The explosion shook the house.
Without another word, Steph and I rushed outside.
The moment we reached the street…
We froze.
A Ruined lay crumpled against the broken pavement.
Or…
What was left of him.
Half of his skull was simply…
Gone.
Blood, bone and fragments of flesh painted the cracked stones beneath him while a little girl no older than six knelt beside the corpse, desperately shaking what remained of her father’s body.
“…Papa?” She sniffled.
“N-No…” “Papa, wake up.” The child broke into uncontrollable sobs.
A patrol officer casually lowered the smoking barrel of his rifle before walking over.
Without a hint of hesitation…
He drove his boot into the little girl’s chest.
She tumbled across the pavement with a cry.
For a moment, my vision went blank.
These retarded sons of bitches…
They come into our home…
AND THINK THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THE BLOODY DAMNED HELL THEY WANT!
My fingers curled into fists so tightly my nails dug into my palms, nearly drawing blood.
I wanted to move.
I wanted to…
kill them.
To rip their throats out of their necks.
To smash every last one of their skulls into bloody pulps.
…
But I couldn’t.
I was too injured.
Too outnumbered.
Too…
Powerless.
Then another thought struck me.
Wait.
That…
That didn’t make sense.
It hadn’t even been five minutes.
So why the hell…
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE- The loudspeaker shrieked once again before Major Kenith’s composed voice echoed throughout the district.
“Attention.” “Following a recommendation from one of my Senior Officers, it has been determined that the previous time limit was…
excessively generous.” His tone remained perfectly calm.
“As such, the interval has been revised.” “Fron this moment onward…” “The execution of one Ruined will occur every two minutes.” Silence.
Then…
An uproar exploded from the crowd.
“WHAT?!” “YOU’RE INSANE!” “LET US GO!” “WE DIDN’T KILL ANYONE!” The patrol officers answered not with words…
But with batons.
“QUIET!” “GET BACK!
GET BACK!
“ON YOUR KNEES, PESTS!” Another volley of screams swallowed the district.
Major Kenith didn’t even raise his voice.
“Silence.” The single word somehow drowned out the chaos.
Anyone who continued shouting was beaten until they couldn’t.
My entire body shook.
That…
F*cking…
Bastard.
For a split second, I imagined him lying beneath my feet.
His jaw broken clean off.
His throat…
Crushed beneath my hands.
…
Not enough.
It still wasn’t enough.
Grinding my teeth until my jaw hurt, I instinctively stepped in front of Steph, shielding her with my battered body.
If anything happened…
It would happen to me first.
Behind me, I felt Steph clutch the back of my tunic with trembling fingers.
Then…
Lev’s hand settled gently on my shoulder.
“Look.” Lev’s voice was quiet.
Almost gentle.
I didn’t answer.
My eyes simply followed where he was looking.
…
Chaos.
The entire district had descended into madness.
“GET DOWN!” A baton crashed into a man’s shoulder.
He collapsed with a scream.
“PLEASE!
I CAN’T!
MY LEG!” “THEN CRAWL!” Another blow.
A woman threw herself over a little boy.
“Please!
Don’t hit him!” “He’s only five!” The officer answered with only a boot to her stomach.
“M-MAMA!” The little boy scrambled toward her.
“NO!
DON’T HIT MAMA!” A baton struck his ribs as his small body tumbled onto the pavement with a sickening thud.
“NO!” The woman cried.
To my left, another little girl crawled toward the corpse of the man whose head had been blown apart.
“Papa…” “Papa, please wake up…” “Mama’s going to be angry.” “…Papa.” Nobody answered her.
Somewhere else…
“I DIDN’T DO IT!” “I SWEAR TO GODS I DIDN’T!” “GET OFF ME!” Three officers beat the man into the dirt until his screams dissolved into wet coughs.
Behind me…
I felt Steph clutch my shirt harder.
She was shaking.
So badly.
…
I could hear everything.
Every scream.
Every sob.
Every desperate breath.
Every crack of bone against polished batons.
It all poured into my ears at once until the entire world became nothing more than noise.
