- Leo -
It happened in the early hours of the morning, before the castle awoke to its daily horrors.
Boom!
A deafening explosion shattered the silence, rattling the cold stone walls of the vampire fortress. Leo shot upright on his hard, metal bed, his heart thundering in his chest. The shockwave left his ears ringing, his breath shallow and panicked.
The other kids in the cell jolted awake, their eyes wide with confusion and fear.
"What the hell was that?!" Kaito shouted, scrambling to his feet.
Souta was already at the bars, pale in the faint glow seeping through the cracks. "I don't know… but something's happening."
Leo forced his numb body to move, stumbling to the door and gripping the iron bars with trembling hands. Down the corridor, distant echoes of chaos reached them—clashing metal, guttural growls, and human voices raised in battle. Screams—some human, others unmistakably vampire—ripped through the thick stone like knives.
This isn't normal. Someone's fighting them...
"Do you see anything?" Leo called out to the kids in the cell across from them.
"No! Just noise!" someone shouted back, voice shaking.
Another explosion roared—closer this time.
Boom!
The end of their corridor erupted into light and smoke. Flames of searing yellow, bolts of purple lightning, and razor-sharp shards of ice burst through the dust, carving through the air with brutal force.
Then came the silhouettes.
Figures surged through the chaos, moving like shadows with purpose. Warriors. Clad in dark, practical military uniforms—gray jackets tight to the body, black trousers and boots made for survival, not for show.
Their weapons blazed with unnatural energy—swords ignited with fire, axes crackling with electricity, spears humming with strange power.
Leo's breath caught as vampires lunged from the walls, screeching with fury.
The battle erupted before their eyes. Fire met claw. Lightning tore through flesh. Arrows of ice pinned snarling beasts mid-air.
Leo and the others stood frozen, their faces lit by the flashes of combat, hearts racing like thunder in their ears.
Humans…? They're fighting them—and winning?
He could hardly believe what he was seeing. The speed, the coordination, the sheer power… these weren't ordinary people.
And yet—they were human.
If they can fight like this… then maybe… maybe we can too.
A spark lit inside his chest, small but burning hot.
For the first time since his capture, he felt it. Hope.
A tall man with a brutal scar down his cheek roared as he cleaved through a vampire. "Don't let any of them survive!"
The warriors split—half chasing the fleeing vampires, the other half turning toward the cells.
Leo watched in disbelief as one of them, a giant with a battle-worn axe, smashed open the lock of the opposite cell in a single strike.
Then, footsteps approached theirs.
And then—she appeared.
From the smoke and chaos stepped a young woman, her silhouette sharp against the flickering light.
She moved like a blade—clean, silent, precise—yet her presence radiated something deeper. Strength, yes. But also… warmth.
She wore a dark-gray military jacket, simple and tight-fitted for motion. No armor. No ornaments. Just black trousers, worn boots, and a quiet authority that didn't need decoration to command attention.
Her long blonde hair was swept back, the top section braided and tied with a black bow, the rest cascading behind her like sunlight through ash. The braid gave her discipline. The flow gave her grace.
And her eyes—ice-blue and alert—scanned the cell with measured calm. Sharp as steel. Soft as dawn.
Leo froze.
She looked nothing like a savior.
And yet… she felt like one.
She looked like hope that had been forged in battle—and came back for them.
She didn't speak. She didn't hesitate.
With swift efficiency, she reached out, twisted the lock—and the cell door swung open.
Kaito and Souta bolted forward, stumbling into freedom with disbelief in their eyes.
But Leo didn't move.
He stood still, eyes locked on her, heart pounding.
She turned to him, tilting her head slightly. "Are you hurt? Do you need help?"
Her voice was calm. Steady. A soft current in the middle of a storm.
But Leo could barely hear it.
All he could think was: She knows. She knows things I need to know. About the vampires… about the powers… about how to fight.
She stepped forward. "Hey," she repeated, a flicker of concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?"
Leo blinked. The spell broke.
"Yeah," he breathed, stepping forward. His voice trembled, but something in his chest had reignited. "Who are you? How can you fight them like that?"
She gave a soft, proud smile. "We're the rebellion against the vampire regime. My name's Nora. And these powers—"
She never finished the sentence.
Swoosh!
A blur of shadow dropped from above, silent and swift like a falling dagger.
A vampire. Fangs bared. Sword raised.
Heading straight for Nora's back.
Leo's heart slammed in his chest. No—!
His body moved before his mind could catch up.
His hand shot toward her sheath—The sword slid free with a metallic whisper, as if it recognized him.
He turned—
Clang!
Blades collided mid-air, sending sparks flying.
The vampire snarled, pressing down with inhuman strength. Leo's arms shook from the impact, knees nearly buckling. The monster's eyes were inches from his own—gleaming, merciless.
I'm going to die—
No!
Leo gritted his teeth. Heat surged through him—rage, fear, fire.
He stepped forward. Pushed back.
And with a roar that tore from deep inside him, Leo drove the blade through the vampire's chest.
Shhhhk!
Thick, black blood sprayed from the wound—hot and tar-like, splashing across the stone floor. The vampire's eyes went wide, then empty.
The creature collapsed, body hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
For a moment, it twitched… then began to melt.
