[Opening Scene: The Aftermath]
Blood soaked the shattered stone floor as Squad Umbra regrouped at the ruined outpost near the edge of Sector Delta. Charred corpses of Bist generals lay scattered, their bodies still smoldering with Kaizen's flame residue. A grim silence stretched between the survivors—many missing, others unrecognizable.
Kaizen stood apart, his back turned, arms trembling. Not with fear—but with something darker.
Guilt.
Ayaka approached him quietly.
"You saved lives again," she said.
Kaizen's voice was hoarse. "At what cost? Every time I burn... someone I know dies."
Ayaka clenched her fists. "Then let's find the truth before more fall."
---
[Scene Cut: Umbra HQ – The Black Shard Lab]
Commander Riven and Professor Elric examined the strange shard recovered from Krovar's corpse. It pulsed with a strange rhythm—like a heartbeat trapped in obsidian.
Elric muttered, "It's not Veinborn. It's older."
Riven narrowed his eyes. "How old?"
Elric didn't answer. Instead, he touched it—and visions screamed through his mind.
A massive figure cloaked in smoke.
Eyes like twin black stars.
A name whispered in dead tongues.
"Nerovar..."
---
[Scene: Ayaka's Investigation – The Forgotten Archives]
Ayaka entered the lowest floor of the Inner Archives, where records of lost kingdoms were kept. She'd gained access through her family's ancient sigil.
Flipping through forbidden tomes, she uncovered fragments of an ancient cult—"The Shardborne."
Veinborn created by forbidden rites. Rituals that used human souls as vessels.
Ayaka found a page half-burnt, but the image was clear—a boy with glowing veins and hollow eyes.
Kaizen.
But he wasn't alone.
Another stood behind him. Taller. Twisted. Watching.
Under the sketch was written in crimson ink:
"The Reclaimer shall rise beside the Flame."
---
[Scene: Nerovar – Whispering Glimpse]
Far from all cities, in a land lost to time, Nerovar stood atop a spire of bone. A vast field of writhing Bist creatures bowed to him.
He spoke just once, voice cracking the sky.
"The Shard King nears... and still he does not know what he is."
His hand raised. The shard embedded in his chest glowed—black veins spread across the sky like ink dropped in water.
---
[Back to Kaizen – Emotional Rift]
At night, Kaizen's dreams twisted. He stood before a mirror. But the reflection was wrong.
It smiled back. Smug. Confident. Cold.
The reflection spoke:
"You're not their savior. You're their executioner."
Kaizen punched the mirror—but it didn't shatter.
Instead, the glass bled.
---
[Scene: Urgent Assembly – Message from Sector Theta]
A scout burst into HQ.
"Sector Theta... annihilated! No Bist sightings, no enemy signs—just one word carved in ash across the walls:"
"Remember."
Umbra members fell silent.
Ayaka whispered, "That's... Nerovar's way. Not to kill. But to leave a message."
Kaizen clenched his jaw. "Then I'll write one of my own."
Commander Riven nodded. "We move at dawn."
---
[Ending Cliffhanger]
As the squad prepared to mobilize, a faint signal pulsed through the comms.
It was distorted, almost robotic.
"He is waking... The Reclaimer has touched the Vein…"
Kaizen stared at the signal, chills crawling down his spine.
He didn't know what it meant.
But Nerovar did.
And he was waiting.