CHAPTER 1 — "The Weakest Hunter"
Arc 1 — The Last Weak Hunter The alley behind the Hunter Guild smelled of rain, rust, and humiliation—scents Jaden had grown used to breathing. He stood with his back against the cold brick wall as three junior hunters circled him, laughing as if beating him was a tradition they were obligated to uphold. The weakest hunter in the city didn't deserve dignity. Only bruises.
"Come on, Jaden. You can at least pretend to block," one taunted, shoving him hard in the ribs.
Jaden didn't lift his hands. Not because he was pathetic—though that's what everyone said—but because experience had taught him that trying to fight back only made things worse. He exhaled slowly, watching steam drift from his lips into the chill night air. His body ached in familiar rhythms. His heart, however, hurt in ways he couldn't name.
He wasn't supposed to be here. Weak hunters died. They weren't meant to survive long enough to feel hopeless.
Another punch rattled his jaw, sending him to the ground. The world tilted, shadows swimming around him. As he blinked through the blur, footsteps approached—not heavy, not mocking. Soft.
Lisa knelt beside him, her long hair brushing against his cheek as she gently touched the bruise forming beneath his eye. "Jaden… why didn't you call me?"
Her voice wasn't pitying. It was warm, steady—like she believed he was someone worth saving despite all evidence pointing otherwise.
Jaden swallowed the shame rising in his throat. "…Didn't want you to worry."
She frowned. "You always say that."
He didn't answer. What could he say? That every day felt like he was drowning? That every dungeon raid pushed him closer to death? That he had no worth, no power, no future?
That something inside him felt wrong, like a phantom weight pressing behind his ribs, whispering that he was meant for something he didn't understand?
Lisa extended her hand. "Let's go home. You need to rest before tomorrow's Glitchspawn assignment."
He hesitated. Tomorrow's raid meant more humiliation. More danger. More reminders that he was disposable.
But he took her hand anyway.
As she helped him stand, the wind shifted. A faint metallic scent brushed past his senses—ozone and iron—the same smell he had dreamed of since childhood, though he never understood why. It made his skin crawl. His heart throbbed.
Something deep within him stirred.
Something ancient.
Something dangerous.
Unseen by either of them, a single ember flickered to life beneath Jaden's skin—one born on a cosmic battlefield thousands of years ago.
Its first heartbeat whispered:
"Soon."
CHAPTER 2 — "Guild Dogs"
The Hunter Guild cafeteria buzzed with a static tension Jaden could feel in his bones long before he stepped inside. Hunters ate loudly, bragged loudly, and judged even louder. He kept his eyes down, shoulders small, weaving between tables as if he could hide inside the cracks of the floor. It didn't matter; whispers trailed him like smoke.
"That's the failure from Sector 12."
"Why do they even keep him alive?"
"He drags every party down."
Each word landed like a tap on glass, building toward the pressure point where glass becomes fracture. Jaden forced his expression to remain blank. He'd learned young that reacting only encouraged them.
He collected two trays—one for himself and one for Lisa, who was running late—and sat in the corner where shadows softened the edges of the room. He barely had time to exhale before a hand slammed onto his table.
Three hunters towered over him. Not the ones from last night—different faces, same cruelty.
"You're in our spot," one said.
Jaden stood immediately, lifting his tray without a word. The man smirked, satisfied by the obedience. As Jaden turned, someone stuck a foot out. He tripped forward, food spilling across the floor in a splatter of broth and rice.
Laughter exploded across the hall.
Jaden tightened his grip on the empty tray. No anger. Just a cold numbness filling the space where anger should've been.
Lisa arrived seconds later, eyes widening as she took in the scene. "Jaden—"
"It's fine," he muttered.
But she knelt beside him, helping pick up the tray. "No, it's not."
Her voice trembled—not with fear, but with a sadness Jaden couldn't understand. He wished she would stop looking at him like that. Like he deserved better.
The cafeteria doors opened. A Guild official stepped in, scanning the crowd.
"Sector 12 raid crew to briefing. Glitchspawn nest confirmed."
Jaden felt the weight of those words like the edge of a cliff beneath his feet.
Tomorrow was no longer the danger.
Today was.
