I woke up to the sound of rain.
For a few seconds, I didn't know where I was. The ceiling above me was white. The room smelled like disinfectant, and somewhere nearby, a machine was beeping steadily.
Hospital.
I blinked.
Then everything came back.
Kael. The Void. The Order. My mother.
I turned my head.
She was asleep in the chair beside my bed.
For the first time in weeks, I felt something close to peace. The steady rhythm of her breathing, the soft rise and fall of her chest—it was ordinary. Normal. Everything I'd been fighting to get back.
I closed my eyes.
Maybe this was it. Maybe I could finally go back to being normal. Maybe the Void would leave me alone. Maybe I could just—
BOOM.
The entire building shook.
My eyes snapped open. My mother woke immediately, her eyes wide with confusion.
"What was that?"
Another explosion sounded somewhere outside. Glass rattled in the window frames. People began shouting in the hallway, their voices panicked and sharp.
I sat up. The violet markings on my arm were glowing.
"No," I whispered.
My mother grabbed my hand. "Eren, what's happening?"
"I don't know."
Then the lights went out.
For a moment, everything was silent. The only sound was the rain outside and the distant screams from the streets below.
Then a red light appeared outside the window.
Not sunlight. Not fire. Something darker.
I pushed myself off the bed and walked to the window. My mother followed, her hand still clutching mine.
The sky was torn open.
A massive red crack had appeared above the city, stretching across the clouds like someone had ripped the world in two. Red energy bled from the wound, pulsing with a rhythm that made my chest ache.
My stomach dropped.
A Rift.
But this one was different. The energy pouring from it wasn't violet or black. It was crimson. Angry. Hungry.
"Eren."
The Voice whispered inside my head.
I froze. "Don't."
"You know what this is."
I looked at my mother. She was staring at the window, her face pale with terror. People were running through the streets below, their screams rising like a tide.
"I'll be back," I said.
She grabbed my arm. "Eren, where are you going?"
"I need to help."
"You're not a hero."
I met her eyes. "I know."
I pulled my arm free. "But I can't just stand here."
I ran.
Outside, the city was already falling into chaos.
Sirens screamed. Car horns blared. People crowded the streets, trying to get away from the red Rift above them. Some were praying. Some were crying. Some were just running, their faces blank with shock.
Then something fell from the Rift.
It hit the street hard enough to crack the pavement. The impact sent a shockwave through the ground, and I stumbled, barely keeping my footing.
A creature slowly rose from the crater.
It was enormous. Its body was covered in black armor-like growths, and red energy pulsed beneath its surface like veins of molten lava. Its eyes—if you could call them eyes—were pits of crimson fire.
Then another landed.
And another.
Five. Ten. More.
They weren't normal Riftspawn. I'd fought creatures before—the first one on the rooftop, the small one on patrol, the serpent in the Void. But these were different.
Bigger.
Stronger.
And they were looking directly at me.
One of them charged.
I barely moved before it reached me. I raised my arm, trying to summon the Void's energy—
CRACK.
Its attack sent me flying across the street. I crashed against a wall, the impact driving the breath from my lungs. Pain shot through my body, sharp and hot.
I struggled to stand. My ribs screamed. My vision swam.
"Okay," I muttered, wiping blood from my lip. "These things are strong."
"Finally."
The Voice's whisper was quiet, almost amused.
"Something worthy of me."
I clenched my fist. "I'm not letting you take control."
"You won't survive without me."
"I'll figure something out."
"Like you figured out the serpent?"
I froze.
"Like you figured out how to save Kael?"
"Shut up."
"Like you figured out how to protect your mother?"
I looked toward the hospital. My mother was still inside. The creatures were between me and her. I couldn't reach her. I couldn't—
The creature charged again.
I dodged. Barely. Its claws raked across my shoulder, tearing through my jacket and drawing blood. I stumbled, trying to put distance between us.
Another creature came from behind. I spun, raising my arm—
THUD.
I was thrown to the ground again. The impact rattled my skull, and for a moment, everything went white.
The Voice became quieter. Softer. Almost gentle.
"Let me fight."
"No."
"You're afraid of me."
"Yes."
"Good."
The creature attacked again. I tried to roll away, but I wasn't fast enough. Its clawed foot slammed into my chest, pinning me to the ground. I gasped, struggling to breathe.
"You aren't strong enough to protect her."
I looked toward the hospital. My mother. The person I'd just promised myself I'd protect.
My hand trembled.
"Fine."
I closed my eyes.
"Take over."
Everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing.
But something was different.
My right side felt strangely cold. The air around me seemed to hum with a dark energy, and my limbs moved with a fluid grace that wasn't mine.
I looked at my reflection in a broken window.
My right eye was glowing red.
Violet markings crawled across the right side of my face, spreading from my arm to my cheek like living veins. They pulsed with the same rhythm as the Rift above.
I smiled.
But it wasn't my smile.
The Voice had control.
"Finally," it whispered.
The creatures charged.
I raised my hand. Two black swords appeared in my grip, materializing from the darkness around me. The blades hummed with violet energy.
The first creature attacked.
I moved.
One strike. Clean and precise. The creature's armor shattered, and it dissolved into red ash.
Another came from behind. I turned, already swinging. Another strike. Another kill.
The creatures surrounded me, their red eyes blazing with fury.
The Voice laughed. It was a cold, hollow sound that echoed through the street.
"Come."
They attacked together. The Voice moved through them like water through rocks—effortless, untouchable. Every movement was perfect. Every strike was fatal. There was no hesitation. No fear. No wasted motion.
One by one, the Red Riftspawn fell.
And somewhere deep inside my own mind, I watched.
Unable to move.
