The rain had not stopped for nine straight days.

It poured over the outer walls of Valkyra City like the heavens themselves were trying to erase mankind from the earth. Rivers of black water spilled through broken gutters and flooded the stone alleyways below. The people who lived in the lower districts had long since stopped looking at the sky.

Nothing good ever came from it.

Above the storm, beyond the clouds, beyond the steel towers and the massive defensive walls surrounding the city, the Titans wandered.

Gigantic creatures.

Monsters.

Gods of destruction.

Nobody truly knew where they came from anymore. History had been buried beneath centuries of war and ash. The old world had died long ago, leaving behind only fragments of technology and stories nobody could prove were real.

But everyone knew one thing:

When Titans appeared, cities vanished.

And tonight, one had come dangerously close.

Sirens screamed through the streets.

“ALL LOWER DISTRICT CITIZENS REPORT TO UNDERGROUND SHELTERS!”

“DEFENSE DIVISIONS TO THE EASTERN WALL!”

“REPEAT—TITAN SIGHTED APPROACHING SECTOR EIGHT!”

People ran in panic through the narrow streets while armored military trucks thundered toward the city gates.

Inside a rusted apartment buried deep within District Eight, a seventeen-year-old boy sat quietly beside a flickering lamp.

Kael Veyrin sharpened a blade.

Scrape.

Scrape.

Scrape.

The steel glimmered silver beneath the dim light.

“You hear the sirens?” his younger sister asked nervously.

Mira sat curled beneath a blanket near the window. She was only twelve, thin from years of rationing, but her bright amber eyes still carried hope.

Kael nodded once.

“It’s probably another false alarm.”

“You don’t believe that.”

He didn’t answer.

Because she was right.

The military only activated evacuation sirens when visual confirmation happened.

That meant scouts had seen a Titan.

Kael stood and slid the combat knife into a worn leather sheath on his belt.

“You stay here,” he said.

Mira immediately shook her head. “No.”

“Mira—”

“You always say that! Every time something happens!”

Kael sighed.

Outside, thunder rattled the building.

“You know the rules,” he said quietly. “If the walls fall, you run underground and don’t stop running.”

Her expression hardened.

“You talk like you’re leaving.”

“I’m just checking what’s happening.”

“You mean fighting.”

Kael looked away.

The truth was obvious.

For years, Kael had dreamed of joining the Titan Hunter Corps—the elite military force tasked with killing Titans beyond the walls. Most people feared the Corps because survival rates were horrifyingly low.

But Kael feared something else more.

Being powerless.

Five years ago, he had watched a Titan destroy half his district.

Watched soldiers torn apart.

Watched buildings collapse.

Watched his mother die beneath falling debris while screaming for him to run.

Ever since that day, the sound of Titans echoed inside his skull like a curse.

He would never run again.

A violent BOOM shook the apartment.

Dust rained from the ceiling.

Mira gasped.

Then came another sound.

Not thunder.

Impact.

Heavy.

Massive.

The entire building trembled.

Kael’s eyes widened.

“That’s too close…”

Suddenly the emergency speakers outside crackled.

“OUTER GATE HAS BEEN BREACHED!”

The city erupted into screams.

Kael rushed to the window.

Far beyond the rain and smoke, something enormous moved between the towers.

At first it looked like a mountain.

Then it stood taller.

Its body was humanoid but grotesque—gray skin stretched over layers of muscle, glowing blue veins pulsing beneath flesh like burning rivers. Its head was crowned with jagged horn-like bone protrusions.

One eye glowed bright crimson through the storm.

The Titan.

At least eighty meters tall.

People scattered like insects beneath it.

Military cannons fired from the wall towers, explosions bursting across the Titan’s chest. Smoke covered its body for a moment—

Then the Titan walked forward unharmed.

Kael felt cold.

“Impossible…”

Even armored rail cannons barely slowed Titans.

The creature raised one massive arm and slammed its fist into a defense tower.

The entire structure exploded apart.

Soldiers fell screaming into the streets below.

