The sky bled.
Not metaphorically — not merely the reddish hue painted across the clouds like spilled ink. It pulsed, beat by beat, like a wounded heart above a broken world. A low hum echoed through the ruins, vibrating in the bones of the few who still dared to walk the land. The sound came from nowhere… and yet, it was everywhere. Like a whisper inside your skull. Like a memory trying to claw its way out.
The world had once been beautiful. But now, all that remained was dust, blood, and silence between the ruins.
A lone figure walked the cracked highway, framed by the skeletons of crumbled skyscrapers.
Kairo.
His disheveled crimson hair danced with the foul wind, streaked with white strands that shimmered like scars against fire. His eyes — dull yet dangerous — carried the weight of someone who had seen Hell and returned, though perhaps a part of him never truly left.
Tribal, arcane tattoos covered his lean but battle-hardened body. They glowed faintly, like slumbering embers under his skin. His long, tattered black coat swayed behind him, revealing bloodied bandages, combat boots worn thin, and a blade strapped across his back — a sword that almost seemed alive.
In his hand, he held something delicate — a small silver hair ribbon.
"Ayleen…" he murmured, voice coarse from disuse. "Five years… and I still hear your voice in the silence."
There was no answer.
Only the hum.
The road ahead led to the ruins of the old city's center — now known as Zero Zone. The place where the first rift had opened. Where it all began. Kairo kept walking, each step driven not by hope… but by fury.
FLASHBACK – FIVE YEARS AGO
It had been spring.
The sky was impossibly blue, birds sang over glowing skyscrapers, and the city buzzed with energy. Holograms danced over buildings, digital ads filled the air with color. People laughed. Children played. It was the kind of day that made you think the world was safe.
"Ayleen, you'll drop it!" a younger Kairo laughed, watching his little sister twirl with her strawberry ice cream.
"Then catch it before I finish!" she teased, spinning on her toes, hair catching sunlight like a halo.
He chased her playfully, arm reaching out.
And then — the sky screamed.
The sound wasn't thunder. It wasn't even sound. It was a frequency. A resonance that drilled through the brain and tore into the soul. People clutched their ears. Blood poured from noses. Screams replaced laughter.
Then… the tear appeared.
A jagged rift opened above the city — a gash of flaming darkness. From within, creatures fell like rain: twisted things, bone and shadow fused into forms that shouldn't exist. Chaos erupted in seconds.
Kairo turned, panic in his chest.
"Ayleen! Come to me!"
But a black spiral opened beneath her feet — a rift born from the original wound.
"No, no, no—!"
She looked at him, terrified.
Then, she vanished into the void.
He screamed.
And dove after her.
PRESENT
Kairo blinked, returning to reality as he found himself on his knees. His fist clenched around the silver ribbon. He tucked it away in his coat and stood slowly, eyes narrowing.
"You're in there," he whispered to the horizon. "I will tear the abyss apart to find you."
A foul wind carried with it the stench of rot.
Echos.
From the fog, three creatures emerged — humanoid in shape, but abominations in detail. Skin sewn from bone and tendons. Eyes glowing crimson. They shambled forward like broken puppets.
Kairo unsheathed his sword.
Forged from black obsidian and streaked with veins of glowing blue energy, the weapon vibrated in his hand, resonating with the threat.
The first Echo charged, roaring like a dying beast.
Kairo dashed forward and, with a fluid arc, sliced through its arm and slammed his boot into its chest, hurling it into a nearby wall.
The second lunged from atop a collapsed building. He saw it just in time — crouched, pivoted, and carved upward through its torso mid-air. The Echo burst into black mist before hitting the ground.
But the third was different.
Taller. Heavier. Its back writhed with twitching tentacles. And it screamed — not like a monster… but like a person.
Kairo hesitated.
"…No way… was it—?"
Too late.
The tentacles whipped forward, wrapping around him and flinging him into a shattered car. Metal crunched. His ribs cracked. Blood filled his mouth.
The Echo approached, each step cracking pavement.
Kairo grinned, teeth bloodied.
"If that's how you wanna play…"
His tattoos lit up with crimson flame. The sword pulsed in response. His eyes flared red.
He exploded from the wreckage, cleaving through the tentacles in one swing, closing the gap, and — with a scream — drove the blade through the monster's head.
It screeched… then dissolved into black fog.
Kairo collapsed to one knee, panting.
"…Three today. They're getting bolder."
"You should be dead."
A female voice — cold, sharp — echoed behind him.
He turned.
A tall woman stepped through the mist. Snow-white hair tied into a high ponytail. Tactical black armor with crimson accents. A massive, ornate scythe strapped across her back. Her golden eyes locked onto him.
"You're human?" she asked, as if uncertain.
Kairo spat blood, then smirked.
"Depends what's left of me."
She stepped closer, eyeing the glowing tattoos.
"You've been inside the Rift."
He didn't answer. He didn't need to.
"…Interesting," she murmured. "Name's Lyra. Omega-class Hunter."
She extended a hand. He didn't take it.
"I'm just a guy trying to save the only person that ever mattered."
She nodded slowly. No pity in her eyes. Only respect.
"You've survived this long," she said. "Maybe you can survive what's next."
The ground shook. The sky wailed once more. A new rift — massive — began to tear open above them.
Lyra unslung her scythe.
Kairo stood, using his sword for support.
"Tell me you've got a plan."
She smirked.
"Nope. But I've got a target."
And then the world was swallowed by crimson light.