The crystal orb pulsed once — a deep, resonant thud like a heartbeat.
Lucien whispered, "Oh no. Oh no, that's a Truth Resonance Stone—"
Mika elbowed him sharply.
The Guildmaster folded his arms."Complicated is not an answer. Start explaining."
Kuro blinked slowly. "Explain what?"
The orb brightened.
Mika swallowed.Lucien winced.The Guildmaster raised a brow.
"First: the entity in the ruins spoke to you. Directly."
Kuro frowned. "It talked to all of us."
"That's not what I mean," the Guildmaster said calmly. "It spoke to you, Kuro Kyoko, as if it knew you. As if it recognized something."
Mika stiffened.Lucien's eyes darted between them.
The orb glowed brighter.
Kuro lowered his gaze."…Yes."
Mika felt his chest tighten.Lucien whispered, "So the Guildmaster already knew—"
The Guildmaster continued:
"Second: something interfered with your mana readings. Several times."
Mika clenched his fists.Lucien looked guilty.Kuro looked genuinely confused.
"Interfered how?" he asked.
The Guildmaster's eyes sharpened."Like an outside consciousness was interacting with you."
A heavy silence fell.
Lucien mouthed silently: oh… crap.
Kuro shifted uncomfortably."…I don't know how to explain that part."
The orb pulsed again — a signal meaning he believes Kuro is being honest.
The Guildmaster stepped closer, voice low.
"Then explain this: Why does the entity seem attached to you?"
Kuro hesitated.Mika's jaw tightened.Lucien looked terrified to speak.
Finally, Kuro said softly:
"…I think it's because of my past."
The Guildmaster's expression didn't change."Your past in this world? Or the one before?"
Mika and Lucien froze.
Kuro's breath caught in his throat.
How did he—
The Guildmaster continued, tone unreadable:
"Kuro. I have lived long enough to recognize reincarnated souls."
The orb behind them dimmed to a soft hum.
Kuro's hands trembled.Mika took half a step closer without thinking.Lucien whispered, "This world is insane…"
The Guildmaster lifted a hand.
"Calm yourselves. I do not punish reincarnated individuals. But I do monitor them. And I know the patterns."
He turned his gaze fully onto Kuro.
"Power that awakens erratically.""Memory inconsistencies.""Entities drawn to the soul rather than the body."
Kuro felt small, cornered, transparent.
Mika suddenly spoke up — sharper than intended:
"Why are you interrogating him like a criminal?"
Lucien nodded, surprising himself. "Yeah! He didn't choose any of that!"
The Guildmaster didn't flinch.
"Because whatever is bound to Kuro… is not benign."
Kuro's heart lurched.
A cold whisper brushed the edge of his mind.
You are not ready.
Kuro flinched.
Mika noticed immediately. "Kuro?"
Lucien stepped back, hand hovering near his wand.
The Guildmaster watched him with frightening calm."There it is again."
The orb flashed — once, violently.
The Guildmaster exhaled slowly.
"I suspected this… but I hoped I was wrong."
Mika's voice cracked with tension. "Suspected what?"
The Guildmaster looked at all three of them.
"The thing speaking to Kuro is not a ghost, not a curse, and not a simple remnant."
He pointed at the orb.
"It reacted exactly how it does to only one type of being—"
Mika and Lucien leaned forward.
Kuro held his breath without meaning to.
The Guildmaster spoke the words that changed the air in the room:
"—an ancient, sealed deity."
Silence.
Shock.Fear.Confusion.
Kuro whispered:
"…What?"
But the Guildmaster wasn't finished.
"And if that deity has chosen you… then the balance of our world is already shifting."
Before anyone could reply—
The orb suddenly cracked.
A thin line of blinding white spread across it, humming violently.
Lucien yelled, stumbling back.Mika reached for Kuro.The Guildmaster raised a shield.
Kuro stood frozen as a voice echoed inside his skull—
Clear. Cold. Familiar.
We will meet again, little fragment.
The orb shattered.
Darkness swallowed the room.