⸻
CHAPTER 3 — "The Assignment"
The briefing hall was dim, lit only by the holographic map floating above the table. Glitchspawn flickered across the image—distorted limbs, static black flesh, jaws that opened like broken code lines.
Sector 12's captain, Varron, pointed at the largest nest. "This one has multiplied. Reports say the air smells like ozone and iron—classic precursor to a hive emergence."
Jaden's breath caught.
That scent again.
Varron continued. "We'll send a scouting team first. Weak hunters go in to assess danger."
A murmur rippled across the room. Weak hunters. Everyone knew who that meant.
Jaden kept his face neutral.
Varron didn't have to say the name. Everyone turned toward him anyway.
Lisa stepped forward, her tone sharp. "He shouldn't go alone."
A few hunters snickered. Varron raised a brow. "Unless you're volunteering to babysit?"
Lisa didn't flinch. "I'm volunteering to keep the team alive."
Her defiance shocked the room into silence.
Varron shrugged. "Fine. You two go in first."
Jaden looked at her. "Lisa… you shouldn't—"
"You're not dying today," she said, voice firm. "Not while I'm with you."
Before he could reply, the holographic map flickered violently. Lines of code surged across the display—red, corrupted, alive. The Glitchspawn icons pulsed, and the room dimmed as if something were feeding on the electricity.
Varron slammed the console. "Damn equipment—someone reset it."
But Jaden didn't move.
Because in the middle of that static…
…a whisper brushed his mind.
Not a word.
A presence.
A pulse.
A memory not his own.
Soon.
⸻
CHAPTER 4 — "The Walk to Sector 12"
Dusk painted the streets in fading gold as Jaden and Lisa made their way toward the abandoned industrial zone marking the entrance to Sector 12. Machines lay rusted, their gears frozen mid-motion like corpses in metal graves. Every step echoed.
"You're shaking," Lisa said without looking at him.
"I'm fine."
"You're not."
Jaden exhaled, breath clouding in the cold. "I shouldn't be a hunter."
"You shouldn't be alone," she corrected. "Big difference."
He didn't answer, but her words lingered like warmth against his ribs.
As they approached the fence marking the restricted zone, the air shifted. The metallic scent—ozone and iron—grew stronger, burning the back of Jaden's throat. His skin tingled, hairs rising along his arms.
Lisa noticed. "That smell… Jaden?"
He swallowed hard. "I… don't know. But it feels… familiar."
They stepped through the torn fence.
Something moved in the darkness.
And for the first time in years, Jaden felt fear that wasn't directed at himself.
It was directed at the thing watching them.
⸻
CHAPTER 5 — "The First Glitchspawn"
The creature emerged in a twitching blur—static wrapped around a skeletal frame, limbs bending at impossible angles. Its face split open with a sound like a radio tuning through screams.
Lisa drew her blade.
Jaden froze.
His body wouldn't move.
His mind screamed Run, but his legs were anchored by memories of every failure, every beating, every mission where he barely survived.
The Glitchspawn lunged.
Lisa intercepted it mid-air, steel meeting corrupt flesh in a burst of sparks. "Jaden! Move!"
He forced himself forward—one step, then another—gripping his knife with trembling fingers.
The creature screeched and twisted toward him.
Jaden stabbed.
The blade barely pierced.
The Glitchspawn's claws slashed across his shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground. Pain surged through him, white and hot.
But underneath the pain…
That ember inside him pulsed.
Not yet, it whispered.
Lisa struck again, severing the creature's head with a single precise slash. The body collapsed, dissolving into pixels and ash.
She knelt beside him. "Hold on!"
Jaden stared at the dissolving corpse, heart racing, breath sharp.
"What… was that?" he gasped.
Lisa looked at him with worry. "Something stronger than anything we were told."
Jaden clenched his shaking hands.
Why did the creature retreat from him for a moment? Why did it hesitate—like it recognized something in him?
Something buried.
Something ancient.
⸻
CHAPTER 6 — "Deeper into the Dark"
Wounds bandaged, nerves frayed, Jaden and Lisa moved deeper into the industrial ruins. Every shadow twitched. Every flicker of light glowed wrong.
The metallic scent grew thicker.
Lisa whispered, "This isn't a normal nest."
