In the wake of the comet's impact, what remained of the world's governments joined forces. A unified alliance was formed, one last attempt at survival against the spreading threat.
They established twelve fortified sectors across the remaining habitable zones — each acting as a training ground for volunteers and a command base for military operations.
These sectors became the heart of humanity's resistance.
Akino was assigned to Sector 6.
It was time to begin.
Morning - At the Barracks (Sector 6)
The blare of an alarm shattered the dawn silence across the refugee barracks.
Most trainees groaned and rolled over, still clinging to warmth. But Akino was already awake. He hadn't slept. Not really. His eyes were sunken with exhaustion, dark circles haunting his face. He was afraid to sleep, afraid of the nightmares. The remnants of another nightmare still clung to his chest like smoke.
Flames. Screams. The image of his mother burning.
And behind her—always—stood the Demon King. Watching.
Ryo, meanwhile, snored like a log, drooling onto his pillow.
Aya kicked him hard in the side.
"Wake up, you slacker! You didn't even want me to be here, and I'm more disciplined than you!"
Ryo groaned and rubbed his eyes, still half-asleep. "Yeah, yeah…"
Outside, volunteers were already being herded into formation. A row of military trucks waited for them, engines grumbling impatiently. The trainees climbed aboard, squeezed in tight, the scent of nervous sweat clinging to their borrowed uniforms.
The truck rumbled to life.
They were leaving the refugee camp behind.
Heading toward something far worse.
Training.
The military facility was massive—built into the edge of a mountain, surrounded by steel fences and half-buried watchtowers. Obstacle courses stretched out like the spine of some dead beast. Combat zones were marked off with rusted paint. Barracks lined the hills. And in the far end of the facility, hidden behind layers of electrified fences…
...wounded demons.
Some still snarled through broken jaws. These were the ones that tried to breach the Arc Spine and failed—burnt, disfigured, but alive. Barely.
And they were being kept.
For training.
A soldier stepped forward, barking orders.
"Combat recruits to the left! Medical volunteers to the right!"
Akino and Ryo stepped left. Aya gave them one last nod, then turned to the medical line.
As the two boys moved, a tall figure passed silently between them. Long black hair tied back. A blade almost as long as he was tall strapped to his back. His presence alone made people step aside.
"That's Dante," someone whispered. "They say he killed a demon barehanded."
Nearby, the silver-haired girl from before—Rei—stood quietly, observing.
But before the mood could settle, another voice broke through the tension.
"Hey, watch it, mop-head!"
A skinny teen with spiky hair bumped into Ryo.
Ryo turned, clearly offended. "Mop-head?! Your hair looks like a fried broom that lost a fight!"
The teen snorted. "Name's Kenji. Try to keep up, yeah?"
Akino let out a sigh. "This is going to be a long day."
Then, the Training Captain arrived. Captain Rome. He was a walking scar.
He stood in front of the lined-up recruits with a massive blade slung over one shoulder, staring them down like they were already corpses.
"You want to fight demons?" he said, voice gravel. "Then forget everything you think you know about weapons."
He motioned toward a pile of twisted wreckage off to the side—burnt-out tanks, melted rifles, the remnants of modern warfare.
"These?" he spat. "Useless. Guns, bombs, missiles. They slow the demons down, sure. But they don't kill them. Those bastards regenerate unless you cut them with something that hurts their core."
Captain Rome stabbed his sword into the ground.
"This blade is forged from comet rock. Same stuff those bastards rode in on. The only material we know that can kill them for good."
He turned and pointed toward Dante.
"There's only one confirmed demon kill so far. And it wasn't the military. It was him."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Captain Rome went on. "He was seen by one of our soldiers trying to save a mother with a child, and as they were cornered. He found a chunk of comet rock in the rubble. Used it like a club. Smashed a demon's skull until it stopped moving. It never got up."
"The massive blade that Dante has is made of the same material. We forged and gave it to him as a gift for getting the first demon kill."
The captain's eyes swept over the trainees.
"You want one of these weapons? Pass the training. Fail, and you're out. We've only got limited comet rocks in the facility. No freebies."
The next four months were hell.
They ran hills with sandbags strapped to their backs. Crawled through trenches of mud. Did pushups until their arms failed. Hauled logs in the rain. Fought each other with wooden weapons—prototypes of the real thing they hoped to wield.
Sparring left bruises. Dislocated shoulders. Some broke fingers. Others simply quit.
Akino never did.
He moved like a shadow, quiet and focused. He didn't talk much. But the fire in his eyes never went out.
Ryo survived through sheer stubbornness.
Kenji trash-talked everyone but showed surprising skill with a spear.
Rei never broke a sweat. She moved like someone who had trained long before the comet fell.
Dante barely spoke. But every strike he made during drills was clean. Deadly.
And Aya? She worked alongside the medics. Learning how to stabilize bleeding wounds. Treat poison. Diagnose internal trauma. She never complained.
