From the beginning, there was Light, Darkness… and Humanity. Three forces, each born from the void — one to illuminate, one to consume, and one to choose. In the earliest age, the world was a battleground where Light and Darkness clashed endlessly, with Humanity caught between them like a candle flickering in the storm. But the flame endured. And when the tide turned, Humanity rose alongside the Light, forging weapons of hope and armor of belief. Together, they pushed the Darkness back, sealing it beyond the veil. Or so they believed.
Yuuga's eyes opened, and he yawned while stretching on his bed in his flat house.
"Urgh, what the hell was that dream? Feels like it will never end." Yuuga grabbed his phone on the table beside him and looked at the time.
His eyes widened as he looked at the time. It was already 8:22 AM. "OH SHIT!"
In a blur of panic and tangled blankets, Yuuga leapt out of bed and bolted to the bathroom. There was no time for breakfast — or dignity.
It takes 10 minutes to walk from his flat to his campus, Neo-Akarta Academy, in the city of New Akarta. Yuuga rushes through the streets, dodging people, food carts, and many more. "Oh no, Mr. Joe's gonna kill me if I'm late to his class again... or maybe even worse!." Yuuga breathlessly ran through the campus and the building halls and finally arrived at his class at 8:31 AM. he sat on the far left of the seats while panting; there were already other students in the class but Mr. Joe.
"Look who's finally here on time." Yuuga felt a poke beside his stomach and looked where it came from. He is Reynold Yuuga's close friend and classmate. "Oi..." Yuuga looked at him while still breathless from all the running. Reynold laughed. "What's up with you being so sweaty this morning?"
Yuuga sighed. "I woke up at 8:22."
"Ahh, no wonder...," Reynold replied. "Why did you wake up late anyway? Did you stay up late all night gaming or something? "
Yuuga shook his head. "No...I had a weird and long dream about war and stuff... monsters and people were fighting and killing and shit...and there is this darkness being sealed away or so I thought before I wake up."
"Damn...its like you watched to many movies and shit that it even gets in your dream. Raynold said."
Yuuga and Reynold continue to chat, and then they pick up their phones and see a message that Mr. Joe's not having class today because he's sick. Yuuga leans back while closing his eyes. "Why did I even bother sprinting here if we got no class?"
Reynold stood up and stretched with the joy of a man who had never had to run in the first place. "HELL yeah, baby! No class! Today's a gift from the gods!"
Yuuga closed his eyes. "I hate everything. Especially cardio."
Reynold laughed. "Wanna tour the city with me? Hit some shops, maybe scout for cute girls?"
Yuuga peeked at him. "No thanks. I'm going back. My bed's waiting. It never lies. It never cancels on me last minute."
"C'mon, don't be boring. When's the last time you got out and had fun?"
Yuuga gave him a deadpan look. "This was my fun. Dying on the sidewalk at 8:30 AM."
Reynold checked his phone, then looked at Yuuga with a grin. "Alright, since class is canceled, I'm hitting the mall later. Wanna meet me there at, say, 1 PM?"
Yuuga squinted at him like he had just suggested mountain climbing. "Dude… I just said I wanna sleep."
Reynold smirked. "Yeah, yeah. But if I don't drag you out once in a while, you'll merge with your mattress and become one with the furniture."
Yuuga let out a long sigh and rubbed his face. "Can't you just go without me?"
"I could, but who's gonna stop me from buying another overpriced anime figure I don't need?"
Yuuga groaned, slumping in defeat. "Ugh… fine. I'll go."
Reynold beamed. "That's the spirit! Meet me at Grand Neo Mall, the front entrance. One sharp. Don't ghost me."
"No promises", Yuuga muttered, already imagining the struggle of leaving his bed again.
After the conversation, they both part ways, and Yuuga went back to sleep in his room and in his comfy bed while Raynold went touring around the city. All until 1 PM.
Yuuga lazily arrived at the front gate, where Reynold was waiting while scrolling on his phone, then looked at Yuuga. "Ah, there he is. Reynold grinned as he walked to Yuuga. You finally came. "
"Mmm..." Yuuga responded lazily. "Can't sleep the whole day without you dragging me. Can you?"
