Life, Once Again! - After Story 229

When the night came, there was a twittering sound in his ears, and the monster in the shadows began to move restlessly. Jason’s hungry stomach began to roar, and he couldn’t help swallow his saliva. Hunger was the best spur.

'Nina?'The thought hit me before I even really processed who it was. Nina Shoka from my class. She was just walking along, probably listening to music, totally unaware that this car had lost control and was sliding right toward her.I didn't think about it. Didn't weigh the pros and cons or consider my options. My legs just started moving.I dropped my phone and sprinted toward her. The car was maybe three seconds away from hitting her when I slammed into her side, pushing her as hard as I could toward the sidewalk.She went flying, landing hard on the concrete but definitely out of the car's path.Me? Not so lucky.The impact felt like getting hit by a train. One second I was pushing Nina to safety, the next I was flying through the air. Then I hit the ground and everything went wrong at once.I couldn't move my legs. Couldn't really move much of anything, actually. There was this weird warm feeling spreading across my chest and stomach, and when I tried to breathe, it felt like drowning.'Well, this sucks,' I thought, staring up at the sky. 'Guess that's what I get for being a hero.'My vision started getting all swimmy and weird, but I could make out Nina crawling over to me. She had pulled out her earbuds and there were tears streaming down her face.“Why did you do that?” she kept asking, over and over. “Why would you do that?”I wanted to shrug, but my shoulders weren't really cooperating. It seemed pretty obvious to me - she was in trouble, so I helped. That's what you do, right? Nothing fancy about it.She was talking to me, saying my name a lot. I didn't realize she even knew my name, to be honest. We had been in the same class for like three months and I don't think we had ever actually had a conversation.“Kofi, stay with me, okay?” she was saying. “You're gonna be fine. The ambulance is coming.”

Qi Condensation. Foundation Establishment. Core Formation. In the current world, only these three realms are known to be achievable. Nascent Soul is but a legend and the realms above it lost to the the long river of time. The modern era is known as Cultivation Civilization, a balance of power and civility, excess and moderation. While cultivation remains a secret practice, it has long since exposed itself to the mundane world, quietly intertwined with each facet of society. While the world appears to be at peace, what lies underneath is a conflict between human, cultivator, and demon, brewing for ages and waiting to implode. Yet in the wake of humanity’s rapid industrialization, qi—and consequently cultivation—is dying.

When a Demonic Assault occurs, most people stuck inside of a Fracture end up hiding inside of a bunker in the hopes that they don’t end up killed by a demon.

Others might even hope for the slightest possible chance at signing a contract with a spirit and becoming a Guardian.

So when Scarlet was caught in a Fracture, the last thing she expected was to become a demon herself.

Exactly two centuries ago, humanity was struck with their very first Demonic Assault.

The skies above the capital of the US, shattering as if made of glass; demons of all kinds appearing out of nowhere; and no way to effectively stop them before the end of the Assault.

On the brink of devastation, some of the humans managed to find themselves offered a contract whilst inside of a Fracture. One bringing a chance at power, fame, and fortune.

Now, long after every nation of the world joined together to form the Terran Republic, Scarlet finds herself stuck trying to find a university from the Republic’s capital that will accept someone from a lower tier city into their midst.

But, as if that wasn’t already enough trouble for one person to bear, she somehow ends up stuck in one of the Fractures of a Demonic Assault while visiting her father figure’s company building.

However, she doesn't perish in the darkness and instead awakens her dormant bloodline as a noble demon.

A Blood Lycan.

Turns out she had been a demon all along and had been born for the apocalypse.