There were 137 recruits in sector 6.
Only 64 remained. Some of them failed, some gave up.
Akino. Ryo. Aya. Kenji. Rei. Dante. Still standing.
Harder now. Sharper. Less like civilians. More like weapons.
Then came the final test.
Captain Rome stood before them again, stone-faced.
"You made it this far. Pick your weapon."
The trainees hesitated. Lined before them were blades, spears, axes—all forged from comet rock. Glowing faintly. Whispering danger.
Captain Rome's voice cut through the tension.
"Today's your final test! Defend yourselves. Don't die!"
Ryo blinked. "Wait—die from what?!"
The cages opened.
The five demons they were keeping burst out.
Wounded, but not weak.
The line scattered in panic. One demon charged straight for Aya.
Akino moved.
The demon lunged at Aya — fast, snarling, claws raised.
Without thinking, he grabbed a comet-forged axe from the rack and sprinted.
"AYA!" he shouted.
She froze.
The demon swiped — but Akino was faster. He slid between them, barely ducking under the claws. Dirt sprayed beneath his feet as he twisted to the side.
The demon turned, locking eyes with Akino.
It struck again — he dodged left, the claws grazing his shoulder.
His hand — the one gripping the axe — pulsed faintly with light. The subtle glow on his hand was mildly activated, barely visible. No one noticed.
With a surge of rage, Akino let out a roar.
"WWAAAHHHH"
He brought the axe down with everything he had.
CRACK.
The blade slammed into the demon's skull.
A sickening crunch echoed across the training field.
The beast collapsed instantly, lifeless.
Silence followed. Aya stared wide-eyed. No one moved.
Akino stood still, breath sharp, axe in hand.
No one had reacted in time… except him.
Rei narrowed her eyes.
Dante notices the glow, "Interesting."
Ryo stared in disbelief. "Dude… you really are something."
With their fear shattered, the others joined the fight.
Dante charged head-on, his massive blade raised high. With one clean, thunderous swing, he cleaved the demon from shoulder to hip — a single, decisive cut that sprayed black blood across the dirt.
The creature never had a chance.
A few paces away, Rei grabbed the katana on the weapon rack and moved like wind through leaves.
She ducked under a lunge, her silver hair flashing. Her katana whispered through the air — one, two, three elegant strikes — and the demon staggered before collapsing in silence, its body dropping in neatly sliced pieces.
Neither of them looked winded.
Neither of them looked impressed.
Captain Rome, on the other hand, was impressed, "Finally, we got some strong ones in the team."
Another demon was charging towards Ryo. He stumbled backward, nearly slipping in the dirt, but his blade caught the demon just right. With a loud thud, the creature collapsed.
"I did it!" Ryo shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "Did you see that?! That thing was no match for me!"
On the other side, Kenji managed to land a stab on the last demon, grinning like a champion as it crumpled. He turned to Ryo and gave him a cocky nod.
"That's how it's done," Kenji said, spinning his weapon for flair.
But the cheers they expected… didn't come.
A few of the other trainees exchanged unimpressed glances.
"He nearly tripped on his own foot and still hit it. That's not skill — that's dumb luck."
"I thought he was gonna cry when it roared," someone else whispered with a smirk.
A girl near the back shook her head. "They're acting like they just saved the world."
Murmurs spread like wildfire — quiet jabs and doubtful looks. While Ryo and Kenji basked in their self-proclaimed victory, the others weren't buying it.
"If those two keep showing off like that," one trainee said grimly, "they're gonna get someone killed."
Captain Rome raised his hand to calm them.
"That was your first taste. You did well. But remember—this is war. Get cocky and—"
A snarl.
The demon Ryo "killed" twitched, then mutated. Its limbs cracked and grew. Eyes burned red.
"FALL BACK!" a soldier shouted.
The recruits screamed, running.
But Dante didn't flinch.
He walked straight toward the beast.
One swing. One flash.
The demon fell in half.
Applause broke out.
Then—movement.
The upper half of the demon is still alive and lunged at him.
Before Dante could react, Rei was already moving.
Her katana flashed, and with a precise motion, she pierced the demon's skull, killing it instantly. Clean. Final.
She turned to him. "When you work, finish the job."
Dante smirked. "Next time, let me enjoy the moment."
Akino watched, frozen.
They were so fast. So powerful.
Someday, he thought.
Someday, I'll catch up.
That night, Akino lay in the barracks, staring at the ceiling.
His arm throbbed again.
The glow.
He closed his eyes.
And suddenly—another memory.
Not his.
A comet.
On the comet's edge, the Demon King stood tall, gazing at Earth below. And behind him is his army of demons.
"This one… this world… it's ripe."
His Right Hand Man stood beside him. "It will kneel. Just like the others."
Akino gasped and sat up, soaked in sweat.
"Why… why am I seeing this?"
His pulse pounded.
The line between him and the enemy—
—was starting to blur.