The year was 207. Even though the great walls now stood guard against the demons, the inner land of Kasoi remained a vast, green expanse. Near one of the many rivers that fed the city's farms, two ten-year-old boys were mid-race, their boots kicking up dust.
'Hey, stop! I'm tired!' Tohi shouted, stopping to lean against a fence that marked a farm's edge.
His friend skidded to a halt, looking back with a tease in his eyes. 'Tired? Already? We've only been playing for thirty minutes! You can't be exhausted yet, Tohi.'
'No, bro, I'm serious,' Tohi panted, his face flushed from the heat. 'I'm too tired to keep going. We need to take a break, okay?'
'Not okay!' his friend laughed, backing away slowly. 'If you don't keep up, you're a total weakling!'
Tohi's eyes snapped open. 'What?! What did you say? Oh, you're gonna get it! Don't run—get back here! Suddenly, Tohi tripped, his foot catching on a root as he slammed into the dirt. For a few seconds, the world went silent—then the screams hit him.
'Help! Please, help!' >
Tohi scrambled to his feet, his heart hammering against his ribs. The peaceful fields of Kasoi were gone. In their place, houses were swallowed by roaring orange flames, and the air was thick with black smoke. People were sprinting past him, their faces twisted in terror.
Tohi stood frozen, his entire body shaking so hard he could barely breathe. He turned slowly to his left, looking at his friend with wide, numb eyes.
'Bro...' he whispered, his voice trembling. 'What is going on?
Tohi's friend was just as frozen, his face pale as he stared at the rising smoke. "My house..." he stammered, his voice breaking. "I have to find them. I need to see my family!"
He was shouting at Tohi, trying to get a reaction, but Tohi couldn't speak. He remained standing there, paralyzed by the sight of the burning city.
"I'm going home, okay? Bye, Tohi!" his friend yelled before turning and disappearing into the crowd of screaming people.
Left alone in the chaos, Tohi's mind drifted away from the fire. He saw a vision of his home as it was only hours ago: his mother, his father, and his little sister all sitting together. They were sharing a meal, laughing and telling jokes, happy and safe within their walls. The memory felt so warm compared to the cold terror shaking his body.
I have to find them," Tohi whispered to himself. "I want to see my family!"
He began to run. He ran until his lungs burned, but he skidded to a stop when he reached his neighborhood. The destruction was total; every house was a skeleton of glowing embers and roaring flames.
He began to walk forward slowly, his boots crunching on the charred debris. Suddenly, a hand reached out from the smoke and grabbed his leg. Tohi froze, his heart stopping for a beat. He looked down slowly and saw a woman lying in the dirt. She was bloodied, and one of her eyes was gone.
"Help... please..." she rasped, her fingers clutching his trousers.
Panic surged through Tohi's body. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and couldn't help. Shaking with terror, he wrenched his leg away and began to sprint again, his mind screaming as he fled deeper into the burning city.
Finally, Tohi reached his home. He gasped with relief—the house was untouched by the flames. It looked perfect. With a hopeful heart, he threw open the front door, but he froze the moment he stepped inside.
His father was standing in the center of the room, his body covered in blood. He stood tall and unmoving, like a silent warrior who had died protecting his family.
"Papa?" Tohi whispered, reaching out to touch his father's arm.
As soon as his fingers brushed the skin, his father's body collapsed to the floor. The silence was shattered. Tohi looked past him and saw his mother huddling with his little sister. He crept closer, his heart breaking as he saw his sister's small, mangled arm.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over him. A demon had entered the house, its heavy breathing filling the room. Tohi didn't run. He didn't even move. He simply closed his eyes, the image of his blood-stained family burned into his mind.
When Tohi finally opened his eyes, the nightmare had reached its end. His house was gone. The streets were gone. The vibrant, river-fed city of Kasoi had been erased, leaving nothing but a flat, broken wasteland.
But as he looked up, his breath hitched.
There, towering over the ruins, was the Soi Wall. It stood perfectly intact, its massive stone face unscarred and unbroken. The wall that was meant to keep the world safe was still standing, but inside its circle, there was nothing left to protect. Tohi was alone in an empty graveyard of dust, trapped behind the very wall that was supposed to be his salvation.
Eventually, exhaustion took hold, and Tohi drifted into a deep, dark sleep. When his eyes finally flickered open, he was no longer lying in the dirt. He felt the rhythmic sway of movement and realized he was slumped across the back of a horse.
Looking to his right, he saw two rugged men—Hunters. They were riding toward the city of Paraj.
"Sir..." Tohi rasped, his throat dry. "Where am I?"
One of the Hunters looked down at him. "Oh, you're finally awake. We're passing through the ruins of Kasoi, heading for Paraj. From there, we take you to the Center."
"The Center? Why?" Tohi asked, confusion clouding his mind.
"For your trial," the Hunter replied coldly. "To determine if you are a human... or a demon."
Tohi went numb. "A demon? I'm human! Why do you need a trial? Ask the others—ask the people from my street! Where are they?"
The Hunter slowed his horse, his voice dropping to a somber tone. "The main city of Kasoi is gone, kid. Every person died in that attack. You are the only one who made it out alive."
Tohi's heart sank. He looked back at the empty, broken land where his home used to be. He realized that the hundreds of people he thought he saw earlier were just ghosts of his memory. He was truly the only one left.
"Only me?" Tohi whispered, the weight of the tragedy finally breaking him. "How... how did I survive?"
The days blurred together into a long, agonizing journey. By the time they reached Paraj, Tohi was no longer treated as a survivor, but as a threat. He was pulled from the back of the horse and thrown into a cold, iron-rimmed cage.
A thick, rough cotton blindfold was tied tightly around his eyes, plunging his world into darkness. Heavy iron chains were locked around his wrists, the cold metal biting into his skin. He couldn't see the cities they passed or the faces of the people who whispered as he went by. He could only hear the clinking of his chains and the heavy thud of the guards' boots.
For thirty long days, he lived in that darkness, fed only enough to stay alive. Finally, the air changed. The smell of the dusty agricultural plains of Kasoi was replaced by the scent of stone, incense, and a massive, crowded city.
He had arrived at the Center. His thirty days of silence were over; his trial was about to begin.