The pulse came again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Kuro froze.
His hand instinctively moved to his chest.
Right over the fragment.
Everyone noticed.
"Kuro?"
Mika stepped closer immediately.
The fragment pulsed again.
And this time—
Kuro heard something.
A voice.
Not the sky entity.
Not Elvastia.
Not the chained creature.
Someone else.
Soft.
Faint.
Almost impossible to hear.
"...found..."
Kuro's eyes widened.
"What?"
The voice disappeared.
Lucien blinked.
"What what?"
Kuro looked around.
"...Did anyone hear that?"
"No."
Mika answered.
The Guildmaster shook his head.
The chained creature remained silent.
Then Elvastia spoke.
[...I heard it.]
Kuro immediately looked down.
{You did?}
[Unfortunately.]
{Who was it?}
A pause.
[...I don't know.]
That answer scared Kuro.
Because Elvastia always seemed to know something.
Even when he pretended not to.
The fragment pulsed again.
"....found..."
This time—
everyone saw Kuro flinch.
Mika immediately grabbed his shoulders.
"Kuro."
The warmth grounded him instantly.
The voice faded.
And the fragment calmed.
The sky entity noticed.
Of course it did.
"...Interesting."
Mika glared upward.
"Stop saying that."
Lucien nodded.
"Yeah. Every time you say interesting something terrible happens."
For once—
nobody disagreed.
The eye blinked.
"...The fragment is reacting."
The Guildmaster's expression darkened.
"Reacting to what?"
Silence.
Then—
"Recognition."
Nobody liked that answer.
Not one bit.
The chained creature suddenly stepped forward.
Its silver eyes fixed on Kuro.
"My king."
"...Please stop."
The creature ignored him.
"It is awakening."
The room instantly became tense.
Mika's hand moved toward his sword.
"What is awakening?"
The creature looked at Kuro.
"...His memories."
Kuro's stomach dropped.
The sky entity spoke again.
"Not just memories."
Silence.
"...Instinct."
Nobody liked that answer even more.
Especially Kuro.
"What does that even mean?"
The eye stared down at him.
"When a bird is born."
Lucien blinked.
"...Are we doing metaphors now?"
[Apparently.]
The sky entity continued.
"It does not need to be taught how to spread its wings."
The temperature dropped.
"It already knows."
Kuro suddenly didn't like where this conversation was going.
At all.
"You mean..."
The eye narrowed.
"Some things cannot truly be forgotten."
Silence.
The chained creature lowered its head.
"As expected of my king."
"STOP CALLING ME THAT."
Lucien immediately pointed.
"Actually I support him on this one."
[That's the smartest thing you've said all week.]
The Guildmaster suddenly stepped forward.
"Enough."
Everyone turned.
The old man looked tired.
Very tired.
But his eyes were focused.
"Kuro has spent his entire life being told what he is."
Silence.
"Slave."
Kuro froze.
"Monster."
The Guildmaster looked toward the sky.
"Weapon."
Then toward the chained creature.
"King."
Finally toward Kuro.
"But nobody has asked what he wants."
The room fell silent.
Even the sky entity didn't speak.
The Guildmaster's voice softened.
"Kuro."
For the first time all chapter—
someone was looking at him.
Not the fragment.
Not the king.
Not the mystery.
Just him.
"What do you want?"
Kuro blinked.
The question felt strange.
Nobody had ever asked him that before.
Not on Earth.
Not here.
What did he want?
He thought about it.
About the sky.
The fragment.
The throne.
The memories.
Then he thought about Mika.
About Lucien.
About the Guild.
About laughing at stupid jokes.
About eating meals together.
About not being alone.
And for the first time—
the answer came easily.
"...I don't want to be taken."
Silence.
Kuro looked up.
"I don't care if I was a king."
The chained creature froze.
"I don't care if I was a god."
The sky darkened slightly.
"I don't care about any throne."
The fragment pulsed.
Kuro took a deep breath.
"...I just want to stay here."
His eyes drifted toward Mika.
"...With the people important to me."
The room went quiet.
Very quiet.
Lucien immediately wiped away a fake tear.
"That's beautiful."
"Lucien."
"What?"
Mika hadn't looked away from Kuro.
Not once.
And Kuro suddenly became very aware of that.
Very.
Aware.
[Oh no.]
{What?}
[Nothing. Absolutely nothing.]
The sky entity watched the exchange.
Then—
for the first time since appearing—
it smiled.
Not sadly.
Not mysteriously.
Genuinely.
"...Then perhaps."
The clouds shifted.
The rift above slowly began closing.
Everyone froze.
"...Perhaps."
The voice echoed one last time.
"You truly are different."
Kuro's eyes widened.
The eye began disappearing.
The pressure faded.
The sky started healing.
And just before the rift fully closed—
the entity spoke one final sentence.
One that made the entire room freeze.
Especially Mika.
"Take care of him, Mika."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then the rift closed.
Gone.
And for the first time in days—
the sky was blue.
Unfortunately—
everyone was now staring at Mika.
Lucien slowly pointed.
"...Soooo."
Mika immediately knew where this was going.
And for the first time in months—
he genuinely looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.