Last night…
This very place had been filled with laughter.
And now…
The Ruins…
The Grey Market.
The crude resemblance of peace and order the Elders had fought so arduously for…
The tiny home we’d built together…
It was all crumbling before my eyes.
Worse…
the Elders were dead.
All of them.
An indiscribable feeling clawed its way back into my chest.
No…
Stop it.
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
“I KILLED HIM!” A gaunt man stumbled into the open with tears streaming down his face.
“I DID IT!” “IT WAS ME!” “I’M THE ONE WHO KILLED THE OFFICER!” Before he reached the patrol officers…
Another Ruined shoved him away.
“NO!” “YOU’RE LYING!” “I’M THE MURDERER!” “No, you idiot!” Within seconds they were shoving each other.
Punches flew.
Someone screamed.
Another man joined in.
Then another.
The patrol officers rushed forward.
“BREAK IT UP!” Batons swung.
Blood splattered.
The violence was broken through more violence.
…
Stop.
Stop it.
STOP IT!
Piercing through the chaos, Lev’s calm voice reached my ears.
“Look at what you’ve done.” “This is all happening because of you.” “Every single one of us is going to die because you refused to take responsibility.” He paused, his expression as indifferent as ever.
“The one thing you’re supposedly good at.” “What a joke.” I clenched my jaw.
“Shut up.” Lev ignored me.
Instead, he quietly asked, “So tell me.” “What exactly are you going to do now?” “How do you plan on fixing this?” I stayed silent.
After waiting for an answer that never came, he let out a quiet sigh.
“The solution seems obvious.” “You and Stephanie should hand yourselves over to those kind officers.” Warm blood trickled down my palms as my nails dug deeper into my skin.
“…No.” Lev merely raised an eyebrow.
“You both might die.” “But the rest of us will live.” He looked me straight in the eyes.
“…Isn’t that what you wanted?” My breathing caught.
“Kuon…” “Not too long ago, didn’t you tell me that the strong should nurture the gentle?'” His words drove into me deeper than any blade ever could.
“If you truly believe that…” “Then be strong.” “Hand yourself over.” His gaze slowly drifted toward Steph.
“And take her with you.” “The rest of us are the gentle ones.” “We’re the ones worth protecting.” “…Aren’t we?” I couldn’t breathe.
Lev watched me for another moment before quietly continuing.
“Or…
were those words just another lie?” “Were you only pretending to be someone noble?” His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“Are you nothing more than a pathetic hypocrite?” …
Shut up.
Please…
Just shut up.
Somehow, his voice drowned out everything else.
The screams.
The crying.
The beatings.
Even the sirens vanished.
There was only Lev…
And his words.
I dug my nails deeper until blood dripped onto the fractured stone beneath my feet.
Still…
I couldn’t answer him.
After what felt like an eternity, he sighed.
“…Fine.” I frowned.
“…What are you doing?” Lev didn’t answer.
He simply bent down and picked up a jagged piece of broken stone from the pavement.
For a brief moment, he studied it in silence.
Then…
He smiled.
It was the same calm, ordinary smile I’d seen countless times before.
Without the slightest hesitation…
He drove the sharpened stone straight into his own forearm.
Thk.
My mind went completely blank as I stared at the blood streaming down his sleeves.
“…!” He slowly pulled the stone back out.
Then…
His smile disappeared.
No…
It twisted.
His face contorted into one of unbearable pain and absolute terror, as though he had become an entirely different person.
He stumbled backward, clutching his bleeding arm before suddenly turning and sprinting toward the patrol officers.
“HELP!” His scream tore through the district.
“HELP ME!” “THEY TRIED TO KILL ME!” Every head turned.
Lev ran like a man escaping death itself, blood pouring from his arm like a red stream.
“THE BOY!” He pointed directly at me.
“THE BOY IN BANDAGES!” “AND HIS LITTLE SISTER!” “THEY’RE THE ONES WHO KILLED THE OFFICER!” Before he could get any farther, one of the patrol officers rushed forward and slammed a baton across his chest.
Lev crashed onto the ground with a cry.
