Every year, a big festival took place in the small neighborhood where I had lived since I was born.

As it was just another small neighborhood in the city of Hadano, in Kanagawa Prefecture, the festivals usually only attracted the local population, no tourists.

However, in all my ten years of life, I had never been to a festival like this.

Yes, that was strange, but as my mother was a Todoroki, she was afraid that some people might recognize her and if any of those people who did recognize her didn't mean well, it would be a bit dangerous for me.

However, in the next few days we were going to move to Tokyo, because my mother and father had found good job opportunities in the city. Also, they thought it would be great for me to see what it was like to live in a big city, with lots of heroes, events and opportunities, before deciding whether or not I want to go to UA, the biggest and best hero school in Japan.

So this was my last chance as a child to go to a festival with my parents, because in Tokyo everything was so much bigger, including the chance of my mother being recognized.

So, that week I turned ten, we finally went.

*

Traditional Japanese festivals were like the ones you often see on TV and in anime, but while they were very similar, the feeling of walking through one was completely different.

The traditional colored lanterns swayed gently in the wind and the stalls looked small, but each one served something different with an almost irresistible smell. My parents told me that the festival was a way for local businesses to thank the population in some way for their support over the past year and I thought that was noble of them.

The ambient sound of drums, flutes and children's laughter filled the air with a lively and welcoming atmosphere.

The tantalizing aromas of yakitori and takoyaki hung in the air, mingling with the sweet smell of cotton candy. My mother and father, with warm smiles, guided me hand in hand to explore every corner of the festival. Although I was an adult in a child's body, I bet my reactions were like those of a child seeing all this for the first time, because the traces of oriental culture in this festival reminded me a little of my old world.

Some of the people going to the festival were dressed in colorful yukatas, creating a visual spectacle as enchanting as the fireworks themselves that I was looking forward to seeing later.

At the various stalls, vendors offered fun games and tempting prizes. My mother, although reluctant at first, couldn't resist and soon we were throwing hoops at floating plastic ducks and trying to hit targets at a target shooting stall. So I got a pile of prizes, making the poor stall owner sweat and my dad too, to carry it all back to the car.

As we walked through the festival, we came across a small stage where local artists were performing traditional dance and music. We sat on a cushion placed on the tatami floor and watched the fascinating performances. With each dance step and musical note, I felt more connected to Japan's rich cultural heritage.

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Night fell slowly, and paper lanterns began to illuminate the paths as the sun set. My mother took me to a mask stall, where I chose an elaborate kitsune mask, with golden eyes and hand-painted details.

We then went to taste the famous takoyaki while watching the fireworks begin to paint the night sky in dazzling bursts of color.

At that moment, I realized how special it all was. It was just a festival, but deep down for me it wasn't just that, it was the celebration of the first time I had connected so deeply with other people. So I looked at my father and mother with a smile, as if to thank them.

However, as the fireworks burst into the night sky, a distant roar echoed. At first, people ignored it, attributing the sound to some special sound effect for the festival. However, as the roar intensified, it became clear that something was happening, because a kind of chain perception began. Soon, the ground began to tremble, first in a subtle way, as if a gigantic heart was beating, and so the joyful expressions turned to confusion and then to fear, because the shaking turned into an intense earthquake, the kind that some people can't stand up.

Suddenly, appearing between the city's distant buildings, the horizon was filled with a colossal shadow. The towers and tall buildings that dotted the cityscape were insignificant when compared to the magnitude of the creature that appeared out of nowhere. A creature of monumental proportions, its dark silhouette jutted out against the starry sky. It was a monster hundreds of meters tall, its scales were as red as fire, reflecting the lights of the city, and majestic wings stretched the entire length of its body, each beat causing powerful winds that shook everything and made smaller buildings fly like children's toys. Its huge claws dragged along the ground, crushing structures with every step.

The people at the festival who saw this thing immediately started running in all directions in a desperate attempt to get as far away from the danger as possible. They had never seen anything like it.

There were people who could grow to be as big as buildings, but it had never been reported about someone or something that could easily be over two hundred meters tall, let alone something that looked like a dragon.

Screams of horror and despair mingled with the sound of the creature's resounding roar.

The fireworks, which lit up the sky with vibrant colors, were overshadowed by the monster's overwhelming presence.

Among the fleeing crowd, my family, as you would expect from the Todoroki, tried to remain calm in the midst of the chaos.

At the same time, closer to the city, local heroes began to mobilize, running towards the colossal threat while others helped civilians take refuge in disaster-safe areas. For the few heroes present in Hadano who had taken part in the war against All for one years ago, it was impossible not to remember Gigantomachia in this situation and thus realize that this monster could wreak far more havoc than the AFO's servant.

Luckily, as Japan was constantly suffering from natural disasters, there were many bunkers scattered around the country for these occasions, so the population had hope, but it was like a race against time. Newspapers often said that Japan had the capacity to shelter 93% of its population in the event of an unknown disaster on a national scale.

However, I, as a Cultivator who could sense the aura of any living creature and thus measure its power, knew for the first time that there was no living hero who could stop this creature. Hero number one's light was intense, as I had seen myself, except that this colossal and mysterious creature for them was a Red Dragon, a danger even in my universe. A sense of urgency permeated the air, and the once joyous festival was overtaken by despair.

I knew I had to act, otherwise the entire town where I lived my childhood would be wiped off the map, maybe even the whole of Japan.

So while my family and I ran away, being guided by the heroes, I chose to let go of my mother's comfortable hand for the first time and go to stop the Red Dragon.