[Time: Midnight]
Location: Guardian City – Outskirts, Near the Forbidden Jungle
The city streets were empty, bathed in the eerie glow of the twin moons overhead. Midnight had settled in, casting long shadows between towering buildings. A cold breeze swept through the deserted alleys, but Leo barely felt it.
His breath came in short, ragged gasps as he sprinted toward the outskirts of Guardian City. His vision blurred—not from exhaustion, but from the sting of hot tears pooling in his eyes. His fingers curled into trembling fists, nails digging into his palms as echoes of mocking laughter rang inside his head.
"Weakling."
"You'll never be one of us."
"An E-rank loser like you has no place here."
His heart pounded against his ribs, a mix of shame and frustration burning in his chest. His legs ached, but he pushed forward, faster, harder, until the grand city walls loomed ahead. Beyond them lay the dense, untamed wilderness—the Forbidden Jungle.
A place where only fools entered. A place where monsters lurked.
"I have to get stronger."
Leo wiped his face with his sleeve and took a shaky breath.
Just as he reached the towering iron gates, a familiar voice called out behind him.
"Leo! Where are you going?!"
He froze. His younger sister, Aya, stood a few feet away, her small frame barely covered by her oversized Guardian Academy cloak. Her golden eyes, so much like their mother's, widened in fear.
"You're not thinking of—"
"Go home, Aya." Leo cut her off, his voice harsher than he intended.
She flinched but didn't back away. "You can't go into the jungle! You know what happens to people who do! The Guardians won't come looking for you, Leo!"
He clenched his jaw. "Good."
Aya's lip trembled. "Stop acting like you don't care! You do! I know you do!"
Leo turned away. He couldn't bear to see the worry on her face.
"I'll be back when I'm strong." His voice cracked. "When they'll have no choice but to respect me."
Aya shook her head furiously, gripping his sleeve. "You're already strong! You don't need to prove anything! Just—just come back home, please!"
Leo hesitated.
A single moment.
Then, he pulled away. "I have to do this, Aya."
Her fingers slipped from his arm, and just like that, he turned his back on the city.
Before she could call after him again, before his own hesitation could stop him, Leo ran.
Through the creaking gates.
Into the suffocating darkness of the Forbidden Jungle.
Away from everything he had ever known.
The cold night air stung against Leo's skin as he ran, his breath uneven, his chest tight. His legs burned, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop.
"Weakling."
"You'll never be strong."
"You're just a waste of space."
The voices echoed in his mind, stabbing deeper with every step.
A loud ringing filled his ears as the memories came crashing down—memories he tried so hard to forget.
Flashback 1 – The Training Grounds
The Guardian Academy courtyard was alive with the clash of wooden swords and the grunts of young trainees. Leo stood at the edge of the training field, gripping his practice sword.
Across from him, a taller boy—Ren, a C-rank Guardian trainee—twirled his blade effortlessly. A crowd of kids circled around them, excitement buzzing in the air.
"Alright, E-rank," Ren smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Show me what you got."
Leo swallowed hard. He had trained for this moment, pushed himself harder than ever. He had to prove himself.
He lunged forward—but before his strike could land, Ren sidestepped with ease.
THWACK!
A sharp pain exploded in Leo's ribs as Ren's practice sword slammed into his side. Leo gasped, stumbling backward. The onlookers burst into laughter.
"That's it?" Ren scoffed. "Even a civilian could fight better."
Leo gritted his teeth and tried again. Faster. Stronger.
THWACK!
Another blow—this time across his shoulder. His arms felt like lead.
THWACK!
His legs buckled as the sword struck his knee, sending him crashing into the dirt.
Laughter erupted around him, loud and cruel.
"Somebody stops him before he gets hurt!" one kid jeered.
"Oops, too late!" another added.
Leo clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.
Nobody stepped in to help him.
Flashback 2 – The Dining Hall
The cafeteria was filled with warmth and chatter, but Leo sat alone, pushing his food around his plate.
Across the room, Ren and his friends laughed over a joke—his name was mentioned, and more laughter followed.
Leo's stomach twisted.
He glanced at the empty seats around him. No one wanted to sit with the weakest Guardian trainee.
The realization sank deeper than any punch ever could.
"I don't belong here."
Back to the Present – The Jungle's Edge
A sharp snap jolted Leo back to reality.
He had stopped running.
