiny.
With despair in his eyes, he traced a sigil into the air, crying out in torment.
"Split Life!!!"
His body blazed with violet light—then burst into two streaks of energy that shot into the heavens, vanishing into the unknown.
Jake was later found by royal troops, barely alive. With his final strength, he gasped a warning:
"Find him… find Rei… before it's too late…"
But Rei was never found.
His name became a dark legend, a shadow haunting all of Indosvara. For fifteen years, the people lived in fear of the sorcerer of destruction's return.
And on that day, fifteen years after Rei Celestia's disappearance…
The skies of Indosvara split once more.
In the heart of the city, thousands gathered, their faces lifted. Black clouds churned like an ocean, and from within emerged a colossal meteor. Fire drenched the heavens, the heat so intense it drew sweat down the people's trembling faces.
The eyes of a boy widened, his body quivering.
His name was Ryu Celestia.
"Th-that's… a meteor…?!" he whispered, his voice shaking.
And in the next instant—
KAAAA-BOOOOOOM!!!
The heavens exploded, the world trembled.
And from that moment on… destiny began to move.
To be continued…?