Mira grabbed Kael’s arm.

“Kael, please…”

Another announcement blared overhead.

“ALL AVAILABLE RESERVE FIGHTERS REPORT TO SECTOR EIGHT!”

Kael looked at his sister.

Then at the Titan.

His jaw tightened.

“I have to go.”

“No!”

“Mira—listen to me.” He crouched beside her. “If nobody fights, everyone dies.”

Tears welled in her eyes.

“You’re not a soldier.”

“Not yet.”

He stood before she could stop him.

Then he grabbed the old black coat hanging beside the door—the coat belonging to his dead father.

The symbol stitched onto the back had nearly faded away.

A broken Titan skull pierced by a sword.

The crest of the Titan Hunter Corps.

Kael pulled the hood over his head.

And stepped into the storm.

Chaos consumed the streets.

Military drones flew overhead projecting targeting grids across nearby buildings. Civilians shoved through evacuation routes while armored defenders formed barricades near the district center.

Kael moved through the panic like a shadow.

Rain drenched his dark hair across his face as he sprinted toward the eastern defense sector.

An explosion rocked the avenue ahead.

Three soldiers crashed through a storefront window.

One of them screamed, clutching a missing arm.

“MEDIC!”

Kael froze.

The Titan’s footsteps shook the earth again.

Closer now.

A squad commander shouted orders nearby.

“Anti-Titan squads, with me! Keep it away from the shelters!”

Kael spotted soldiers launching upward between rooftops using maneuver wires attached to metal harnesses around their waists.

Sky Gear.

Humanity’s greatest weapon.

Compressed gas propulsion combined with steel cable launchers allowed soldiers to move through cities at terrifying speeds.

Only highly trained fighters could use it properly.

Kael had never officially trained.

But he had practiced in secret for years.

A memory flashed through his mind.

His father laughing while adjusting a small prototype harness.

“Balance is everything, Kael. Fear throws off balance. Remember that.”

Kael clenched his fists.

His father had disappeared during a Titan expedition eleven years ago.

No body was ever found.

Most assumed he died.

Kael never believed it.

A deafening roar tore through the city.

People screamed again.

The Titan had entered the district.

Kael finally saw it clearly.

The creature towered above the buildings, steam pouring from its skin. Every step shattered pavement beneath its feet.

Its crimson eye scanned the streets almost intelligently.

Then it looked directly at Kael.

For a single horrifying second—

The Titan smiled.

Kael’s blood froze.

It sees me.

The Titan raised one massive hand.

“MOVE!” someone shouted.

Kael dove sideways as the Titan’s hand smashed into the street.

The impact obliterated buildings instantly.

Stone exploded outward.

A shockwave hurled Kael through the air.

He crashed violently against a wall.

Pain shot through his ribs.

Dust filled the sky.

Kael struggled to breathe.

Around him, civilians screamed beneath rubble.

A little girl cried for her mother nearby.

Kael forced himself upright.

The Titan’s giant hand slowly lifted from the crater.

Dozens dead.

Just like that.

Rage burned through Kael so violently his vision blurred.

“You bastard…”

A military officer landed nearby using Sky Gear.

“Kid! Evacuate now!”

Kael ignored him.

Instead he stared at a fallen soldier half-buried beneath debris.

The man was dead.

But his Sky Gear remained mostly intact.

Kael ran toward it.

The officer’s eyes widened.

“Wait! You can’t use that!”

Too late.

Kael ripped the harness free and strapped it around himself with practiced movements.

Gas pressure: stable.

Wire launchers: operational.

Blade cartridges: half loaded.

The officer stared in disbelief.

“How do you know how to operate that?”

Kael drew both steel blades.

Rainwater streamed down the polished edges.

“I don’t,” he lied.

The Titan roared again.

Without another word, Kael fired the grappling cables.

THUNK!

The wires embedded into a nearby tower.

Gas exploded from the harness.

Kael launched into the air.

The world blurred beneath him.

