Chapter 1:

Chapter 1: The promise

The Eclipse Sovereign

Twenty years ago, during a rare and eerie solar eclipse, the world didn't just change.

It shattered.

As the moon swallowed the sun, casting a cold, unnatural darkness across the globe, some people felt a sudden, terrifying shift deep within their souls. A strange warmth bled into their veins. At first, it was an anomaly—a rare, spoken-of myth. But as the days bled into months, more people began to manifest impossible things. Flames danced in human palms. Gravity bent at a whim. Steel twisted like wet clay. Slowly, the impossible became the new normal.

Humanity believed they had stepped into a golden age. Hope spread like wildfire. Too fast. Too bright.

Then, the sky tore open.

Massive, pitch-black portals fractured reality itself, tearing open in the skies above major cities worldwide. Driven by reckless curiosity and their newfound strength, groups of awakened humans banded together and ventured inside those dark abysses.

They expected glory. They found a slaughterhouse.

Only a fraction returned, their eyes hollowed by horror, speaking of nightmares that defied comprehension. Shortly after, the gates bled. From those dark wounds poured the Shadow Monsters—towering nightmares of writhing black smoke, crimson eyes, and an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

Entire districts vanished overnight. Nations collapsed in months.

Humanity survived on a thin line, held together solely by those who fought back against the tide. The Awakened who survived the portals and learned to hunt the darkness.

They became known to the world as Shadow Hunters. And slowly… humanity learned to live alongside horror.

Inside a sprawling mansion of marble and gold, angry voices shattered the silence of a luxurious dining hall.

"How long will you keep ignoring what's happening outside?!" a woman shouted, her voice trembling with a mixture of fury and terror. "People are dying in the streets every single week!"

A middle-aged man continued cutting his steak, the silver knife scraping coldly against the porcelain plate. He didn't look up.

"We donate heavily to the Hunter Association," he replied, his tone devoid of warmth. "That is more than enough."

His sharp, calculating eyes finally lifted, locking onto her.

"This family will not dirty its hands with the filth of the lower districts."

Outside the towering arched windows, the distant, haunting wail of sirens echoed beneath a blood-red evening sky.

Upstairs, far removed from the bitter argument, a teenage boy lay silently across a king-sized bed.

Kanzaki Reiji.

His crimson eyes stared blankly at the ornate, gilded ceiling as the muffled shouting drifted through the heavy walls. His face remained a perfect, unreadable mask. The bedroom was enormous. Opulent. Freezing. It felt less like a home… and more like a beautiful cage.

'I just want a normal life,' Reiji thought, his eyelids growing heavy as he blocked out the noise.

He turned his head toward the window, looking at his own empty, hollow reflection in the glass. The fading sunset outside caught the sharp, blood-red hue of his eyes, but they held no warmth. A deep, bitter ache tightened in his chest.

Why did I become like this?

He closed his eyes, wishing he could just disappear into the quiet dark.

The evening streets of the lower district glowed under the warm, fading orange of the sunset.

A boy navigated the crowded alleyways, a heavy grocery bag slung over his shoulder. Two small children clung tightly to his oversized sleeves, their laughter cutting through the ambient hum of the city.

"Big brother! Look!" One of them pointed excitedly toward a massive electronic billboard overhead. On screen, a high-ranking Shadow Hunter engulfed in roaring flames tore a monster to shreds. "I want to become a hero just like that someday!"

A gentle smile broke across the older boy's face.

"You'll become stronger than all of them," he said softly, reaching down to ruffle the kid's hair. "But first, you need to actually finish your dinner so you can grow strong."

The little boy looked up at him, his eyes wide and shining. "Really, Big brother?!"

"Really," he answered with a warm, genuine laugh.

"Then after we unpack the shopping… can we play together?" the little girl on his left side asked, tugging his sleeve pleadingly.

"Didn't I already promise you we would?" he replied, his eyes crinkling with affection.

The children cheered happily, skipping alongside him. For a brief, fragile moment, the ambient fear that constantly haunted the world felt miles away.

Then—

SCREEECH—!

The brutal scream of burning tires tore through the air.

A massive transport truck lost control, veering wildly off the asphalt and barreling directly toward the crowded sidewalk.

Time ground to a terrifying crawl.

The children froze, paralyzed by the oncoming wall of steel.

'Should I escape?' a sudden, desperate voice screamed inside the older boy's head. He could make it. If he leapt back right now, he would live.

No. I shouldn't. If I run... they die.

Without another second of hesitation, the boy threw his body forward. Using every ounce of strength he possessed, he shoved both children out of the path of the vehicle.

They tumbled violently onto the pavement, safe.

THUD.

The impact was sickeningly heavy.

An explosion of white-hot pain shattered his body as he was thrown across the cold asphalt. The world spun erratically before coming to a sudden halt. A warm, dark crimson rapidly pooled beneath his head.

"BIG BROTHER!!!"

The little boy and girl rushed to his side, sobbing hysterically as their small hands gripped his blood-stained sleeve.

"Big brother... please don't leave us," the boy choked out through his tears.

"You promised…! You said we'd play together…! Please wake up!" the little girl cried, shaking his arm.

His breathing grew shallow, coming in ragged, rattling gasps. The vibrant evening sky above him began to blur, the orange light fading into a dull grey.

Why… did I save them…?

He was terrified, but as he looked at their safe, tear-stained faces, a faint, peaceful smile formed on his bloody lips.

...Yeah. It was worth it.

The distant, frantic wail of approaching ambulance sirens began to fade. The crying of the children grew muted, as if underwater. The cold street beneath him seemed to dissolve, melting into a blinding, weightless white.

And then, the sound stopped. The pain stopped.

Everything vanished.

[End of Chapter 1]

[To Be Continued…]