Senkai City never slept. Neon veins pulsed through the skyline, hover-trains thundered between towers, but high above it all, in the mirrored spire of Astral Board headquarters, the Council Chamber was a cold, vault-like silence.
Only the blue glow of holographic rift maps lit the obsidian table.
Chairman Clain sat at the head. Silver hair long, steel-grey eyes unreadable. His voice carried no warmth.
"Report."
Commander Vale rose. Tall, scarred from a dozen rift incursions, uniform crisp despite the hour.
"Scout Team Delta entered Rift Sector 7 at 0400. Elevated Chaotic signatures. They found traces. Weapon fragment. Energy signature matches Silas Seethoshi."
Lady Seraphine leaned forward, silver hair pinned tight.
"Silas. The one erased twelve years ago. Chaos's bound servant."
Elder Kael tapped his cane once.
"Not erased. Bound. And now he's being used. Chaos is preparing something."
Clain's fingers rested on the table edge.
"Team Delta, keep moving. Find whatever you can."
"Roger."
The hologram shifted to a helmet-cam feed. Red-black static cleared.
The scouts stood at the edge of a jagged cliff inside the rift. Below them: a pit that swallowed light. Thousands of Ciniscs swarmed—pale, eyeless, too many limbs, wet breathing sounds echoing up.
Beyond the pit, the horizon twisted.
A town. Or what used to be one.
Buildings leaned at impossible angles, windows glowing dull crimson. Streets ran like open veins. Rising above it all—a castle of black bone and shadow, spires piercing a bleeding red sky. The structure pulsed like it had a heartbeat.
One scout whispered, voice cracking.
"Oh my god…"
Every helmet cam zoomed. Six pairs of eyes widened in the same horrified heartbeat.
The castle's gate yawned open.
A figure emerged—tall, cloaked in black, floating just above cracked ground. Crimson light leaked from beneath the hood. No face. Only that glow.
Then—SCK.
A single horizontal blur.
Six heads tumbled from six necks in perfect silence. Bodies dropped. Helmet cams spun wildly sky, ground, nothing.
Feed cut to black.
In the Council Chamber, no one moved.
Seraphine's knuckles whitened on the armrest.
Kael's cane trembled.
"It's so much worse than we thought," Seraphine whispered.
Kael nodded slowly.
Clain exhaled through his nose. He reached forward and shut off the hologram with one tap. Blue light died.
The room plunged into near-darkness.
Seraphine's voice was thin.
"Now what, Chairman Clain?"
Clain stared at the empty table for a long moment.
"We wait."
He stood. The chair scraped once.
"They've seen us. He knows we're looking. Let him think we're afraid."
He walked toward the door without another word.
The others remained seated, staring at the blank space where the rift feed had been.
Outside, Senkai City continued to burn bright and blind.
But in the silence of the chamber, something colder than the Void had already arrived.
Chairman Clain walked out of the Council Chamber, his polished shoes echoing sharply against the polished marble floor. Elder Kael followed close behind, cane tapping in measured rhythm, the two men moving through the dimly lit executive corridor like shadows in a storm.
"Contact Zero," Clain said without turning his head. "Kael."
Kael's brow furrowed slightly. "The one we sent with Principal Wilson?"
"Yes. Kaito."
Kael raised a gloved hand to his earpiece and pressed the activation node. A soft tone hummed for half a second before the line connected.
"Zero, come in. Chairman Clain wants a word with you."
A brief pause. Then Kaito's voice came through—low, flat, completely devoid of emotion.
"This is Kaito 'Zero'."
Kael transferred the call to Clain's personal channel with a flick of his finger.
Clain stepped into his private office, the door sliding shut behind them with a soft hiss. The room was stark: black walls, a single wide desk, a panoramic window overlooking the city's endless glow. He walked straight to the desk and leaned against it, arms crossed.
"What's your report, Zero?"
Kaito's reply was immediate, calm as ever.
"Nothing yet. The hybrid seems strong. Stronger than the file suggested."
Clain's steel-grey eyes narrowed slightly.
"Keep an eye on him."
A short silence on the line.
Then Kaito spoke again, voice unchanged.
"Understood."
Clain exhaled slowly through his nose.
"Six of our Void Seekers died in Rift Sector 7 today."
Kael shifted his weight, cane tapping once.
Kaito didn't respond right away. When he did, his tone remained flat.
"Details."
Clain glanced at Kael before continuing.
"A black figure. Floating. Cloaked. Crimson light under the hood. Beheaded the entire team from the top of a cliff. One clean cut. They didn't even have time to scream."
Kael interjected, voice colder than the room.
"We assume it was Silas Seethoshi."
Another pause on the line—longer this time.
Kaito's voice came back, still perfectly level.
"And?"
Kael leaned forward slightly.
"Be on high alert. You may be ambushed. Chaos is moving faster than we anticipated."
"How many?" Kaito asked.
Clain answered.
"Only him."
Kaito let the words hang for a second.
"Noted."
The line clicked off.
Clain stared at the blank comms panel for a moment.
Kael broke the silence.
"Good thing you didn't tell Zero to kill him."
Clain turned to face the elder, expression unreadable.
"The boy's son is there. Rein. We still have hope if Silas can be brought back to his senses."
Kael's grip tightened on his cane.
"Hope is a luxury we can't afford much longer."
Clain walked to the window, hands clasped behind his back. The city sprawled beneath them—endless lights, endless lives, all unaware.
"Doomsday is reaching us soon," Kael said, voice low and cold as frost.
Clain didn't turn.
"Then we make sure it finds us ready."
The room fell quiet again.
Outside, Senkai City continued to shine.
But in the tower, the Board had just drawn its line in the sand.
And the Void was already crossing it.