It started with the sky. Calm at first, blue and alluring.
The world hung in a heavy hush.
Not a sound, not a whisper.
Then, a crack, bifurcating like a spider web, splintering like broken glass. Every eye turned upward, heavy with dread and eerie unease.
From the splintered sky descended a ball of fire.
Then another.
Then, countless more.
They rained downed towards the earth, wrecking havoc as they struck the solid ground. The land blistered, burned, and thundered.
Then, from the scorched craters arise the monsters.
The Hollowed Beast's.
Monster's unseen before!
Different in sizes and shapes, yet sharing one thing in common: they defy logic, driven by instincts to kill, and destruction.
Every nation crumbled, even their mightiest and most advanced weapon systems, proving useless against the monster's unnatural superpower.
Humanity?
They became nothing but more than prey in a world turned hostile.
Days passed.
Then months.
Then a year.
Population fell into a rapid decline. Unknown diseases emerged without warning. Natural disasters went extreme.
This wasn't a calamity. It was retribution!
Years turned into decades.
Civilization regressed, dragged into extinction.
However, at the brink of humanity's end, a miracle happened.
The first Astralis was born.
The hero of humanity.
The saviour of the world.
He was called...
The Everlight.
He vanquished the terrors of the hollowed beast's and reclaimed the fallen lands. And by his will, a unilateral government rose from the ashes, uniting the world as one.
The Omnis.
Then, as his time ended, he created his final art, the Ark Knights. Warriors who will serve to protect humanity, and continue his goal.
A total restoration of the human civilization.
--
New Era, Year 137.
More than one hundred years have passed since the world fell into the apocalypse.
Ninety-eight percent of the population had perished, and almost sixty percent of the planet became uninhabitable, swallowed by violent energy storms, and landscapes twisted beyond recognition.
What remained of human territory was slowly carved into three distinct zones:
Green Zone:
It is a safe haven of humanity. Massive colonies rose behind towering walls of reinforced concrete and steel, built to withstand against the horrors of the hollowed beast's.
Grey Zone:
A land of shifting danger, where hollowed beasts still roam. Explorers and expeditionary forces, risk their lives here in exchange for resources and relics of the old world.
Red Zone:
The wasteland of the damned!
Infested with Unknown energies, it is a graveyard or a 'dead land' where only monstrous hollowed beast reign.
Around the world, Fifteen Major Colonies stands, serving as vast sanctuaries for humanity's surviving remnants as the long, brutal campaign to restore civilization... RAGED ON.
--
GREENZONE.
Eulark, Main District.
The ferry creaked as it approached the towering concrete walls of Eulark. Massive gates groaned open, revealing a colony brimming with life.
Eulark was the first colony to be built by the Omnis. It has eleven districts with hundreds of thousands lived within its walls. Countless races and different cultures layered together into a single, breathing sanctuary.
As the passengers disembarked, a welcoming committee of sentinels stood at attention.
"Welcome to Eulark, everyone! We're glad you made it safely!"
Then, one of the sentinel officer stepped forward and continued.
"Please take out your identity permits and fall in line to the officers desk" he said.
Some passengers nodded and hurried on. Others slowed, staring upward, overwhelmed by the colony's massive buildings.
But for Kandril?, it was a different story.
"W-why...?" he stammered, his stomach lurching.
"GWAAAHK—"
Doubled over, he retched violently over the dock.
"UAAAAAGGHHKKK!!!"
"Damn it... If only that old man hadn't forced me to ride a ferry, I wouldn't be suffering like this!"
"He should've atleast known I have motion sickness at sea, right? He should've atleast make me ride a zeppelin or... Ughh! does he really love his grandson?"
He came all the way from Eros, a colony located in the west. He is in Eulark to participate in the upcoming Ark Knights Exam that's being held every three years.
Wiping his mouth, Kandril groggily stepped onto solid ground. He then held out his identity permit to the attending sentinel officer.
BEEP-
INFORMATION DETAIL:
Full Name: KANDRIL JACOB RICHMOND
Age: 18 years old.
Sex: Male.
Height: 170 Centimeters | 5 Feet 7 inches.
Origins: Eros, District seven.
Purpose: Ark Knights Exam. Visit.
Number of days: 15
SCAN COMPLETE.
APPROVED.
"You're good to go." The officer said as he offer to show Kandril where to go next.
