Kael woke to the smell of smoke.
For a moment, he thought it was a nightmare.
Then he heard the screaming.
Not one voice.
Hundreds.
He forced himself up from the balcony floor. The violet mark on his palm pulsed faintly, warm beneath his skin.
The sky was worse now.
The crack had spread across the entire horizon, like the world itself had been split open.
Below, the streets were chaotic.
Cars overturned. Buildings burning. People running.
And the creatures.
They crawled from thin air — ripping through invisible seams in reality. Some were skeletal with elongated limbs. Others were masses of shifting flesh and bone.
Kael swallowed.
"Fragment Energy detected."
"Host survival probability without combat: 3%."
"Three percent?" he whispered.
One of the creatures leapt from a streetlight to a nearby rooftop.
It moved unnaturally fast.
Too fast.
Its head twisted until its hollow eyes locked onto him again.
It remembered.
It shrieked and charged.
Kael's heart pounded violently.
I don't know how to fight.
The monster crossed the distance in seconds.
Instinct took over.
He raised his hand.
The violet mark flared.
The air bent like warped glass.
Space folded.
The creature's body compressed mid-leap — crushed between invisible walls.
A second later, it imploded into dust.
Kael stared at his trembling hand.
"Void Fragment ability unlocked: Spatial Compression."
"Energy cost: High."
"Warning: Overuse may result in cellular collapse."
Cellular collapse?!
A crash sounded from inside the apartment.
Kael spun around.
Something had entered.
Slowly.
Carefully.
He stepped back inside.
The hallway lights flickered.
Then he saw it.
A larger creature.
Twice the size of the others.
Its body was covered in jagged crystalline growths. Its arms ended in hooked blades of bone.
It stood in his living room.
Waiting.
"High-density Fragment lifeform detected."
"Designation: Hunter-Type."
The Hunter lunged.
Kael barely rolled aside as its blade-arm sliced through the wall like paper.
Dust exploded everywhere.
He tried to use Spatial Compression again—
Nothing happened.
The mark flickered weakly.
No energy left.
The Hunter screeched.
And advanced.
Kael's back hit the wall.
He had seconds to live.
Then—
A beam of pure golden light tore through the Hunter's torso from behind.
The creature convulsed violently.
Another blast followed.
The Hunter disintegrated in a shower of black ash.
Kael blinked.
Standing in the doorway was a girl about his age.
Long silver-blonde hair.
Eyes glowing gold.
Light shimmered faintly around her body like a halo.
She lowered her hand slowly.
"You can see the cracks too," she said calmly.
Kael stared at her.
"…Who are you?"
She met his gaze.
"My name is Lyra."
And outside, something far larger roared.