The world ended with fire and ash, leaving only

scattered islands of life amid poisoned seas. In

the ruins of Metro Manila, a new order rose from

the rubble: the Barangay Councils, each ruling

its patch of land with iron fists and blood

oaths. Among them, the Council of Pasig ruled

from a fortress built atop the skeletal remains

of a prewar mansion.

Rommel Delgado, once a promising engineering

student, now serves as the Council’s enforcer,

tasked with hunting down survivors who dare to

defy their laws. He is haunted by the memory of

Lian Reyes, a woman from a rival council, whose

laughter still echoes in his dreams. She was the

one who left him behind when the skies fell.

One night, while tracking a rogue aswang through

the mangroves of Marikina, Rommel stumbles upon

a hidden shrine carved into the roots of an

ancient balete tree. There, he meets Eliza Cruz,

a former OFW turned witch, who offers him a deal:

her power to kill Lian in exchange for his soul.

The pact is sealed with a drop of his blood and

a whisper of old Tagalog prayers.

Eliza reveals that Lian is not just alive—she is

the Council of Makati’s heir, engaged to

Rommel’s rival, Arman Delgado, the son of the

Pasig Council’s leader. Arman is everything

Rommel is not: wealthy, welleducated, and bound

by the bloodlines of the old elite. Their

rivalry is no longer personal—it is a battle for

dominance in a fractured world.

As Rommel hunts Lian under Eliza’s guidance, he

begins to see visions of her past: her family

torn apart by the war, her escape to Makati, and

the secret pact she made with a diwata to

survive. When he finally finds her, she does not

run. Instead, she offers him a choice: help her

break her own pact with the diwata, or let Eliza

claim his soul.

But the bargain has already changed the world.

The aswang population swells, the barangays

begin to fall, and the sky weeps black rain.

Eliza’s magic is fading, and the spirit she

bound to Rommel is growing restless. In the end,

it is not Lian he saves—but himself, breaking

the pact with a blade forged from the balete

tree’s heartwood.

He walks away from the ruins, the weight of his

soul lighter, but the scars of love and betrayal

remain.