Flames painted the world red.
Smoke climbed into the sky in thick, choking columns. The bridge—once a connection between two cities—was now nothing more than twisted steel and broken concrete suspended over death.
Below, the remains of civilization were being picked apart.
Creatures moved through the wreckage, feeding on whatever was left.
Far above that ruin, two figures stood on what remained of the structure.
One balanced calmly on a bent steel beam, as if gravity itself was optional to him.
He looked to be in his mid-thirties. His clothing was simple and dark, designed for movement rather than comfort. A conical metal hat cast a shadow over most of his face.
The other sat nearby, slouched against a fractured support pillar.
Orange hair moved lazily in the wind. A black mask covered his lower face.
He looked too young to belong here.
Too calm for what surrounded him.
"Do you think the boy survived?" the older man asked.
His voice was steady. Controlled. Almost detached.
Lucci didn't answer immediately.
He tilted his head slightly, looking down at the broken bridge.
At the blood.
At the silence beneath it.
"Who knows?" he said at last.
No concern. No curiosity.
Just boredom.
The commander exhaled slowly.
"You were the one who wanted to come here."
Lucci shrugged.
"And you were the one who dragged me along for no damn reason."
"We had a mission."
"We failed."
A pause.
The wind howled through broken steel.
Lucci jumped down from the beam, landing lightly.
"If the fall didn't kill him," he said, "the monster definitely did."
He glanced at the dark water below.
Then added, almost absentmindedly:
"Let's go back. This place is starting to creep me out."
The commander turned his head slightly.
"You?"
Lucci waved a hand.
"Don't get excited. I'm still leaving."
The commander stepped closer to the edge of the bridge.
"I say we check."
Lucci sighed like the idea itself was exhausting.
"Commander… what's the point?"
His tone sharpened slightly.
"If he survived the fall, he's already dead. If he didn't, we're wasting time."
The commander didn't respond immediately.
He simply looked down.
At the water.
At the blood spreading through it.
Then—
"There's blood."
Lucci frowned.
"So?"
"Fresh."
That single word changed the silence.
Lucci stopped moving.
The commander stepped off the bridge.
No hesitation.
No preparation.
Just a calm descent into the shattered ocean below.
Lucci watched him disappear into the darkness.
"…You're going to get me killed one day," he muttered.
Then he jumped after him.
Beneath the Shattered Bridge
Cold.
That was the first thing I felt.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Cold.
I opened my eyes.
Blue darkness surrounded me.
The ocean stretched endlessly in every direction, swallowing light and sound alike.
And yet…
I was breathing.
I froze.
That shouldn't have been possible.
My body refused to accept it.
My lungs were working.
Slowly.
Evenly.
As if the water was air.
"Where… am I?"
My voice came out.
Clear.
I stopped.
That was wrong.
Completely wrong.
Then I saw her.
A light.
Soft.
White.
It drifted through the water toward me, gentle and slow.
At first, I thought it was a hallucination.
A final illusion before death.
But the closer it came, the more real it became.
A woman.
She floated in the water as if it obeyed her.
Long white robes moved like silk currents.
Her skin was pale, almost glowing.
And on her head—
Fox-like ears.
White.
Perfect.
She looked at me.
And smiled.
For a moment, everything stopped hurting.
The cold faded.
Even the rage that had burned inside me felt distant.
Quiet.
Almost… gone.
My chest loosened.
My thoughts slowed.
It felt like sleep was calling me.
Like I could just close my eyes and let go.
Maybe this was it.
Maybe this was what dying felt like.
Peace.
She drifted closer.
Her smile never changed.
It stayed soft.
Too soft.
Too still.
Something in me twitched.
A warning I didn't understand yet.
The smile didn't stop.
Not even when her face got closer.
Not even when I could see her eyes.
They didn't blink.
The water around her began to darken.
Just slightly at first.
Like ink bleeding into paper.
Her lips stretched.
A little too wide.
Then more.
Then more.
My body stiffened.
The peace shattered instantly.
A crack formed at the corner of her mouth.
Then another.
Then another.
Her skin darkened.
White fading into gray.
Gray into black.
Her fox ears split apart.
Something beneath them moved.
No.
Not beneath.
Through.
Her face stopped being a face.
Eyes multiplied.
Dozens.
Then more.
Her jaw unhinged.
Teeth layered over teeth, spiraling inward like a living trap.
The illusion collapsed completely.
The thing in front of me was no woman.
It never was.
It lunged.
Instinct took over.
I moved.
Pain followed immediately.
Something tore into my arm.
Bone cracked.
My vision sharpened with shock.
The creature had me.
It was feeding.the same damn creature
And I was still alive to feel it.
Rage returned instantly.
I swung my free arm blindly.
My fist hit something solid.
The creature barely reacted.
Its other heads moved.
Something slammed into my side.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
I kicked.
Useless.
My strength was already fading.
Blood—too much blood—spread into the water around me.
I was losing.no, I was dying
The creature suddenly froze.
Its grip loosened.
A sound like a strangled scream echoed through the water.
And then it pulled away.
Fast.
Too fast.
It turned and fled deeper into the darkness.
Gone.
Just like that.
I stayed still.
Breathing.
Still breathing.
Why was I still breathing?
My thoughts slowed.
The rage cooled.
"Where the hell do you think you are going to bastard?" I said through gritted teeths
Darkness crept in from the edges of my vision.
Somewhere far above, I saw shapes descending through the water.
Two figures.
One older.
One younger.
Then nothing.
"Found him."
Lucci stared at the unconscious boy.
"No way."
"He's still alive?"
The old man remained silent for a moment.
Then:
"Not for long."
The water around them distorted.
And the three disappeared.