Chapter 1 – The Day the Sky Broke
Kai Arata hated mornings.
No, scratch that. He hated his mornings.
"Arata! If you're late again, I'm writing you up!" His homeroom teacher's voice still echoed in his head from yesterday as he bolted down the cracked sidewalk.
Kai's school bag slapped against his hip as he sprinted. Neon signs buzzed faintly over the sleepy street of Neo-Tokai, the sky just starting to brighten with pale dawn light.
"Five minutes," he muttered. "Five minutes and I'm screwed."
He rounded a corner—then stopped dead.
The air… rippled.
Not a heat mirage. Not a trick of the light.
The sky above him fractured like glass struck by a hammer.Cracks of white light spiderwebbed across the clouds, and through them, Kai saw something impossible: a red void, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Then came the sound.A low, vibrating hum that rattled his teeth.
"What… the hell…"
Something pulled itself through the crack.
It was shaped like a man, but wrong. Too tall, limbs too thin, head bent at an unnatural angle. Its skin looked like jagged obsidian, and its eyes glowed like white coals.
The thing crouched on the edge of the rooftop, its body twitching.
And then it turned its head toward him.
Kai's breath caught in his throat.
It saw me.
The creature's mouth split open—not like a jaw, but like the crack in the sky, ripping wider as it let out a piercing, metallic screech.
Then it leapt.
Kai ran.
His sneakers pounded against the pavement, heart hammering in his chest. He didn't dare look back.
But the sound of claws scraping against concrete followed him. Fast. Too fast.
He cut into an alley, hoping to lose it—only to skid to a stop.
Dead end.
"Shit—!"
The creature landed behind him with a crunch, blocking the way out.
Kai grabbed the nearest thing he could find—an old metal pipe—and held it up like a sword.
"This is insane," he hissed. "This is actually insane—"
The monster charged.
Kai swung wildly, the pipe glancing off its shoulder with a clang. It didn't even flinch.
It knocked the weapon out of his hands and slammed him against the wall.
Kai gasped for breath, struggling uselessly as the creature's claw drew back for the kill.
And then—
A burning pain shot up his arm.
Kai cried out as a blue light flared from under his skin, forming strange glowing lines across his forearm, converging into a mark that pulsed like a heartbeat.
The air around him seemed to thrum with energy.
The creature hesitated, tilting its head as if confused.
Then the light exploded outward.
A pulse of blue energy knocked the creature back, smashing it into the opposite wall.
Kai stumbled forward, clutching his arm, gasping.
The mark on his arm shone brighter, brighter—until it was blinding.
And then everything went white.
When his vision cleared, Kai was on his knees, panting.
The alley was silent.
Where the creature had been, there was now just a black, smoking crater.
"What… what just happened to me?"
He stared at his arm, the mark still faintly glowing like a brand.
The world around him felt sharper somehow. The hum of power was still in the air, like static electricity.
Before he could make sense of anything, a voice spoke from behind him.
"Not bad," the voice said casually. "For a first time."
Kai spun around.
Standing at the mouth of the alley was a girl about his age. She wore a black, high-collared coat and fingerless gloves. A long silver spear rested across her shoulders like it weighed nothing.
Her eyes glowed faintly blue—the same color as the mark on his arm.
"Who—who the hell are you?" Kai asked, stumbling back.
She smirked. "Relax, rookie. I'm not here to kill you."
"Rookie? What are you—"
The sky cracked again.
Another ripple split open just above the alley, wider this time, and something screeched from the other side.
The girl's smile faded.
"Guess the welcoming party isn't over."
She reached behind her back, spinning the spear in one hand until it hummed with energy.
Then she tossed a short dagger at Kai. He barely caught it.
"You want to live?" she said.
Kai stared at the weapon, heart still racing. "What—what do you expect me to do with this?"
"Survive."
From the sky, a second creature dropped into the alley, landing between them with a hiss.
The girl lowered her spear into a ready stance, her blue eyes blazing.
"Don't die, rookie."
And then the monster lunged.