Night hung over Crescent City like a heavy curtain silent, cold, watching.
But the world was no longer the same.
People weren't sleeping.
They were trembling.
Because day by day…
more humans awakened powers.
Not gradually
Not randomly
But explosively.
As if someone flipped a switch inside the blood of the entire world.
Hospitals overflowed.
Streets flickered with strange light.
People lifted cars without touching them.
Some cried.
Some laughed.
Some went mad.
And in the middle of it
Rei stood on the rooftop of the abandoned academy, staring at his hands.
Blue rift energy shimmered under his skin, brighter than before.
He could feel it pulsing, tightening, expanding.
Like something inside him was evolving without permission.
He closed his eyes.
"Azeroth…
What did you do to this world?"
But he got no answer.
Only a low breeze passing over the roof tiles.
Steps echo behind him.
Aira approached quietly, a soft glow under her fingertips.
Her Moon-herald mark had started reacting to the global awakening.
"Rei… it's getting worse," she whispered.
He turned to her.
Her eyes reflected worry, but not fear she had long stood beside him even in pain.
"What happened now?" Rei asked.
Aira bit her lip.
"Twelve more awakened today…
and three lost control."
Rei inhaled sharply.
"Casualties?"
She nodded slowly.
"Two injured.
One… died."
Rei clenched his fists so tight blood traced down his palm.
Aira stepped closer.
"You're blaming yourself again, aren't you?"
Rei didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at the horizon, where smoke curled from a distant district.
"This is connected to me," he murmured.
"Everywhere I go, everything I awaken… it spreads. Like a chain reaction."
Aira placed her hand on his back.
"You didn't cause this. Azeroth did."
Rei turned his head slightly.
"No.
Azeroth accelerated it…
but something else started it."
Aira froze.
"What do you mean?"
Rei's voice dropped.
"My father said this world once had five forbidden clans. Five cores. Five pillars that held balance."
"Five?" Aira repeated.
Rei nodded.
"And when those five crumbled, the world was doomed to collapse. Unless someone connected all fallen marks."
Aira's breath hitched.
"You mean"
Rei looked at his hands again.
"Yeah. My existence is tied to all of them."
---
🔥 Downstairs – Ryouma's Discovery
Rei's father, Ryouma, sat among ancient scrolls scattered across the abandoned classroom.
His hands trembled not from fear, but from realization.
"The awakening…
The timing…
The signatures…"
He picked up a burnt scroll from the Moon-Herald archives.
Aira's mother once guarded it.
Inside was a seal—broken now.
A seal that should NEVER break.
Ryouma whispered:
"Rei…
This isn't a natural awakening."
He found another scroll cracked, leaking black aura.
This one belonged to the Nightbringer Clan—one of the ancient villain clans.
Ryouma's voice shook.
"Someone broke the Five Pillar seals."
He staggered back.
"Someone… or something."
And there was only one person strong enough.
Azeroth Nightveil.
But why?
Why break the seals that kept the world stable?
Unless…
Ryouma's face went pale.
"No…
It can't be that.
He wouldn't risk resetting the entire world—would he?"
---
🔥 Back on the Rooftop
Aira turned to Rei.
"You think these awakenings are the start of something bigger?"
Rei's voice was low.
"I feel it. Like pulse waves under the earth.
Whenever a new awakened appears…
my mark responds."
He lifted his shirt slightly.
The Riftborn seal glowed earlier it was faint, but now it beat like a second heart.
Aira touched it softly.
Warm.
Alive.
"Rei… you're changing.
Every day."
He swallowed.
"I know."
Aira gave him a sad smile.
"Are you scared?"
Rei exhaled.
"No.
But I'm scared of what I might become."
His voice cracked slightly.
"And I'm scared of hurting you."
Aira's eyes softened.
"You won't."
Rei looked away.
"You don't know that."
"I do," she whispered.
Then she stepped closer.
Her hand rose to his cheek.
"You always blame yourself.
Always carry everything.
But you're not alone.
Not anymore."
Rei's heart thudded faint but real.
The moonlight softened Aira's features, making her look almost unreal.
"Aira…"
"Yes?"
He hesitated.
"…thank you."
She smiled gently.
---
🔥 The Sky Cracks
A loud crack shook the rooftop.
Rei instantly moved Aira behind him.
The air rippled
like reality itself resisted something trying to enter.
Rei's eyes sharpened.
"Is it him?"
Aira clenched his sleeve.
"I I don't know."
Another crack.
The sky tore open
not like Azeroth's rift, not smooth and elegant.
This one was violent.
Raw.
Like someone was forcing open a door they weren't meant to touch.
Then…
A figure slowly stepped out.
A hooded silhouette.
Tall.
Broad.
Aura dripping like molten iron.
Rei's eyes narrowed.
"That's not Azeroth."
The figure raised his head.
Two glowing crimson eyes pierced the shadows.
Aira gasped.
"Rei… his aura is worse… way worse."
The figure descended slowly.
When he landed, the rooftop cracked under his feet.
He stared at Rei.
"You're the Riftborn," the man said, voice rough, broken, ancient.
Rei didn't move.
"And who are you?"
The figure pulled back his hood.
A scarred face.
Silver hair.
Dark tattoos spiraling across his neck.
He smirked.
"I'm one of the Five."
Aira froze.
"One of… the Pillars?"
The man nodded.
"The world is awakening because our seals fell.
Because the balance is broken.
Because the Prime interfered."
Rei clenched his fists.
"Where are the other four?"
The man smiled darkly.
"Scattered. Hidden. Dying.
Waiting for the final war."
Rei stepped forward.
"Tell me everything."
The man raised a hand.
"Not today.
You're not ready."
Rei's mark flared.
"Then make me ready."
The man chuckled.
"Bold. But reckless."
He turned away.
"The world is falling, Riftborn.
And soon… you'll face the first true villain."
Aira tightened her grip.
"First? Out of how many?"
The man looked back.
"Five.
The original devourers.
Those who once burned the sky."
He walked toward the edge.
"And when you meet the last one…
you'll learn why this world is cursed."
Rei took a step.
"Wait!"
But the man vanished in a burst of static.
Leaving only one thing behind:
A stone tablet.
Rei picked it up.
Engraved on it
"THE ERA OF THE FALLEN FIVE BEGINS."
Rei swallowed.
"Aira…
It's starting."
Aira whispered:
"Rei… what are we going to do?"
Rei looked at the cracked horizon.
His eyes hardened.
"We're going to build a team.
A real team."
He clenched the stone.
"And we're going to hunt every villain who threatens this world."
Aira stepped beside him.
"With me?"
Rei nodded.
"With you."
The wind howled around them, carrying the scent of an incoming war.
The war of the Fallen Five.
---
TO BE CONTINUED....