Kandril smiled as a thanks, then followed a line, leading outside the port. Then as he step outside the port...
FLASH!
"Woah!"
He was struck speechless.
"Holy S—"
The colony rose in tiers.
"Is this E-Eulark?"
Elevated walkways webbed across crowded streets, humming with power and transit lines. Neon signs flashed in different alphabets and characters. Markets selling off different spices on the sidewalks, small shrines tucked between apartment blocks, and the air carried the scent of oil, sea salt, and sizzling food.
He lit up in excitement, eyes dazzling like cold stars in the night.
"HO YAAAA!"
"THIS IS FREAKIN AWESOMEEE!"
He whipped out his phone from his pocket and capture every scenery, angles, and moments he could. He wandered through the bustling streets of the colony, taking it all in.
Until...
He paused.
A familiar smell caught his attention.
SNIFF! SNIFF!
"This aroma..."
His head snapped to the right.
Beside him stood an old woven building. From its doorway, steam rose into the air, carrying a rich aroma that drifted straight to his nose.
SNIFFFFFFF!
His eyes moved upward. A wooden sign creaked as it swayed in the breeze, looking like it could fall off at any moment.
"A Beef noodle shop." he murmured.
His head tilted in surprise.
"Ehhh?... Didn't expect to find a shop like this here."
He couldn't resist the smell and stepped into the shop.
Inside, the air was thick with the savory scent of simmering beef stock. Yet, the place was strangely silent and eerily empty.
'Huh? No one's around?' he thought, glancing around.
An old television murmured in the corner, its static hum blending with the slow, rhythmic creak of a ceiling fan that looked as tired as the building itself.
"Uhmmm... H-Hello? Anyone here?" he called out, his voice echoing faintly through the stillness.
A second later, a middle-aged man stepped out from behind the counter, wearing a flour-dusted apron and a slightly crooked hairnet.
"Ohh, hello there! I am the owner of this place, Welcome to Hagor's Noodle Shop," he said with a warm, practiced smile.
"What would you like?"
Kandril squinted his eyes at the menu board.
"Uhmmm..."
Then, he pointed. "I'll have that one, uncle. And an orange juice, please."
The shop owner smiled and nodded. "Coming right up. Just grab a seat and I'll bring it over."
Kandril took a seat and set his backpack gently by his side.
While waiting, he was curious, scanning the aged photographs lining the walls.
"How long has this shop been here, uncle?" he asked.
The shop owner, nearly done preparing the noodles, let out a chuckle. "Ahhh... My great-grandfather built this place more than a century ago."
Kandril's eyes widened. "A century?! That means—"
"Ahaha! Yes," the shop owner nodded, his smile tinged with something else. "It survived the apocalypse."
But as he set down Kandril's steaming bowl of beef noodle, the warmth faded from his face. His expression darkened.
"Unfortunately, I fear I may be the last in my family to run this place."
Kandril frowned. "Hmmm? But Why? This place has history. Why close it?"
The shop owner sighed, voice heavy. "It's not by choice. It's... the syndicate."
"Syndicate?" Kandril's brows lifted, intrigued.
The shop owner paused, eyeing him with mild surprise. He then realized that Kandril wasn't from this colony. He scanned the shop, ensuring they were alone, then leaned in, voice barely a whisper.
"I shouldn't be saying this to you as I fear your life may be in danger," he said, carefully.
"But, I warn you!..."
"You'd best be wary of the syndicate and their affiliates, young boy. And never—never—try to go against them."
"Extortion. Violence. Drugs," he muttered.
"Everything you can imagine of pure evil."
"Every week, they demand their so-called. protection fees."
"And if I don't pay, they promise to—"
However, before he could finish his words, a harsh voice cut him off.
"OIIII! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GANZO!?"
The shout crashed through the still air like thunder. The shop owner flinched, quick and sharp like a startled cat, the hairs on his arms standing on end.
"Ichkkkk!"
"No way, I—Its... "
A second later, the shop's door slammed open.
BAM!
Four figures strode in with heavy steps.
Leading them was a bald, scarred brute whose very presence drained any life form from the shop.
Gabron Alorka.
"There you are, you scum f*ck."
A notorious fugitive, a ruthless member of the syndicate...
The Hangetsu.
The shop owner paled. "G-Gabron..."
Gabron's eyes gleamed with sadistic amusement as he grabbed the shop owner by the collar.
