The city that once pulsed with human life now lay in ruins. Streets once crowded with laughter and voices were swallowed by silence, reclaimed by towering roots and wild vines creeping through every crack. Nature was patient—unyielding—and it had begun to take back what mankind abandoned.

The dragging echo of footsteps broke the stillness. Aria’s footsteps.

She slipped away from the safety of her refuge, alone, stubborn as ever. Two years had passed, and still no sign of her brother. The weight of that failure gnawed at her—guilt for surviving, for losing him, for not protecting the only family she had left after her parents’ deaths. To give up on him would be to let go of everything she loved. That, she could never do.

Leaves rustled, tall grass swayed gently with the breeze. In another time, it might have been soothing. But in this world, where humanity teetered on extinction, peace felt like a crime. Under the harsh sun, sweat trailed down her forehead as she pressed on, following the same desperate hope that had carried her this far.

The building loomed before her. Once, it had been a mall—a place of joy, of laughter shared with her brother. Now it stood hollow, abandoned, its halls echoing with silence. She stepped carefully over the roots breaking through cracked tiles, weaving through shadows as memories flickered in her mind.

“Ivan!!” Her voice rang out, sharp, desperate.

Mistake number one: sneaking out alone.Mistake number two: shouting in a place where she had no idea what lurked.

The echo carried down the corridor, stirring something in the dark. Her heart clenched. She spun around, eyes darting toward the sound that answered her.

“Ivan? Anyone?” This time her voice was lower, trembling, fragile with hope.

But it wasn’t Ivan.

From the shadows emerged a hulking shape, fangs glistening with drool that dripped onto the broken floor. Its eyes glowed a feral red, locked onto its prey with a hunger that stripped away reason. Its claws tore into the remains of another creature, shredding flesh with monstrous ease.

Aria froze. Her breath hitched. Instinct screamed at her to move, but her body faltered. She stumbled backward, her heel slipping on loose gravel. The sharp sound of her fall cracked through the silence like a death knell.

The creature’s head snapped toward her. Its stare was madness, hungry, unrelenting. Aria’s skin prickled with fear, her breaths shallow, ragged.

Don’t move. Don’t you dare move, Aria...

Her mind chanted, desperate, as she crawled backward until her spine hit the wall. The beast crept closer, slow, deliberate, savoring the kill. Her eyes brimmed with tears, lips trembling as she whispered in her mind over and over. please, not like this... please...

The claws reached toward her face. Aria squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable.

But instead came a rush of wind, a deafening crash. The ground shuddered as stone cracked, a wall splitting under immense force. The monster’s heat vanished from her skin.

Her eyes flew open. Slowly, she turned her head.

There he stood.

At first glance, he looked human, but no human bore arms like that, no human could have crushed such a beast so easily. He stood over the fallen monster, its massive body already broken.

Aria’s breath caught. Relief, fear, and awe tangled in her chest. Whoever, whatever he was, one truth was clear.

He was no ordinary man.