The Forbidden Jungle stretched before him, its massive trees casting jagged shadows under the moonlight. The air was thick, damp, charged with something unnatural.
A cold shiver crawled up his spine.
The towering trees stood like silent watchers, their branches twisting together, blocking out the sky. The entrance was nothing more than a dark tunnel, disappearing into the unknown.
The wind howled through the leaves. Rustling. Whispering. Calling.
Leo's breath hitched.
Somewhere deep inside, the voices of his bullies faded.
Something stronger pulled him forward.
He took a step. Then another.
His sorrow was still there, but curiosity burned alongside it.
Whatever was inside this jungle...
It was waiting for him.
Leo took a slow step forward.
The moment his foot touched the jungle floor, the air changed.
The wind, which had been howling moments ago, vanished. The soft rustling of leaves, the distant sounds of the city—gone. The only thing left was silence. But it wasn't normal silence.
It was heavy. Expectant. Watching.
Leo's breathing grew shallow. His pulse pounded in his ears. His skin prickled as if unseen eyes were locked onto him.
Then, it happened.
A pull.
It wasn't a shove, wasn't something he could feel with his hands. No, this was inside him—like invisible strings gently tugging at his soul.
Come.
Leo's body stiffened. His head snapped around, searching the shadows. The voice was everywhere and nowhere.
A chill ran down his spine.
"I'm imagining things... right?"
But the pull grew stronger.
His legs felt lighter, his steps quicker, as if the ground itself was guiding him deeper. The trees towered overhead, their twisted branches blocking out the sky. The deeper he walked, the less real the world felt—like he was stepping into a place forgotten by time.
Then—
A whisper.
"Come... find me."
Leo's breath hitched. The voice was deep, layered—ancient. Like a thousand voices speaking at once.
He turned, expecting to see someone. No one.
His heartbeat thundered in his chest.
His feet kept moving, even though his mind screamed at him to turn back.
The jungle felt alive now. The trees groaned, their branches shifting ever so slightly. The path ahead seemed to bend, as if leading him somewhere.
Then—
A flash.
Leo gasped as his vision exploded in white light.
The sky burned with fire and smoke.
Screams. Metal clashing. The roar of war.
The ground was littered with bodies—warriors, Guardians, monsters. Blood soaked the earth.
In the middle of it all, a lone warrior stood.
A man in a torn black cloak.
His golden eyes burned with power and pain.
In his hand—a black katana, its blade dripping with shadows.
Behind him, a wave of monstrous creatures charged forward, their voices shaking the heavens.
Leo's chest tightened. His breath was ripped from his lungs. His legs trembled.
Then—
Darkness.
The vision ended as suddenly as it came.
Leo staggered, gripping his head as a sharp ringing sound filled his skull. His knees buckled, but he forced himself to stay upright.
His breathing was ragged. His heart slammed against his ribs.
"What... what was that?!"
The pull grew even stronger now, almost desperate.
His sorrow, his frustration, his fear—all of it melted away.
All that was left was dread.
Yet, his legs wouldn't stop.
Step by step, he moved forward, guided by something unseen—
Until at last, through the thick mist, he saw it.
A massive stone figure, kneeling before him.
Its surface was cracked, weathered by time.
A rusted katana, plunged deep into the ground.
Waiting.
Leo stopped breathing.
For the first time that night—
He felt true fear.
Leo's feet felt like they were sinking into the earth with every step. The jungle had been dark and suffocating, but this place—this clearing—felt different.
It was too quiet.
Not the kind of silence that felt empty.
This was a waiting silence. A silence filled with something... unseen.
Then, he saw it.
His breath hitched.
At the center of the clearing, surrounded by crumbling ruins and twisted roots, stood a massive stone figure.
A warrior, kneeling.
Leo's eyes widened. The statue was ancient, its stone surface cracked with age, vines creeping up its arms like chains trying to hold it in place. Moss covered the base, as if nature itself had tried to erase its existence.
And yet, despite the ruin, the warrior's presence was overwhelming.
The face was crafted with painful detail—sharp features, solemn expression, eyes cast downward in silent grief. He wasn't just kneeling.
He was mourning.
Leo swallowed hard. He could feel it—the weight of this place, the sorrow carved into the very stone.
Then, his gaze fell to the ground in front of the statue.
A katana.
It was buried deep into the earth, the blade covered in rust, the hilt wrapped in tattered cloth, faded from time.
Something inside Leo stirred.
His heartbeat quickened.
