At a time when chaos reigned in the world, humans submitted themselves to slavery by the so-called gods and demons – beings completely different from anything we had ever seen. They began to inhabit our world for a reason that remains unknown to this day. It was during this period that a war between these two races began, known as the War of the Rulers, which lasted a century, near the mid-19th century. At that time, two beings – a god and a demon – who would not accept this era of death, chaos, and tyranny, opposed the apocalypse unleashed on Earth by the conflict that had nothing to do with humans. They sacrificed their lives by killing the leaders of the gods and demons, thus ending the war, even though the gods and demons continued to exist on Earth. The reason? That mystery endures to this day.
— I imagine what the world would be like if that war had never taken place in our world; perhaps everything would be better, — said Kenji —
(Kenji Tatsuya, the first son of the Tatsuya family, who lives in a remote town called Gokayama, a young man with slightly spiky black hair, wearing his black hoodie and big eyes, with an uncommon shade of blue in his town).
One day, while walking to the hospital to visit his sick sister, who had been in a coma for more than two years, Kenji became lost in his thoughts until he heard someone calling his name. It was his friend, Ryota Tatsumi, who was passing by—a young man apparently of the same age as Kenji, but with hair as white as snow and eyes that were also white—a bright white... to the point of seeming almost like crystals.
"Hello Ryota," Kenji says with a smile on his face, "how are you?"
Ryota, in turn, seeing Kenji with a bag in his hand, says, "Hello Kenji, are you going to the hospital to visit your sister?"
"Yes, it's been 4 days since I last visited her."
"Do you still work for Mr. Tomoji?"
Kenji, embarrassed, answers, "Because he's older, he needs help with the heavy minerals, and I also need money to pay for the hospital, remember?" (Tomoji is an old man who employed Kenji. He owns a factory that separates minerals to be sold and recycled as weapons for the government).
Ryota, even though he was worried about Kenji, accepted his decision and replied, —okay, just be careful, okay? Since you didn't want me to talk to my father to try to get you a job, there's not much I can do either.
Kenji sighed, as if he thought he was disturbing his friend, —sorry about the work.
—kakaka, no problem, well, I'll go here, see you later, and try to take care of yourself, okay?
—don't worry, see you later.
Kenji on his way to the hospital comes across a neighborhood affected by the "war of the sovereigns", which was caused by two hitherto unknown races, the race of "gods" and the race of "demons". Displeased to see that situation, where he saw a hungry child, he hands an apple that was in his bag to the child who was hungry, barefoot and with torn clothes, where the child smiles at Kenji, and thanks him, he is heartbroken to see that, he is frustrated because the apple was all he had and he would not be able to help with much more. Upon arriving at the hospital he goes straight to his sister's room, while watching, he is already upset about his day, he begins to vent to his sister even though she is in a coma.
—Good morning, sister, (Yumi Tatsuya, first daughter of the Tatsuya family), I hope you're doing well today. The doctor said you've been responding well to the treatment, and that you might wake up soon. Isn't that great?
—Oh, I'm sorry too. I know I said I'd bring you flowers the next time I came to visit you, but I couldn't. I'm sorry...
In despair, Kenji starts to blame himself for his sister's condition. With tears in his eyes and a feeling of guilt, he says,
—If I had been strong enough to protect you that day, this wouldn't have happened, and you wouldn't be in a coma.
In the middle of the conversation, Kenji has vague memories of the day his sister suffered an accident and was infected by the power of the gods and demons. He begins to remember the stories he has heard about the emergence of sovereigns here in this world. According to ancient accounts, about 100 years ago, in the midst of the calm of the time, a war broke out between two unknown races. Those who declared themselves our saviors, "gods", that was how they described themselves. Of course, humanity did not accept it at first. They did not believe it. Until... The first miracle happened, on the lawn of a hospital far from the city. It was there that a girl who was missing one of her legs was cured. They made the young girl's leg grow back, something completely unknown to us and never witnessed before. Rumors at the time say that they decided to show themselves because they were looking for someone of their race who had gotten lost in our world. Other religious people said that we were near the end of our world and they were our salvation. There were still some who doubted them among humans, but because of other miracles, many others believed in them too. When almost 1 year passed, After their arrival, a second race arrived, a dictatorial and threatening race. We call them "demons" because of their different faces and bodies, some of them terrifying, and practically all of them are threatening and arrogant. They demanded a demon that had fled to our world, seeking refuge, shelter, a story very similar to that of the gods. We even thought that they might be looking for the same being. I wasn't surprised that one of them even fled. I would have fled even if I were of the same race as them. They are scary, even for someone of their own species. However, before we could even see or discuss it, they went to war, a war that lasted a century, and even today we suffer the consequences. The religious, together with the government, joined the gods. Some dictators and factions, among other bad people, decided to support the demons. These choices created some very famous clans. Despite everything that happened, they haven't left to this day. Why? No one knew...
