The Mark Of Rebirth

Javab is a sprawling, verdant continent brimming with life in every form. Its rolling hills and dense forests hum with the calls of creatures both familiar and fantastical, while sparkling rivers wind their way to shimmering lakes, reflecting the beauty of the skies above. Magnificent structures, seamlessly intertwined with the natural landscape, stand as a testament to the craftsmanship of its people, blending civilization with wilderness. Yet, beyond its breathtaking beauty, Javab is also known as a land that has birthed some of the most powerful and influential figures in the world—none more so than a singular individual whose reputation alone inspires awe and fear.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, its rays spilled through the tall windows of a dimly lit office, warming the air inside. Standing before the glass, a woman gazed out at the sprawling campus below. Her long, violet hair, tied neatly into a ponytail, shimmered faintly in the morning light. Dressed in a tailored gray suit, she exuded an aura of calm professionalism. The scene outside was serene—a lush campus with students moving between classes, their chatter blending into the peaceful rustle of the trees as a gentle breeze stirred the leaves. For a moment, the woman allowed herself to be lost in thought, her purple sapphire eyes scanning the grounds as if reading the pulse of the institution.

But then something caught her attention. A faint tremor. Her eyes narrowed. She glanced upward, noticing a subtle movement in the ceiling.

Suddenly, a deafening crash shattered the tranquility. The ceiling above exploded in a cloud of dust and debris, and a gaping hole yawned open in its place. Her instincts took over. In one fluid motion, she leaped backward, performing a graceful backflip as chunks of the ceiling crashed to the floor. She landed effortlessly, body poised, her gaze snapping toward the intruder who had burst through the roof.

"You’ve got some nerve breaking into the director’s office!" she called out, her voice edged with cold fury.

Standing amidst the wreckage was a tall figure clad in black and red armor. His long, white hair flowed down his back, and a single piercing green eye stared her down, the other marred by a vicious scar that ran through it. Slung across his back and hips were four swords, their ancient, dangerous aura unmistakable. The sight of them filled her with an immediate sense of foreboding. These were not ordinary weapons.

Outside, sirens wailed through the campus. Students scrambled in every direction, their screams punctuating the chaos as they raced toward the designated safe zones.

Without a word, the intruder moved. His hand flashed to the hilt of one of his swords, drawing it with terrifying speed. Fire erupted along its blade, vivid red flames licking the air as he lunged toward her, aiming for her neck.

But just as the killing blow was about to land, the floor beneath them warped. The material shifted and restructured itself into a solid wall between the two combatants. The fiery blade struck it with a resounding crash, but the man was relentless. With inhuman strength, he punched through the barrier, his hand latching onto her face.

Before she could react, she was hurled with brutal force through the office wall and out into the open courtyard below. Pain flared through her body, but she twisted mid-air, landing on her feet in a controlled slide across the ground. Chunks of the building followed her and skittered across the ground sharply across the ground. Her breathing was heavy, but her mind remained sharp, already calculating her next move.

Before she could fully recover, she heard the soft sound of footsteps approaching from behind. Spinning, she saw a young girl—one of her students. The girl had long crimson-red hair, her wide red eyes betraying her terror.

“Professor Makina!” the girl gasped, out of breath. “W-what’s happening?”

Makina locked eyes with her. She recognized her immediately. "Arumi," she said, her voice steady but commanding, "you need to get to one of the safe zones now. Go!"

But before Arumi could respond, Makina sensed the fiery presence behind her once more. The man had leapt from the building, his sword still engulfed in flames, eyes locked onto her.

Makina’s thoughts raced. ‘I have to get Arumi out of here, but I can’t protect her and fight him at the same time. I have no choice… I’ll have to use it on her.’

The world around her seemed to slow. The air thickened as everything—from the earth beneath her feet to the invisible gases surrounding her—appeared before her as strands of glowing blue code. ‘Natural code,’ she thought, focusing on Arumi’s form. She extended her hand, tracing her fingers through the threads that made up the girl’s essence. I can only do this ten times… I have to be selective.