He took a step closer—
WHISPERS.
His body froze.
The voices came from nowhere. Everywhere.
"...betrayal... forgotten... lost..."
Leo's breath came out in sharp, uneven gasps. His hands trembled.
"What... was that?!"
The air around him shifted—not with wind, but something deeper, something he couldn't explain.
He turned his head sharply, expecting to see someone lurking behind him.
Nothing.
His throat went dry. The whispers continued, their words soft but heavy, pressing against his skin.
"...return... awaken... shadow..."
Leo clenched his fists, trying to steady himself.
"No. I'm imagining this. I have to be."
But deep inside, he knew that wasn't true.
Something was here. Something that had been waiting for a long, long time.
His eyes flicked back to the katana.
A dull ringing filled his ears as his hand slowly reached out.
"...remember..."
A sudden gust of wind roared through the clearing, kicking up dust, making the vines tremble. The trees groaned as if they were whispering warnings.
The temperature dropped.
A sharp, biting cold wrapped around Leo's body, seeping into his skin. His breath came out in misty puffs, his fingers numbing as they hovered over the sword's hilt.
The whispers grew louder.
"...REMEMBER..."
Leo's chest tightened. His legs trembled. His entire body screamed at him to turn back.
But he didn't.
His fingers brushed the hilt.
And then—
The world shattered.
Leo's fingers wrapped around the katana's hilt.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
The world remained still. The jungle behind him. The silent statue towering above. The cold air pressing against his skin.
Then—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion tore through his skull. His vision split apart, and suddenly—
He wasn't in the jungle anymore.
Fire. Smoke. Screams.
The sky above him was blackened, thick with swirling clouds of ash. The ground beneath him was cracked and scorched, littered with the broken bodies of warriors. Blood pooled in the dirt, soaking into the earth like it would never fade.
Leo gasped, stumbling back—but there was no ground beneath him.
He was floating, his body weightless, trapped inside a war that had already happened. A war that had been buried in history.
"MOVE!"
A voice shouted from the battlefield, filled with urgency and rage.
Leo's head snapped toward the sound, and his breath hitched.
A warrior in tattered black robes tore through the battlefield, a black katana gleaming in his grip.
Golden eyes. A midnight cloak, torn by war.
Leo's heart slammed against his ribs.
"Yami..."
The warrior—Yami Kurogane—moved like a storm, his blade cutting through monstrous creatures twice his size. His strikes were precise, merciless, each swing erasing enemies from existence.
But he was losing.
The battlefield stretched endlessly, filled with Malvora's monstrous army. Shadowy creatures, their bodies shifting like living nightmares, swarmed from every direction.
Leo turned—
And there, standing atop a ruined spire, was Hikaru.
He was different.
The golden glow in his eyes was unnatural, twisted. His white robes were stained with blood, his hands pulsing with raw energy.
He raised his hand, and the sky itself cracked open.
"Burn." Hikaru's voice was calm. Too calm.
A massive golden blast erupted from his palm, crashing down onto the battlefield like a second sun. The shockwave ripped through warriors and monsters alike, turning them to ash in an instant.
Leo's body froze.
The heat. The destruction. The sheer power.
It was too much. Too much.
A roar shook the heavens.
Leo turned just in time to see Malvora.
He wasn't human.
A towering figure, his cracked black skin pulsing with golden veins, his hollow eyes burning like stars. The air around him rippled, distorting reality itself.
He raised his arm—
And the entire battlefield collapsed into darkness.
Leo screamed.
His vision shattered like glass, the war ripping away from him—
And he was back.
Gasping.
Sweating.
Collapsing to his knees.
The katana still in his grip.
The statue still kneeling before him.
The jungle as silent as death.
Leo's hands trembled violently.
His lungs burned, like he had inhaled the very flames of war. His ears still rang with the echoes of screams, explosions, betrayal.
"What... what was that?!"
His heart pounded so hard, he thought it might burst.
He had seen something he wasn't meant to see.
Something that had been buried.
Something that had been forgotten.
And now...
It was inside him.
Leo's body refused to move.
His fingers still gripped the katana's hilt, but his arms felt numb, weightless—as if the world itself was slipping away.
His breathing was uneven, his chest rising and falling in quick, shallow bursts. The vision of the war still burned in his mind.
The screams.
The fire.
The betrayal.
Leo squeezed his eyes shut.
"What... what did I just see?"