“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” The officer raised his baton again.
“I SAID SHUT UP!” Just before the blow landed…
A long shadow fell over them.
The officer froze.
Immediately, he lowered his weapon, stepped back, and snapped into a salute.
“Major!” Major Kenith had approached.
Standing behind him were the two Senior Officers, both watching the scene with unreadable expressions.
Kenith looked down at Lev before shifting his gaze toward me and Stephanie.
Then he spoke in an even voice.
“…Explain.” Lev winced, breathing heavily as he pressed a trembling hand against his bleeding arm.
“I…
I saw them…” “The boy confessed everything to me.” “When I tried to run…
they attacked me.” He lifted his wounded arm.
“They wanted to silence me.” Kenith’s golden eyes remained unmoved.
After a long silence, he asked, “…Do I look like a fool to you?” Lev froze.
Kenith continued.
“You expect me to believe that a nearly crippled Ruined and a little girl murdered a Superhuman.” His voice was calm.
“But not even I insult my own intelligence.” For a brief second, disappointment flickered across Lev’s face.
Then…
He smiled weakly.
“…You’re right.” “It wasn’t just the boy.” His finger slowly rose…
And settled on Stephanie.
“The little girl…” “…She’s a Superhuman.” Silence swept across the district as Kenith’s eyes narrowed.
For the first time since he’d arrived…
His expression changed.
He turned toward the surrounding patrol officers.
“Seize them.” “Bring both of them to me.” “Yes, Major!” The patrol officers surged forward without a second’s hesitation.
My blood ran ice cold.
“…Steph!” Before I could take a single step, two officers crashed into me from either side.
Their combined weight drove me face-first into the fractured pavement.
“UGH!” White-hot agony exploded through my body as one of them slammed a knee directly into my back.
Right…
Onto the very wound where Lee’s knife had nearly pierced my heart.
My vision blurred.
A gurgled scream escaped my throat.
“…AAAGH!” I tried to push myself up only for my arms to be violently twisted behind my back.
Shit.
I couldn’t move.
The officer only pressed down harder.
“Stay down, vermin!.” Nearby, Stephanie wasn’t nearly as helpless.
She was a Superhuman now, after all.
She tore her arm free from one officer’s grasp and shoved another away with enough force to send him sprawling across the street.
The surrounding patrol officers visibly stiffened.
“What the hell?!” “She’s stronger than she looks!” Steph rushed toward me.
“Bi-” But she never reached me.
CRACK- “AGH!” Steph yelped in pain.
One of the Senior Officers had appeared behind her with terrifying speed, pressing a compact high-voltage stun device against the back of her neck.
I watched as Steph’s body convulsed violently.
Her scream caught in her throat as every muscle locked at once.
Before she even had time to collapse, the second Senior Officer stepped in.
With practiced precision, he fastened a sleek metallic collar around her neck.
Click- A faint blue radiance spread across its surface.
The instant it activated…
Stephanie went limp and collapsed into the officer’s arms, completely unconscious.
The Senior Officer examined the collar’s readings for only a moment before lifting his gaze toward Major Kenith.
“There is a confirmed reaction, Major.” He hesitated briefly.
“She possesses an Ability Core.” “Whether she has fully awakened her Ability Fuel Core remains uncertain…” “But she is, at the very least, an Aspirant.” Kenith gave a slow, thoughtful nod.
“I see.” My heart nearly burst from my chest.
“STE- GARGH!” The word never left my mouth.
The officer’s knee ground even harder into my back, forcing the air from my lungs.
All that escaped me was a wet, strangled gasp.
“Ghh…!” Every attempt to breathe sent searing pain through my chest.
I could only lift my head to see that Stephanie lay unconscious, her small body motionless beneath the Senior Officers’ watch.
Then…
I looked beyond them.
The Ruined…
Every single one of them…
Simply stared at me.
No one spoke.
Or moved.
They only watched in silence.
Major Kenith studied us in silence.
His sharp golden eyes swept over my blood-soaked bandages before drifting toward Stephanie’s unconscious body.
