Most people will remember the color.
Not the screams. Not the sirens. Not the monsters.
But the color.
That deep, burning red that swallowed the sky.
It was the day the world ended… and the day Kael Virein was finally free.
---
Twelve Hours Before the Fall
Kael sat alone in a dim room, sharpening a blade that had no name.
The apartment was silent—cold, cracked walls, a broken fan spinning above. Outside the window, the city of Tarsis moved as usual. People walked with coffee in hand, traffic buzzed, neon lights flickered. Life was normal.
But Kael knew it wouldn't last.
He had been told this since he was eight.
By the only man who ever cared if he lived or died.
> "One day, Kael," his uncle had said, "the sky will split open. When it does, don't be afraid. That will be your real beginning."
Kael never understood why his uncle—Dagon Virein, an ex-assassin—spoke like a prophet. He didn't know how Dagon knew.
Only that he did.
And everything Dagon had ever taught him was for this.
---
Now
The ground trembled.
A strange vibration—like something was humming inside the Earth's bones.
Kael rose and stepped out onto the rooftop.
That's when he saw it.
A second planet.
Huge. Red. Floating unnaturally close in the sky like a swollen wound.
People below were pointing up. Screaming. Filming.
Kael didn't reach for his phone. He didn't blink.
He remembered Dagon's final words.
> "When the Crimson Star appears, the monsters will follow."
Then it began.
---
The Rift
The first scream wasn't human.
It was deep. Wet. Alien.
And it tore through the city like thunder.
Above the central plaza, the air ripped open—a black, swirling hole pulsating with red light. Buildings cracked. Cars crashed. The power grid flickered and died.
Then… they came.
The monsters.
They fell like shadows. Twisted bodies. Glowing cores in their chests. Crawling, leaping, hissing.
People ran. Some froze. Some died in seconds.
Kael didn't move.
This was what he'd been shaped for.
---
The First Strike
He sprinted toward the plaza, passing people screaming for help. His boots were silent. His eyes locked onto one beast—the size of a van, pinning a girl beneath debris.
She was screaming.
He couldn't hear her words. But he saw her fear. Her tears. Her innocence.
She looked so human. So breakable.
He jumped from the shadows and stabbed deep into the monster's side, piercing through its glowing chest core.
CRACK!
The beast wailed and disintegrated.
The girl blinked up at him in disbelief. Blood ran down her forehead.
"W-What are you…?" she whispered.
Kael didn't answer. He crouched, lifted the rubble off her with ease.
"You're not safe here," he said.
She shook, tears forming again. "I… I'm Aria… th-thank you…"
Kael froze for half a second.
Not at her name.
At her voice.
So soft. So alive.
He extended his hand. "Kael."
She took it, her fingers trembling in his.
---
The Life Vein Awakens
A monstrous howl echoed behind them.
Kael turned.
Three beasts this time.
Bigger. Hungrier.
He exhaled slowly.
"Stay down."
His body began to glow faintly blue, veins lighting up like embers.
He touched the concrete.
"Life Vein Strike."
BOOM!
The ground split. Light surged. The monsters exploded in a flash of red and ash.
But Kael dropped to one knee, coughing blood.
> Too much.
I can only do this two more times before it kills me.
Aria crawled to him, eyes wide with terror. "Y-You're bleeding!"
Kael looked at her—not cold this time. Just tired.
"I was made for this," he said softly.
---
The Mystery Lingers
As they escaped the plaza together, fires rising around them, sirens fading beneath monstrous shrieks, Aria looked up at him and asked,
"How did you know… how to fight them?"
Kael looked at the sky.
At the red planet pulsing in the clouds.
And whispered,
> "Because someone knew they were coming…
And he died to make sure I was ready."
---
Chapter One Ends.
---
🔥