His body shuddered, every muscle drained of strength. It felt like something had been ripped out of him—or maybe something had been put inside him.
The air around him thickened. The jungle, the ruins, the statue—everything seemed to tilt and distort, like the world was trying to pull him deeper into something unknown.
Then—
A low hum.
Not from the katana.
Not from the statue.
From inside him.
Leo's heartbeat slowed.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Each beat felt louder, heavier, as if something deep within him was awakening.
His vision blurred. The statue in front of him—so still, so solemn—seemed to shift. Its golden eyes, once dull, now held a faint flicker of something.
Leo's throat was dry. He tried to speak, but his voice came out as a weak whisper.
"What's... happening...?"
A strange warmth spread through his fingertips, up his arms, wrapping around his body like an invisible force. It wasn't painful—but it wasn't comforting either.
It was endless.
It was pulling him in.
The world dimmed.
The ground beneath him no longer felt solid—more like he was floating, drifting. The whispers from before had faded, replaced by an empty silence.
His fingers loosened.
His knees buckled.
The last thing he saw before his vision faded to black—
Was the statue, watching over him in silence.
Then—
Darkness.
A soft breeze rustled the leaves above, carrying the scent of damp earth and fresh morning air. The cold from the night had disappeared, replaced by the gentle warmth of sunlight peeking through the trees.
Leo lay still, his body sinking into the soft grass.
For a moment, everything felt... normal.
No visions.
No whispers.
No strange energy humming inside him.
Just silence.
A bird chirped somewhere in the distance.
Slowly, his fingers twitched, brushing against the cool earth. He felt the weight of his own body again—not heavy, not light, just... normal.
A relieved sigh left his lips as he let his eyes flutter open.
And the first thing he saw was Mira.
She sat beside him, her silver-blue hair swaying gently in the wind, her violet eyes glowing in the morning light.
Then—a smile.
Wide and full of relief.
"Finally awake, sleepyhead?" she teased, tilting her head.
Leo blinked, his mind still foggy. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. "Mira...? What are you doing here?"
She scoffed, crossing her arms. "I should be asking you that. You ran off into the jungle alone. Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"
Leo glanced around. The statue was still there, unchanged. The jungle was quiet.
Everything was just as it was before.
"Did... did I imagine it all?"
Mira studied him carefully, her teasing smile fading slightly. "Leo? Are you okay?"
Before he could answer—
CRACK.
A sharp snap of a branch echoed through the trees.
Leo's breath caught in his throat.
Mira stiffened beside him, her entire body going rigid.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then—another sound.
A slow, steady step.
Leaves rustled. The soft crunch of boots pressing into the dirt.
Someone was there.
Watching them.
Deep within the jungle, behind the cover of twisted trees, a figure stood.
Tall. Cloaked in dark armor. His piercing crimson eyes locked onto the clearing.
His gaze flicked toward the statue—then to the boy.
The knight's lips pressed into a thin line.
He had seen it.
The faint flash of light from the katana.
But that was all.
He had sensed no massive surge of power. No distortion in the air. No sign that anything had changed.
Yet...
Something had drawn him here.
Something unexplainable.
He wasn't sure why he was still watching.
He had simply... followed.
Out of curiosity.
And now, as he stood in the shadows, he found himself wondering.
What had really happened last night?
The Clearing
Mira's fingers dug into the ground. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.
She wasn't weak. She wasn't helpless.
She was a B-rank Guardian. She had trained for years. She had fought before.
But this?
This was different.
Her violet eyes flickered to Leo, who was still trying to grasp what was happening. He didn't understand yet.
But she did.
She could sense it.
The figure hidden in the trees. The weight of his presence. The slow, measured breathing of a predator who had already won.
Her body screamed at her to run.
But there was nowhere to go.
She reached for her weapon, but her hands trembled.
It wouldn't matter.
She knew the rankings. She knew the power scale.
This wasn't some low-class Malvora foot soldier.
This was a High-Division Malvora Knight.
Even the strongest Guardians hesitated to face one alone.
And she was just a B-rank.
Leo?
An E-rank.
Mira clenched her fists.
"We're going to die."
She bit her lip to stop it from trembling. No one knew they were here.
No one was coming to save them.
She exhaled shakily.
Leo finally turned to her, sensing her fear. "Mira?"
She didn't answer.
Her eyes stayed locked on the trees.
Waiting.
Because she knew—
That the moment their hunter stepped forward...
It would be over.