The Vault's air had shifted.
Squad Umbra moved cautiously through the narrow stone passageways, lit only by flickering torchlight and the pale glow from Vein crystals embedded in the walls. The deeper they went, the more the tunnels distorted—angles that made no sense, stairs that looped back to their own beginnings, walls that pulsed like they were breathing.
Kaizen walked at the center, silent, hands trembling.
Something inside him had begun whispering.
His steps grew heavier with every breath.
> "The Hollow Sun stirs," the voice murmured within his blood.
"And your light is just the beginning of the end."
He shook it off.
"Focus," said Captain Varik, his voice sharp. "This place is trying to divide us. Stay close."
Beside him, Riven grunted. "Too late for that. I haven't seen Ayaka in over an hour."
Kaizen's jaw tightened. He hadn't said anything, but he'd felt it too—Ayaka had been pulled somewhere. Not lost, not wandering—taken. And it wasn't the Vault's magic.
It was him.
Nerovar.
They just hadn't seen it yet.
As the group moved through a crumbling chamber, a high-pitched clicking echoed from the dark. The torches flickered. The Vein crystal in Varik's gauntlet dimmed.
Then a scream.
Everyone turned—
Lira was gone.
Just—gone.
No trace. No sound of footsteps. Just blood—sprayed across the wall in jagged patterns.
A single message scratched deep into the stone with a blade:
> "HE IS ALREADY HERE."
Kaizen froze.
Riven stepped back, breathing hard. "What the hell is this? A Bist attack?"
"No…" Kaizen whispered. "This… this isn't a Bist."
His eyes lifted to the darkness above them.
"There's no scent. No heat. This is something else."
---
Elsewhere, Ayaka clutched the Scripture tightly.
Her path had taken her deeper than she'd ever imagined—into what looked like an ancient cathedral buried beneath the mountain. Its altar was cracked, its stained glass shattered.
She approached the pulpit, where a glowing statue stood—half human, half flame, and half void.
The inscription below it read:
> Kaizen Ryouma — The Final Vessel
Her heart stopped.
A figure stepped out from the shadows.
Nerovar.
His cloak rustled like it was made of ashes. His face was mostly hidden—except for his left eye, which burned with unnatural fire.
"You shouldn't be here," he said.
"I could say the same to you," Ayaka growled, drawing her blade.
But Nerovar didn't flinch.
"You think this is about war? About revenge? No. This is about design. You, him, me—we are constructs of the Hollow Sun's will. And the Vault is its memory."
He held out a hand.
And suddenly, Ayaka's body froze.
Her mind swirled with images: Kaizen ripping apart mountains, cities burning, Nerovar kneeling before a black sun, her own face consumed by flame.
And then silence.
"You'll forget this encounter," he whispered, voice like dying embers.
"But you'll remember the fear."
A wave of dark energy burst from his palm.
The world around her shattered.
---
Back with Squad Umbra…
Another scream.
This time—Riven.
They found his body slumped against the wall, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent gasp. No wounds. Just veins blackened.
As if his soul had been drained.
Kaizen fell to his knees beside him.
"Something is wrong," he whispered. "He didn't even fight back."
Varik turned to him, eyes wild. "What aren't you telling us?"
Kaizen looked up—and for a moment, his irises burned gold.
"They're not dying because of Bists… They're being judged."
The torches went out.
Total darkness.
Then a hundred whispers filled the air.
> "Veinborn…"
> "Thief of Flame…"
> "He is among you…"
Kaizen's hand lit up with raw fire Vein energy.
"Show yourself!" he shouted.
In the corner of the chamber, something moved.
A tall, cloaked figure, its head bent too far to the left. It had no eyes. No mouth. Just a face carved with the same symbol that appeared in Ayaka's journal—the Hollow Sun.
It didn't speak.
It just pointed…
at Kaizen.
> "You are the crack."
> "The seal is breaking."
And then it vanished in smoke.
---
Varik stepped back. "What the hell are you?!"
Kaizen didn't answer.
Not because he didn't want to…
But because he was starting to wonder if he knew anymore.
Inside his mind, the voice whispered again:
> "She will die for your truth."
"And you will burn for your choice."
---
Far above, on the surface, Nerovar stood alone on a cliff.
He watched the skies twist above the mountain.
He smiled.
"The Hollow Sun awakens," he whispered.
"Only a few more cracks left… and then the world shall remember why it was once drowned in fire."
---
END OF CHAPTER 45
---
Next Chapter Preview (46):
Kaizen and Varik find a sealed chamber containing the original Veinborn prototypes—mummified corpses fused with Vein crystals. One of them opens its eyes.
And it says only one thing:
> "Welcome home… Kaizen."