Just as Bombom stepped forward into the light of the chamber, Merlin's laughter cut off abruptly. The old sage's eyes widened, his playful demeanor vanishing, replaced by a look of pure, unadulterated shock. "Oooh," he whispered, his voice full of a sudden, profound reverence. "You're Bombom. You clearly don't know me, but I've heard about you. When you saved the kingdom, I was only a child... but I saw you fighting the ogres."

A fragmented memory, a fleeting image of small, terrified faces in the crowd, flashed in Kenjiro's mind. "Oh," he said, a strange, nostalgic feeling washing over him. "I remember seeing some kids running with their families."

Merlin nodded, a wistful smile on his face. "But don't worry about it. So, what Selene is telling me... is it true?"

Bombom nodded. "Yeah," DragonSlayer confirmed, stepping forward. "That boy is living inside of him. Or at least his soul, I guess."

Merlin stroked his long, white beard, a thoughtful, puzzled look on his face. "Hmmm, that's weird. I've never seen something like this. This power of 'Personas' is kinda new. I knew about you, Bombom, and some other people, of course. You, because I saw you when I was a child. I studied hard with so many students, but... Elara developed one as well."

The name hit the room like a physical blow. "So you know about Elara?" Gluteus asked, his voice a low, dangerous rumble.

Merlin nodded, his expression turning grim. "Of course. He was a student of mine. He was the best Lily, but..."

"But what?" Bombom demanded, his voice sharp with a sudden, intense anger.

"But I don't know what made him go rogue," Merlin admitted with a sigh. "He was just like you, Bombom. He was on the news all the time. Of course, I don't have proof here, but you can check with your guild."

A seed of doubt, cold and sharp, planted itself in Kenjiro's mind. Ryo never told me about this past of Elara's, he thought, a new, unsettling suspicion beginning to form. But... I didn't ask either...

"I'll keep in touch with your guild," Merlin continued, "and if the King lets me, I will focus on studying this shadow power."

Suddenly, with a loud, disorienting ZUUUUUUUP, a figure appeared in the center of the room, a whirlwind of displaced air and pure, unadulterated annoyance. It was Nomu. "Hey Bombom," he said, as if teleporting into the private study of a legendary sage was the most normal thing in the world. "Let's fight."

Gluteus let out a long, suffering sigh. Lyrielle yelped, jumping behind DragonSlayer in fright. SynchroNoice, however, just stared, his eyes wide with a strange, analytical light as he tried to comprehend the power he had just witnessed.

Bombom, who had also jumped in fright, felt his fear instantly curdle into pure, incandescent rage. "I'M TIRED OF YOU AND YOUR FRIEND COMING TO CHALLENGE ME!" he shrieked, his voice cracking with pure, unadulterated fury. "I'M NOT STRONG, OKAY?!"

Nomu just blinked, a look of genuine surprise on his face as he touched his chin thoughtfully. "Oh. I got you in a bad mood? I'm sorry. I will come back later." And with another, final ZUUUUUUUP, he was gone.

A vein throbbed on Kenjiro's forehead as he stood there, trembling with a mixture of shock and sheer, unmitigated annoyance.

Merlin just laughed. "Oh, what a funny guy," he chuckled. "He teleported next to you, even when you are here, in a place where our magic can't be traced."

The words hit Kenjiro with the force of a physical blow. He froze, his mind racing. Does Nomu use powers instead of spells?! The thought opened up a whole new, and deeply unsettling, can of worms.

The lingering scent of ozone from Nomu's abrupt departure hung in the air of Merlin's study, a strange, electric counterpoint to the musty smell of ancient scrolls and forgotten lore. Kenjiro stood there, the vein on his forehead still throbbing with a residual, impotent rage. The sheer, unmitigated audacity of the Super Jeans was a constant, grating annoyance that he couldn't seem to escape.

Merlin, however, just chuckled, stroking his long, white beard as he watched the spot where Nomu had vanished. "Fascinating," the old sage mused, his twinkling eyes full of a scholar's curiosity. "Their energy signatures are completely alien. It's not magic, not as we know it. It's something else entirely. A raw, physical power that seems to bend the laws of reality through sheer force of will."

The words sent a chill down Kenjiro's spine, confirming the unsettling thought that had been nagging at him since the encounter. Powers instead of spells. It was a concept so foreign to the world of Eldoria, so outside the established rules of magic and combat, that it felt like a cheat, a glitch in the system.

"So they're just... strong?" DragonSlayer asked, his voice a mixture of skepticism and a warrior's grudging respect. "That's it? No fancy chants, no glowing runes, just... punch really hard and wear weird pants?"

"In essence, yes," Merlin nodded. "A dangerous and unpredictable combination. I would advise caution if you encounter them again."

Bombom let out a sharp "tsk." He didn't want to think about Nomu, or Zevita, or their ridiculous, reality-defying jeans. He had more pressing matters to attend to, a darker, more personal mystery that had been rekindled by the old sage's words. "Elara," he said, his voice sharp, cutting through the academic discussion. "You said he was your student. That he was like me."

The warm, scholarly light in Merlin's eyes dimmed, replaced by a shadow of profound sadness and regret. He sighed, a long, weary sound that seemed to carry the weight of centuries, and sank into a large, comfortable armchair, gesturing for the party to make themselves comfortable amongst the towering stacks of books.

"He was more than just a student," Merlin began, his voice a low, somber whisper. "He was a prodigy. The most naturally gifted Lily I have ever had the honor of teaching. His charisma was off the charts, his understanding of aesthetic magic was intuitive, almost instinctual. He was a star, beloved by all, his face on every news broadcast, every magazine cover. He was the pinnacle of what a Lily could be."