Your battles were so intense that our climate changed, our world changed... And with it, we changed too.
Our atmosphere became heavy, regions were destroyed, the world was left with few resources and food, because of the energy left over from the fights, many humans became seriously ill, which was the case with my sister, others gained incredible abilities or even changed physically, and there were those like me, who at most only gained a little more brute strength, enough only to be able to drag some heavier things.
But the worst for me was the accident that happened in our region, a little over 2 years ago, the fight between two greedy demons, for human smuggling in which you accidentally got involved, because we live close to where they were fighting, a stray attack that ended up hitting our house, where you couldn't escape in time and got trapped in the rubble with all that demonic energy trapped around you, leaving you in the state you are in today...
In the midst of intense anguish, Kenji finds himself with a huge tightness in his chest, murmuring, he says, —If I had been stronger... I'm sorry, my sister, I should have been there for you, so I could have taken your place in this state.
Suddenly the doctor arrives to see Kenji's sister.
—Hello, Mr. Kenji, good morning, you arrived early today for a visit, it's good to see how dedicated you are to taking care of your sister, but remember to take care of yourself too.
—Thank you, doctor, and please don't be so formal with me like that, —says Kenji with a smile on his face.
It's just that when I have some time before work, I like to stop by to see how she is.
And the doctor responds, —Okay, but don't be so hard on yourself, after all, you need to be well for when your sister wakes up.
With a smile on his face, Kenji thanks the doctor again for his dedication, but he remembers the time. Scared at how quickly time has passed, he shouts, "Haaaa!!! I remembered that I have to go to work. Mr. Tomoji must be waiting for me and is already very angry. See you later, doctor." He then runs off and says goodbye quickly. On his way to work, Kenji sees four people bothering a young man in a dark alley between some abandoned houses, threatening him for money. Kenji is frustrated when he sees this, but continues on his way. After all, he believes that he is not capable of protecting anyone, not even his sister. Arriving at work, he sees Mr. Tomoji from afar, looking angry. Before Kenji can get close, Mr. Tomoji shouts, "KENJI!!!, how are you so late?" Out of breath from having rushed in, he replies, "I... I'm sorry... MR. TOMOJI!!!, unfortunately I ended up being late." Because of the difficult times, it is very rare in those affected regions that we have transportation conditions to get where we want to go.
—"Mr. Tomoji can't know that I was in the hospital, otherwise he will want to spend money he can't afford on me, and he will be worried on top of that. After all, Mr. Tomoji is incredible. He created the ore collection all by himself to survive after the war with his family. They choose ores left by the bodies of demons or gods, or even ores that were completely covered in mana or magical power, since they are not useful for anything other than making weapons. However, just like me, Mr. Tomoji lost important people too. One day, when Mr. Tomoji's family was celebrating and waiting for him to get home from work, they were killed by a god who was bothered by Mr. Tomoji's family. He never told them the details honestly, and I don't think it's a good idea to keep asking either. All I know is that in the end, only Mr. Tomoji was left..."
In the end, Kenji spends the day separating minerals for the weapons factories that always come at the end of each quarter. Kenji thinks that this service is not suitable for Mr. Tomoji, but it is thanks to this that he is able to pay for his sister's hospital and has a place to rest, as well as Mr. Tomoji. Kenji believes that he obtained this superhuman strength because of the wars caused in the past and the energy left on the planet by the war, but superhuman strength was not so uncommon, even due to the fact that many already had abilities beyond this. After separating several minerals and even some minerals left by giant demons, (it is believed that the minerals of demons and gods are like a mixture of their aura completely mixed with their body, thus generating magical minerals, completely covered by mana, or Aura). Kenji was exhausted at the end of the afternoon, ready to go home, he says goodbye to Mr. Tomoji, but is interrupted before he finishes speaking. — KENJI YOU IDIOT!!
A frightened Kenji responds, — I'M SO SORRY!!!, What am I apologizing for anyway?
