Prologue
Prologue: The Burnt Promise
The pain never faded—neither the scar on his back nor the memory of her leaving.
Raze Kyler still remembered that night—the burning mark seared into his skin, the faint scent of ash, and his mother's voice whispering, "Survive… no matter what." Then she vanished.
Years later, he'd learned to live without her.
Without anyone.
His fists became his only comfort. Blood, his only reminder he was alive. He became a weapon—an murder someone who was responsible for the death of the president and fall of the country forged in silence and hate. Feared by many. Known by none.
The necklace she left behind dangled coldly from his neck. He never took it off, not out of sentiment—but because he wanted to remember the pain.
That day, as the last bell rang, he was ready to leave school and its meaningless noise behind. Then a teacher asked him to call the homeroom instructor in the cultural room.
He opened the door—light swallowed him.
A glowing circle shimmered beneath his classmates and teacher. He took a step back.
"Summoning ritual?" he muttered.
They vanished before he could react.
He was alone—again.
Until the necklace began to burn against his chest.
Light erupted, dragging him through a void of fire and whispers.
When he opened his eyes, a throne room awaited—a king, his classmates, and soldiers bowing before them.
"The final heroes have arrived," the king declared. "Together, the hundred shall end the war against demons."
Raze looked at the glowing screens before everyone.
Except his.
Error.