Unable to speak.
Unable to stop it.
"What are you doing?" I shouted into the darkness of my own consciousness.
The Voice didn't answer.
I tried to take control. I pushed against it, fought against it, tried to force my body to obey me.
Nothing happened.
I pushed harder.
Still nothing.
The Voice simply laughed.
"Rest, Eren."
I watched helplessly as it turned toward the Rift.
Something larger was standing inside it—a creature unlike anything I'd ever seen. Its body was made of red light and shadow, its form constantly shifting. It had no face, no features, just a void of crimson energy that pulsed like a heartbeat.
The Rift Guard.
It stepped forward, and the ground shook beneath its weight.
The Voice smiled.
"Now this is interesting."
The Rift Guard attacked.
The Voice disappeared—not running, but moving. The two collided in the center of the Rift, their battle erupting in a storm of red and violet energy.
The fight was faster than anything I could follow. Blows echoed through the Rift like thunder. The ground shattered beneath them, chunks of reality breaking apart and reforming.
The Voice was smiling the entire time.
The Guard was strong. Very strong. For the first time, the Voice had to fight seriously. Its movements became more frantic, more desperate. It was pushed back, then forward, then sideways.
The battle continued.
Seconds became minutes.
Then I heard something outside.
Sirens. Engines. The Order had arrived.
Lyra jumped from the Hunter vehicle before it had completely stopped, her starlight blade already in her hand.
"Where's Eren?"
Zed landed beside her, lightning crackling at his fingertips. "Inside the Rift."
Hunters and Jokers spread across the street, weapons raised. Mira was there, her hands already glowing with healing energy. Even Kiran, the Larker, had come—his white eyes fixed on the Rift above.
Everyone stared at the battlefield.
But there was something wrong.
The Red Riftspawn were already dead.
All of them.
Lyra stared, her blade lowering slightly. "What happened here?"
Nobody answered.
Then the Rift shook.
Something flew out of it—a figure, tumbling through the air before landing in the street with a heavy thud.
Everyone looked.
Eren rose to his feet.
But something was wrong with him. His right eye was still red. The violet markings covered half his face, pulsing with dark energy. He was standing, but his posture wasn't his own.
Lyra's expression changed. "Eren?"
He looked at her.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then he raised his hand.
The markings on his arm blazed brighter. The red Rift behind him began to shrink, folding in on itself like a dying star. Energy poured from the Rift toward his palm, drawn into his body like water into a drain.
Zed's eyes widened. "He's absorbing it."
The Hunters stepped backward, weapons raised.
"What the hell is he doing?"
The Rift collapsed into Eren's hand, and the red light vanished.
Silence.
Eren lowered his arm. The markings slowly faded from his face, retreating beneath his skin. His right eye returned to normal.
His expression changed.
The cold smile vanished. Confusion replaced it.
"What...?"
His knees buckled.
Lyra rushed forward. "Eren!"
He caught himself against her shoulder, his breathing heavy and ragged. His body trembled.
"What happened?" he asked.
Lyra stared at him. "You defeated an 8.9 Rift. You absorbed it."
I blinked. "I did?"
Zed stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. "You don't remember?"
I shook my head. "No."
I looked at my hands. They were shaking, pale and weak.
"I remember the Rift opening." I paused. "I remember fighting those things."
Another pause.
"Then..." I looked at Lyra. "Nothing."
Nobody spoke.
Then I heard a voice.
Not inside my head this time. Right beside my ear.
"See ya."
My eyes widened.
Then the world went black.
I woke up somewhere dark.
There was no ground beneath me. No sky. No walls. Just endless, suffocating darkness.
I looked around. "Hello?"
My voice echoed, bouncing off nothing.
Then I saw someone standing ahead of me.
A silhouette.
Tall. Black. Its form shifted and rippled like smoke.
Two red eyes stared back at me.
I knew that voice. I knew it better than I wanted to.
"What are you?"
The figure tilted its head. Its movements were wrong—too smooth, too fluid.
"You already know."
"No."
"You just don't remember."
I stepped backward. "What did you do to my body?"
The figure smiled. Its face rippled, and for just a moment, I thought I saw something familiar in its shape. Something that looked almost like me.
"I protected your mother."
I froze. "You..."
"You gave me permission."
"I didn't give you permission to do all that!"
"You said: take over."
I had no answer.
The figure stepped closer. Its presence pressed against me like a physical weight.
"You wanted strength."
I clenched my fists. "I wanted to protect her."
"And I did."
The darkness began closing around me, pressing in from all sides. I felt it swallowing me, consuming me, pulling me deeper into the void.
I stared at the figure.
For the first time, I understood something terrifying.
The Voice wasn't trying to become me.
It didn't need to.
It could already use my body.
And if I kept needing its strength... if I kept calling on it when I was too weak to fight alone...
I might eventually stop being the one who decided when it happened.
The figure smiled.
"See you next time, Eren."
I woke up screaming.
I was back in the hospital bed.
The room was quiet. The lights were on. Outside the window, the sky was clear—no Rift, no red glow, just the pale grey of an overcast afternoon.
Lyar was asleep in the chair beside me, her hand still wrapped around mine.
I sat up slowly, wincing at the ache in my ribs.
My right eye felt strange. Not painful, just... different. Like there was something behind it, waiting.
I looked at my hand.
The violet markings were faint, almost invisible. But they were still there.
Still part of me.
I thought about the voice.
"See you next time, Eren."
I closed my eyes.
Outside the hospital, the red Rift was gone.
But high above the city, something else had opened.
A tiny crack. Almost invisible. So small that no one would notice it unless they were looking.
And from somewhere beyond it...
Something was watching.
Waiting.
To be continued...