Jaden nodded, but his thoughts were spiraling.
Something inside him responded to the corruption—not with fear, but with… hunger? Recognition? Like an instinct older than memory.
They descended into the underground tunnel network.
Glyphs carved into the walls pulsed faintly, glowing with static-red lines, not human-made. Jaden touched one. It burned cold. A vision flashed—an ancient throne, a hand reaching, flame collapsing—in a single instant.
He recoiled, gasping.
"Jaden?" Lisa grabbed his arm. "What happened?"
"I… saw something."
"What?"
"I don't know."
She squeezed his arm. "Stay close."
He did.
Not because he was afraid of the dark.
Because he was afraid of what was waking inside him.
⸻
CHAPTER 7 — "The Whisper in the Static"
The tunnel opened into a circular chamber—cracked walls, shattered machinery, Glitchspawn corpses torn apart by something far stronger than hunters.
Lisa crouched beside one. "These wounds… something else killed them."
Jaden swallowed. "Something bigger?"
"Something intelligent."
Static crackled through the chamber, swirling like a storm. Jaden pressed a hand to his chest.
The ember inside him throbbed.
The static formed a shape.
A silhouette.
A figure with burning eyes.
A voice—deeper than thought—whispered directly into his skull:
"Monarch."
Jaden fell to one knee, breath stolen from his lungs. The chamber blurred, reality fracturing like glass.
Lisa grabbed him. "Jaden! Hey—look at me!"
But the figure stepped closer.
Reality peeled back.
And in the static glow, he saw a throne of obsidian flame.
He saw a hand reaching toward him—
—his own hand.
The static shattered.
Jaden gasped, collapsing. Sweat dripped down his face. Lisa held him upright, concern burning in her eyes.
"What did you see?"
He trembled. "I… I don't know. But it felt like… me."
⸻
CHAPTER 8 — "The Emergence"
The ground trembled.
Lisa pulled Jaden back just as something massive tore through the far wall, debris exploding outward. The Glitchspawn Hive Mother emerged—towering, multi-limbed, body cracking with white code-light.
This wasn't a scouting mission.
It was a death sentence.
Lisa whispered, "Jaden… run."
But the Hive Mother's gaze locked onto him.
Not Lisa.
Not the room.
Him.
Its mandibles clicked rhythmically—almost reverently.
Like it was kneeling before a king.
Lisa didn't understand.
Jaden didn't understand.
The Hive Mother screeched and lunged—not at him, but around him—slashing at Lisa instead.
Jaden screamed, "NO!"
His body moved before thought. He grabbed Lisa, dragging her back as claws tore into the concrete.
The Hive Mother roared.
Jaden felt that ember inside him ignite—just once, just enough to burn the edges of his vision red.
Protect her.
Just that thought.
Just that spark.
The Hive Mother recoiled, shrieking as if scorched.
Jaden panted, wide-eyed.
Lisa whispered, "What did you… do?"
He had no answer.
⸻
CHAPTER 9 — "The Collapse"
The chamber groaned under the Hive Mother's rage. Pipes burst, steam hissing. The floor cracked, chunks dropping into darkness.
"We need to get out NOW!" Lisa shouted.
She pulled Jaden toward the exit, but the Hive Mother blocked their escape, smashing the tunnel shut with its limbs.
Lisa raised her blade.
Jaden stepped forward.
"Jaden—what are you doing?!"
He didn't know.
He couldn't explain the pull in his chest, the fire crawling beneath his skin, the instinct whispering stand. The Hive Mother bowed its head for a moment, as if sensing the lingering bloodline he didn't know he carried.
Then it attacked.
Jaden shoved Lisa aside, taking the blow himself. Pain exploded through his body, ribs cracking.
He collapsed.
The Hive Mother reared its claws for the killing strike.
Lisa screamed his name.
The ember inside him flared violently.
Red light burst from beneath Jaden's skin—brief, blinding—and the Hive Mother staggered back, shrieking in agony.
Lisa stared in horror and awe.
"Jaden… your eyes…"
They glowed.
For one second, they glowed with ancient Aethelian fire.
Then he collapsed unconscious.
⸻
CHAPTER 10 — "The First Awakening"
Jaden drifted through darkness.
