Chapter 1
In a secluded courtyard, morning sunlight filtered through ancient oak trees as a young woman with ethereal beauty moved through sword forms. Her movements were precise despite her complaints, each strike cutting through the air with growing confidence. Persephone, Sephy to those close to her, had inherited more than just her striking looks; at nineteen, she possessed an otherworldly grace that made even her training seem like a dance.
"1, 2, 1, 2," she counted, her breathing steady despite the sweat beading on her brow.
"Don't lose concentration," called a mature woman watching from the courtyard's edge. Akira's long black hair cascaded over her shoulders like silk, her distinctly Asian features carrying both gentleness and steel. Despite her casual training clothes, there was something unmistakably commanding about her presence, the bearing of someone who had once been feared and respected in equal measure. Where Sephy had youthful beauty, Akira possessed the kind of refined elegance that came from years of hard-won confidence.
"It's so tiring," Sephy complained, lowering her sword with a dramatic sigh that would have made her classmates at the prestigious academy laugh—their student council president was rarely anything less than composed in public.
The mature woman simply smiled, the expression transforming her already beautiful features. "That trick would have worked years ago, but you're nineteen now and heading into the tower soon."
Sephy rolled her eyes in that way only daughters could manage. "I was trained by the strongest hunter. As if I'm going to lose."
Akira's smile faltered slightly, her expression growing distant. "Previous strongest," she corrected quietly.
Sephy immediately fell silent, recognizing she'd touched on something painful. Her mother rarely spoke about her past, but Sephy knew enough—how she'd been forced to retire not because she lacked skill, but because the media and her colleagues had made her life unbearable simply for being a woman who dared to be the best. The harassment had been relentless, the scrutiny crushing, until she'd finally chosen peace over proving herself to people who would never accept her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright," her mother said with a gentler smile, though something fierce still lingered in her dark eyes. "I'm happy now. I have a daughter who pretends she doesn't like hugs but melts every time I give them, and a husband who spoils me endlessly." Her expression softened completely. "Life is good now. I'm genuinely happy."
"Let's go, Sephy," she said, gathering their practice weapons.
"Okay, Mom." Sephy followed happily after her mother, their similar graceful strides marking them clearly as family.
What neither woman noticed was the figure on a nearby rooftop—a man with striking white hair that caught the morning light like fresh snow. Most people assumed Keith was albino when they first met him, but his pale skin held an otherworldly quality that spoke of something more than genetics. His features carried a distinctly Western structure softened by subtle Asian influences, creating an exotic appeal that drew second glances wherever he went. His red eyes tracked the departing figures with an expression of quiet satisfaction, a bamboo stick held casually between his lips.
Even from this distance, his lean but powerfully built frame remained perfectly still, as if he could wait there forever without discomfort. There was something unsettling about his stillness, the kind that suggested immense power held carefully in check.
"I should probably get home," he murmured to himself, his voice carrying a warmth that would have surprised anyone who noticed the predatory grace in his movements. "They'll definitely be hungry."
As he rose from his perch with fluid ease, Keith's thoughts lingered on what he'd witnessed. His wife's training methods were flawless as always, and Sephy was growing stronger by the day. Soon, she'd be ready for the tower….whether he liked it or not.
The thought of his daughter facing such dangers should have worried him more. After all, he'd spent eons as the god of death, shepherd of souls, keeper of the underworld's balance. He knew better than most what lurked in the shadows of power.
But watching his family,this impossible, precious family he'd somehow been blessed with,Keith found himself believing that maybe, just maybe, some things were worth fighting every god and demon in existence to protect.