Kenjiro listened, a strange, unsettling feeling twisting in his gut. It was like hearing a description of his own, bizarre life, a distorted echo from a past he had never known.

"But there was a darkness in him," Merlin continued, his gaze distant, lost in memory. "An obsession. He wasn't content with being the best; he wanted to achieve a state of absolute, divine perfection. He began to delve into forbidden research, into ancient, dangerous texts that spoke of soul fragmentation, of creating perfect, artificial vessels to house immense power."

The words hit Kenjiro like a physical blow. The fallen god. The Genesis Samples. It was all connected. "So the stories were true," he whispered.

"I tried to warn him," Merlin said, his voice thick with a guilt that was still raw, even after all this time. "I told him that such power came at a terrible price, that to shatter a soul was to invite madness. But he wouldn't listen. He became secretive, paranoid. And then, one day... he was just gone. He vanished from the guild, taking his research with him. The next time we heard of him, he was a rogue, a villain, a monster."

A heavy silence settled over the room, broken only by the soft, almost inaudible sound of Selene's quiet grief. She had been standing silently in the corner, her own sorrow a palpable presence in the room. Now, she stepped forward, her icy-blue eyes, red-rimmed and full of a desperate, pleading hope, fixed on Bombom.

"My brother," she began, her voice a trembling whisper. "Jack. You said his soul is inside of you. Tell me... tell me everything you know."

The story of the pyramid, of the cursed cube and the sudden, violent emergence of his second shadow, tumbled from Kenjiro's lips. As he spoke, Selene listened, her expression a mixture of heartbreak and a strange, dawning understanding. When he finished, she took a shaky breath.

"The day he died," she said, her voice stronger now, fueled by the need to finally share the burden she had carried for so long. "We were exploring a ruin in the external world, a place of great, ancient power. We were attacked. The enemy... he was like nothing I had ever seen before. He moved like a phantom, we couldn't see him, and he wielded a power that was neither light nor dark, but a strange, corrupting fusion of both." She closed her eyes, the memory still vivid, still painful. "He wore a strange, porcelain mask, and on his armor... there was a symbol. A serpent, eating its own tail, coiled around a shattered crown."

The Ouroboros. The symbol of infinity, of cycles, of a power that consumes itself to be reborn. A new, terrifying piece of the puzzle had just been placed on the board.

Before anyone could process the new information, a royal guard in the gleaming silver and gold armor of Aeonfall entered the study. He bowed deeply. "Sir Bombom," he said, his voice full of a crisp, professional respect. "King Kōken requests your presence in the throne room. He has a proposal for you."

They followed the guard back through the crystalline corridors, their minds reeling with the weight of the new revelations. They found the young King standing before his throne, not as a ruler addressing his subjects, but as a leader addressing his allies.

"Bombom," Kōken began, his voice ringing with a new, unwavering authority. "The kingdom of Aeonfall owes you a debt that can never truly be repaid. You saved our ancestors, and in doing so, you saved us. But our troubles, it seems, are far from over." He gestured to the grand, arched window of the throne room, to the magnificent, glowing city that lay beyond. "The 'time disease' my father spoke of... it is not a disease. It is a curse, a slow, creeping decay that is eroding the very fabric of our reality. And this enemy Selene speaks of, this serpent of a fallen king... I believe they are connected."

He looked at Bombom, his green eyes blazing with a fierce, determined light. "I propose a formal alliance. Between the kingdom of Aeonfall and the Femboy Adventuring Guild. We will grant you unlimited access to our archives, to Merlin's research, to our resources. We will fund your quests, supply your party. Our finest warrior and most powerful mage," he said, gesturing to Selene, who gave a solemn, determined nod, "will act as a permanent liaison, joining your party in its travels. In return, we ask for your help. Help us uncover the source of this curse. Help us find the monster who murdered Jack. Help us save our kingdom, once again."

It was a monumental request, a burden of a scale Kenjiro had never imagined. He looked at his friends. At Gluteus, his massive form a bastion of unwavering loyalty. At DragonSlayer, his usual arrogance tempered by a new, grudging respect. At Lyrielle, her shy smile now full of a quiet, ancient strength. At SynchroNoice, his small frame filled with a new, heroic purpose. This wasn't about revenge anymore. It wasn't about money, or fame, or proving himself to a world that had rejected him. This was bigger. This was about saving a world. His world.

He stepped forward, a new, unfamiliar weight of leadership settling on his shoulders. He looked the young King in the eye, and for the first time, there was no tsundere outburst, no arrogant smirk. There was only the quiet, unwavering resolve of a hero. "We accept," he said.

As the alliance was forged, Merlin stepped forward, a small, intricately carved wooden box in his hands. "A parting gift," the old sage said, handing the box to Bombom. "It is an Amulet of Concordance. It is said to help the wearer communicate with, and perhaps even control, the spirits that reside within them."

Kenjiro took the box, a flicker of hope in his chest. He opened it. Inside, nestled on a bed of black velvet, was a simple, silver amulet, a swirling, intricate knot of two intertwined serpents at its center. He reached out, his fingers brushing against the cool, smooth metal.

The moment he touched it, the world dissolved. It was not the dark, familiar void of his own mind. It was a vision. A flash of a thousand screaming souls, a sky filled with burning stars, and a single, terrifying, all-seeing eye, ancient and vast and filled with a hunger that threatened to consume everything.

He gasped, snatching his hand back as if he had been burned, the vision shattering, leaving only a cold, lingering dread in its wake. It was not his muscular shadow. It was not the blue-haired boy. It was something else. Something older. Something that had been sleeping, and was now, slowly, beginning to wake.

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