With a sigh, Mr. Tomoji responds, —Kenji, it's okay to want to take care of your sister... Just don't push yourself too hard, the work is hard, and times are not easy, we live in a remote region and directly affected by those damn people, not to mention the rich and nobles. Unfortunately, I can't help you with any more things, so please be careful. Here, take this with you, for later.
Tomoji hands Kenji a basket of fruit and says.
—It's okay to think we're weak, because it's when we find ourselves in a situation where someone important to us is in danger that we realize how strong we can be.
Kenji, embarrassed but happy to hear those words as if someone believed in him just a little, thanks them and leaves, heading home.
On the way home he ends up passing by a group of 4 drunk people, one of them had a staff in his left hand, was wearing long dark clothes, the other had clothes torn at the sleeves, spiky hair and pointy teeth with a very scary smile, the others were practically hiding behind these two, as if they were servants, no, they looked more like scared dogs that would obey any order, as he passed by them Kenji overhears the following conversation.
—Hey Kaito, that was a bummer.
—What do you mean, Haruki? By the way, what the hell, the beer is already gone. It wasn't even worth robbing that guy earlier.
—You complain a lot, Kaito. Don't you think you overdid it? Besides robbing the guy, you ended up killing him.
Kenji, hearing this, freezes. At that moment, he remembers the guy he saw earlier being harassed by a group of four people. He thinks, "Could it be the same people?"
—He also didn't want to cooperate. Hehehe. If he had cooperated, he might still be alive... He kept pestering me, saying that he couldn't give me the money, that it was for his family. Besides, what do I have to do with his family? Kaito responds with an evil smile.
And everyone else who was there with Kaito laughed and laughed. Kaito, not satisfied, says,
—I want more money. It's a shame that there's nothing good in this run-down place.
One of the other two who were there together says, "If I remember correctly, there's an old place nearby that recycles minerals, it should do the trick." With a terrifying smile, Kaito replies, "Perfect!" And so the group passes by Kenji, but Kenji doesn't seem to be a threat to the group. Kenji, in turn, gets scared and remembers Mr. Tomoji, and thinks to himself, is that possible? "What are the chances of this being true... Mr. Tomoji..." In the desperation of the moment, he calls Ryota on the phone. Ryota answers, surprised, thinking it's good news. "Hey Kenji, how are you? How was work?" "Ryota, you need to help me. Mr. Tomoji is in danger." "Calm down, stay calm, I don't understand right. What's going on?" "We don't have time. If we take too long, Mr. Tomoji will..." "Okay, but wait for me, please. I'm on my way. Don't do anything stupid until I get there." And Ryota hangs up worried and runs out of the house, but Kenji can't stop being worried and ends up following the group of people who are heading towards Mr. Tomoji.
Arriving near the ore warehouse, Kenji was already expecting the worst, the group arrived breaking down the door, heading towards the office making a lot of noise, the office inside was where parts of the documents and the money collected at the end of the month were kept. At the back of the warehouse in his room, Mr. Tomoji heard the noise of the front gate being broken down, when he went to see what it was he realized that it was criminals, shouting he says.
—Who's there?
Kenji outside listening to everything that was happening thinks.
— "Oh no, Mr. Tomoji, what are you doing there at this time, he usually goes to bed early, could he have woken up with the noise?"
Desperate about what could happen to Mr. Tomoji, with his hand on his head and a feeling of despair he thinks.
—"Oh no, I'm too weak, someone strong please help him, otherwise he'll... he'll... die".
At this point Kenji remembers his sick sister, he goes into shock. Tomoji, seeing those people, asks —what do you want here?, What are you doing?
Kaito answers, —so you're the old man who lives here, we were just hanging out there having fun, but unfortunately we ran out of money, so we thought maybe you could get us some more, you know, hehehe.
They go towards Tomoji, he says in fear, I will cooperate, please don't hurt me, but they are not interested in what Tomoji is saying, they go after Tomoji and throw several punches, making Tomoji fall to the ground, they continue hitting, kicking him in the face and stomach, Kenji, hearing Mr. Tomoji screaming with the punches and kicks, begins to beg for help in his thoughts.
— "Someone, anyone, please help, help Mr. Tomoji, no way... there is no one around, no one who can help us".
Frustrated, Kenji begins to remember Mr. Tomoji's words.
— It's okay to think we are weak, because it is when we find ourselves in a situation, where someone important to us is in danger, that we realize how strong we are.
