A broken fan clicked above, its rusted blades cutting through layers of smoke like an old jazz riff slicing into silence. The red velvet curtain behind the auction stage swayed with each gust, casting long, uneven shadows across the cracked marble floor.
The smell of sweat, cigar smoke, and expensive cologne hung heavy in the air. In the flickering lights of the ruined theater, the city's filthiest men sat dressed like saints mob bosses, tech smugglers, and collectors of outlawed power. Their suits were pressed. Their morals weren't.
An old gramophone crackled on a side table, its warped saxophone tune bleeding through the chaos like it had seen it all before.
"Gentlemen," the auctioneer cooed, swirling his drink. "Tonight's final item is unlike anything your credits have ever dared chase."
Two guards wheeled out a titanium briefcase. When the latches clicked open, the room seemed to hold its breath.
Inside floated a single Kard sleek, metallic, and glowing faint orange. It hovered just an inch off its velvet pedestal, wind curling around it like it was alive.
"Kardimon No. 6," the auctioneer said with pride. "Solara. The Celestial Sun."
The crowd murmured, eyes gleaming. A few adjusted their ties. Others reached for their wallets like reflexes honed in war.
And from the rafters above, hidden in shadow, I watched.
I didn't care about the credits or the prestige. I wasn't here to buy.
I was here to take what's rightfully mine.
The name's Dre. Sixteen. Kardimon Hunter.
I'd been chasing this Kard for months tracking whispers through alleys, trading information with orphans, bribing gate guards and cracking street cams. The Ashfold Syndicate had it locked down tight, only surfacing for a private auction once every five years.
Solara was the sixth.
I already had five.
And I was close. So damn close.
I tightened my grip on the K-Caller at my hip an old-school flip device made of steel and soul circuitry. The key-shaped slot glinted under the rafter light. On my belt, three Kards sat loaded and ready. I chose the one I trusted most.
Junara.
Slender and fast. A storm-scaled serpent with a bite like a railgun.
I slid his Kard into the K-Caller. The moment the key twisted, energy pulsed through my wrist like a second heartbeat.
RELEASE: JUNARA
From the K-Caller, a spiral of wind and static burst outward. The creature emerged in a flash, scales shimmering like mercury, eyes narrow with focus. He hovered beside me, coiled and waiting.
I pointed.
"The one in the case, that is our target."
Junara vanished in a blink of silver.
The room below descended into madness.
The briefcase cracked in half, torn clean by Junara's tail. The Solara Kard spun mid-air, dancing toward the ceiling. A woman screamed. Another reached for her holster.
I leapt from the rafters.
My coat flared behind me. My boots slammed into a shattered piano before I rolled across the balcony. In one motion, I reached out—
Fingers curled around Solora.
Got it.
But before I could breathe, I heard her voice.
"Nice trick you pulled there."
She stood at the end of the hallway lean, scarred, and smiling like a knife. A crimson trench coat brushed her ankles, and her gloved hand hovered over a bandolier of Kards.
Trixy.
Bounty hunter. Ashfold's right hand. And the killer of my mentor.
"You again," I muttered.
"What you have there is Ashfold's property, Dre," she said coolly, eyes locked on Solara's glow. "You're just a street rat playing collector."
"Not at all," I said, sliding Solara into my coat. "I'm a Hunter."
She moved first.
RELEASE: EMBERRA
Flame exploded across the balcony. Her Kardimon Emberra emerged in a pulse of molten red. A feline shape with fire for fur, its roar cracked the walls.
I called out.
"Junara!"
He met her head-on.
Their clash shook the building.
Junara's coils snapped around Emberra's burning claws, lightning crackling through the air. Emberra flared, tail like a comet. Fire and wind collided in waves.
Around us, panic.
Guards released their own Kardimon. Beasts surged through the smoke: steel-bodied hawks, fang-covered moles, crystalline wolves. The theater became a warzone.
I ducked behind the balcony rail, sliding Solara's Kard into the K-Caller.
"Alright, here goes nothing!"
It pulsed. Warmer than the others. Almost… breathing.
I hesitated.
The Kard spoke without words.
It chose me.
COMPATIBILITY CONFIRMED
I twisted the key.
RELEASE: SOLARA THE CELESTIAL SUN
The sound was not a roar, but a note pure, ringing, infinite. Hot Winds howled through the ruined roof as clouds gathered from nowhere. Solara emerged like a volcano reborn: wings translucent, body wrapped in burning feathers. The theater bent under the pressure of its arrival. It was like looking at the Sun itself.
Trixy staggered back, eyes wide.
"You… you shouldn't be able to release, let alone control one of the legendary seven."
"Just what the hell are you!"
I stepped forward.
"Maybe you never understood what control really means."
"But as for me, I know it all too well, even if my souls burnt away in the process, I will obtain my goal."
Trixy eyes went wide once more as the shape of Dre's aura took shape, it became something unusual, almost as if it was from Heaven and Hell.
"You, you, ...you DEMON!"
Solara and Junara tore through the rest.
Kards shattered. Creatures fled. Syndicate tech shorted out mid-transmission. The jazz from the gramophone played on, skittering beneath the thunder.
Trixy ran off to the roof, but by the time I reached the rooftop she had vanished.
Figures.
Ashfold never taught her how to lose.
I stood on the edge of the city, the wind calm now. Solara hovered behind me like a silent guardian. Junara coiled beside him, sparks still dancing along his skin.
Below, the skyline pulsed in blues and reds.
I looked down at the six Kards on my belt.
Six out of seven.
Only one remained.
The strongest Kard yet, I've only been able to release two out of six so far.
But I know that when I find it, not a single soul will be able to stand in my way.
And the Legendary Hidden 8th Kard will be mines.