The black blood oozed out in heavy streams, swallowing the pale skin as the body twisted and shrank, dissolving into a spreading pool of darkness. Steam rose as it began to evaporate, vanishing fast, leaving behind only a foul, metallic scent.
Silence returned.
Leo stood over the fading remains, sword in hand, chest heaving.
His hands trembled, but he didn't look away.
Nora stared at him—eyes wide not with fear, but something else.
Awe.
"We need people like you," she said softly. "Most kids we rescue… don't realize what it takes. To survive, you have to fight. You can't give up."
Leo swallowed, throat tight. Her words landed like fire.
"I want to fight," he said. "I want to join you."
Nora's lips curved into a small grin. "But first…" she held out her hand, "my sword, please."
Leo blinked, looked down at the blade. "Oh… yeah. Sorry."
He handed it back, his cheeks flushing with heat.
But even after the sword left his hand, the weight of it remained—inside him. Like something had been stirred awake.
He glanced at Nora again.At her calm. At her strength. At the way she had looked at him—not like a prisoner. Not like a kid.
But like someone who mattered.
Why is my heart beating so fast…? I don't even know her…
And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that meeting her… was the start of something.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.For the first time since it all began—he was becoming a fighter.
The moment the blade left Leo's hands, it felt like something inside him cooled—like the heat that had sparked within him was waiting, resting, but not gone.
Nora sheathed her sword in one smooth motion. "Let's go," she said, urgency sharpening her voice. "We need to get everyone out—now."
Leo followed without hesitation.
He, Nora, Kaito, Souta, and the other freed kids surged down the corridor. The castle around them shook with distant rumblings. Roars echoed through the stone halls. Somewhere deeper inside, the fight still raged, but the warriors were winning—Leo could feel it in every trembling brick.
They passed broken cells and shattered doors, eyes wide with disbelief as more children joined the growing stream of escapees. Some limped, some sobbed, but all moved forward, pulled by the same force.
Freedom.
The group burst into a vast, crumbling passageway. The light ahead was blinding compared to the dim torchlight of the cells. Massive double doors stood at the far end, cracked open—sunlight pouring through the gaps like golden swords.
Leo's heart pounded harder.
Is this real?
Nora turned to glance back. "Stay together. Don't stop."
They didn't.
Their feet pounded the stone floor, echoing in the great hall like a war drum. The farther they ran, the more the weight of captivity began to peel away—just enough to breathe.
As they reached the massive doors, the remains of the rebellion's destruction lay all around: charred walls, black blood, vampire corpses dissolving into smoke.
The doors had been blown open—barely hanging on their ancient hinges.
And beyond them…
Light.
Leo squinted against the brightness, blinking as he stepped past the threshold.
Then he stopped.
And stared.
A soft breeze touched his face.
Warm.
Real.
His throat tightened. He hadn't seen sunlight in so long… he'd forgotten it was warm. Forgotten what it meant to feel warmth that didn't hurt.
The sun hung high in the sky, golden and wide, casting a rich glow over the landscape. But it wasn't the light that stopped Leo cold.
It was what he saw under it.
Forests.
Endless, towering forests stretching as far as his eyes could see. The trees were massive, their roots tearing through cracked highways and shattered buildings. Vines wrapped around the remains of what once were skyscrapers, like the jungle had swallowed the world whole.
He turned slowly, taking it in.
Everywhere—green.
The cities were gone. The world he knew… erased.
What… happened?
Without thinking, Leo broke into a sprint. His legs carried him up a nearby hill—past a half-crushed transport truck now split open by a massive tree trunk, its doors rusted and vines curling out from inside.
He climbed, slipping once, catching himself. The sun warmed his skin as he moved, grass brushing his knees, the air thick with the scent of earth and distant pollen.
He reached the top—and froze.
From here, the scale was undeniable.
No towns. No roads. Just nature. Alive, massive, wild. The Earth had taken itself back.
His lungs burned, but not from the climb.
This can't be Earth. Not the Earth I remember.
A gentle hand touched his shoulder.
He turned.
Nora stood beside him, the wind playing through the braid in her golden hair. She didn't speak right away.
She just looked out at the same horizon, eyes filled with memory.
"I know how you feel," she said quietly. "I reacted the same way when I first saw it."
Leo opened his mouth, but the words didn't come. The weight in his chest was too heavy. When he finally managed to speak, his voice came out rough. "How… how did this happen?"
Nora's expression darkened.
"There was a virus," she said. "The vampires released it during the first phase of their invasion. It didn't just kill people…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"…it changed the Earth. The balance of things. Nature reacted. Mutated. Cities crumbled. The wild took over. Now, this is what's left."
Leo looked out again.
The forests whispered with wind. Beautiful. Terrifying.
A graveyard covered in flowers.
He felt it then—that same echo from before.
That spark.
But now, it wasn't just survival.
It was something else.
A question that burned deep inside his chest.
Why am I still alive? What is my place in all of this?
Behind him, he could hear Souta whispering something under his breath. Kaito stood silently nearby, staring at the wild horizon with clenched fists. The younger kids gathered together, unsure, frightened—but free.
Leo clenched his fists, his gaze locked on the horizon.
No matter what it takes… I'll find the answer.
I won't be part of the silence anymore.
This time… I'll fight for the truth.