They lingered briefly on the faint blue glow radiating from the strange collar around her neck.
Then his gaze shifted to Lev, who was still standing with the support of a broken slab of stone, breathing heavily as blood trickled from his wounded arm.
After a long pause, Kenith turned away from us and faced the gathered Ruined.
His amplified voice echoed across the district.
“I will ask this only once.” He slowly pointed toward us.
“Are this boy…
and this little girl…
the murderers?” Silence.
Not a single soul answered.
Hundreds of eyes remained fixed on us.
Some were fearful.
Some uncertain.
Others simply stared.
I forced air into my battered lungs.
“N…
no…” The word came out as a distorted rasp before a violent cough wracked my body.
Blood splattered onto the dirt beneath me.
Kenith didn’t even look my way.
He simply waited.
Several seconds passed before he raised a hand.
One of the Senior Officers immediately placed the loudspeaker into his palm.
Kenith asked again.
“Are these two responsible for the death of Lee Entarius Barca?” Again…
Nothing.
Then, somewhere within the crowd, a desperate voice rang out.
“Where are the Elders?!” Another followed.
“Yeah!
Where are they!” “They would’ve known what to do!” The cries spread through the crowd, but Kenith paid them no attention.
His gaze settled back on me.
I lifted my head.
My chest felt ready to burst.
“…Help…” The whisper barely escaped my lips.
I looked toward the faces I’d known my entire life.
The ones I’d risked my life for every day and every month.
The ones I’d starved beside.
The ones I’d bled for.
Someone…
Please.
Help.
But none did.
None spoke.
They only watched.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Kenith…
chuckled.
“It appears,” he said, “your odds are…
remarkably poor.” “Nevertheless, until your guilt is properly confirmed, your punishment shall not be carried out.” His eyes wandered over my ruined body.
“Though, judging by your condition…
I doubt you will survive long enough to see the verdict.” I ground my teeth together.
The silence lingered.
Then…
“…MURDERERS!
THEY’RE THE MURDERS!” A voice broke through the crowd and forced me to move my head in disbelief.
However, just then…
Another followed.
“I SAW THEM!” “IT WAS THE BOY!” “THE LITTLE GIRL TOO!” As more and more Ruined began to join, my soul gradually fell into despair.
Some hesitated, looking toward their children clinging to their legs.
Others looked at their aging parents…
their wives…
their brothers.
One after another…
They began shouting.
“THEY KILLED HIM!” “I SAW THEM DO IT!” “DAMNED MURDERERS!” My eyes slowly lost their light.
The hope I’d been clinging to quietly crumbled away until all their remained was…
nothing.
These people weren’t strangers.
I had known their faces ever since the day I learned to walk.
I had starved with them.
I had risked my life every waking day just so that they had the chance to eat.
I had fought for them, not knowing whether I would make it out alive.
And now…
These same people were handing me over themselves.
…
No.
I couldn’t blame them.
It wouldn’t be right to.
If Steph and I weren’t taken away…
Those executions would continue.
Every two minutes.
Until every last one of them was dead.
They were simply trying to survive.
Was that so wrong?
I lowered my head.
Kenith slowly swept his gaze across the chanting crowd before giving a satisfied nod.
“Senior Officer Cole.” “Transport the prisoners to the caravan.” At his command, one of the two officers stepped toward me.
The other produced a circular device from his belt and quietly whispered something into the Major’s ear.
Kenith answered without hesitation.
“No.” “The execution houses would be far too merciful.” He spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“The murder of a Superhuman…
one of mankind’s greatest assets…
is among the gravest crimes one can commit.” His gaze hardened.
“And the victim was not merely a Superhuman.” “He was a direct family member of one of the Great Sovereign Families.
Clan Barca.” He looked toward the officer holding the device.
“Contact Site Fifty-Three.” “Inform them to prepare…
Crime and Punishment.” The officer’s expression subtly stiffened.
“…Yes…
Major.” As they dragged me away, my eyes wandered one last time.
To Kenith.
To the Senior Officers.
To Steph’s unconscious body.
To the crowd…
Their chants had stopped.
