The sky over the battlefield was still stained with the blood of yesterday. Burnt corpses, shattered weapons, and broken dreams lay scattered like forgotten whispers of the dead. The air was heavy with the stench of iron and death.
Kaizen stood at the edge of a crumbled outpost, his body still aching from the last clash. Though his wounds had begun to close, his heart remained scarred. Ayaka watched him from afar, worried but silent. Something inside Kaizen had changed after the confrontation with Krovar—something darker, quieter.
Before either of them could speak, a tremor shook the ground.
Thud… thud… thud…
A strange silence followed, unnatural and too sudden. Birds stopped chirping. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. Squad Umbra reached for their weapons as a figure walked calmly out of the mist beyond the ruins.
He was tall, draped in a long black cloak that shimmered like ink under sunlight. His face was hidden behind a silver mask etched with ancient Veinborn runes. On his back, an oversized sword wrapped in black cloth pulsed faintly, like it was breathing.
"Identify yourself!" shouted Captain Rowan.
The masked figure stopped just a few meters away. Then, without lifting his head, he spoke—his voice calm, controlled, and unsettling.
"I have no name worth remembering… but you may call me Nerovar."
Kaizen narrowed his eyes. "You're not from Central. I've never seen that mask before."
"I walk where no maps reach, Kaizen Ryouma," Nerovar replied smoothly. "I've come with a warning… and an offer."
"How do you know my name?" Kaizen asked, stepping forward.
Nerovar tilted his head, his voice carrying a strange weight. "Because I've watched your every move… from the moment you were born."
Everyone froze.
Ayaka clenched her fists. "Who are you?"
Nerovar slowly removed his mask. Underneath was a face too beautiful to be real—flawless skin, silver eyes glowing faintly, and veins that shimmered blue with power. Yet… something was off. Too perfect. Too emotionless.
"I am a Shadowborn—one of the First Veinborn. Long before your kind discovered the veins, we bathed in their light."
Kaizen's breath caught in his throat. "You're lying."
"Am I?" Nerovar whispered, and with a single wave of his hand, the ground cracked open. A burst of dark crimson flames erupted from beneath, swallowing a dead tree in seconds.
Squad Umbra stepped back in fear.
But Nerovar didn't attack.
Instead, he turned his back and began walking away.
"You've started something you cannot stop, Kaizen. The Bists were just the beginning. The true enemy lies far deeper—buried beneath your very bloodline."
Kaizen called out, "What do you want from me?"
Nerovar paused.
"I want you to survive… because when the Shard King returns, you will either kneel—or burn with the rest."
And with that, he vanished into thin air—leaving only silence, and a sickening chill behind.
Everyone stood frozen. No one spoke. Even the wind had returned, but it carried fear now.
Kaizen looked at the scorched earth, his fists trembling.
Ayaka stepped beside him. "Kaizen… who was that?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. But I have a feeling... our real nightmare just began."
To be continued…