The chamber had grown quiet, save for the sigh of the sea pressing against the cliffside walls. The weight of what they had uncovered; The Hollow Nine, the Black Whale tribe, the stolen shard hung like a storm cloud that refused to break.

Khael stood, his gaze still fixed on the wavering candle flame before him, the light reflecting faintly off his armor.

(The Hollow Nine… the Black Whale tribe… and Seirath Eluron. The story's pieces are falling into place. But if this world is repeating the script I know, then the worst is yet to come.)

Elder Neria rose from her seat. Her pearl-threaded robes whispered as she turned toward the group. The glow of her Shinrei pulsed faintly beneath her skin—wisdom and age entwined.

"We should tell this to the Keiryuu…" she said. Her voice, soft yet firm, carried a weight that silenced even the ocean's breath.

Khael nodded, steady and sure. "I know… that's what we're going to do."

He looked around the table, at the faces illuminated by the trembling light: Ceyla, with sparks still crackling faintly across her fingertips; Kaen, his flame dimmed but alive; Rael, quiet, eyes shadowed with vengeance; Juno, his knuckles bruised from battle; and Lira, calm, a soft aura of restoration already soothing the air.

These were not just comrades, they were proof that light could still hold the line, even when the dark reached deeper than the tide.

But beyond them all, the mention of the Keiryuu sent a subtle shift through the room, a kind of reverence mixed with fear.

Elder Moe exhaled slowly, barnacled hand tightening around his staff. "If it comes to that, then the tides of this world are changing. The Keiryuu doesn't move lightly."

Elder Neria nodded. "Still, if there is any force that can face what's coming, it is him."

Elder Moe looked to Neria. "I'll send the call through the Seagate channel. If the Keiryuu answers, it'll be through his vanguard."

Meanwhile The wind whispered across the high mountains where Master Isen sat alone, the sea of clouds below him glowing faintly under the light of the twin moons. He was still as stone eyes closed, breath steady, hands resting over the black-and-silver robes that shimmered faintly with Shinrei light.

For a moment, the world was quiet enough to hear the pulse of the earth itself. Then—his mind drifted back.

(That day… when everything fell apart.)

He saw flashes, the face of his best friend, once radiant with purpose, now warped by hatred and corruption. The sky had been red then, the air thick with smoke and regret. And before him Yuna, the previous Dragon Knight, her blade buried in the chest of a fallen god, her body fading to light.

Isen's jaw tightened. (I told myself I'd never lose another like that again… yet the tide of fate always finds new shores to crash upon.)

He opened his eyes. The blue of them glowed faintly, reflecting the memory of storms long past.

He rose slowly, his golden hair stirred by the mountain wind.

And beneath his calm composure was a wound that had never closed.

"Yuna…" he murmured softly. "You always said the next generation would inherit our will. But the world's current grows darker by the day."

He turned his gaze toward the horizon where distant lightning bloomed over the sea.

Then, a faint smile crossed his lips.

"Hmm… I wonder if my beloved disciple is okay."

He chuckled quietly, his tone tender but edged with melancholy. "That reckless boy never knew how to rest."

He was about to sit again when something shifted.

The wind trembled then stilled.

From the silence came a voice, faint at first, then growing clearer. It resonated not in his ears, but in the flow of Shinrei itself.

"Master… can you hear me?"

Isen's expression changed soft surprise, then warmth.

He closed his eyes once more, channeling his energy into the link.

"My beloved disciple… you're calling your master?" he said, his tone calm but gentle, a faint smile forming as the connection stabilized.

Across that vast distance from the mountain sanctum to the storm-wracked shores of Pearlbay Khael's voice echoed through the spiritual current.

"Master… there is something we need to tell you…"

The moment the words reached him, the air around Isen rippled. The mountain winds surged, scattering petals from the echo trees nearby. He could feel it the urgency in Khael's tone, the weight of a storm not just of sea and sky, but of fate itself.

Isen's eyes opened again no longer tranquil. The calm of a sage had shifted into the sharp focus of a commander.

"So… the tide has turned."

He raised his hand, summoning a faint shimmer of Shinrei light that took the form of a silver thread a messenger strand. He touched it gently, and Khael's voice came clearer.

"Tell me, Khael," he said softly, yet every word carried authority like thunder contained within silk. "What have you found in Pearlbay?"

On the other end, Khael and his team stood in the hall, surrounded by faint echoes of the sea's roar. The communication orb pulsed faintly, and from within it, Isen's calm visage began to form holographic, yet commanding.

Khael bowed instinctively. "Master… we've found traces of the Hollow Nine."

Even through the projection, Isen's calm expression hardened.

"Hollow Nine…" he repeated slowly, as if tasting an ancient bitterness.

"(Lucere..)"

Ceyla stepped forward, lightning still faintly sparking from her fingertips. "Master Isen, they used something—a shard. It's corrupting the sea, drawing monsters from the depths."

Isen nodded faintly. "A fragment of the Ancient Core… sealed after Yuna's death."

Kaen blinked. "Wait—Yuna? As in the previous Dragon Knight?"

Isen's gaze softened. "Yes… and the one whose legacy your friend Khael carries."

Khael's breath caught. For a heartbeat, the weight of that name—the connection to his master's past settled deep in his chest.

Isen continued, his tone grave. "Listen well, my students. The Hollow Nine are not merely cultists. They are echoes of an older sin—a group that once sought to rewrite the emotional weave of the world. If they are moving again… then the balance is already trembling."

Elder Neria stepped closer to the orb. "Master Isen… what should we do?"

Isen's gaze flicked toward her image—recognition sparking faintly. "Neria Veylin… the Pearl Matron. It has been a long time."

Her eyes widened slightly. "You remember me?"

"I remember every soul who once stood for the light."

The words carried warmth, but beneath it an undertone of sorrow.

Then, his voice grew firm again.

"Khael, gather your team. And leave I will send an Eclipse Vanguard to secure the shard site. Do not engage further—you've done enough for now."

"Okay, Master." Khael's voice was steady, but the air around him hummed with a pressure that had nothing to do with the sea something older, heavier. The projection of Isen's face held for a heartbeat longer, then the silver thread of connection winked out like a candle snuffed by wind.

To be continue

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