"Do you have my money?"
The shop owner quickly plead. "P-please, I still need time."
Gabron's sneer deepened. His eyes twitched, barely containing his rage.
"HUH? Time?"
Without warning, his fist shot forward like a thunderclap.
BAGAAAMM!
The punch landed clean within the shop owner's face, blood spattered across the wooden floor.
"I gave you two fucking weeks!" Gabron roared, voice laced with venom. "And you still can't pay?!"
He raised his fist again.
But just before it struck again—
A voice, cold and sharp as a blade, cut through the tension.
"Oiii!!"
"That's enough."
Then—
BAGSSSH!
A glass bottle shattered against Gabron's head.
For a moment, the room fell into complete silence.
As the shards clattered to the floor, Gabron's men slowly turned, their faces shifting from shock to pure anger.
Stepping forward, Kandril approached with slow, deliberate steps, cracking his knuckles.
"Beating an innocent man just trying to make a living?" he said, his voice low and dangerous.
"That's low, even for scum like you."
Gabron staggered, his vision swimming from the impact. He sucked in a ragged breath before his eyes locked onto Kandril, filled with pure rage.
"You little shit!"
With a swift motion, he pulled a revolver from his belt, cocking it.
"Let's see you talk now that I have a gu—"
However—
FWIP!
In a blink, Kandril closed the distance. His irises gleaming in a blue light. With inhuman speed, his hand grasped the gun's barrel and—
TWIST— BENT!
The steel barrel groaned, warped out of shape.
Gabron froze, eyes wide with disbelief.
"H-how did he got that kind of speed and strength?"
"H-huh?"
"T-That eyes!"
"Don't tell me you're a—"
But before Gabron could finish the sentence, a surge of energy exploded outward from Kandril's body.
BWAAAZT!
Bolts of lightning lashed out, slamming into Gabron and his men, searing their clothes and making their skin tingle violently. Their screams of pain echoed across the shop.
"AGHAAAAAAA!"
As the screams settled, Kandril wasn't done.
He grabbed Gabron by the throat. Then with a brutal swing, he slammed him into the table for a finishing blow.
BWAAAAM!
Silence settled. Gabron and his men unconscious on the ground.
Kandril then turned to the shop owner.
"Hey, Uncle. Are you alright?" He asked in concern.
The shop owner shook his head, eyes filled with dread. Instead of gladness, it was the opposite reaction instead.
"W-what did you do?!"
"Didn't I warn you earlier, not to mess with them?"
He gripped Kandril's collar, voice trembling.
"You've just declared..."
"... A FIGHT AGAINST THE SYNDICATE!!!"
The shop owner had resided in the colony long before the syndicate had ever formed. He had witnessed their rise, their cruel deeds, and the merciless way they dealt with anyone who dared oppose them.
The atrocities committed by the syndicate were inhumane, and the shop owner knew better than to challenge their authority. But his concern wasn't just for himself... it was for the young boy before him.
Kandril was more than an average human.
He is an Astralis.
What is an Astralis?
According to the tales and legends, just like the Everlight, an Astralis are human evolution, born with a rare connection to the Sovereign God. They wield an energy known as the sovereign's will, others called it Astral Energy.
This energy granted them the power to bend nature to their will, to wield abilities beyond comprehension.
Kandril was one of the few of his generation to bear such a gift.
But such a gift was also a curse.
Astralis weren't always treated as heroes or something special. Many were hunted, enslaved, and sold on the black market. The Hangetsu itself was infamous for trafficking an Astralis.
The shop owner turned toward Kandril, voice low but urgent, laced with panic.
"Leave, Now! Get out of my shop."
Kandril blinked. "L—Leave? What? What do you mean, Uncle?"
"I said go!" the shop owner barked, louder.
Kandril stood frozen, torn between confusion and defiance. "I can't just leave you with them! They're dangerous!"
The shop owner took a step back, inhaling deeply before exhaling a heavy sigh.
"Huuuu!"
"Young boy... you are in big trouble," he declared.
"The Hangetsu isn't just a small syndicate!"
"They're a massive organization!"
Just then, a gruff voice cut through the tension between the shop owner and Kandril.
"T-Too late for him to leave..."
It was Gabron. A manic grin spread across his blood-smeared face as he slowly rose to his feet, eyes locked onto Kandril.
"Look what we got here..."
"A Jackpot."