At that moment, Kenji's body trembles, his blood boils through his body and he moves without realizing it. When he realizes it, he is already inside the warehouse. He shouts loudly, "STOP!!! Leave Mr. Tomoji alone!" Silence falls over the place. Kaito can't hold himself back, and the thieves end up laughing along with him, laughing out loud. Haruki and the other two go towards Kenji, laughing. The two of them were category D henchmen (to differentiate the strengths of demons, gods and transformed humans, it was normal to separate them by categories. The strongest one at the time was a category S God). The two henchmen hold Kenji while Haruki punches him in the stomach. Then he lands several blows, punches to Kenji's face and stomach until he can no longer stand. He falls to the ground. However, they continue to kick him nonstop. Haruki, laughing at Kenji, asks, "What can a weakling like you do?"
Still not satisfied, Haruki rubs Kenji's face on the floor. Tomoji, seeing this, becomes desperate and worried about Kenji. He shouts, "STOP IDIOTS, YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM. WHO DID YOU WANT, WASN'T IT ME? WASN'T IT MY MONEY? I CAN GET MUCH MORE MONEY, BUT LEAVE HIM ALONE." Hearing this, Kaito laughs and says, "We're going to take your money, but we're going to kill you both first, hahahahah." Kenji, almost fainting, begins to blame himself. "If only I were strong, if only I could save those who are important to me, if only I had been lucky enough to be born strong, Kenji, you weakling... Loser." And at that moment, Kaito, fed up, says, "I'll start with you, old man, since that kid isn't a threat," and without thinking twice, he pierces Mr. Tomoji's stomach with his hand coated in metal, as if it were magic, which came out of the palm of his hand. The impact was strong enough to crack the floor. Kenji sees that and is shocked. He shouts, "STOP, DON'T DO THAT." Seeing Kenji's despair, Kaito rejoices in that suffering. He says, "Hey, kid, did you like it?" With an evil smile on his face, that's the ability of my aura, the power of a category C transformed by the power of the demons left behind. I can mold my bones, turning them into iron. They grow as much as I want and I can cut anything with them. Furthermore, as a form of self-defense, I can cover my body with iron that's so resistant, resistant enough to defend and attack at the same time. Kenji, seeing Tomoji's blood dripping, loses control of himself and loses consciousness. Suddenly, Kenji's heart beats hard. Deep in his subconscious, he hears a voice. Its appearance is a little blurry, but it looks like a person. No, he realizes that it's not a human being here. With everything dark around him, he can only glimpse the eyes and mouth with a scary smile.
—You're weak, so pathetic that you even deserve to die, hehehe. I think I can have fun with you. I'll save you for now on a whim, but I warn you that it's going to hurt.
Haruki, already bored of the situation, says, —Hey Kaito, let's kill this guy soon too and leave with the money.
However, Haruki notices an enormous pressure coming from Kenji and a force to escape his hand. Haruki, who was pressing him to the ground, feels Kenji's aura begin to emanate, which leaves Haruki thoughtful.
Upon regaining consciousness, Kenji whispers as follows, — I'm going to kill you all...
Haruki, frightened by this, says, — Kaito, I think there's something strange-
And before he could finish speaking, his hand was ripped off, and his focus was completely on his hand that suddenly flew away.
Frightened, he says, — My hand, what happened?
— And where is that damned brat who was here just now beneath me?
Kenji, standing behind Haruki, says, — I believe you're looking for me, but you won't find me beneath you, after all, it's a very insignificant place for me, don't you think?
Frightened by all that, Haruki begins to wonder what happened. Without his right hand and with his arm all covered in blood, he thinks, "What do you mean, he was here just now, I just blinked and he disappeared, how is that possible? He's just some random bum." Altered and completely possessed by hatred, Haruki shouts, saying, "You bastard, how dare you? I'm going to kill you, you son." However, before Haruki could turn around and finish speaking, his head was cut off. Then Kenji kicked him away, throwing him next to Kaito. The other two who were there beating Kenji were in disbelief. The two move away to take up space. With just one look, they already knew what to do. They both decide to attack together. One with a fireball ability, very weak but irritating, and the other summoned two category C demons in exchange for all the mana he had. They attack together, but for Kenji, they are all in slow motion. is surprised by what he sees, and can hardly believe what he sees.
—Strange... everyone is so slow, it's not just that, it's like I know what's coming next, even before they attack, like I notice everything around me, from the smallest breath to the simplest noise, I think I understand, it's not them who have become slow, I've become faster, but how?
