My father, Kenji, was a ghost in his own home. Born with jet-black hair and eyes like polished gray flint, he was a biological anomaly—the only human on Earth born without an elemental ability. In a world where your soul is defined by the power you wield, Kenji was a "Zero."
To save the noble Hikari name from the "stain" of a powerless heir, his family hid him away. While his siblings mastered the elements, Kenji mastered the grind. He trained gruesomely, pushing his physical limits until his muscles screamed, practicing the way of the sword until his hands were a map of callouses. But in a world of gods, a man with a sword is still just a man.
The Adjons, a syndicate of killers who traded in blood and silver—struck at the darkest hour.
Ryo, Kenji's father, was the first to sense the change. Stepping out of his study for fresh air, the silence hit him like a physical blow. No crickets. No wind. Just... death.
SHING!
Ryo swerved. A dagger hissed past his ear, grazing his skin. From the obsidian shadows, the Adjons emerged. "Nothing personal, Lord Hikari," one whispered.
Ryo was a master, dodging strikes from all angles and shattering an assassin's leg with a precise counter-blow.
But as he prepared to unleash his elemental surge, a cold edge found his throat. A founding member of the Adjon appeared behind him like a phantom.
"I have a funny idea," the leader grinned, and with a single flick, Ryo's research paper was soaked in his own blood.
Inside, Kenji's mother waited. When the door opened, she smiled. "Honey? You took so long."
She saw a figure in the dim light and used her flames to spark a small, warm glow to see his face. Her smile died. The skin on her "husband's" face was peeling, sloughing off to reveal a mocking assassin underneath. Before her scream could leave her throat, it was cut short.
The Massacre of the Prodigies
Two assassins, draped in the stolen faces of the parents, entered the siblings' wing. The eldest Hikari brother, the family's pride, bolted upright. The air felt heavy—thick with a murderous intent that didn't belong to his father.
"RUN!" he screamed, realizing the deception too late. He unleashed a pulse of wind so violent it leveled the walls of the room, exposing them all to the night air.
The siblings huddled together, their rage clashing with despair as they stared at the monsters wearing their parents' skin. The battle was a blur of elemental fury:
The Youngest: He froze the ground, trapping an Adjon, and launched an ice spear that shattered the sound barrier. But the Adjon moved like liquid. In a flash, the boy's arm was severed. In a final, desperate act, he triggered his ultimate technique: Kinetic Freeze. Time itself seemed to stop within a 20-meter radius. But the Adjon was faster than time. A blade pierced the boy's heart before the freeze could take hold. He fell to his knees, whispering to the moon, "Dying like a peasant..."
The Sisters: One wielding blue lightning, the other commanding the crushing weight of the earth. They fought as one, but the Adjons toyed with them, dodging bolts that moved at light speed and stepping out of earthen tombs as if they were stepping out of a bath. "We can't win," they whispered, their spirits breaking before their bodies did. Two daggers found their marks, ending their lives mid-sob.
The eldest brother snapped. His grief turned into a monotone, chilling insanity. He pulled the air from the lungs of everyone in the vicinity. "Airless."
As the grunts choked, the Founding Adjon laughed. "Wonderful technique. It just doesn't work on me."
The eldest never saw the move. He wondered why the sky was suddenly spinning. He wondered why he could see his own headless body standing below him. I wasn't strong enough, was his last thought before the void took him.
Kenji stayed hidden. He trembled under his bed, clutching his sword, waiting for his brother to come in and say, "It's okay, we won."
When the door finally groaned open, Kenji crawled out, his heart hammering against his ribs. The silence was absolute.
He looked up and saw them. His mother. His father. His siblings. They were all standing there, but their eyes were wrong. Their smiles were jagged. They were the Adjons, wearing the faces of his entire world.
"Is he part of the family?" one asked, mocking. "Hey kid," another laughed, "Why didn't you fight? Were you that afraid?"
Kenji, the boy who had trained every day to be a warrior, felt his bladder fail. He collapsed, his mind fracturing as he stared at the hollowed-out faces of the people he loved.
"What happened?" he whimpered, the reality of his isolation finally sinking in. "Am I... am I going to die?"