...My body was on fire.

The black flame crept from my feet and moved upward.

My legs, my torso, my weapon-held hand, and my neck.

It happened so quickly yet excruciatingly slowly.

I felt both terrified and calm at the same time.

The fire was both cold and hot on my skin.

I watched it all happen, and before I disappeared, I saw him knelt beside me.

Sick bastard. Was he enjoying watching me burn?

I refused to look away. If he thought he could intimidate me, he should have known me better. I would stare him down, or at least die trying, until my last breath swallowed this fire.

"Goodbye," he mouthed the words to me as I became completely covered in flames.

Tears and blood.

My tears and my blood.

I burned.

***

Leah, a 16-year-old girl with a terminally ill sister, receives the highly coveted Invitation. Becoming a Rhombic, a monster hunter, could be the only chance to make their lives better and even save her sister. However, when she becomes a Rhombic, Leah is devastated to learn that she is unprecedentedly weak.

But an accidental encounter presents her with a weapon that could change everything.