The sound of rain pounded against the shattered rooftops, mixing with the distant screams of the dying. Smoke curled into the air, and the scent of blood clung to the wind.

  Kaido, barely five years old, stood frozen amid the wreckage. His small body trembled, his wide eyes reflecting the carnage before him.

  "KAIDO!"

  A frantic monk grabbed his arm, shaking him out of his trance. His face was pale, his robes soaked with rain and smeared with ash.

  "You have to listen! You have to understand!" The monk's voice cracked with urgency, but Kaido only stared bnkly, the world around him fading into a haze of horror.

  Inside the temple, Kaido sat unmoving on a worn cushion, his young mind struggling to process what had just happened. The monk knelt before him, his expression grave.

  "Kaido…" he said, his voice gentler now. "There was once a demon named Ketsugiri—the Sword Demon."

  A flickering candle cast long shadows across the temple walls as the monk's voice carried Kaido into the past.

  Ketsugiri stood on a battlefield drenched in blood, his sword gleaming under a crimson sky. Around him y the bodies of sin demons, their monstrous forms twisted in death. Behind him, a small group of humans huddled together, their faces streaked with soot and tears.

  "Humanity," the monk continued, "has been reduced to just 5% of the Earth. They survive only because warriors like Ketsugiri fight for them."

  But Ketsugiri's battle was never-ending.

  Demons evolved. They built kingdoms. They learned to rule. They no longer fought recklessly, but with strategy and overwhelming force.

  Then, the five Demon Emperors came together.

  And they killed him.

  The fmes of the candle flickered, and the story faded. The monk's voice softened.

  "But Ketsugiri's power did not vanish. His legacy lived on."

  Kaido gasped awake, lying in his tiny, dimly lit apartment. His breath came in ragged gulps as he pushed himself up from the floor. His forehead was damp with sweat.

  A dream. No—a memory.

  He was nineteen now. Alone. Training for the JDF.

  But no matter how much time passed, that day still haunted him.

  To be continued in Chapter 2…