Chapter 1 ( Massacre ARC )

Sean woke to the stench of rancid fur and blood, sprawled on a forest floor he didn’t know. A 14-year-old boy, lean and scarred from the Cosmic Dragon’s starry hell, 

He had no memory of how he’d arrived only its parting growl: Survive, or be nothing. A snarl split the dark. Wolves lunged, teeth shredding his arms, bones cracking like dry twigs. 

His chest tore open, lungs spilling as he screamed, alive through every bite. Starfire surged in his veins flesh knitting in searing agony, bones snapping back. 

The wolves attacked again, and again, each regeneration a fresh hell. For three hours, they devoured him, his cries lost to the void.

When the pack slunk away, Sean’s body healed, veins glowing faintly with cosmic light. His mind didn’t every tear, every bite replayed, a wound that wouldn’t close. 

He staggered to a river’s hum, its song cruelly serene under a too-bright moon. “Someone save me,” he whispered, voice raw. The water stung his throat as he drank, alone in the silver light.

Across the river, a girl appeared beautiful as the moon, her obsidian eyes catching starlight, her dark hair a cascade of shadows. Sean’s pain dulled, 

His trauma fading in her gaze. “Help me!” he shouted. She gripped a sword, wary. “Who are you?” Her voice was sharp but warm, like a blade kissed by flame. “I’m… lost,” Sean stammered, the wolves’ jaws haunting him. 

She softened, crossing the river. “I’m Ayumi,” she said by a campfire, tossing him bread. “I hunt bandits they burned my village, took my sister.” Sean stared, lost in her eyes, hope flickering in his hollow chest.

They spoke softly, her words a balm. Ayumi shared her scars her family’s screams, her sister’s abduction. Sean vowed silently to protect her, a spark of purpose forming. Then. 

 KKKKIIIIILLLLL TTTTTHHHHHHEEEEEMMMM!!!!!

Bandits swarmed, blades gleaming like fangs. Sean lunged, but ropes lashed him to a tree, cutting deep. A bandit in a dragon-scale mask drove a dagger through his chest, ribs splintering. 

Hands tore into him, yanking out his heart, still pulsing, as blood sprayed. “Look, kid,” the leader sneered, “watch your girl become ours.” Ayumi fought, her sword clattering uselessly. 

They ripped her tunic, pinning her to the dirt. Her screams turned to sobs as they took her, one by one, her eyes once Sean’s hope breaking into despair. “Please…” she whispered, voice fading. laughing. “My pet now.”

Sean’s body was a ruin organs dangling, blood pooling. The bandits left him to die, the campfire’s embers mocking his pain. In his fading vision, the Cosmic Dragon’s starry eyes burned. 

“Pain forges monsters,” it rumbled. Starlight flooded his wounds, flesh knitting in agonizing pulses, veins glowing like nebulae.

The next morning, a stranger found Sean, still tied to the tree. “Let me help you,” he said, cutting the ropes. Sean’s body was whole, but his mind drowned in Ayumi’s screams. 

“Where are the bandits?” he growled, eyes blazing with rage. “You’re mad,” the stranger warned. “Stay away from them.”

“I have to save Ayumi,” Sean said, voice cold. The stranger, a wiry navigator with a scarred cheek, sighed. 

“I’m Eira. Fine, I’ll show you.” He led Sean to a map, pointing. “Straight ahead their hideout. I’m not dying for you, kid. Be careful.” Eira left, but Sean had what he needed.

He charged into the bandit camp, eyes hollow with sorrow. Ayumi was there, clothes torn, hands clutching her shame. Rage consumed him. 

A bandit swung a sword; Sean’s fist crushed his skull, brains splattering. “He’s back?” one gasped, recognizing the “dead” boy. 

Sean tore through them ripping out a bandit’s intestines, snapping necks, his starry veins blazing. He grabbed the dragon-scale leader, punching through his gut, organs spilling as the man screamed. To them, Sean was death.

Then a cry. Eira, caught by bandits, his left arm hacked off, blood gushing as he ran. Sean froze. Ayumi’s sobs, Eira’s screams, the wolves’ jaws they blended in his mind, a cacophony of guilt. 

Bandits slashed at Sean, blades carving flesh, but his body healed, starfire burning. He stood, motionless, as Ayumi screamed, Eira bled, and bandits laughed. 

“What should I do?” he whispered, mind breaking under the weight of his failures.

To be continued.