Not the cold darkness of unconsciousness.
The heavy, molten-dark of a memory not his own.
He saw a throne made of shadow-flame.
He saw the silhouette of a king kneeling.
He saw the end of a world.
A voice—not human—spoke:
"You are not ready."
Another voice—softer—followed:
"But I am with you."
His heart clenched. He didn't recognize the second voice, yet it felt like coming home.
Light cracked the darkness.
Jaden gasped awake.
He lay in a medical tent at the edge of Sector 12's border. Lisa sat beside him, her hands trembling though she tried to hide it.
"You… scared me," she whispered.
Jaden tried to sit up. Pain shot through him. "Did we… make it out?"
"You did," she said softly. "You saved us both."
He blinked. "I saved—?"
She nodded, eyes unwavering. "I don't know what happened in that cave… but something inside you woke up."
Jaden swallowed hard.
The ember inside him pulsed once.
Slow.
Steady.
Alive.
Lisa took his hand. "Rest. Tomorrow we report to the Guild… and we figure out what's happening to you."
Jaden closed his eyes.
He didn't know it yet, but today was the beginning.
The beginning of the path that would break him, remake him, destroy worlds, resurrect them, dethrone fate, and crown him in fire.
For now, he only knew one thing:
He was no longer the weakest hunter.
Something inside him had changed.
And the world had felt it.
CHAPTER 11 — "Ozone and Iron"
Midnight fog crawled along the ruined outskirts of Sector 12 like something alive, coiling between broken lampposts and rusted machinery. Jaden followed Lisa through the fog, every footstep echoing too loudly. His shoulder still throbbed from yesterday's injury, but the Guild had given them no rest.
Sector 12 had become a priority target overnight.
Why?
Because the scent was everywhere.
The cocktail of ozone and iron—metallic, sharp, electrifying—hung thick in the air, burning Jaden's lungs with each breath. It wasn't the smell of a normal nest. It was an omen.
Lisa slowed, frowning. "It's stronger than yesterday."
Jaden nodded, but the sensation clawing at his chest made it hard to speak. The smell didn't just bother him—it pulled at him, tugged at something buried deep beneath skin and memory.
As they approached a collapsed overpass, Jaden felt the ground hum faintly beneath his boots.
Not normal.
Not safe.
Not human.
Lisa turned. "Jaden… you're pale."
He wiped sweat from his forehead though the night was cold. "Just… dizzy."
She studied him carefully. "If you can't continue—"
"I can," he said quickly.
Because he had to. Because something inside him whispered that walking away wasn't an option.
He took another step.
The earth beneath him cracked.
A ripple of static surged up his spine.
He froze—not from fear, but from a strange, ancient familiarity.
The scent thickened until he tasted metal on his tongue.
And beneath the surface of consciousness, something whispered—
"Closer."
CHAPTER 12 — "Guild Shadows"
High above them, unseen on the ridge of a ruined building, a figure watched through fractured goggles—Kane, the Architect in human skin, observing Jaden with the curiosity one reserves for a dangerous experiment.
"Early flickers," he murmured. "Interesting."
He adjusted a small crystalline device. It glowed red, syncing with the air's ozone patterns.
"Subject's Aethelian spark is responding faster than predicted."
Lightning danced along the device.
"Good."
He slipped back into the shadows, leaving no footprint.
Below, Jaden felt a cold wave of dread despite seeing nothing.
Lisa noticed. "What's wrong?"
"…Someone's watching," he whispered.
She drew closer to him instinctively. "Where?"
He shook his head. "I… don't know."
The truth was worse:
He felt the gaze, not with instinct or training, but with something nonhuman rising inside him.
Something older.
Something waking.
CHAPTER 13 — "The Nest Breaths"
The tunnel they entered tonight was deeper than before, carved by something with intelligence—not chaotic tearing like normal Glitchspawn, but deliberate architecture. The walls pulsed faintly with code-veins, red and white static branching like nerves.
Lisa whispered, "This nest is evolving."
Jaden swallowed. "Or… being changed."
Every step deeper tightened the pressure around his skull. The air hummed, vibrating against bone. His hands shook.
Lisa noticed. "Jaden—"
"I'm fine."
"You're not."