Reynold chuckled. "Oh come on it's better than rotting in your room just sleeping lets go have fun!
Yuuga shook his head and followed Reynold. They spend time together having fun eating at restaurants, playing games at the arcade, and even checking out girls at the mall. After a whole day of spending time together they get tired and the time is already 10 PM.
Yuuga and Raynold walked side by side down the dimly lit streets, their bags slung lazily over their shoulders. The city buzzed quietly around them — cars in the distance, neon signs flickering, and the occasional murmur of other late-night wanderers.
Raynold glanced at his phone. "Whoa. Look at the time. Didn't realize it got this late."
Yuuga yawned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah… feels like we just left the mall. Guess time flies when you're wandering aimlessly."
Raynold pointed ahead. "Your place is just a block that way, right? I'll head off here—it's quicker for me if I take this right turn."
Yuuga nodded. "Right. Thanks for today, man."
Raynold grinned. "See you in noon class tomorrow?"
"Yeah, unless I sleep through it."
Raynold chuckled. "Classic. Alright then, night-night, Sleeping Beauty."
Yuuga waved lazily as Raynold disappeared down the corner. "Later."
He turned toward his block, the night wind brushing past his cheeks, carrying with it the scent of the city—concrete, ramen, a hint of cigarette smoke. A few other people shuffled by, office workers and late-shift staff heading home, eyes heavy with exhaustion.
Yuuga tightened his jacket and continued on, his mind already dreaming about collapsing into his bed.
Then—A sharp, high-pitched scream tore through the stillness.
He froze.
Another scream—panicked, desperate. A woman's voice.
His heart jumped. Without thinking, Yuuga sprinted toward the source, cutting through a narrow alley lit only by a flickering streetlamp. The shadows stretched unnaturally long, and the air suddenly felt… wrong.
Yuuga slowed as he reached the alley's mouth, breath held, eyes scanning—
In front of him is a morbid, deformed creature as if a man become one with a monster it's eyes are three two on the left side one on the right. Its scaly, crocodile-like arms are clawing the poor helpless woman who is now frozen in fear with its claws. Yuuga rushed to punch the creature's face and knock it back a bit. The creature was shocked but did not feel any pain.
GRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!
the creature roared, enraged at Yuuga for disturbing it and attempting to eat its prey. The creature starts to run at him and claw him. Watch out! Yuuga shouted and dodged the attack while holding the woman, and then pushed her away and told her to go run.
I don't know what the hell you are, but I'm not afraid to beat the hell out of you! Yuuga said before bravely running to hit the monster again. But suddenly, the monster was slashed from behind. Yuuga stopped and saw a masked man clad in dark yellowish armor with a lance with gems and jewelry on it. Despite the looks, the lance was sharp and deadly, and it was able to damage the monster badly.
The monster quickly stood up and rushed to attack the knight, but it was useless; it never once hit the knight, not even a scratch. Then the monster with its feet jumped towards the knight with its claws out, and the claws started to become longer and sharper to pierce the knight.
The knight, with his lance, parried the monster's claws and kicked it away knocking the monster knocked back to the wall.
Amazing... Yuuga muttered in awe, witnessing the action.
The knight puts his hand on the gem of the lance, and the gem starts to glow bright along with the metal of the lance as if he's giving it energy. With a focused breath, the knight gets into stance and swiftly pierces the monster on the wall, and the monster screams in pain as its body starts to burn and explode, leaving no trace behind only ash and burn marks on the wall.
Yuuga stands there, eyes wide open, watching the whole scene in awe becomes curious as to why there is a monster and why there is a knight with such strange powers that only exist in movies and games.
The knight then turned and looked at Yuuga as if he were looking at Yuuga's soul. Hmph, you're pretty brave and stupid trying to fight a monster that humans can barely hurt. But you did save that woman despite how strong that monster is. I'll give you that. But unfortunately, you're not supposed to see this. I'm afraid I'm gonna need to erase your memories about what just happened. The knight pulls out a mirror and aims it at Yuuga.
What?...