TOKYO, 23:17
Rain poured down mercilessly that night, drenching the city streets. Thunder cracked across the dark sky as if the heavens were furious at a world that had lost its balance.On top of a 17–story office building, faint groans echoed—the sound of something that was once human.
The high–rank demon crawled on the wet floor. Flesh torn open here and there, veins pulsing black like living roots. Its breath came ragged, broken. For a moment, it didn’t even look like a beast anymore. It looked... pathetic.
“W-Why…?”
Its voice cracked, wounded, but still full of disbelief.
Standing before it was a skinny young man with messy hair, wearing nothing more than a soaked black T-shirt under a short-sleeved flannel. His thin glasses were fogged up—partly from the rain, partly from his own breath.
But his outfit wasn’t what stood out.On his back grew a single giant raven wing, jet-black, looming like death itself.His left arm had turned into a sharp, steel-colored claw.One of his eyes glowed gold, like a hawk locking on its prey.And fused into his face was a natural mask—a hooked beak, part of his skin, not something man-made.
That was his body. That was him.
“Why? Bro, what else is there to talk about?”His voice was flat, almost lazy—like this conversation didn’t even deserve to happen.
In his right hand, a long shotgun etched with glowing spirit runes was aimed straight at the demon’s head.
“YOU… YOU’RE A SORCERER!!” the demon shrieked with the last of its strength.“BUT YOUR BODY… WHY DO YOU HAVE DEMON POWER TOO!?”
The young man—Rian—didn’t reply. Didn’t defend himself. Didn’t explain.
“W-Why don’t you just erase yourself!? You’re dangerous!!”
BOOM.The spirit bullet blew through the demon’s face without mercy. Its roar was drowned by thunder. Smoke curled from the shotgun’s barrel, carrying the smell of iron and burnt soul.
“How the hell would I know, dumbass,” Rian muttered as he turned away.“It’s not like I ever asked for this power.”
He left the corpse in the rain and the pool of blood.
Two hours earlier, a high-rank sorcerer had been dispatched to deal with the demon that butchered six employees in this very office. But now, the building was silent. Too silent.
Rian leapt off the rooftop. His two wings—raven black on the left, snowy owl white on the right—spread out, slowing his fall until he landed lightly.
At the front of the building, a black car with no license plate pulled up, blinkers flashing. The driver rolled the window down a little.
“Get in. We’re going home.”
Rian hesitated. Rain still pouring.
“Guess my game night got delayed an hour. Whatever, I’ll crash in the back seat,” he said, sliding in.
The car sped into Tokyo’s midnight highways, city lights blurring on the wet windshield. Half-asleep, Rian’s shotgun faded back into spirit particles, vanishing from his hand.
Suddenly—
BRAAAKK!!!
A truck from the opposite lane rammed the car on its right side. Glass shattered. Flames burst from the fuel tank. Metal crumpled like paper.
The car flipped three times. Rian was thrown out the back window, smashing onto the sidewalk.
His body remained whole—but his gaze went blank.
“...Damn... that hurts,” he groaned, half-conscious.
Blood trickled down his temple. He tried to stand, but his body refused. And then he realized—this wasn’t some random accident.
He felt it.Something far more… deliberate.
(End of Chapter 1)