Only guilty faces remained.
Then…
My gaze found Lev.
For a brief moment, he looked back at me.
His expression twisted into something almost resembling regret.
Then…
He offered me a small, gentle smile…
…and turned away.
My vision slowly darkened as my mind finally…
collapsed.
*** About an hour later.
I sat inside a reinforced flying caravan, my wrists bound in heavy alloy restraints.
Steph slept quietly beside me, her head resting against my shoulder.
It was as if my mind had gone completely blank as I stared at the heavily armoured iron walls surrounding us with sunken eyes.
Across from us sat an elderly blind man, his hands restrained by chains identical to mine.
He quietly hummed an old tune to himself as if he wasn’t being brought straight to his death.
After a while, he turned his clouded eyes toward me.
Then, with a faint smile, he asked, “Young man…” I turned my gaze to him.
“Mm?” “Are you familiar with the name William Shakespeare?” I stared at the old man for a moment before quietly shaking my head.
“…No.” The old man chuckled.
“Not surprising.” “He was a playwright.
A poet.
Lived centuries ago, long before the world became…
you know.” He vaguely gestured toward the reinforced walls surrounding us.
“I only ever managed to read one of his works.” He scratched his beard.
“Can’t remember what it was called.” I didn’t answer.
I simply kept staring at the steel floor beneath my feet.
The old man continued anyway.
“There was one line, though.” “I’ve never forgotten it.” He smiled to himself.
“Found it rather philosophical.” I remained silent.
After another pause, he asked, “Would you like to hear it?” Glancing at the old man, I let out a raspy sigh.
“…Sure.” The old man nodded as he closed his blind eyes as though reciting an old prayer.
“…Hell is empty.” “…And all the devils are here.” He frowned.
“Or…
something along those lines.” Silence settled inside the caravan once more.
I found myself repeating the words over and over inside my head.
Hell is empty.
And all the devils are here.
I clenched my jaw until it hurt.
Lev’s words echoed cacophonously inside my head like the beating of drums.
It was…
It was all my fault.
IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!
*** Several hours later, the flying caravan slowly descended.
With a heavy metallic groan, its reinforced doors slid open.
Cold air poured inside.
Two muscular officers stepped in and unlocked the elderly man’s restraints.
He rose without complaint, stretched his aching back, and laughed softly.
“Well…” “I suppose this is where our paths part.” With that, he calmly walked toward the exit.
The doors shut behind him.
Silence returned.
The caravan did not move.
Not yet.
Then…
The soft hum of Ability Fuel reverberated through the reinforced hull as the engines roared back to life.
We slowly ascended once more.
Stephanie remained asleep against my shoulder.
Neither of us spoke.
Because our destination…
…lay far beyond this place.
Far beyond the cities of mankind.
Far beyond civilization itself.
Beyond the Great Walls.
Beyond the lands swallowed by the Rifts.
Growing up, the Elders would sometimes speak about the world beyond the Rifts.
Not often.
Only when someone asked.
From what little I remembered, mankind had managed to conquer parts of the cursed world over the centuries.
Settlements.
Fortresses.
Entire strongholds carved into the nightmare itself.
Those reclaimed territories became known as Regions.
Each Region was divided into countless sectors, military outposts, and fortified cities where humanity somehow continued to survive despite the horrors lurking beyond.
There were eight known Regions.
Or…
At least, that was what I’d always been told.
None of them were truly safe.
They were simply places where mankind had managed to plant its flag…
and refuse to let go.
But there was one place the Elders almost never spoke about.
A place I’d only ever heard mentioned in hushed conversations…
in old stories…
and from patrol officers who thought no one was listening.
A Region where no fortress had ever stood.
No city had ever endured.
No expedition had ever returned.
A land so utterly consumed by the horrors beyond the Rifts that humanity had abandoned even the thought of reclaiming it.
Because of that…
People had long since stopped calling it a Region.
It had been given another name.
Zone 0.
The place where mankind cast away the devils they created…
The place where devils were sent…
…so that they would never return.
[End of Arc 1: The Ruins.]