---
Somewhere on the edge of the world…
The sky was bleeding.
A red haze had devoured the clouds above the Plate, swirling like a wound torn into the heavens. Screams echoed across the ruins of Valeforge, the citadel city once called unbreakable. Ash fell like snow, coating the streets with death.
And in the center of it all, a boy lay motionless in a crater of molten stone.
He was young—no older than sixteen—his spiky black hair singed by fire, his fists still clenched. His clothes were ripped, and a strange, golden glow pulsed from veins beneath his skin.
Kairos Velhart opened his eyes.
He gasped, choking on dust. The air smelled like burning bones and iron. His ears rang with silence, the terrifying kind that comes after the world has already ended.
"Kairos!!"
A shout pierced the stillness. A figure rushed down the broken steps of the palace ruins, leaping over shattered archways and bloodied stone.
Aeron Veyra, taller, leaner, with gray eyes like a dying storm, dropped beside him. His body was covered in cuts, and his black cloak fluttered unnaturally even without wind.
"You idiot," Aeron muttered, gripping Kairos's shoulder. "You opened it, didn't you?"
Kairos blinked. "W-what…?"
"The Vault. You opened a Vault, Kai. In the middle of a royal execution." He pointed at the smoking battlefield. "You just incinerated a king."
Kairos slowly sat up. He looked around—there were dozens of armored corpses lying in rings around him, their weapons melted, their eyes wide in terror. At the center of the chaos was a Vault—a floating, fractured relic of gold and black glass.
It pulsed with ancient runes and hummed with raw, unstable Essence.
"I didn't… mean to," Kairos muttered, gripping his head. "I just… felt something. Like something calling me."
Aeron's face darkened. "That wasn't just a Vault. That was a Primordial Seal."
The wind shifted suddenly. The sky above them crackled.
From the ruins, a monstrous voice boomed.
> "You've awakened something that should've stayed dead."
---
Five minutes earlier…
Valeforge had been celebrating the king's coronation.
Trumpets rang. Banners of flame and gold danced across the sky. Nobles in floating carriages circled the palace, showering coins over the commoners below. Kairos had never seen anything like it.
And he'd never felt so hungry.
"How can food look this expensive?" Kairos whispered, staring at the royal banquet table. Dozens of trays shimmered with magical meats, glowing fruits, and Essence-infused honeywine.
"Don't you dare," Aeron had warned. "We're guests. Barely. Try not to make a scene."
But then… the Vault had appeared.
It rose from the ground beneath the throne—black and gold, ancient beyond time—and locked onto Kairos. Everyone had panicked. Guards drew weapons. The air twisted. The king ordered Kairos to be executed as a cursed one.
And Kairos…
Had reached out.
---
Back in the present…
The Vault shattered, letting out a shockwave that shattered palace walls and sent both boys flying.
A figure stepped out from behind the throne ruins.
Clad in obsidian armor that pulsed like it was breathing, a tall warrior approached. His voice was deep and hollow.
> "That Vault was sealed by the gods themselves. You are not worthy."
Aeron stood, summoning twin daggers made of blood and shadow. "Kairos, get up. That's a Choir Reaper."
Kairos stumbled to his feet. "The what?"
Before Aeron could explain, the warrior launched forward, Essence bursting around him in a wave of black lightning.
The battle was instant.
Aeron dodged left, his blades carving runes into the air. Kairos caught the warrior's hammer with his forearm—and felt his bones nearly snap. But then—
Something inside him flared.
The same golden glow from earlier surged again, spreading across his chest like a second heartbeat. His vision sharpened. The world slowed.
And for a moment…
He saw the edge of the world.
He saw The Abyss Veil—the end of the Plate—rising like a vertical ocean of darkness.
And he saw eyes inside it, watching him.
> "What… am I?" Kairos whispered.
> "YOU ARE A CURSE," the Reaper roared, lunging.
But Kairos didn't move.
Instead, the ground cracked beneath him, and his right fist ignited with Primordial Flame.
He struck forward.
The Reaper's armor exploded into shards.
Kairos stood in silence, arm smoking, chest heaving.
Aeron looked stunned. "You just… punched through a Choir Reaper."
Kairos fell to his knees.
From the shattered Vault, a whisper echoed.
> "One of Thirteen has awakened…"
---
Later That Night — On the Edge of the Plate
The two boys sat on the edge of the world.
Far below, the stars flickered beyond the edge of the Plate like tiny candlelights above the Abyss Veil.
Kairos didn't speak for a while. Then he said:
"Did I kill everyone?"
Aeron sighed. "You didn't mean to. That Vault chose you. It's older than the Plates themselves."
Kairos looked at his hand. "I didn't even know I had that power."
"You didn't. Until today."
Aeron leaned back, staring at the stars.
"The Obsidian Choir will come now. The royal clans will mark you as cursed. Every Plate will know your name."
Kairos blinked. "Cool. Maybe someone will feed me for once."
Aeron snorted. "You're unbelievable."
Kairos smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
> "If this power is a curse… then I'll use it to burn the ones who gave it to me."
---
Final Page Scene – In the Obsidian Choir Sanctum
Somewhere in the Heaven Layer, floating above a dead Plate, a tall figure stood in a hall made of bones and glass.
Archon Zareth, clad in void-black robes, opened a relic scroll. His hollow eyes glowed dimly.
> "So… the Thirteenth Flame has lit again."
He turned to his generals.
> "Begin the Collapse Protocol. The boy must not survive the next moon cycle."
---
END OF CHAPTER 1
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