Nyxfall 7: The Veilbreakers

Kai hurriedly moved to higher ground after gathering all the loot, his eyes fixed on the smoke rising from the crash site. It was near the village, but not too close—yet from where they stood in the forest, it seemed just as near.

He had to check it out. It could be the start of an interesting quest. Without hesitation, he made a run for it.

"Renatus_Kai! Don't! It's not safe out here!" his NPC uncle shouted behind him, but Kai didn't care.

Of course, it wasn't safe—it was a freaking jungle. He sprinted past weird-looking animals and suspiciously colorful trees and plants. This place was anything but normal.

But he didn't have time to explore.

The crash. He recalled the story progression notification—it had called this first chapter The Beginning Crash.

At first, Kai assumed it referred to his character's arrival. But now, it seemed far more likely that it was about whatever had crashed into the village. He hadn't seen any other players yet, but if they were in the village and reached the crash site before him, they might claim the opportunity first.

Since the story in Nyxfall 6 followed a fixed timeline, each character's starting point had only a limited number of players who chose the same class around that period. As a result, this beginner village should have relatively few players at this point in time. A shared zone where players from all timelines could interact only became accessible once the story reached a stage that allowed for their convergence.

From about 700 meters away, Kai spotted a small crowd gathered near a crater in the middle of a lush green meadow. But they were... colorful. Most appeared humanoid, yet their features were anything but ordinary. Some had glowing arms, others sported twin, whip-like tails, and a few had tiny mouths with bright, whisker-like appendages. Some faces looked entirely alien, yet everyone acted as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

This wasn't a human village.

Who the hell were the Nexus Kin? And what kind of story had he been dropped into within the Nyxfall universe?

In short, Nyxfall 6: Dark End had a straightforward premise—various factions of Stonebinder superhumans uniting to defend their planet from an invading alien species. These creatures, known as the Followers of the Dark One, possessed eerie, dark humanoid features. The game's grand finale was meant to be the climactic battle where both protagonists and antagonists set aside their differences to face this looming threat together.

But before the war could end, the Selection Event was launched. Players had received offline invitations, only to be transported into the real-world version of the Stonebinders' planet—where they were expected to play their characters for real.

Except, in real life, the alien invasion never happened. No one knew why. Instead, all the different species from across the galaxy had turned against each other, waging war to "win" the game. There were no rules. No structure. Just pure, unrelenting chaos.

As Kai neared the crowd, he could hear them murmuring—strange, distorted voices speaking in countless different tongues.

"Another one…"

"Poor thing…"

"Did anyone inform the chief?"

"Is it okay? Do we need Leisha?"

Is this a daily occurrence? They didn't seem surprised at all.

Yet, even as Kai approached the center of the crater, no notification appeared. No quest prompt.

He peered over the gathered villagers, looking at the object that had drawn them in.

It was a high-tech capsule—similar to the ones Kai had seen in space shuttle videos, where astronauts entered cold sleep to traverse vast distances without aging.

A man with four arms—two resembling normal human limbs and the other two a deep shade of purple—was struggling to pry open the lid with considerable force. Strangely enough, there was a square panel on the side clearly labeled: Touch here to open.

Kai had no idea what was going on, but he was already too intrigued to walk away.

So, he spoke up.

"Uhm… Elders!" Kai called out hesitantly.

Some of them turned toward him. Their normal eyes showed recognition—though it was harder to tell with the alien ones. A few even smiled at him. Encouraged, he continued, "I think touching the panel on the side opens it.."

The four-armed man frowned. "What do you mean? I am touching it, ain't I?"

Kai sighed and decided to do it himself. Stepping closer, he placed his open palm against the square panel.

A faint hum rippled through the air. The glass-like surface flickered, and with a soft hiss, the capsule's seal broke. As the lid lifted, it revealed a tiny form inside—a hybrid of human and alien, its features an uncanny blend of the familiar and the unknown.

The infant had red skin, striking yellow eyes, and four fingers on each hand instead of five. Aside from that, he looked almost like a normal human baby.

"Ah! He's so adorable and healthy!" a woman in simple robes exclaimed.

One by one, the gathered elders began praising the child. An elderly woman even scooped him up into her arms, cooing softly as she spoke to him.

Kai stared, baffled. This was not the reaction he expected.

An alien baby had just fallen from the sky.. and everyone was acting like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Before Kai could even think, he sensed something shifting in his surroundings—an unsettling change he couldn't quite place. Then, it hit him.

Darkness.

The entire village, the hill it rested on, and even the surrounding landscape had been swallowed by an unnatural shadow, the morning fog was long gone. He hadn't noticed it at first, distracted by the capsule's blinking lights. But now that he had, the sheer scale of the phenomenon made his stomach drop.

Slowly, he tilted his head upward.

A city loomed above him. No—an island. A colossal landmass, suspended in the sky. Its surface pulsed with alien circuitry, neon veins of energy weaving through impossibly intricate architecture. Towering monoliths of obsidian-like metal stretched toward the heavens, their surfaces lined with shifting holographic symbols. Strange aerial crafts zipped between the towering spires, leaving behind streaks of luminescent vapor.

And beneath it all.. real land. Dirt, stone—earth. As if the city had once belonged below, only to rise into the sky and never return.

A deep, thrumming hum filled the air, the vibration settling into his very bones.

This wasn't just a floating city. This was something beyond human comprehension—an alien megastructure defying the laws of nature themselves.

The difference between the village below and the technology above was like heaven and earth.

"What in the hell is that?" Kai blurted out before he could stop himself.

"That is not proper language, Renatus_Kai. Have you never seen the Exodian city before?" A woman chastised him from the side.

"Exodian city?" Kai echoed, turning to her.

"Yes. Didn't your uncle and aunt ever tell you where our ancestors came from? Just like this baby, many of us were sent down here to live," she replied.

Kai hesitated before asking, "What does Nexus Kin mean?" He already had a suspicion, but he needed confirmation.

"Nexus Kin are all of us.. We are the cross between the Exodians and the Stonebinders. Neither loved by the sky nor the land," she said, her tone growing melancholic. She gave him a small nod to signal the conversation's end before walking out of the crater, following the four-armed man and the other villagers as they carried the baby toward the village.

Nearby, some men were still clustered around the pod—capsule, whatever it was—prying at its surface, trying to dismantle it for salvage. They worked with urgency, eager to claim whatever parts they could.

Kai's mind raced. What in the hell had happened to the world of the Stonebinders? Where were they? If the Nexus Kin were the offspring of Stonebinders and these so-called Exodians, then that meant the Stonebinders were still alive,, They were the native population. And the Exodians—an alien species.

But was this the past or the present? Was this even the same planet as the Stonebinders' homeworld?

Lost in thought, Kai climbed out of the crater, only to find more people approaching—villagers, running or walking toward the scene. Almost all of them had green names hovering above their heads, marking them as NPCs.

But then, he spotted something unusual.

A name—not green, but dark blue. Just like his.

Another player.

Kai's gaze snapped toward the avatar. It was humanoid, similar in build to his own, but distinctly different. A girl. Her skin was pitch black, contrasting sharply with her stark white hair. She wore simple villager's clothes, yet something about the way she stood—the pride in her posture, the intensity in her large eyes—felt strangely familiar. She also noticed him and started staring at him. 

He ignored her alien features and focused on the name hovering above her head.

And when he read it, Kai froze.

Stunned. Confused. More so than he had been before.

It read, Deimos Emperium Lv.2.