Three hundred years ago, we did not know that our world existed side by side with another one.
We believed that we were the sole occupants who had the right to inhabit the surface of the earth. But we were mistaken.
In 2157, a chilly December evening, the Gate of Nothingness swung open—a gigantic tear in the sky that reshaped the universe. It was not a usual astronomical phenomenon. It was a gateway to another universe, and through it came beings who would shape human history for all eternity.
Dr. Amelia Santos, the Philippines' leading anthropologist then, saw the initial landing of the Sombra. In her last journal entry before she died, she said:
"I first saw the Sombra beyond Rizal Park. It wasn't alive, nor was it human. It was a creature constructed out of darkness itself, but it was a creature with its own mind and heart. In its eyes, I saw an unequalled hunger—a hunger for 'life' itself. It did not attack. It simply stood there, staring at the people passing by, and I watched as the color slowly leached from the faces of those around it. It was as if their very souls were being drained by the darkness."
The Sombra were not typical monsters. They were creatures that lived by consuming the *Soul Strength* of other animals.
But what was more astonishing was that human beings discovered how to adjust to this new world. In doing so, they developed the capacity to compete with the Sombra.
The world was divided into three categories over three centuries:
1. **The Protected Cities** - where the Weak lived
2. **The Neutral Territories** - where Humans and Sombra lived together
3. **The Darkness** - the domains of dominant Sombra
Today, in the year 2467, in the core of Cebu City, there was a young fellow who had no idea about all this.
His name was Miguel Dela Cruz, sixteen years old, and he was the weakest in his whole lineage.
He did not realize that in the next few years, he would be at the center of a war that would bring the world into the next chapter.
His life would start off as a useless kid, but end up being the most dominant force to have lived in both worlds.
The story begins now.