Lastlight

Chapter 1: Sunless

The midnight sky stretched endlessly above, drowning the horizon in a deep, suffocating void.

White embers of light drifted around the edges of a pitch-black moon hanging in the atmosphere, casting a ghostly, pale aura over a shattered cityscape. Ruined skyscrapers jutted out of the ground like broken ribs, their shattered windows reflecting the dim, dying light of the endless night. High above the broken ruins, multiple metallic drones hovered in dead silence, their red sensor lenses blinking as they recorded every movement below.

Two figures stood amidst the rubble, dripping blood onto the slick, wet pavement.

In the foreground crouched a man whose face was completely concealed behind a dark, menacing mask. The mask was a cruel lattice of black steel and faintly glowing red gridlines, obscuring every trace of humanity beneath it. In his right hand, he held a sleek black katana, its edge resting inches above the pooling water.

In front of him stood a second man, dressed in a sharp, blood-stained black suit. His expression was utterly unreadable, his dark eyes vacant as he looked down at the masked warrior. In his grip was a blade wrapped in violent, snapping blue lightning that hissed as it hit the rain. Floating silently in the air beside him was a pale blue, glowing interface, projecting silent lines of static data.

"I never thought I'd have to kill you... Ren," the masked guy said, his voice distorted through the metallic filter of his faceplate. "Or should I call you Arclight?"

Ren didn't flinch. He adjusted his stance, the lightning along his blade crackling louder, burning away the falling droplets.

"Why are you doing all of this, Akira?" Ren asked softly, his tone carrying a weight that seemed far older than his years.

The masked man tilted his head slightly, as if hearing a name from a forgotten dream.

"Akira?" he murmured. A low, hollow chuckle escaped his mask. "Who is that?... I am Sunless."

Ren sighed, closing his eyes for a fraction of a second. When he opened them, all hesitation was gone.

He lunged forward, the blue lightning tearing through the air and shattering the pavement beneath his boots. At the exact same moment, Sunless kicked off the ground, a streak of pure darkness trailing his blade as the two collided in a blinding flash of light and iron.

A year earlier.

The rhythmic, mindless sound of short-form video audio echoed through a dimly lit bedroom.

Akira Sato lay slouched on his unmade bed, his messy black hair falling over his brown eyes as his thumb swiped endlessly across his glowing phone screen. The room around him was a chaotic mess of discarded school uniforms, stacked manga volumes, and half-finished energy drinks.

Outside his window, midnight had long settled over the quiet suburban neighborhood. The streetlamps cast long, flickering shadows against his bedroom glass.

Akira stopped swiping, staring idly out the window into the dark emptiness.

"I'm too bored..." Akira muttered, throwing an arm over his face with a heavy sigh.

Bzz. Bzz.

His phone vibrated violently against his chest. Akira picked it up, unlocking the screen to find a message from his best friend. The contact name on his screen read: Loud MF.

Loud MF: Hey, I am kinda bored. Tell me a joke or sing for me.

Akira stared deadpan at the screen for three straight seconds, utterly unamused. He tapped and held the voice recording icon, bringing the phone close to his mouth.

"I know you're not alone in your room," Akira spoke into the mic, his voice dropping into a creeping, eerie whisper. "Look beside you... someone is sitting there."

He hit send, smirking to himself as he imagined Ren jumping out of his skin. But the moment the audio sent, the quiet stillness of his own dark room suddenly hit him. The shadows in the corner looked a little too deep. The breeze against his window sounded a little too deliberate.

Realizing he had just creeped himself out, Akira instantly yanked his blanket over his head, curling into a tight ball under the mattress covers.

Bzz.

A new notification popped up—a voice message from Ren. Akira cautiously poked his thumb out from under the blanket and hit play.

"If it's a hot girl ghost, then hug me, ghost," Ren’s whisper echoed through the phone speaker, completely unfazed.

Akira snorted, a soft laugh escaping his lips as the tension dissipated.

The quiet night slowly faded away into the soft light of morning.

Akira woke up to his alarm, rubbing his sleepy eyes before dragging himself out of bed. He headed downstairs to the bathroom, turning on the faucet and splashing freezing cold water onto his face to shake off the lingering drowsiness. Dripping wet, he looked up into the mirror, staring at his messy bedhead and tired brown eyes.

Leaving the bathroom, he walked down the hallway into the kitchen, greeted by the warm scent of breakfast.

Standing by the stove was his older sister, Saki. She wore an oversized apron over her casual clothes, her sharp dark hair styled in a messy, effortless wolf cut that framed her expressive face. She looked like the typical tired college student, but her movements around the kitchen were practiced and methodical as she flipped rice omelets in a pan.

"You're awake?!" Saki gasped, almost dropping her spatula as she turned around. "This early... how?"

Akira gave her a deadpan stare, completely unamused.

"Why are you so shocked?" Akira sighed, pulling out a kitchen chair. "Usually I wake up after 1 PM, sure, but be proud of me, I woke up at 10."

It was summer break, after all. Akira intended to spend every single second of his time off doing what he did best: sleeping until his back ached and scrolling through endless short videos until his brain melted.

"Yeah, yeah... I should be thrilled," Saki rolled her eyes, pointing a wooden spoon at him. "Come here and help me set up."

A wave of instant regret washed over Akira. His expression dropped into one of pure, silent guilt.

