The cold of the Frozen Labyrinth had barely left Kairo's bones when he stepped into a new hell.
Ash rained from the sky.
He stood on the edge of Serenthia, the central city of hunters and adventurers, watching it burn. Black smoke curled into the heavens like the tendrils of a great beast. The once proud towers of the Hunter's Guild were ablaze, and the scent of scorched earth filled the air.
> [System Alert: City-wide emergency active. All Guild members—Evacuate or Engage.]
Kairo gritted his teeth. This wasn't just an attack—it was a message.
And then he saw him.
A figure stood atop the flames of the central plaza. Clad in pitch-black robes, his long white hair whipped in the wind, and over his right eye glowed a red rune—the mark of a Fragment Bearer.
Kairo stepped forward, voice low.
"Who are you?"
The man turned.
His face was expressionless, emotion drained from his gaze. The air around him shimmered with heat, and the ground beneath his feet cracked, molten.
> "I am known as Ashen Vale," he said, his voice calm, almost bored. "And I came here to kill you, Kairo."
---
Kairo didn't wait.
He lunged forward, sword drawn, flames rising around them. Ashen Vale's form flickered like smoke—his body vanished for an instant, reappearing behind Kairo in the blink of an eye.
A dagger slashed forward—Kairo barely blocked it.
> [Skill Activated: Frozen Mirror Domain]
The area around them twisted.
Ash slowed—just a second, just enough.
Kairo struck, slicing through his robe, drawing blood.
Ashen Vale grinned for the first time.
> "So… the First Fragment has chosen you too."
The skies roared above them. Flames and frost clashed as the two bearers fought—each movement splitting stone, breaking the earth. Buildings collapsed around them.
People screamed. Guild members fell.
Kairo could feel the weight of this battle—not just strength, but something deeper. Ashen Vale was testing him, pushing him, hunting for weakness.
---
"You're hesitating," Vale sneered mid-fight, blade to blade.
"You don't kill unless you have to."
"I've killed hundreds."
"I don't need to be you," Kairo growled. "I just need to stop you."
> "Then let's end this."
Ashen Vale raised both hands. The sky turned crimson. A burning sigil appeared in the air.
> [Fragment Skill: Crimson Culling]
Summon a barrage of fireblades that strike all targets within a 50-meter radius.
"Move!" Kairo shouted to nearby survivors.
Flaming swords rained from the heavens. Buildings crumbled. Streets split.
Kairo formed a dome of ice—his Fragment reacting in desperation, shielding those within.
He emerged coughing, bleeding from his shoulder, but alive.
Ashen Vale was gone.
Smoke swallowed his presence.
But one thing was certain—
This wasn't over.
---
In the ruins of the Hunter's Guild, Kairo found the surviving Commander—an older man with half his face burned, gripping a broken spear.
"You saw him, didn't you?" he wheezed.
Kairo nodded.
"He's a bearer like me. But stronger."
The Commander coughed blood.
"He's not just stronger… He's not working alone. They're gathering. Fragment wielders—nine in total. If they unite… this world is done."
Kairo clenched his fist, looking at the glowing mark on his palm.
> "Then I'll gather allies too."
> "I'll face them all… one by one."