The corrupted land stank of rot and ash.
What had once been a city was now nothing but crumbling ruins, black veins of corruption spreading across cracked pavement. Red mist hung in the air, thick enough to choke, carrying with it the growls and shrieks of the countless dead that prowled within.
"Damn it… this isn't what the scouts reported!" Kael roared, his fists glowing red as he smashed through another zombie, blood erupting like a crimson tide.
"They said one horde—this is five!" Liora's voice cracked, her necrotic energy flaring as skeletal vines erupted from the ground, tearing apart the creatures that lunged toward her. Her face was pale, her energy burning too fast.
Arin's shadow spread beneath them like a sea, blades of darkness cutting into the endless swarm. Sweat dripped down his temple. His body ached, his vision swam. No matter how many they killed, more came.
Something was wrong.
"This… this was never a mission!" Arin shouted, realization dawning as he pulled his friends closer, shadows forming a shield around them. "We've been set up!"
And then they saw him.
Their friend. The boy they had trusted since childhood, standing at the edge of the battlefield. Untouched. Smiling faintly as if the chaos around them was nothing more than entertainment.
"You…" Kael's voice was a growl. "You did this."
Their so-called ally shrugged, his eyes gleaming with hunger and ambition. "Don't look at me like that. You three were always… too close, too loyal to each other. Never understood the bigger picture. The Organization made me an offer I couldn't refuse. More strength. More status. And all I had to do was leave the door open for you."
The ground shook as the horde pressed closer. Their numbers were endless, drawn by the corrupted energy that spread like wildfire.
"Why?" Liora's voice broke, tears mixing with sweat and blood as she cut down another monster. "We trusted you!"
"For power," he said simply, eyes gleaming with madness. "For everything you were too weak to take for yourselves."
The three fought with everything they had, but exhaustion weighed them down. Their powers—low-ranked in the hierarchy of awakeners—were never meant for battles like this. Even their teamwork, honed through endless struggle, wasn't enough.
Claws sank into Kael's flesh. Teeth tore into Liora's arm. Arin screamed as shadows slipped from his control, his body collapsing under the swarm.
As they were dragged down, surrounded by a tide of death, their hands reached for each other, even as the horde consumed them.
In that moment, three voices whispered the same vow in unison:
If there is a chance to return…
We will not let this happen again.
We will protect each other. We will never trust betrayal again. And we will tear down the traitor and the organization that raised him.
Their blood mingled on the corrupted ground. Their eyes closed.
And the void opened.
---
A voice echoed in the darkness, heavy and ancient.
> "Three souls bound in loyalty. Broken, yet unyielding.
You are granted one chance—only one. Rise again."
Chains of light pierced the darkness, binding their souls together. Shadow, blood, and necrosis burned into their very being, no longer weak, no longer low-ranked.
They had been chosen.
And when their eyes opened again, they were back—ten days before the apocalypse began.
The world was still alive. Their betrayer was still their "friend." And the Organization still thrived in the shadows.
This time, they would not falter.
This time, they would sharpen their dark powers beyond all limits.
This time, they would write the end of betrayal with their own hands.