'Why did I even bother waking up early?'

"I'll... help you later," Akira muttered, waving his hand dismissively as he tried to slip away toward the living room.

"Dad! Tell him to help me!" Saki called out.

Sitting at the dining table reading the morning paper was their father. At the sound of Saki’s voice, he slowly lowered his newspaper and looked up at Akira over his reading glasses. He didn't say a single word, but the silent, heavy glare was more than enough to terrify Akira into submission.

Defeated, Akira immediately turned on his heel, walked over to the counter, and began washing the dirty plates in the sink.

'I should’ve stayed in my sweet dream...' Akira wept internally, scrubbing a pan with unnecessary intensity.

After a quiet family breakfast, Akira returned to his room. Just as he sank back onto his bed, his phone buzzed with a text from Ren.

Loud MF: Get down to the school gate right now. I got something crazy to show you.

Akira grumbled, but curiosity got the better of him. He quickly threw on a lightweight black t-shirt, a pair of dark casual shorts, and slapped on his sneakers.

As he reached the front door, Saki poked her head out of the kitchen, tossing a folded bill at him. "Since you're going out, buy these ingredients on your way back."

"No way, I'm not running your errands!" Akira protested, throwing his hands up.

Saki narrowed her eyes, casually raising her phone. "If you don't, I'm telling Dad you refused to help with household chores during break."

"Fine! Give me the money!" Akira snatched the cash with a scowl and slammed the front door behind him.

When Akira arrived at the high school gate, Ren Takahashi was already leaning against the metal fence, casually checking his phone. Ren stood taller than Akira, possessing an effortless, calm posture. He had messy dark ash-brown hair that caught the morning light and strikingly calm, deep blue eyes that always made him look like he had everything completely under control. He was wearing a sharp, short-sleeved open button-up shirt over an oversized white tee and lightweight dark cargo trousers.

"What's so urgent that you dragged me out here in this heat?" Akira asked, wiping a light bead of sweat from his forehead.

Ren smirked, turning his phone screen toward Akira. "Look at this. I just pulled this off an hour ago."

On the screen was a photo of Ren standing next to a pretty girl with a bright smile.

"My new girlfriend," Ren said proudly, putting his hands in his pockets.

Akira stared at the photo, then at Ren, his face completely blank. "You dragged me out of my house on a summer morning... just to flex?"

"Hey, it's a monumental achievement!" Ren laughed, slapping Akira's shoulder. "Besides, you know what today is. The partial solar eclipse."

"Yeah, I know. That's the real reason I woke up early," Akira admitted, adjusting his shirt against the summer heat.

They walked over to a nearby open park field with an unobstructed view of the horizon. The clock on Akira's phone read 11:19 AM. The air was warm, and high above them, the dark silhouette of the moon had already begun its slow, predicted creep across the sun's surface.

Ren pulled out his phone, holding it up to record. "It's supposed to peak right about..."

Above them, the sky abruptly distorted.

The eclipse was supposed to be partial—the weather forecasts had been repeating it all week. But without warning, the dark sphere jerked violently. It accelerated across the sky in a terrifying, unnatural flash.

Akira and Ren both froze, the breath catching in their throats.

The moon didn't just pass by—it expanded, completely swallowing the sun into a total, impossible eclipse.

Absolute darkness slammed down upon the earth. The air temperature plunged instantly into a chilling freeze. The ambient sounds of the city—the distant traffic, the summer cicadas, the rustling wind—vanished into a suffocating, absolute silence.

It felt as though the oxygen had been vacuumed out of the atmosphere. Akira tried to gasp for air, but his lungs refused to work. His heart gave one violent, heavy thud before his sight dissolved into a blinding, pitch-black void.

Gasp.

Akira’s eyes snapped open as air rushed back into his lungs, making him cough violently. He scrambled backward, his palms pressing against cold, seamless metallic plating instead of the park's grass.

"Akira... you alright?" Ren's ragged voice echoed nearby. Ren was on his knees, clutching his chest and looking around in utter shock.

Akira lifted his head, and the breath caught in his throat all over again.

Earth was gone.

They were standing on a massive elevated walkway towering hundreds of feet in the air. Below them stretched an impossible, hyper-futuristic metropolis built of towering obsidian skyscrapers that pierced the sky. Looming holographic advertisements and massive floating outdoor screens flashed with glowing, alien neon symbols. Sleek, driverless vehicles zoomed along lanes of hard light, weaving between colossal structures powered by pulsing, visible veins of liquid energy.

Floating high above the sprawling skyline, giant transparent billboards broadcasted live footage of heavily armored figures fighting monstrous creatures in neon-lit arenas, accompanied by bold, glowing text that read:

[WORLD RANKINGS: TOP HUNTERS LIVE]

Before Akira or Ren could utter a single word, the overwhelming roar of the futuristic city smashed into their senses—flying vehicles whirring overhead, massive neon screens humming, and the distant, thunderous cheers of crowds echoing from the hunter arenas.

Akira stood frozen, clutching his chest as his heart hammered violently against his ribs. 'Where... where the hell are we?'

Ren slowly took a step toward the edge of the platform, his usual calm composure completely shattered as his eyes swept over the towering obsidian skyline.

"Akira..." Ren whispered, his voice trembling slightly over the rush of the high-altitude wind. "This isn't Earth."

End Of Chapter 1