Wind slammed against his face as he swung between collapsing buildings.

The feeling was terrifying.

And freeing.

Below him, the Titan crushed military vehicles beneath its feet.

Soldiers attacked from every direction, darting through the air like insects around a beast.

Most died instantly.

The Titan moved far faster than something that size should.

One swipe erased entire squads.

Kael gritted his teeth.

There has to be a weak point.

Every Titan possessed one vulnerable area:

The nape of the neck.

Destroy it, and the Titan died.

But reaching that point was nearly impossible.

Especially against a monster this size.

A screaming soldier flew past Kael after being struck midair.

Blood sprayed across the rain.

Kael’s heart pounded harder.

Fear whispered inside him.

Run.

You’re going to die.

But then he remembered his mother’s final scream.

And fear became fury.

Kael accelerated.

He swung around the Titan’s shoulder, narrowly avoiding debris flying through the air.

Closer.

Closer.

Steam burned against his skin.

The Titan suddenly turned its head.

Too fast.

Its crimson eye locked onto Kael again.

“What—”

The Titan swung.

Kael barely reacted in time.

Its massive hand clipped him midair.

Agony exploded through his body.

His cables snapped.

Kael spiraled uncontrollably through the storm before smashing through the roof of a warehouse.

Wood shattered beneath him.

Everything went black.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Kael slowly opened his eyes.

Pain consumed every inch of his body.

Rain leaked through the ruined ceiling above him.

He coughed blood onto the floor.

“…still alive…”

Barely.

His Sky Gear was destroyed.

One blade remained nearby.

Outside, distant explosions continued shaking the city.

Kael forced himself to stand.

Every movement hurt.

But he could still fight.

That was enough.

Suddenly—

Footsteps echoed nearby.

Heavy.

Slow.

Kael grabbed the blade.

A figure emerged from the darkness at the far end of the warehouse.

Not a Titan.

A man.

Tall.

Wearing a black coat marked with silver symbols Kael had never seen before.

His face was hidden beneath a hood.

“You survived,” the stranger said calmly.

Kael tightened his grip.

“Who are you?”

The man ignored the question.

Instead he looked upward toward the sounds of destruction outside.

“That Titan shouldn’t be here.”

Kael frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Silence lingered.

Then the man slowly stepped forward.

Kael noticed scars covering the stranger’s exposed hands.

Burn scars.

Deep ones.

“The Titans are changing,” the man said quietly. “Evolving.”

Another explosion thundered outside.

The stranger continued.

“And you…” He looked directly at Kael. “You carry the mark.”

Kael stiffened.

“What mark?”

The man pointed toward Kael’s chest.

Confused, Kael looked down.

Beneath his torn shirt, glowing faintly through his skin—

A strange symbol pulsed blue near his heart.

Kael stared in shock.

“What is this…?”

The stranger’s voice turned grim.

“The beginning of the end.”

Suddenly the warehouse wall exploded inward.

The Titan’s gigantic eye appeared through the smoke.

It had found them.

Kael stumbled backward.

The Titan roared so loudly the building shook apart.

But the hooded stranger did not move.

Instead, he sighed.

“So it can sense you already…”

Kael looked at him in disbelief.

“What are you talking about?!”

The stranger slowly removed his hood.

Kael froze.

The man’s left eye glowed bright blue.

Just like the mark on Kael’s chest.

“My name is Darius Vale,” the man said.

Then his expression darkened.

“And if you want to survive, boy…”

Blue energy ignited around his body like lightning.

“You’re going to have to become a Titan Breaker.”

The Titan smashed its hand toward them.

Darius moved instantly.

FASTER than humanly possible.

He caught the Titan’s massive hand with one arm.

The entire warehouse exploded from the force.

Kael’s eyes widened in horror.

Impossible.

No human could stop a Titan.

But Darius looked back at him calmly while blue flames burned from his skin.

“Welcome,” he said, “to the real war.”

The Titan screamed.

And for the first time in history—

A human punched back hard enough to make a Titan bleed.