Besides, this desire to kill is insatiable, it's hard to control... I feel a little dizzy, my sanity is fading too, I better end this quickly, it's like I can't control myself completely, without emotions, without control.
Upon noticing the fire attack approaching, Kenji easily dodges it by simply turning his body to the side. Soon after, he notices an attack by the demons together from the front. Upon realizing that he was in the middle of the enemy attack, he smiles. Both monsters attack with their claws, aiming at Kenji's face. He dodges them both by ducking. In a brief moment, he spins in mid-air, hitting the demons in the stomach, making them unable to move. He then grabs them by their feet, throwing one through the ceiling so hard that it cracks the ceiling, going far away from the warehouse. Then, noticing the attack again from the fire user, trying to catch him off guard, he catches the second monster very quickly, spinning it in the air and throwing it at the fire user, causing both of them to crash into the wall, thus preventing the attack from the other fire enemy. At the moment the demon hits the fire user, the other man who summoned the beasts is distracted, thinking, "What the hell is this, what was happening here, this kid?" Wasn't he just a transformed person without category, without power? How is that possible? However, at the same time that he was distracted thinking and looking at his injured companion, he heard a voice coming from behind his head. It was Kenji saying, "If you're curious about how this is possible, you better give up fighting, otherwise you'll end up dying." The man shouted, "DAMN YOU!" and threw a punch aimed at Kenji's face. However, Kenji grabbed the man's hand without any problems. Then he said, "I'll do you a favor so I don't have to kill you." He broke the man's hand, making him fall to his knees. He finished it off by kicking him, sending him far away, near Kaito, hitting the warehouse's entrance gate, making it impossible for anyone to enter or leave. Kenji's body was burning inside, panting because he had exceeded his body's physical capacity. It was as if he was burning in flames with smoke coming out of the sides of his mouth and body. However, he suffered after-effects soon after, making him weak for a moment. Upon seeing this, Kaito wanted to take advantage of the situation to try to kill him. Kenji, he advances without excitement and tries to take Kenji by surprise at a moment when he ends up falling to his knees due to accumulated fatigue, Kenji, upon feeling Kaito's murderous intent close to him, quickly gets up but Kaito is already in front of him, he quickly tries to cut him, but Kenji quickly dodges and then punches Kaito, sending him away, Kenji decides to end the fight and walks towards the enemy, Kaito intimidated says:
— Damn you, do you think you can ignore me? I'll take everything from you, everyone you love, everything will disappear.
However, Kenji, as he walks, feels dizzy and ends up losing consciousness, falling to the ground, completely exhausted from the fight. Kaito, upon seeing the situation Kenji finds himself in, ends up gathering his remaining strength. He gets up and goes towards Mr. Tomoji, with his face bloodied by the attack he received, being driven only by hatred at that moment. He had not thought twice about killing Mr. Tomoji. Kenji, unable to even speak properly, whispers very quietly, almost unconscious.
—Stop... don't do this, his thoughts take over his mind, "Oh no, I don't have any more strength, it's not possible, it was only now that I managed to do something for someone, it can't end like this." As Kenji observes the situation, he sees Mr. Tomoji with a smile on his face, as if he were proud of Kenji, it was as if he was at peace.
A scream echoes from the warehouse, all messed up by their fight. It was Kaito, determined to kill another person, another victim of the fury of those who were dominated by the dark mana of those who were contaminated by the demons. "Die, old man," and attacks Mr. Tomoji. Kenji, already crying, uses his last energy to scream.
—STOP!!!
And at the same time, ready to kill Tomoji, Kaito hears a voice coming from above.
—Hey, you stop right there.
Looking up, he sees Ryota, falling from the hole that Kenji opened earlier when he threw the summoned demon. Kaito, seeing that, thinks.
—"Shit, right now?"
Ryota, falling upside down, just touches Kaito's forehead with his finger and uses his magic technique.
—freeze of the winter rose
Making Kaito completely freeze, Ryota then looks at Kenji and says
—Wow, I'm glad I got to Kenji in time, and from the looks of it, Mr. Tomoji is alive too, but we have to take him to the hospital.
Kenji is happy to see his friend there at that moment, and finishes by saying, —how good... How good that you're here... Ryota...
And he faints soon after, with a smile on his face, happy that everything didn't end with the death of someone dear to him.