The fractured district was a graveyard of forgotten streets, bathed in the eerie glow of flickering neon signs. Buildings stood half-consumed by the distortions in reality, their structures bending at impossible angles. Cracks shimmered in the air like fractured glass, warping the space around them. It was the kind of place no sane person wandered into—not unless they were looking for something. Or someone.
I was looking for Zero.
My boots crunched against loose gravel as I moved, every muscle coiled with tension. The last time we fought, he nearly killed me. I’d studied his movements, memorized the patterns, trained for this rematch. But something in my gut told me this fight would be different.
A shadow peeled away from the ruins ahead, moving with an eerie precision.
Zero.
He emerg
