The monster's claw tore through the air—fast enough to split a car clean in half.
Kairo shouldn't have been able to see it.Shouldn't have been able to react.Should've died instantly—just a smear of blood and shattered bone.
But the world… slowed.
Not completely.Just enough.
The creature's arm dragged behind a warped trail of air, its killing intent leaving a thin red streak that only he could see.
Instinct Vision.The phrase echoed again—not spoken, but carved straight into the inside of his skull.
Kairo stepped sideways.
Just a single, effortless step.
The monster's claw sliced through empty space, missing him by the width of a breath.
His heart didn't pound.His hands didn't tremble.
Instead, a cold, razor-like clarity spread through him—as if someone else were guiding his muscles, steering him through the shadow of death.
The creature snarled, confused by its failure.
Kairo blinked once.
"…I can see your intent."
The words came out soft. Flat. Almost bored.
The monster attacked again.
Left strike.A feint.Right slash.
He saw all of it before it even happened.
Every movement glowed in thin red arcs, mapping out the exact path of each attack.
Kairo ducked under a claw, twisted away from a snapping bite, slid across the cracked concrete like he'd trained for this his whole life.
Around him, students scattered in panic.
Someone screamed from a distance:
"Is that… VALE!? How the hell is he doing that!?"
"Don't watch! MOVE!"
"IT'S GOING FOR HIM!"
The monster roared and pounced, its massive body twisting mid-air before crashing down—
Kairo rolled aside, the shockwave splitting the ground where his body would have been.
The creature's glowing eyes snapped toward him.
Not just hungry.
Curious.
Almost fascinated.
As if wondering:Why isn't this human dying?
Before Kairo could react, a new arc flickered into existence behind him.
He didn't turn.
The arc told him everything—angle, speed, timing, intent.
A second monster lunged from behind—its jaws snapping for his neck.
Kairo dropped into a low crouch.
The creature soared over him, missing by inches, crashing straight into the first monster.They snarled and tore at each other in confusion and rage.
Kairo rose slowly.
His breathing was calm.Too calm.
Something was wrong with him.Or something had changed.
But before he could process it—
A hand grabbed his shoulder.
A human hand.
"Kairo!"
A breathless voice came from behind.
Kairo turned.
A man stood there—face pale, bleeding from a gash across his forehead, eyes wide with terror.
"Y-you need to come with me! The military's evacuating the east sector—this place is way too dangerous!"
Dangerous?
Kairo looked at the thrashing monsters.
Dangerous… yes.But they didn't feel dangerous to him.
Not anymore.
He shook the man's hand off.
The man froze. "K-Kairo…? This isn't the moment to act brave!"
"I'm not," Kairo said quietly.He lifted his eyes to the bleeding sky."…I'm just… awake."
Before the man could respond, a scream split the air.
A girl had fallen—twisted ankle, unable to stand.A monster peeled away from the fight and lunged at her.
The man cursed and sprinted toward her, pulling a short shock-baton from his belt.
"Dammit—why now!?"
He wouldn't make it.He was too slow.The girl was too far.
The monster opened its jaws—
Kairo moved.
He didn't think.He didn't choose.
His body simply followed the red arc—the monster's killing path.
He ran.
Concrete cracked under his feet.
The world blurred.
He snatched up a broken metal pole from the ground—felt its weight—and rammed it into the monster's eye at the exact perfect moment.
The creature shrieked, reeling back.
Kairo ripped the pole free and drove it upward again—this time straight through its skull.
Black blood exploded across his face and arms.
The girl stared up at him, shaking uncontrollably.
"You… y-you saved me…"
Kairo didn't reply.
The monster collapsed.
Silence rippled across the courtyard as every pair of eyes turned to him.
Students.Teachers.The man who'd tried to help.
All frozen.All staring.
"Kairo… Vale…? You just… killed a Tier-2 monster… with a pipe…?"
Whispers spread like wildfire.
"How was he moving like that?""That's not human.""Did he awaken…?""Is he… one of them?"
Kairo let the blood-soaked pole fall to the ground.
His heartbeat barely moved.
Something inside him was shifting—awakening—stretching like a creature long asleep.
Something old.Something cold.Something hungry.
The sky continued to bleed red above him.
And from deep within the fracture—
past the red lightning, past the swirling clouds—
a deeper voice whispered through the air:
One Scar is not enough.More will come.More must come.
Kairo's eyes narrowed.
Even now, he understood—This was only the beginning.