With a flick of her wrist, Makina introduced a new thread of code—an unnatural orange line that slithered through the air like a living organism. It pierced into Arumi’s code, weaving into her being, and transforming her essence. As the girl’s natural blue lines turned orange, Makina felt a warm trickle of blood drip from her nose. Nine more times…

The transformation complete, Makina turned her attention back to the attacker. She brushed her hand across a nearby metal bench, feeling the object lose its form as it reshaped itself into a gleaming sword. Arumi, eyes wide, backed away, sprinting toward the nearest building, her agility allowing her to dodge obstacles with ease.

Makina tightened her grip on her newly-formed weapon, her Developer’s Eye scanning the man once more. His code was… strange. Unlike anything she had ever encountered. Where most life appeared as blue lines of natural code, his was a sickly green, foreign and dangerous. This man… he’s not of this world.

Before she could delve deeper into the mystery, he struck with blinding speed. In an instant, he closed the distance, his sword blazing as it clashed with hers, the force of the impact sending sparks scattering across the courtyard.

Their battle was a storm of violence. Each swing of their swords sent shockwaves through the ground, the very earth trembling beneath them. Buildings shuddered with each impact, the air crackling with the intensity of their clash.

After what felt like an eternity of trading blows, the man retreated, his eyes burning with hatred. He sheathed his sword, but something had changed. Makina’s Developer’s Eye caught a shift in his code—it was no longer green. Slowly, it darkened, shifting to a deep crimson red.

Her heart skipped a beat. The color of legends…

And then, the air crackled. A massive shadow fell over the courtyard as an enormous black-and-red dragon descended from the sky, its scales gleaming like polished obsidian. Its wings unfurled, casting the entire campus in darkness, and its eyes, glowing with malevolent power, locked onto Makina with a predatory intensity.

Her eyes widened with shock, the weight of the creature's true power crashing down on her like a tidal wave. The strength she had sensed before was nothing compared to this—an ancient, destructive force capable of erasing the entire continent of Javab. Panic clawed at the edges of her mind, but she forced herself to focus. 'I can't win this... not like this.' Her thoughts shifted to a singular goal: 'The kids... I have to save them.'

With a surge of adrenaline, she tapped into the non-invasive data tags she had secretly placed on her students. These [Data Tags] triangulated their locations instantly. She turned, her body moving at lightning speed, blurring past the crumbling landscape as she dashed in the direction Arumi had fled. The air around her rippled as she accelerated, the environment warping and bending under the pressure of her velocity. She barely registered the massive walls of the school building before her—until they began to deconstruct themselves at her will, bricks and mortar shifting aside to clear a path for her.

She bolted through the makeshift tunnel, her footsteps pounding against the floor as the school shook violently. Every step was punctuated by tremors, dust falling from the ceiling as the structure groaned under the strain of the chaos unfolding outside. The faint cries of the dragon’s roar and distant explosions filled the air, but she couldn’t afford to look back. Time was running out.

Bursting through the doors of the shelter, her chest heaved with the effort. Inside, the students clustered together, fear palpable in the air. A young man with messy white hair and forest-green eyes stepped forward, sword in hand, his posture tense but resolute. "Professor Makina," he began, his voice tight, "we’ve accounted for almost all of the students."

Standing next to him, Arumi was trembling, silent but wide-eyed with fear. Four others approached: a pair of twin sisters, identical save for the length of their purple hair, and a boy who shared their lavender eyes and features. Off to the side stood a girl with silver hair, her molten lava-colored eyes scanning the scene.

The long-haired twin spoke up first, her anxious voice cracking slightly, "Mom, is the campus under attack?"

