Season 1 – THE CURSED SUMMON
Episode 1: The Wrong One
The world split open.
Screams of angels fractured through black skies as thirteen beams of blinding light stabbed into a circle of summoning. Hooded figures stood around the edge, robes soaked in divine ink, their prayers turning to sobs. They had summoned warriors from Earth to save their realm—but something was wrong. One of them didn't shine.
Ren Aizawa stumbled forward, choking on smoke. "Where the hell…?"
The stone beneath him was cracked and old, soaked in symbols etched with blood. A single step forward and the High Prophet flinched as if bitten. Ren's bare chest gleamed with sweat and bruises. The other summoned stood tall and radiant, their bodies glowing faintly.
Ren didn't glow.
Whispers burst into shouts.
"Defective!"
"The gods chose wrongly!"
"He's the error!"
Ren clenched his fists. "What the hell are you people talking about?!"
The Grand Bishop approached, robes dragging across the floor like a funeral shroud. "You are the Wrong One. The thirteen were meant to be divine vessels. But you… you are an anomaly."
The summoned behind Ren were led gently toward golden doors. Cheers echoed. Priests wept tears of joy. None of them looked back.
Not even Akio.
Ren's best friend.
Gone.
Ren stepped forward, but a knight slammed a spear across his chest, sending him tumbling backward.
"No!" he screamed. "Akio—what the fuck are you doing?! We came together!"
But Akio didn't turn. The golden doors shut.
Ren was alone.
The Bishop raised a hand. "Cleanse the failure."
Pain.
The floor exploded beneath Ren as light seared through his bones. He screamed, his body consumed by divine fire—but it didn't kill him. The fire clung to his soul, peeling pieces off as if tasting them. When the light faded, he was gasping on the edge of the summoning altar, eyes bloodshot.
Alive.
Still alive.
The knights hesitated.
"He… survived?" one muttered.
"He shouldn't have," another replied.
"Throw him in the Hollow," the Bishop spat. "Let the dead deal with him."
Chains bound him before he could stand. They dragged him through hidden halls beneath the cathedral, deep into the underworld of the holy city. The marble turned to rot. Holy light gave way to torch smoke and mildew. Below the church lay a pit of broken dreams—the Hollow.
The last thing Ren saw before being kicked down the spiral stairs was a golden mural of the divine. Akio stood in it. A blade in one hand. A god's smile on his face.
The door slammed shut.
---
The Hollow was not quiet.
Screams crawled along the stone. Figures huddled in corners. A thousand defective summoned, discarded for flaws only the divine could see. Some had missing limbs, others had blank eyes. One laughed constantly at nothing. One tore her skin slowly, humming hymns.
Ren staggered forward, breath shallow.
"What… is this place…"
"Hell."
A voice from behind.
An old man sat on a broken altar of bone and rusted weapons. White eyes. Black robes. Fingers covered in dried blood. His smile didn't belong on a human face.
"You were discarded," the man said. "Just like us. But unlike the others, you didn't die from the Light. You burned… and survived."
Ren raised his fists. "Back the fuck off."
The man cackled. "Still got fight. That's good. That's real good."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Call me what you want. Priest. Madman. Prophet. Doesn't matter. But you—you're a crack in their prophecy."
"I don't care about their prophecy."
The priest's eyes widened. "You will."
Ren's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten in hours. Blood dried across his chest. His entire body shook from exhaustion, rage, confusion. The old man tossed him a chunk of bread with a grin.
"Eat, boy. Tomorrow, you learn the truth. Tonight, you sleep on bones."
Ren didn't move. But hunger won. He bit into the stale crust and sat beside a skeleton wearing a crown of thorns.
The priest watched him. "They fear you, you know."
"Why?"
"Because you don't glow like them. Because you're human."
Ren sneered. "Aren't they all human too?"
"No," the priest whispered. "They were touched by divinity. You weren't. That makes you real. That makes you dangerous."
---
He didn't sleep much.
The Hollow never stopped screaming. Somewhere down the tunnel, a man begged for death. Somewhere else, someone laughed while tearing something apart. Ren sat against the cold stone, staring at the ceiling. It was too dark to see his own hands.
He thought of Akio.
Why didn't he look back?
Why did he walk through those golden doors like Ren didn't exist?
Betrayal. It tasted like ash.
He thought of home, but it was fading. The smell of ramen. His sister's stupid cat. Everything blurred.
When the priest returned, he held a knife in one hand.
Ren stood up fast.
The priest chuckled. "Not for you. Not yet."
He walked to a chained man in the corner, sobbing softly, and slit his throat with no hesitation.
Ren flinched.
"Lesson one," the priest whispered as blood spilled. "In this world, you kill… or you're erased."
Ren didn't speak. He couldn't. His body shook, fists clenched, heart screaming.
The priest dipped his fingers in the blood and began tracing symbols on Ren's skin.
"What are you doing?" Ren snarled.
"Giving you purpose," the priest said. "You want revenge? Then you'll need power. Tomorrow, you'll meet the Maggots and the Kings. Tomorrow, you kill—or you die."
Ren's eyes widened.
"What the hell does that mean—?!"
The door behind them creaked open.
Torchlight flooded in.
Knights in rusted armor stepped in, dragging two other prisoners behind them. A twisted grin stretched across one knight's scarred face.
"New toys for the arena," he laughed. "You're up first, boy."
Ren's blood ran cold.
He didn't have a weapon.
He didn't have a choice.