Heat.
It hit him before anything else.
Dry. Crushing. Relentless.
Kaito's eyes snapped open.
Light flooded his vision—harsh, blinding. He flinched, raising an arm as his body jerked upright on instinct alone.
Air tore into his lungs.
"—ghh…!"
It burned.
Every breath burned.
He rolled onto his side, coughing hard, his body trembling as if it hadn't fully accepted itself yet.
Sand clung to his skin.
Hot.
Too hot.
"…Where…?"
His voice came out thin, rough.
Memory hit.
The light.
The void.
Them.
Kaito went still.
Slowly, he pushed himself up.
Endless desert stretched in every direction.
Cracked earth. Shifting sand. No movement. No sound.
No life.
"…Aetherra…"
The word didn't feel real.
But this did.
Too real.
Something was wrong.
Not just the heat.
Kaito lifted his hand slightly.
The air around it shimmered.
Not like heat.
Something deeper.
It pulsed—
Once.
Then stopped.
"…What…?"
A sound cut through the silence.
Low.
Distant.
Wrong.
Kaito turned.
Something moved along the horizon.
Large.
Dragging.
Unnatural.
His body tensed immediately.
"…No…"
The shape grew clearer.
Limbs that didn't match.
A body that looked unfinished.
Like something had been made… and abandoned halfway through.
It stopped.
Then—
Turned.
Directly toward him.
Kaito felt it.
That certainty.
It sees me.
A hollow sound tore from it.
Then it moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
Sand exploded beneath it as it surged forward.
"—!"
Kaito stumbled back.
No time.
No distance.
No plan.
His thoughts snapped into one line—
I need something that kills it.
His hand moved.
The air twisted.
For a split second—
Something answered.
Metal.
Cold.
Weight—
Then it broke.
A blade formed in his grasp—
Jagged.
Incomplete.
Its edge flickered, warping like it couldn't decide what it was.
"…What—"
Too slow.
The creature was already there.
A massive limb tore through the air—
Kaito tried to move—
Too late.
"—GHK—!"
Claws ripped across his torso.
Pain exploded through him.
Hot. Sharp. Immediate.
His body slammed into the ground, breath ripped from his lungs as sand and blood mixed beneath him.
"…ah—!"
The blade shattered.
Gone.
Like it had never existed.
Kaito curled instinctively, one hand clamping over his side.
Warm.
Wet.
He didn't need to look.
"…Damn it…"
The creature didn't rush this time.
It approached slowly.
Confident.
Certain.
It didn't need to hurry.
Kaito forced his head up, vision swimming.
I'm going to die.
The thought landed clean.
No denial.
No hesitation.
Just truth.
His fingers dug into the sand.
"…No…"
The word came out quiet.
Unsteady.
The air around his hand twisted again.
Stronger.
More violent.
Unstable.
"…Not like this."
The creature moved.
Closing in.
Kaito's breathing sharpened, pain tearing through his focus—
But something else cut through it.
Intent.
Clear.
Simple.
His hand rose.
The distortion deepened.
"…Then stay."
The air snapped.
A blade formed.
Still jagged.
Still wrong.
But there.
The creature lunged.
Kaito didn't step back.
He swung.
The blade met its body—
And reality resisted.
For a fraction of a second—
Nothing happened.
The edge pressed.
The world hesitated—
Then gave way.
The creature split.
Not cleanly.
Not naturally.
Its form tore apart as if something had forced separation where it didn't belong.
A distorted sound ripped through the air—
Then stopped.
Silence fell.
Kaito staggered back, breath uneven, the blade trembling in his grip—
Then—
Gone.
He stood there, staring.
"…What… was that…?"
The creature didn't fall.
It collapsed.
Its body broke apart, pieces warping, folding inward, dissolving into the air like something unfinished being undone.
Most of it vanished.
Gone within seconds.
But not all.
Three fragments remained in the sand.
Still.
Heavy.
Real.
Kaito frowned.
"…You've got to be kidding me…"
He stepped closer.
Slow.
Careful.
One piece looked like hardened flesh—dense, compact.
Another shimmered faintly, something moving beneath its surface.
The third—
It pulsed.
Faint.
Steady.
Like a heartbeat.
"…Yeah… no…"
The air shifted.
A pulse moved through him.
[Foreign Matter Stabilized]
"…Foreign…?"
Before he could think—
Something hit him.
Inside.
A sharp pressure surged through his chest.
"—ghh—!"
He dropped to one knee, hand pressing against his side.
The wound burned—
Not worse.
Different.
Like something under his skin had started to react.
The system flickered.
[Origin Interaction Detected][Host Assimilation – Partial]
"…Assimilation…?"
The pressure eased.
Slowly.
Not gone.
Just… there.
Kaito exhaled sharply, forcing himself steady.
His hand moved from his side.
Still bleeding.
But slower.
"…Right… that's normal…"
His eyes shifted back to the fragments.
They hadn't moved.
Hadn't faded.
They were still there.
Waiting.
Not like rewards.
Not like anything he understood.
He hesitated—
Then reached down, picking up the smallest one.
The moment it touched his hand—
Something pulled.
Subtle.
But real.
Kaito's grip tightened.
"…Yeah. Definitely not normal."
The system flickered again.
[Residual Trait Detected][Fragment Integration – Incomplete]
He blinked.
"…What does that even mean—"
The message vanished.
No explanation.
"…Of course."
His gaze shifted to the pulsing fragment.
He picked it up.
Warm.
Not heat.
Something else.
It pulsed once in his hand.
Then stilled.
Kaito went quiet for a moment.
"…That one's worse."
The wind picked up.
Dry.
Endless.
His eyes lifted.
The horizon moved.
More shapes.
More of them.
His jaw tightened.
"…Great."
No time to stand here.
No time to figure this out.
Not yet.
He closed his hand around the fragments—
And they sank.
Gone.
Like they slipped through his grip into something just out of reach.
Kaito froze.
"…No—"
He looked at his hand.
Empty.
"…Where did—"
He stopped.
A faint sensation lingered.
Not in his hand.
Somewhere else.
Close.
Contained.
He didn't understand it.
But he felt it.
"…Okay…"
A slow breath.
"…Not dealing with that right now."
The sand shifted again.
Closer.
Kaito straightened, blood still staining his side.
His body still hurt.
His head still throbbed.
And whatever he killed—
Wasn't alone.
He lifted his hand again.
The air trembled.
Less controlled.
More violent.
"…Fine."
His voice steadied.
"…Then come."