Before she could answer, the doors slammed open again. Four more students rushed in: a blonde young man with piercing emerald eyes, a girl with rare green hair and vermillion eyes, a black-haired boy with crimson-red eyes, and another with chestnut hair and deep blue eyes. The girl with green hair spoke first, her tone emotionless but the worry evident in her stance. "We’ve searched for stragglers—everyone should be here. What’s happening?"

Makina’s eyes hardened, her voice taking on a grim, commanding tone. "We’re under attack by what seems to be a mythical creature—one of legend."

The air in the room seemed to freeze, tension thick enough to cut. Every student fell silent, dread creeping into their expressions.

Time slowed for Makina as her Developer’s Eye activated, the world around her dissolving into lines of code. She produced 9 more strands of the orange, artificial code, and attached them to her children and the kids she had high expectations for. 'They'll live... they’ll live and one day they will learn what I could not,' she thought, swallowing the lump in her throat. She wiped her tears, her voice regaining its firmness. "None of you are to follow me. Understood?"

The young man with white hair and the girl with green hair exchanged glances, both clearly wanting to object, but they held their tongues, the unspoken weight of the situation pressing down on them.

Makina turned on her heel and walked out, her footsteps echoing ominously through the now-silent shelter. As she left she wiped away blood that began to bubble up from the corners of her mouth. Her amethyst eyes began to glow an eerie blue, casting light across the dark hallways. In her hand, strings of code morphed into a spear, crackling with electric energy. The black and blue substance that composed the weapon shifted fluidly, its form ebbing and rippling like water suspended in midair.

As the spear materialized, the same substance crawled up her body, enveloping her in a suit of armor, form-fitting but somehow liquid in nature, both rigid and flowing. The black and blue hues shimmered, arcs of lightning sparking off it, illuminating her determined face.

When she stepped outside, the sight above stole her breath—a massive black dragon hovered in the sky, its obsidian scales catching the sunlight like blades, its blood-red underbelly a stark contrast. It roared, shaking the heavens with its power.

Makina crouched low, her muscles tensing like a coiled spring. With a deafening crack, she launched herself skyward, the earth beneath her splintering into shards of rock and dirt. She soared, the wind whipping around her as she closed in on the dragon, spear poised. She twisted her body mid-flight, building momentum as she hurled the spear with every ounce of strength.

A sonic boom ripped through the air as the spear struck the dragon’s wing with a force that sent shockwaves through the sky. The beast roared in pain, its wing tearing under the impact as it spiraled out of control. The dragon plummeted, crashing into the earth with such ferocity that the ground shattered, forming a massive crater.

Makina landed moments later, the earth beneath her feet crumbling. She barely had a moment to breathe before the dragon began to rise again, its gaze locking onto her. The deep, guttural hum of its voice echoed across the landscape. It unleashed a beam of mana, pure Sethnine that scorched the air as it shot toward her. She dodged, the beam grazing the ground where she stood, obliterating everything it touched.

The dragon, sensing the futility of its current form, shifted back into the humanoid attacker. In a blur of movement, he charged at her, drawing two swords from his back. The air crackled with his power as he slashed both blades toward her abdomen.

Makina’s armor repelled the swords, the black material shimmering as it absorbed the blows. But his next move, a vicious front kick, sent her crashing backward, smashing through the side of the campus building.

"IT IS TIME TO END THIS," his distorted voice boomed as he followed through the wreckage. His sword flew down toward her cranium, a death blow in the making.

Makina countered just in time, her code-formed weapon catching the blade with a shower of sparks. Getting to her feet, she reassumed her combat stance, each parry growing more difficult as the man pressed forward with relentless power.

Suddenly the man jumped backward and from the ground where he was standing, spikes of earth protruded from the ground. His sword began to glow a deep blue color and his eyes followed suit and similarly turned blue. He gave a completely different aura compared to before.

