Prologue:The Night the Heaven-Blood Burned
484 Words
The sky bled red the night the Renjou Clan fell.
Thunder shattered the silence—no rain, just a savage, furious sound that shook the world. Overhead, the moon dangled broken, split down the center, each half reflecting the nightmare below. Shadows slithered around the ancient stronghold, writhing in the flicker of flames as fire devoured stone and flesh alike. Screams tore through the darkness, sharp and fleeting, then vanished—consumed by a blackness that pressed on everything, heavier than sorrow.
In the heart of this devastation stood a boy. Seventeen, maybe. Blood everywhere, none of it his own. Kairo Renjou. The last of his name. The final heir to the clan that dared to wield forbidden forces.
He dragged in breaths thick with smoke and death. All about him—his teachers, his friends, his family—scattered and lifeless. His hands trembled, sparks and ice and fire and wind dancing over his skin, each element fighting the others, wild and vicious.
He never wanted any of this. Never meant to unleash it.
But the traitors left him no choice.
From out of the gloom, something—someone—approached. Shrouded in shadow, face erased, voice echoing hollow, neither man nor woman. The very air warped around it, as if reality itself was weary and on the verge of breaking.
“This is where Renjou ends,” it said, voice cold and flat as granite.
Kairo’s jaw clenched. Power pounded in his veins, hot and unforgiving. “You did this,” he snarled, voice jagged. “You killed them.”
The figure nearly smiled—he could sense it. “No. You did.”
It lifted a hand. A flick. The forbidden mark carved into the dead blazed, and the earth split open. Darkness surged out, raw and ravenous. The blast tore through stone and fire, hurled Kairo across the room, blood bursting from his lips as he crashed into the far wall.
By the time he dragged himself upright, reeling and coughing, the figure was already dissolving, its cloak unraveling into mist.
“Live, Blood Emperor,” it called, voice curling into something icy and merciless. “Live—and remember.”
Then nothing. Only fire, the dead, and Kairo—alone.
He collapsed to his knees. His whole body trembled. Tears carved lines through the blood on his face, firelight blazing in his red eyes. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking, but it wasn’t fear. It was the storm raging inside him, wild and relentless.
Kairo pressed his blood-slick palm into the scorched ground. His voice barely scraped out.
“I swear…I’ll make them pay. Every last one.”
Thunder shattered the heavens again as the last Renjou rose, cloak whipping in the burning wind. From the ruins, something new clawed its way out, born of fire and betrayal.
Not a savior.
Not a hero.
Something far worse.
The Blood Emperor.
- Writer
