Rain soaked the ruins of Outpost Theta, turning the ash into a muddy, suffocating sludge. The skies above rumbled with unnatural thunder—not from a storm, but from something older, deeper, and far more dangerous. Something that had awakened.
Kaizen stood silently at the edge of the shattered courtyard. The wind screamed around him, yet he heard nothing except the voice still echoing in his skull.
"When the 10th seal breaks… your soul will no longer be yours."
His fists clenched. That vision—of a burning world, of himself as its destroyer—refused to fade.
Behind him, Rika, bruised and bandaged, approached carefully. "Kaizen… the others are starting to talk. They're saying you're cursed. That you brought this on us."
"I know," he said flatly.
She frowned. "And you're not going to defend yourself?"
"I don't need to. When the truth comes out…" He turned his gaze toward the blackened horizon, "...they'll understand. Or they'll run."
Rika stepped closer. "And if we have to choose between saving you and stopping you?"
He looked at her. "Then you better pray you make the right choice."
---
At Central Vein Research Lab – Northern Outskirts
Ayaka clutched the torn page from her journal. She'd triple-checked. It was Kaizen's handwriting. But it couldn't be. He hadn't been here. The ink was fresh.
"Dr. Sylas," she called out.
The old researcher—one of the few who'd survived the early Bist wars—limped over.
"What is it?"
"I need to ask about something... Vein echoing. Phantom imprints left behind by ancient carriers. Is it possible for someone to leave traces of themselves… across time?"
Dr. Sylas's eyes narrowed. "You're referring to Temporal Vein Syncing… a forbidden branch of Vein studies. Very rare. And extremely dangerous. Why?"
She hesitated, then held up the page. "Because I think Kaizen isn't just Veinborn. I think… he's echoing with something. Or someone."
Sylas turned pale. "Then we need to act fast. Because if what you're saying is true, we're no longer dealing with a boy fighting his past. We're looking at a vessel being rewritten by something ancient."
---
Back at the Eastern Camp
Night fell fast. Squad Umbra gathered around the map table, lit by dying lanterns. Tension crackled in the air. All except for one: Juno, the youngest member, had gone silent after the last mission.
"Juno," said Captain Rael, "report status."
No answer.
Kaizen looked over—and froze.
Juno's eyes had turned pitch black. Veins crawled up his face like spiderwebs. His lips were moving, but not in his voice.
Instead, the voice that spilled out was familiar.
"He is the key to the End Flame. The Cradle of Shards remembers his true name. Not Kaizen… but KAY-ZHUN—Breaker of Realms."
Everyone drew their weapons.
Kaizen stood first. "Juno… if you're still in there, fight it."
The boy blinked. For a heartbeat, his real voice returned: "Kaizen… help me…"
Then—his body convulsed and shattered into black mist.
A sigil burned into the ground where he stood: The Crest of Nerovar.
Captain Rael stared, face pale. "We're being hunted from the inside. One by one…"
Kaizen turned away. "This is no longer a war of survival. It's a war for reality itself."
---
Meanwhile…
Ayaka dug deeper into forbidden archives under Sector 0.
She uncovered a file marked "Project Umbra – Phase Null".
Inside were sealed documents, test results, and one name repeatedly underlined:
Kaizen Ryouma.
Below it, in bloodred ink:
> "Subject 000: Veinborn anomaly. Not born… but assembled. Memories fragmented. Emotional attachments monitored via Ayaka Himari."
Ayaka's heart sank. "Assembled?"
She flipped the final page and froze.
A diagram.
Kaizen's nervous system… overlaid with Shard architecture.
She wasn't just close to him.
She was part of the system designed to control him.
---
Final Scene
Thunder cracked. Kaizen stood outside the barracks, the wind howling, rain falling harder than ever. His chest burned—not from wounds, but from something ancient awakening within.
He looked up—and in the distance, on the ridge of the mountain, stood Nerovar.
Not a vision.
Not a hallucination.
He was real.
Kaizen stepped forward. "Come down. Let's finish this."
But Nerovar only smiled—if it could be called a smile.
"Not yet. But soon, Kaizen. When Ayaka learns the full truth, she'll decide whether you live… or the world does."
Kaizen's eyes flared white.
A second heartbeat now pulsed inside him.
---
TO BE CONTINUED…