Her body was locked in place, paralyzed from head to toe, leaving her utterly immobile. Every fiber of her being screamed to move, to fight back, but all she could do was watch as the assailant advanced. Her mind raced, calculations firing off in rapid succession as she devised a plan to survive the next few moments. With sheer force of will, she began to assemble intricate lines of code, piecing together a complex array of symbols made up of concentric circles. Each line, every symbol, had to be perfect. The pressure was immense, but her focus was razor-sharp. Despite the panic coursing through her veins, despite the rapid beat of her heart and her shaking hands, she continued.

Her sword arm was her only line of defense. Though her body remained rooted to the spot, her hand acted on instinct, parrying and blocking as the enemy made swift, blinding strikes toward her. The clash of their blades rang out in a deadly rhythm, each blow sending vibrations up her arm. She barely managed to fend off the rapid flurry of attacks, her sword absorbing the brunt of the assault, but with each strike, the weight of the situation pressed heavier on her. Her time was running out.

The final piece of the code fell into place just as his blade came for her chest. She bent backward, her body moving with supernatural reflexes, narrowly dodging the lethal strike. The tip of the blade grazed her cheek, a sharp sting following the trail of blood that dripped from the wound.

Her eyes locked onto his, and for the first time, his unwavering confidence faltered. A luminous, almost hypnotic purple light began to pour from her gaze, piercing through him with an intensity that seemed to transcend the physical. His world began to warp. The ground beneath his feet liquefied, dissolving into a black, viscous sea. The solid earth was no more—replaced by an endless ocean of ink that swallowed everything in sight. He tried to move, but his feet sank, the dark liquid pulling him down as if the very ground beneath him had become a living entity, determined to consume him.

The sky above twisted into something nightmarish—lines of ones and zeros blurred into swirling masses of dark, storm-ravaged clouds. From the storm, jagged bolts of brilliant purple lightning lashed out, cracking the sky with terrifying force. The landscape became something foreign and terrifying, a place where reality seemed to unravel. The ethereal energy emanating from her gaze flooded the world around them, making it feel as though it were teetering on the edge of oblivion.

Suddenly, from the inky black sea beneath him, pale hands began to rise—dozens, then hundreds. They clawed at the air, pulling themselves out of the endless abyss, one by one. The hands belonged to shadowy figures, their forms indistinct but their movements precise, synchronized like an army of assassins. Their eyes glowed faintly, a dim and eerie light that flickered in the darkness.

The assailant’s breath quickened as the shadowy legion turned their attention toward him. The malice in their glowing eyes was palpable, a suffocating force that seemed to crush the air around him. These were not mere phantoms—there was intent behind their gaze, a murderous intent that radiated from each figure with unrelenting focus.

The shadows began to move, encircling him, cutting off any hope of escape. Each step they took was deliberate, their bodies shifting in a fluid, unnatural manner. The darkness itself seemed to bend to their will, rising like an unstoppable tide, closing in around him. It was as if the very essence of the void had come to life, and it was hungry for him. There was no escape, no reprieve.

Makina stood at the center of this chaotic storm, her eyes still glowing with that otherworldly light, controlling the nightmare that had unfolded around them. She was a force of nature, bending the code of the virtual world she had formed to her will. This was her domain, and he was nothing more than prey caught in her web.

From the sidelines, she watched in growing horror as the man before her erupted into a fit of maniacal laughter. The sound was sharp and chilling, like the crackle of broken glass underfoot. His eyes gleamed with a malevolent delight, reflecting an almost inhuman intensity. Slowly, he turned his gaze toward her, and his voice cut through the air, dripping with malice.

“Did you really believe you could uncover the secrets of the Empereyan—the very force that governs this world—and simply walk away?” His voice was dark and taunting, echoing with an otherworldly resonance. “Apostle of the Guest… it is time you pay for your transgressions.”

The weight of his words hung in the air like a blade poised to strike, and a pulse of energy crackled around him, distorting the space between them. His sinister grin widened as he finished speaking, eyes alight with an ominous glow.

