~Aragane Station~
Shrrkk
The air above 's outer wall split open. A vertical slice tore reality itself before it widened further with a low, resonant hum.
From out of the fissure stepped a handsome young man, medium build, medium brown skin.
His dark, slightly tousled hair framed his sharp eyes, and his attire—dark fabric with gold-lattice patterns, a high-collared jacket, and draping sash—gave him the aura of someone out of place in this world.
Immediately, the fissure began knitting itself back together, the air smoothing until only silence remained.
"…Hm." His eyes swept the area. "A wall? I see."
From his vantage point high above, the young man flouted above in the sky of Aragane Station.
Below, he saw steam pipes hissing faintly and workers maintaining the tracks where trains passed through.
Citizens bustled through the courtyards within, their voices carrying faintly on the wind.
Soldiers patrolled with rifles at the ready, unaware of his sudden arrival.
He tilted his head slightly. "So… this world is steampunk? Kinda bleak… the air smells rotten."
For a brief moment, his eyes narrowed, scanning the distance.
The sun was lowering, casting the station in orange light.
He turned his attention towards the land outside of the walls and what he saw was astonishing.
Thousands on top of thousands of zombie-like creatures with dark skin and yellow veins.
"Zombies? No wonder the air stinks… but they don't lion like the conventional zombies I know."
From his knowledge, zombies tend to have decomposing skin and give off pitiful aura.
But these ones look more like demons with their glowy eyes and twisted bodies.
Hell, taking a closer look at where their heart is supposed to be, there is a glowing caged heart quite visible through the chest surrounded by a metallic membrane.
'I'll have to study that later… but I wonder though… will a holy sword work?' He thought.
Since they look demonic in appearance, they might just be actual demons. And anything holy works best against dark forces.
*Bang-Ting*
"Hm?"
The young man felt something like a mosquito bite that brought out of his thoughts along with the sound of a gun firing.
The man's gaze drifted down, settling on the cluster of soldiers lined along the battlements.
Their rifles were raised, barrels trembling as they trained upward toward him.
Smoke still could be seen faintly from the muzzle of the first shot, and their wide eyes showing a fear that bordered on disbelief.
He is currently hovering in mid air, 100+ meters above the walls so they most likely saw him from a while ago.
One soldier swallowed hard seeing that his companions' gunshot had no effect, voice breaking as he shouted up.
"Wh-Who are you!?"
Another staggered back a step, the weight of his rifle nearly slipping from his grip. "He's floating—he's just standing in the air…!"
The youngest among them glanced nervously at the others, his face drained of color. "What kind of Kabane do you think he is…? Kabane don't fly… do they?"
Their mutters spread like wildfire, panic simmering beneath their breath.
Words like monster, demon, and abomination whispered from one soldier to the next.
None dared to lower their weapon, but their fear was palpable—their voices cracked, their hands shook, and beads of sweat rolled down their temples despite the cool evening air.
Finally, a grizzled veteran found his tongue, though even his voice wavered. "You… up there! What are you? Kabane?"
The young man tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable.
He could see their terror as clearly as the setting sun's glow on the iron walls.
Their confusion was natural; to them, Kabane were horrors born of blood and plague, things that rushed, clawed, and bit—but never once did they show the ability to fly.
"…Interesting," he murmured under his breath, his sharp eyes narrowing with faint amusement.
'So those demonic creatures are kabane… noted.'
"My name's Kaelis Valeblade," he called down, his tone calm, like he was introducing himself at a dinner table rather than hovering over armed soldiers.
He floated down slowly, boots tapping lightly against the stone of the outer wall.
Instantly, rifles clicked as they were raised again. Kaelis lifted his hands slightly in a nonchalant gesture.
"Easy, easy. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't be talking right now, yeah?"
The men glanced at one another nervously, but as Kaelis stepped closer they noticed something—his skin was normal.
Other than his skin color. Not pale and rotted, not glowing with infected veins, no burning heart trapped in iron.
Definitely not a Kabane.
Their stances eased, though the barrels of their rifles never quite lowered all the way.
Kaelis tilted his head toward the horde outside the wall. "So… those things. Ugly lot. What are they?"
The youngest soldier blinked, caught off guard. "…You're kidding, right? You don't know?"
"First time seeing them," Kaelis said casually, like he was admitting he hadn't tried the local food yet.
"I've seen plenty of… let's say zombies… before. But these guys? Glowing veins, fire in their chest cages? Not exactly your standard walking corpse."
The older veteran squinted at him suspiciously.
"Everyone knows about the Kabanes. They've wiped out towns, cities… hell, the whole country outside these walls. How the hell have you never heard of them?"
Kaelis gave a small shrug, an easy smile tugging at his lips. "Guess I've been living under a rock. Or maybe just… really far away."
He leaned against the battlement rail casually, like they weren't all pointing guns at him.
"Either way, first time for me. So. Kabane, huh? Thanks for the lesson."
The soldiers exchanged uneasy looks between each other again.
He wasn't acting like a Kabane, that much was obvious.
He wasn't even acting like a normal man would when faced with guns.
Instead, he just seemed… curious. Like someone who had wandered into the wrong place but was genuinely interested in learning.
"So," Kaelis asked, eyes glinting with curiosity as he looked back toward the horde, "how do you kill one?"
Chapter 1 end