The air trembled.
A low hum rippled through the clouds, vibrating in Ryo's chest like the beat of a god's heart.
"Gate frequency rising beyond limit!" shouted someone over the communicator.
Alarms screamed through the ruined streets of Valen City as the purple sky cracked open like shattered glass.
Ryo tightened his grip on his practice spear. Sweat slid down his neck as he watched the massive vortex bloom above the city — a Gate that pulsed gold and violet, far stronger than any they'd trained for.
"This was supposed to be a Rank-C Gate…" he whispered. "Why is it—"
"Ryo!"
Captain Aiden's voice broke his thoughts. The older student's armor gleamed with a fading Crest mark. "Focus! The evacuation team needs time. Hold formation!"
Ryo nodded, though his heart felt hollow.
The team fanned out — six students from Eldenreach Academy, barely out of training, armed with beginner Crests and trembling hope.
He was the weakest among them, a "Zero-Crest," the academy's lowest possible rating.
But he didn't want to be left behind again. Not this time.
---
BOOM!
The ground erupted. A massive claw burst through the pavement, dripping molten light. The creature that followed was wrong — all jagged limbs and shadows that moved like smoke. Its very presence bent the air.
> [Gate Entity Detected: Type Unknown.]
[Power Ranking: Unreadable.]
The message flickered across their visors — system data provided by the academy's scanning magic.
Ryo froze.
> "Unreadable?"
Captain Aiden cursed. "Everyone, fall back! It's not a normal Gate!"
The beast's roar tore the air apart. The shockwave hurled cars, dust, and bodies in every direction. Ryo slammed into a wall, his breath leaving him in a painful gasp. He forced himself up, vision blurred, ears ringing.
Through the haze, he saw Aiden charge forward — Crest blazing.
> "Solar Crest: Flare Drive!"
A blinding arc of light cut across the monster's chest — and did nothing.
Aiden turned just long enough to shout something — a word Ryo couldn't hear — before the monster's claw came down.
And the captain was gone.
---
"Captain!"
Ryo stumbled forward, voice cracking. The others screamed. Their Crests flared one after another — desperate magic, desperate courage — but one by one, their light went out.
Until he was the last.
Ryo dropped to his knees among the rubble.
Blood and ash painted his hands.
> "No… this can't be real…"
The Gate's hum grew louder, its cracks glowing with blinding gold. The entire world seemed to melt.
> "If only… I had power…"
"If only I wasn't so weak…"
The ground beneath him split.
---
A light broke through the dust — faint at first, then radiant, divine. The rubble around him lifted as if gravity had forgotten its purpose.
And from beneath the shattered earth…
An eye opened.
Massive. Golden. Unblinking.
It watched him — not with cruelty, but curiosity.
A voice echoed in his soul.
> "Do you seek strength, mortal?"
Ryo's breath hitched. "Wh—who's there?"
> "Your body is weak. Your soul… untested. Yet your will refuses to fade."
A silhouette rose from the light — humanoid, but made of flame and starlight. Wings of luminous glass unfurled behind it, each feather humming with divine power.
> "I am Lumina, the Guardian of the First Light."
"Long have I slept beneath the Gates. You, child… you have touched my prison with your despair."
Ryo trembled. His heart screamed for his fallen friends, for every time he'd been told he was worthless.
But his lips moved on instinct.
> "If I accept… if I take your power… can I stop this?"
The Guardian tilted her head.
> "Power is never free. A Pact binds us until your soul burns out."
Ryo clenched his fists. "Then let it burn."
The Guardian smiled — a serene, impossible smile.
> "So be it."
Light swallowed him whole.
---
> [SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[Divine Core: ACTIVE]
[The Luminary Pact Has Been Formed.]
[Welcome, Pactbearer.]
Pain surged through Ryo's veins like molten fire. Every nerve screamed. His Crest burned — and then shattered, replaced by golden runes that spiraled across his skin.
His mind flooded with visions — stars dying, gods falling, worlds erased and reborn.
> "Climb the 99 Gates," Lumina's voice whispered. "And ascend beyond mortality."
Ryo screamed — and the Gate screamed back.
A pillar of golden light shot into the sky, swallowing the monster whole. The Gate collapsed inward, folding into nothing, leaving only silence and ash.
And Ryo, kneeling, eyes glowing like twin suns.
---
When he awoke, the city was gone. Only white dust remained — the remains of the Gate, of everything it devoured.
He stood shakily, the golden runes still faintly glowing on his hands.
> "What… happened?"
The air was silent. His visor flickered with corrupted data. Only one message remained:
> [Team Nine: Status — Deceased.]
[Sole Survivor: Ryo Kaelith.]
Ryo closed his eyes. The world had ended once, and he had survived.
> "Then I'll climb them all," he whispered.
"For them."
---
That night, far above the sky, in realms unseen, the sealed Guardians stirred.
> "The last Pactbearer has awakened…"
---
End of Chapter 1
Next Chapter: The Academy of Shadows — Ryo's Return.