April 19, 2059 — Beyond the North Gate
The boy stood at the threshold, silver eyes gleaming.
Graden.
He stepped forward, bare feet leaving ripples of strange light across the broken ground. His gaze locked onto Lin.
"You chase ghosts," Graden said, voice neither child's nor man's. "But you are not ready for what lies ahead."
Lin drew his twin blades, the Black Reaper's weapons, each edge shimmering black and violet under the flickering storm.
"I don't have time for you," Lin growled.
Graden only smiled.
The world around him twisted.
Everything—the broken steel beams, shattered glass, even the mist itself—fractured, molecules reshaping, condensing into shimmering weapons floating around him. Swords, lances, tendrils of serrated wire—all born from the air itself.
Lin tensed.
Without warning—
Graden attacked.
Blades shot forward like comets. Lin moved, a black blur through the rain. Metal screamed against his swords as he deflected the first wave, spinning low to avoid a cleaving whip of steel.
"Rin! Get to Eri!" he barked.
Rin nodded and sprinted toward the distant figure standing still in the mist.
Another barrage came. Lin leapt over a flurry of spiked chains, rolled, and closed the distance.
Graden's eyes flashed, and a massive hammer coalesced midair—swinging down like a meteor.
Lin crossed his blades, catching the blow—but the sheer impact blasted a crater into the ground, forcing Lin to his knees.
"You are strong," Graden whispered. "But strength is not enough."
Lin roared, twisting, slashing upward. His blade kissed Graden's arm—flesh parting to reveal glimmering, stardust bones beneath.
The boy staggered, the weapons shuddering around him.
Lin pressed forward, relentless.
But Graden grinned.
And the ground beneath Lin exploded.
Meanwhile...
Rin reached Eri.
The crystalline wings shimmered, unfurled slightly in a mockery of life. Eri's body stood rigid, the shard in her chest pulsing steadily.
"Eri," Rin whispered, reaching out.
The moment her fingers brushed Eri's shoulder—
An invisible force lashed out.
Rin cried out, thrown backward like a rag doll, crashing into broken stone. She coughed, tasting blood.
The air around Eri crackled, warping, growing hostile.
Rin pushed herself up, staggering.
"Eri… it's me," she gasped. "It's Rin. Wake up. Please!"
Eri's head twitched.
For a moment, Rin saw it—
Tears.
Silent, frozen tears slipping down Eri's cheeks.
But the power—the shard—refused to let her go.
It flared again, threads of crystalline light lashing the air like whips.
Rin braced herself.
But then—
Gunfire.
SSRC Field Base — Edge of Tokyo B
Katsuhara stood under the pelting rain, watching the feed from a drone.
Sector 21 was in chaos. His daughter—his own flesh and blood—was caught in a nightmare.
The decision was made.
"Deploy the FP204s," he ordered, voice sharp as a blade.
Elite SSRC operatives, clad in heavy black exosuits, snapped to attention. They loaded the FP204s—long, sleek rifles designed not just to kill, but to erase the psionic cores of Asseters and Contractors.
Targets: Hirukushi. Graden. And Eri if necessary.
"Move in!" Katsuhara barked.
The squads advanced.
But as they crossed the boundary into the Garden—
The ground itself rebelled.
Roots, born of dead earth and psionic mutation, erupted, skewering soldiers mid-stride. Ghostly specters clawed at visors. The mist thickened into choking hands.
One by one, Katsuhara's teams vanished into the night.
No gunfire. No screams.
Just silence.
Katsuhara's fists clenched.
"I'm going in," he growled.
His second-in-command protested. "Sir, protocol forbids—"
"To hell with protocol!" Katsuhara snapped.
He grabbed an FP204, loaded it with anti-psionic rounds, and crossed into the Garden himself.
Inside the Garden
The storm raged.
Lin and Graden clashed in a whirl of blades and broken space.
Each of Graden's weapons struck with monstrous force, reshaping reality around him. Buildings collapsed in the distance under the sheer energy being unleashed.
Lin was bleeding. Shallow cuts, bruised ribs, torn muscles. His coat hung in tatters.
Still he fought.
"I made a promise," Lin hissed, slashing away another barrage. "I won't let her fall."
Graden cocked his head.
"You still do not understand," he murmured. "She already has."
He stepped back—
And the weapons around him fused into a single spear.
He hurled it with all the force of a collapsing star.
Lin dodged—but the shockwave ripped the ground apart.
The earth split. Fire burst from the cracks.
The North Gate trembled.
Near Eri
Rin crawled to her knees.
The shard's energy was growing unstable.
Eri's body jerked, spasming. The crystal embedded in her chest cracked—hairline fractures spiderwebbing across its surface.
"Eri!" Rin screamed, tears streaming down her face. "Fight it! Come back!"
Eri's lips moved.
Barely.
"Rin…"
And then—
With a sound like shattering glass—
The shard exploded.
Crystalline fragments rained down like meteors.
Eri fell to her knees.
Blood pooled around her.
Rin scrambled forward, catching her before she hit the ground.
"No," Rin whispered. "No, no, no—"
Eri smiled weakly, the light fading from her eyes.
"I… always… loved you, Rin…" she breathed.
And then—
She was gone.
The rain swallowed her final breath.
Moments later
The ground shook.
A scream—ancient, raw, and inhuman—ripped from Rin's throat.
The shard fragments embedded themselves into her skin, her soul.
Her body convulsed.
Power—pure, unfiltered—erupted outward, blasting Lin and Graden apart, tearing open the sky itself.
Rin rose.
No longer just a girl.
Her eyes burned with brilliant silver.
Her hair floated like a crown of fire.
And around her, the Garden withered—afraid of what she had become.
An Asseter.
A true one.
Fueled not by a wish of hope—
But a curse of vengeance.
"I'll kill them all," Rin whispered, voice breaking, cracking into something monstrous. "Anyone who hurt her... everyone who let this happen."
Lin stared in horror.
Graden simply bowed, as if recognizing a queen.
At that moment
Officer Katsuhara arrived.
His boots crunched over bone and broken stone.
He raised his rifle.
And froze.
There, in the center of the destruction, stood his daughter.
No—
Something wearing his daughter's face.
She turned to him.
"Father," Rin said.
Her voice was wrong. Too deep. Too full of pain.
His finger hovered over the trigger.
She smiled—a broken, heart-shattering smile.
"You're here to kill me too?" she asked.
Katsuhara's hands shook.
Memories flooded him—her first steps, her first words, the time she cried after her mother's funeral.
He gritted his teeth.
"I'm here to save you," he whispered.
Rin tilted her head.
"You can't," she said simply.
And then—
The world ignited.
To Be Continued.