Then, without warning, a blinding white light exploded from him, engulfing everything in its path. The virtual world—the construct she had manifested—began to unravel. The illusory landscape around them fractured and dissolved like a glass shattering under immense pressure. As the light intensified, it surged outward, spreading across the horizon, and erasing the boundaries of reality itself. The very fabric of the virtual world was coming undone, and with it, the entire continent began to fall into ruin.

The sky above twisted violently as the light overtook it, turning once-solid structures into ephemeral dust. Buildings, mountains, forests—everything was devoured by the wave of radiant destruction, reduced to nothing in its wake. The ground trembled, and a deafening roar filled the air as the white light surged across the continent, unstoppable, unrelenting.

The devastation of Javab was absolute. From a bird's eye view, the once-flourishing continent was now nothing more than a vast wasteland. The air was thick with smoke and ash, and the sky above roiled in fiery shades of red and black. Entire cities lay in ruin, their once-proud towers reduced to crumbling skeletons. Forests that once teemed with life had been consumed by raging infernos, their charred remains stretching for miles. Rivers ran dry, replaced by jagged cracks that splintered the earth like open wounds. There was no life left—only silence and the smoldering remnants of a civilization wiped from existence.

Then, as though the planet of Aruya itself wept for what had transpired, an unnatural quiet settled over the land. The catastrophe had passed, but the scars it left behind were eternal.

163 years later…

In the heart of Trizen, Tekuno, the bustling metropolis hummed with life. Skyscrapers towered above the streets, casting long shadows over the city’s busy streets. Neon lights flickered against the darkening sky, bathing the sidewalks in a kaleidoscope of color as the evening descended. Amid the urban chaos, a serene park stood as an oasis of calm. Here, the rustling of leaves and the distant songs of birds formed a tranquil melody, a world away from the pulse of the city.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the sky in hues of gold and lavender, a sudden disturbance rippled through the park. A small, glowing ball of light materialized out of thin air, suspended just inches above the ground. It shimmered with an intense orange radiance, growing larger with each passing second. The light began to shift, its ethereal form warping and stretching as if it were drawing something from beyond this world.

Gradually, a figure emerged from within. The light receded, revealing a woman dressed in an elegant white school uniform. Her long, flowing purple hair cascaded down her back like liquid silk, glinting in the last rays of the setting sun. Her eyes—mesmerizing purple sapphires—sparkled with an otherworldly glow, their depth and clarity betraying a sense of timelessness. She sat on the ground, knees pulled to her chest, her expression dazed and bewildered.

Her thoughts spun in a disorienting whirl. Where am I? she wondered, her heart racing. No… what am I? Who… am I? Panic clawed at the edges of her mind as she struggled to piece together any fragments of memory. She clutched her head, trying to push through the fog of confusion.

Calm down, she urged herself. Think. Think… But no matter how hard she tried, the answers evaded her like ever fleeting shadows.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps snapped her from her reverie. She looked up, her gaze locking onto a figure approaching through the dim light. A man. His steps were measured, his posture rigid. His black hair caught the faint glow of the park’s streetlamps, with faint streaks of crimson flickering at the tips of his locks like embers. His blazing orange eyes—sharp and intense—seemed to burn through the dusk, their light both warm and dangerous. His face, though chiseled and handsome, bore an expression of calm detachment, as though he had seen far worse than the strange girl before him.

He stopped a few paces away, studying her with a flicker of curiosity. "I sensed a disturbance in the mana around this park," he said, his voice deep and composed, "but all I find is a girl sitting on the ground."

For a fleeting moment, his eyes widened in recognition. It was subtle, but the slight shift in his demeanor was unmistakable before his face resumed its mask of indifference. He took another step closer, his gaze piercing through her. "What is your name, kid?"

The words came out before she could even think. "Tokei Makina," she said, the name rolling off her tongue as though it had always been there, buried deep in her consciousness.

The man’s lips curled into a faint smile. "Tokei Makina, is it?" His eyes gleamed with a new intensity. "Well then, Miss Makina, it seems we have much to discuss."