He opened his mouth to argue, but the tunnel shifted—lights flickered, shadows lengthened, and for a moment the world blurred into a vision:
A throne of obsidian flame.
A dying cosmos.
Hands reaching toward him.
Jaden staggered.
Lisa grabbed him. "Stay with me, Jaden!"
The vision broke. Reality snapped back.
He gasped. "Something's waking up in here."
Lisa tightened her grip on her blade. "Then we kill it before it kills us."
But Jaden wasn't sure the threat was something they could kill.
He wasn't even sure it was external.
CHAPTER 14 — "Static Sermon"
They entered the core chamber.
The scent of ozone and iron thickened into a suffocating cloud. The air crackled with static so dense it felt like walking through invisible thorns.
And in the center of the room…
A pulsing mass of glitch-flesh hung from the ceiling like a cocoon.
Not one.
Three.
Lisa whispered, "A tri-nest…"
Jaden stared, stomach twisting. "What does that mean?"
"That something very wrong is happening."
The cocoons trembled.
Static rained from them like dust.
The nearest cocoon bulged—
—and broke open with a wet crack.
A creature crawled out, body warped by red static, its mouth opening in a scream that sounded like broken radio waves.
Another.
Then another.
Three Glitchspawn dropped from the ceiling…
…and all three turned toward Jaden.
Not Lisa.
Not the room.
Jaden.
Lisa stepped in front of him. "Stay behind me!"
But the creatures bowed their heads.
A gesture of—
Reverence.
Submission.
Recognition.
A cold shiver crawled up Jaden's spine.
Lisa whispered, "Jaden… why are they bowing?"
He had no answer.
The creatures rose.
And attacked.
CHAPTER 15 — "The Hunt Burns"
The first Glitchspawn lunged at Lisa; she intercepted it with a blur of steel, slicing through its arm. The creature shrieked wildly, blood spilling in corrupted pixels.
Jaden dodged another swipe, barely keeping his footing. His heart pounded with fear and a strange heat building in his chest.
The third Glitchspawn circled him—not attacking, but watching, evaluating.
Jaden felt exposed. He raised his knife, hands trembling.
Lisa shouted, "Jaden, move!"
He ducked just in time as two creatures collided above him, their claws sparking off each other. They weren't fighting Lisa.
They were fighting over him.
Jaden's mind raced.
Why?
Why him?
Why recognize him?
The one circling him screeched, mandibles opening wide as static surged toward him.
Jaden froze—
—until Lisa slammed into the creature from behind, slicing through its spine in one brutal strike.
"Jaden! Get up!"
He stumbled to his feet.
The remaining creatures screeched and charged them both together.
Jaden's pulse spiked.
And somewhere inside him—
The ember burned brighter.
CHAPTER 16 — "Heartbeat of the System"
The battle blurred into chaos. Lisa fought like a storm—precise, deadly, relentless—yet even she strained under the weight of two Glitchspawn attacking in unison.
Jaden backed against the wall, breathing hard, panic squeezing his ribs.
One Glitchspawn leapt at him.
Claws outstretched.
Jaden raised his knife—
—but something inside him cracked open.
A pulse of red light erupted from his chest.
Time slowed.
The Glitchspawn's body hung mid-air, frozen in static.
Lisa froze.
The entire chamber froze.
Except Jaden.
A voice—cold, genderless, absolute—spoke from the center of his soul:
" Welcome, Monarch. "
His vision burst with symbols he didn't understand—codes, flames, memories that weren't his own, names he didn't recognize, faces dying on a battlefield he had never walked.
His body dropped to one knee.
The voice continued:
" System initializing… "
" User: Aethelian Remnant. "
" Bloodline match: 0.4%. Awakening unstable. "
Jaden gasped. "W-what—what is this?!"
The voice ignored him:
" Directive: Survive. "
Time snapped back.
The Glitchspawn lunged.
Jaden moved faster than he ever had in his life—blade slashing upward, carving through the creature's jaw. The creature shrieked and collapsed.
Lisa stared at him, stunned. "Jaden… your eyes—"
They glowed again.
Bright, burning red.
Then the glow faded as quickly as it came.
Jaden collapsed to one knee, panting.
The System whispered:
" This is only the beginning. "