Bruno hesitated, glancing at Raine.
Raine met his gaze. "Do you think it's a good idea?"
Dask, noticing their hesitation, reassured them. "Yes, the relic is something special. It'll help you fight. And don't worry—the ring never worked on me. I've tried it many times, but it always stayed loose. Same with other clients who came here."
He added, "If it doesn't work on you, I'll give you something else."
Bruno turned the ring over in his fingers. It was cold—unnaturally so.
Something about it felt… aware.
The engravings on its surface twisted when he wasn't looking directly at them, shifting just beyond the edge of his perception. He hesitated. Every relic he had seen came at a price.
And yet—
His gut told him this was different.
"Bruno…" Raine's voice was quiet, cautious. "You… okay?"
Bruno didn't respond immediately. He exhaled slowly and slid the ring onto his finger.
A faint pulse crawled up his arm—not painful, but unsettling.
The ring tightened as if adjusting itself to fit his finger.
Bruno clenched his fist, testing how it felt. No immediate change. Just the lingering sense that something had shifted.
Dask, staring at the ring, muttered, "Woah… that's strange. It actually works on you. You're special."
Bruno looked at his finger, excitement flickering in his eyes. "So, what power will I get from it?"
Dask barely got a word out.
"So, the ring—"
RUN.
The voice wasn't Dask's. It wasn't Raine's. Not even the old man's.
It cut through Bruno's thoughts like a jagged whisper.
He barely had time to process it before—
Crunch.
The sound was wet. Sharp.
It came from the side where the old man had been sitting and drinking.
A sudden wave of pressure slammed into Bruno's chest, making his veins go numb, his breath hitch in his throat.
It wasn't the ring.
This was something else.
Something worse.
Then he saw it.
From the corner of his eye, where the old man had been sitting—
A crack had formed in the air behind him. A jagged tear, like shattered glass hanging in nothingness.
And from it—
A head.
It was eating the old man.
Bruno's mind barely caught up with his body.
He saw Dask standing, another crack forming behind him.
And from it—
Hands.
Twisted, pale hands—not skeletal, but wrong. Their muscles bulged, shifting like liquid beneath stretched skin.
Before he could even think—
He moved.
His hand grabbed Raine's wrist before his brain could tell him to. Before his mouth could form words.
Raine gasped. "What are you—"
"Run."
The crack behind Dask widened.
And Bruno saw it.
The old man—he hadn't even screamed.
Because he couldn't.
A jaw—jagged, unhinged—had already clamped over his shoulder, pulling him in.
Teeth—not human. Not animal. Something else.
And then—
The thing bit down.
Raine's breath hitched. "What the—"
Bruno didn't stop to watch.
His body was already moving.
He yanked Raine away, barely giving her time to react. She stumbled but caught on fast.
Behind them, the shop shattered as more cracks spread like splintering ice.
Through the gaps, they came.
The creatures weren't fully out yet. Their heads had emerged, their mouths gnashing—but their bodies were still trapped.
The shop wasn't the only place.
As Bruno and Raine burst onto the streets, they saw it—
The air itself fracturing.
Across the Exile District, cracks hung in the sky and along the ground. Some no larger than a hand. Others big enough to step through.
And from them—
They came.
At first, the creatures looked almost… beautiful.
Strange, intricate flowers bloomed across their backs, their petals shifting in impossible colors.
Bruno grabbed Raine's hand, running as fast as he could. They had to get out.
A creature lunged from a rift, its body a twisting mass of sinew and limbs, charging forward with unnatural speed.
It didn't go for Bruno.
It went for Raine.
Bruno's pulse spiked.
"Raine!"
She turned just as the thing leapt.
Too slow.
But before it could reach her—
SHHK!
A flash of steel.
Blood—not red, but deep violet—splattered across the stone.
The creature twitched, its body jerking mid-air—
Then it dropped, motionless.
Bruno's breath hitched.
A soldier stood before them.
Dark armor. A flowing cloak. His blade still dripping from the kill.
And behind him—
More came.
Some wore standard armor. Others were clad in black cloaks, their weapons relic-forged, pulsing with eerie energy.
Soldiers poured into the district, their weapons drawn.
A barrier snapped into place around the perimeter—an eerie, shimmering wall of abyssal energy.
The Exile District was sealed.
Bruno barely had a moment to process before the soldier spoke, his voice cold and sharp.
"Get out of the open."
Bruno glanced at Raine. She nodded, breath still unsteady.
They moved.
More rifts were opening—further down the street, along the walls, even on the ground.
The creatures were everywhere.
The Exile District wasn't just under attack.
It was being consumed.
Bruno's pulse pounded in his ears as they ran, dodging through the chaos.
"The Abyss has always been dangerous, but this?" Bruno gestured toward the cracks. "This isn't natural."
Raine's lips pressed into a thin line. "You think… something forced them open?"
Bruno exhaled sharply. "Has to be."
A shriek ripped through the air as another monster emerged from a rift to their right.
Too close.
Bruno's instincts screamed at him—
Move.
His feet barely left the ground in time as the creature's claws sliced through empty air where he had just stood.
Another soldier—this one wielding a spear—drove his weapon through the creature's throat before it could lunge again.
But the soldier in shining armor—
He couldn't stop the beast.
The monster turned on him.
Its sharp claws dug into his armor.
Then—
It started eating him.
The soldier screamed.
He locked eyes with Bruno, desperation in them—
And then—
Bruno felt it.
A pulse.
Deep within his chest. Not his heartbeat. Not fear.
The ring.
It was reacting.
Bruno's breath caught.
He looked at his hand—the ring still wrapped around his finger, its markings shifting.
For a split second, he swore he heard it again.
A voice, barely a whisper.
"Get a weapon."
Then—
A deafening roar split the sky.
And the monsters weren't stopping.
They were coming through.
Raine's hand clenched into a fist. "We need to get to higher ground."
Bruno nodded, chest rising and falling rapidly.
The creature had just finished eating the soldier.
Now it was looking at them.
It lunged.
The fight hadn't started yet.
But the war had begun.