Chapter 1
Prologue: The Circumstances of Akaza Izuminohara
A strong wind blew. It was a wintery wind which whistled between high-rise buildings.
Buffeted by the wind, a young man walked alone.
He moved right down the middle of the wide, empty roadway.
No cars passed by, and even the skyscrapers in front of him stood wrapped in silence.
There was no sign of human life in this place. Cracks were visible in the asphalt, and many windows in the buildings were shattered. The trees which lined the street, once well-maintained, were all either withering or growing wildly out of control.
Only the pale winter sun gazed down upon the young man.
This city, which should be bustling with life, was a desolate ruin.
The sky was blue, but the wind cut through with a biting chill. The young man, undeterred by the cold, headed toward the center of the building district with a singular purpose.
Suddenly, an exceptionally strong gust of wind blew straight at him.
It was then that the young man, Akaza Izuminohara, finally stopped walking.
He was stopped in a major intersection, which, totally deserted, resembled a circular plaza.
In this deserted city, a gunshot rang out.
Suddenly, a creature silently slithered through the gaps between the buildings as it reached for Akaza. As it bared its fangs, the serpent attempted to strike with no success.
Coiling its body, the serpent slithered away through the buildings.
In Akaza's hands was a small revolver.
He nodded to himself, satisfied with the bullet's expected outcome.
He looked up at the two buildings across the intersection, the very center of the city.
The clear blue sky between the towering skyscrapers was no more.
Now, the sky was obscured by a cloud of monstrous creatures.
Gargoyles, Harpies, Gremlins . . .
Winged monsters gathered solely to obstruct his path.
Click, click, click . . . Akaza, unfazed by the horde, reloaded his revolver.
The number of monsters gathered was easily in the hundreds.
They all stared at Akaza with expressionless eyes, like glass marbles.
Click . . . The fifth bullet slid into the chamber. Despite the presence of hundreds of creatures, the only sound to fall over the cityscape was an eerie silence.
Akaza turned toward the monsters. His gaze was intense, as if his sheer will alone could repel the monsters.
Hmph.
His smile broadened.
Even though he was only twenty, his smile was unsettlingly fearless, a clear sign of his unwavering confidence.
Regardless of whether thousands, or even tens of thousands, of monsters faced him, nothing could deter him from his goal.
Akaza was just that confident.
Screeeech!
A Harpy let out a piercing cry.
Triggered by the call, the monsters began to stir.
Gliding through the gaps between dilapidated street lamps, silent traffic lights, and decaying trees, the swarm of monsters, like dark clouds enveloping a frail traveler, rushed toward Akaza.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.
A hole opened in the dark cloud.
With that one bullet, dozens of monsters nearing Akaza were blown away, and vanished like mist.
This was the effect that his bullet's shockwave had on the creatures.
Still, the remaining monsters, undeterred, continued to surge toward Akaza.
The deserted intersection was now on the verge of being overrun by monsters.
In its center, Akaza stood armed only with his small revolver.
Akaza tightened his grip on the trigger of the revolver.
It's futile.
He muttered to himself, not intending for the monsters to hear.
Hundreds, even thousands of monsters were no match for Akaza, whose sole purpose was to destroy the Hole that lay beyond this horde.
Ten years ago, Akaza lost his parents to a Hole.
Since then, he had tirelessly pursued the destruction of the Holes, his resolve stronger than anyone else.
Until the Holes were destroyed, Akaza could not afford to lose, nor did he intend to.
Gunshots rang out again, and the monsters faded into a haze.
One shot, two shots, three shots—
Reload. Then, more gunshots—
After only five minutes, Akaza had eliminated all of the monsters.
But there was no time to pause.