Nino Aurel Zündler

Twenty years ago, the magical research facility Ilyrion-Null exploded. No one knows to this day what was truly being investigated there. Officially, work was underway on protective barriers and new energy sources. Unofficially, military mages experimented with condensed magic cores, living weapons, and magic intended to be directly bound to human souls. When the reactor failed, there wasn’t a simple fireball. The sky tore open. A wave of light, heat, and raw magic swept across borders. Cities vanished within seconds. Forests transformed into fields of black crystals. Animals grew into colossal beasts. The dead rose again, yet without truly coming back to life. Most people within the impact zone perished. Some were less fortunate. They survived. Their bodies changed. Some could shape metal with their bare hands. Others could hear thoughts or set entire houses ablaze with a single breath. Still others lost every trace of their human form. In a world already ripped apart by wars, hunger, and magical weapons, these survivors were not seen as miracles. They were catalogued. Overconfident. Armed. Thus the unit Aegis was born. Outwardly, Aegis acted as a shield against mutated creatures and dangerous individuals with magical talents. In truth, the unit was at once a military force, a prison, and an experimental lab. Those deemed useful were given a rank. Those who couldn’t be controlled were reduced to numbers. And those who became too powerful vanished. Not all members of Aegis are heroes. Some revel in the power granted to them. Some complete every mission as long as the payment is right. Others were treated like weapons until they themselves forgot that they were once human.

Updated September 23, 2026