REDN

Ashen Blade: Legacy of the Forgotten is a dystopian cyberpunk thriller set in a future where the world has been reshaped by the unchecked power of corporate dynasties known as the Keiretsu (系列). These massive conglomerates have replaced nations and governments, molding the world through commerce, warfare, and control. In this new age, power is everything, and survival is earned—not guaranteed.

The social structure is brutal, built on a rigid hierarchy where strength and honor are the currency of survival. At the top are the Kurokenshi (黒剣士)—elite warriors who maintain their humanity despite advanced augmentations. Beneath them, the Integrated rely on cybernetic enhancements to survive, while the Unshackled, those without enhancements, struggle to cling to a dying existence. The lowest rung, however, is occupied by the Glitched—individuals who should not exist. Born outside corporate control or as failed prototypes, they are anomalies—threats in a world that cannot afford mistakes.

The story follows Ash Atsuyuki, the last of the Shirogiri clan, a once-proud bloodline of elite warriors now reduced to fighting for survival in a world that has moved beyond honor and tradition. His family’s name is little more than a relic, a fading echo of an era when power was earned through steel, discipline, and the ancient martial codes of Kurogami (黒神)—the planet that birthed his ancestors. With his father gone, his mother dead, and his grandfather clinging to life, Ash walks the crumbling streets of a city ruled by corporate power and surveillance, where history and bloodlines no longer matter.

Ash’s journey is one of reclaiming not just his heritage, but the very essence of power. In a world where only the strong survive, Ash must rise above the ruins of his family’s name, rediscover the forgotten martial techniques of the Black Gods, and reclaim his place among the elite. But in a world dominated by corporate overlords and enhanced warriors, can a fallen bloodline ever truly rise again?

This story is officially being posted on RoyalRoad.com under the account REDN_CHRONICLES.

Ashen Blade: Legacy of the Forgotten

The morning air was crisp, laced with the faint scent of distant rain and the electric hum of the city's unseen pulse. Neon signs flickered in the dying gloom of night, casting shifting kanji across the slick pavement. Beyond the old district, the skyline burned with corporate dominance—towers of steel and glass, their facades carved with the sigils of the great Keiretsu. Above them, massive display screens projected the morning's news cycle, woven seamlessly with propaganda and advertisements.

Ash Atsuyuki pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders, stepping off the estate's worn stone path and onto the cracked pavement beyond. The Shirogiri Manor still stood, but only barely—a relic of a time when his clan's name carried weight, when warriors of his bloodline shaped the tides of battle. Now, the estate was an empty shell, its walls weathered by time, its glory long eroded.

Once, the Shirogiri were respected, their name etched into the annals of history. Now, they were barely remembered.

His father was a ghost, vanished into the void years ago without a trace. His mother was nothing more than an image in an old photograph—she had died the moment he entered the world. And his grandfather, the last true master of their lineage, lay sick and fading in a bed that creaked under the weight of his wasted frame.

Ash was the last of the Shirogiri.

The city did not wait for fallen bloodlines to rise again. The Keiretsu ruled now. The corporations had rewritten the world, reducing history to an archive of data, stripping away the old honor-bound ways to make room for a future dictated by commerce and control. Bloodlines meant nothing if they did not serve the system.

But the old houses—those that had once governed through strength, discipline, and steel—had not entirely faded. Many had bent the knee, adapted, traded their swords for contracts, their honor for power in a new form. Some still held a place among the elite, but the Shirogiri had not been so fortunate.

They had not adapted. They had not bent.

Ash's steps carried him through the aging district, past once-proud estates now repurposed into housing for the lower class. Surveillance drones drifted silently overhead, their red optics scanning passersby with machine efficiency. The streets hummed with life as merchants peddled food, cybernetics, and black-market modifications to anyone desperate enough to barter.

As he crossed into the main roads, the towering structures of the corporate sector loomed ahead, their sheer size making the old district feel like a forgotten ruin. There, the Keiretsu banners flew high, their colors marking the true rulers of this world.

Today was just another day. Another morning spent walking past the untouchable elite, past the city's undercurrent of struggle, past reminders that his name no longer held any weight.

But fate had a way of reminding the forgotten that they were not done suffering yet.

ASH ATSUYUKI