Its been a day we left the house, and the world already felt different. The sunlight seemed thinner. The air, heavy. A strange silence hovered, as if the city itself was holding its breath. Every siren in the distance made my skin crawl.
We didn't speak much. Aria walked ahead, her steps quick, precise. I followed, backpack slung over one shoulder, still feeling the phantom heat of yesterday's flame.
We took the usual route toward school. Or tried to. But a few blocks from campus, the sidewalk began to crack.
Literally.
I heard it first—a deep groan beneath the concrete, like the city was waking up from a long, angry sleep. Then the street buckled, splitting open. Steam hissed out. The air shimmered with heat.
Aria stopped dead. Her hand went to her blade.
"Back," she said.
Too late.
A scream tore through the morning as something clawed its way out of the fractured earth. Charred fingers gripped pavement. Then came the face—elongated, bone-white, eyes glowing red. Another creature followed. Then a group of minions followed it.
One leapt toward us.
Aria stepped forward and met it midair, blade flashing once. The thing was ash before it hit the ground.
The second lunged at me.
I didn't have time to think.
My body moved on instinct. I ducked, rolled, turned—and then it was in front of me again. Claws raised.
I raised my hand.
Nothing came.
Panic surged in my throat. The demon was nearly on me—
Then the fire answered.
It wasn't like before. It didn't explode. It poured. Controlled. Hot gold twisted into a spiral around my wrist and launched forward, catching the demon in the side. It shrieked and collapsed into flame.
I stumbled backward, chest heaving.
The last one circled us. Its eyes locked on mine.
I tried to summon the flame again—but it faltered. Flickered, then died out. My hands trembled.
"Kai!"
Aria moved before the demon struck. This time, she didn't cut it down. She disarmed it, tripped it, and pinned it to the pavement with her boot.
"Speak," she hissed.
The demon snarled. Smoke leaked from its mouth.
"We were sent to confirm," it rasped. "The blood... it burns. He is the one."
I stepped forward. "Who sent you?"
It grinned. "HAhaha-FLamESPawn. EhAHAhaha"
Then it dissolved into ash.
We stood in silence. Aria's eyes met mine. There was no hiding the urgency anymore.
"We leave. Today."
I nodded. "Where?"
"I don't know. But if he's hiding, he's watching. Cerberus never strays far from hellfire. And after that display..." She gestured to the scorched road. "He'll come to us."
I looked at the ruined street, the embers dying slowly.
"You think he'll help?"
She sheathed her blade. "I think he doesn't have a choice."
And with that, we disappeared into the city, unaware that from the shadows, someone—something—had been watching all along.
A low growl rumbled through an unseen alley.
Author's Point Of View
Five days passed since the first gate opened.
Five days since the world changed.
What began as isolated "hallucination incidents" and "chemical leaks" turned into full-scale urban disasters. Black portals—ripped open in thin air—bled horrors onto city streets. From demon hounds to rotting revenants, creatures from the bowels of Hell roamed freely. Some feasted. Some hunted. Some simply watched.
Earth had become a battleground for something far older than humanity.
Governments collapsed into silence before erupting into emergency protocols. Entire regions were placed under martial law. High-risk zones were evacuated—or abandoned. Drones flew overhead like locusts. Emergency broadcasts replaced every regular channel.
In response, humanity tried to fight back.
The World Security Alliance was formed—a joint task force built from the remnants of NATO, the UN Defense Division, and several private arcane organizations long dismissed as myth. It wasn't enough to throw missiles at monsters. What the world needed now were weapons of spirit—of soul.
And then, something stranger happened.
Across the globe, five individuals awakened.
Not by science. Not by ritual.
But by something older.
Awakened, they were called—humans whose latent magical energies responded to the shift in balance. Each from a different corner of the earth. Each tied, perhaps unknowingly, to forces beyond their own comprehension.
Their names began to circulate in whispers.
Mira Lavigne, a French violinist whose music shattered a lesser demon in Paris.
Takeshi Hoshino, a Tokyo firefighter who walked unharmed through demonic flames.
Ayana Mbeki, a Kenyan schoolteacher who summoned windstorms to protect her village.
Alejandro Cruz, a Brazilian ex-gangster who crushed a nightmare beast with glowing fists.
And the last...
Kai, the spawn of Lucifer. Hell's ignite in his soul. Golden light in his blood.
The world did not know his name.
Not yet.
But the soldiers of both heaven and hell did.
And they were coming for him.