The man picked up the black weapon, gripping it like an extension of himself. But as he turned a darker figure emerged behind him.
A shape of moving sand, shadowed mist, and teeth.
A beast made of darkness.
Rael recoiled instinctively. Every instinct in his body screamed. This creature made the faceless woman seem like a child's nightmare. This this thing was something else. Something primordial.
The beast opened its jaw.
And devoured the black weapon whole.
Rael's mouth hung open in silent disbelief.
The man in leather spoke.
"I see," he said in a voice as cold as steel. "You still can't use it."
He turned his eyes to Rael.
"Or... you're not even aware you have it."
Rael inched backward, crawling on the ground.
The man stepped closer.
In one fluid motion, he reached down and grabbed Rael by the collar of his school polo, lifting him off the ground with ease.
"Ouma Wings."
Behind him, the black beast shimmered. Its form collapsed inward, folding and condensing. Then, it burst outward as two massive wings made of pitch shadow. Silent, yet terrifying. They spread out with a quiet dominance, blotting out what little light remained.
Rael couldn't even scream.
He felt wind, speed, gravity—then the absence of all of them.
Darkness blurred. Time cracked. Space folded.
They flew.
When they landed, Rael dropped to his knees.
He opened his eyes slowly.
They were no longer in the alley.
An old, abandoned building loomed around them, its walls cracked and its windows long broken. The man continued to drag Rael forward, deeper into the structure. Rael didn't resist. He couldn't. He felt as if he was being pulled not just by the man's hand, but by something greater—fate, maybe.
They stopped in the middle of the building.
"Kurorei," the man said.
The ground trembled.
And then, it sank.
Stone crumbled, the tiles beneath them falling away as the floor transformed into a circular platform that descended like a forgotten elevator.
Rael held his breath.
Darkness gave way to a corridor, long and dimly lit, like a forgotten passage hidden beneath the world. Strange lamps flickered with blue flame, casting eerie shadows on the concrete walls.
At the end of the alley, a woman stood waiting.
She wore a long black coat, tailored and militaristic, and dark boots that clicked as she stepped forward. Her expression was unreadable, her presence composed.
The man released Rael's collar.
Then he spoke:
"Eidolon boy... welcome to the world of Harbringers."
His voice echoed in the corridor, final and undeniable.
Rael stood there, trembling.
Somewhere deep within him, something stirred.
Not fear. Not awe.
But recognition.
The echo of the man's words still clung to the walls, like ghosts unwilling to leave.
"Welcome to the world of Harbringers."
Rael stood there, frozen. Trembling.
For a long moment, no one moved. The air in the underground corridor hung thick with unseen weight, heavy with the scent of dust, cold stone, and the quiet hum of blue flame.
Then, finally, Rael found the strength to speak.
"Eidolon?" he whispered. His voice was hoarse, soft, the word catching in his throat as if his body rejected it.
The man who had dragged him here a figure clad in long, tattered leather, face chiseled and hardened by time turned his sharp eyes toward the woman standing at the corridor's end. He spoke, not to Rael, but to her.
"Told you. Kid doesn't know anything."
Rael furrowed his brows. The woman, long chestnut hair tied back, her posture regal yet battle-worn, stepped forward slowly. Her long coat swept the ground like a banner, and her boots clicked with quiet authority. Her gaze was like a scalpel sharp, precise, searching.
She looked him over, eyes narrowing.
"You just grabbed a boy out of nowhere, Ris. No context. No explanation. You think that helps?"
Ris scoffed, eyes rolling toward the shadows. "Didn't say he was the one. Just dragged him here to check. The kid looked weak as hell. I had doubts."
Rael flinched.
The man turned his gaze back to the boy, then looked away again, almost bored.
"Brat, call me Ris," he muttered, crossing his arms.
The woman gave a curt nod. "Mika. My name."
Rael hesitated, then answered, "Rael." The name came out dry, uncertain.
Mika knelt slightly to meet his gaze. "We'll explain everything. But first, answer me something important. Can you see the dead?"
Rael blinked. That question had haunted him his whole life. His voice trembled as he answered.
"Y-yes."
She straightened. "Then you've already seen them. The remnants."
He furrowed his brows. "Remnants?"
"Not ghosts," Mika said. "Ghosts are fiction. Remnants are real. What you see those hollow, twisted things are what's left of people whose deaths didn't end their consciousness. They wander. They hunger. They kill."
She continued, voice steady, coldly analytical.
"Forty percent of all disappearances the people who vanish without a trace, said to have died in accidents or gone missing they were killed by remnants. That's how many there are. That's why we exist. The Harbringers."
Rael felt his chest tighten.
Mika nodded slowly. "Most Harbringers are born with strong Myre. Think of it as spiritual energy, refined will, force of self. When channeled properly, it becomes power. Those who use their Myre to fight are called Animus-types."
She paused to let the words settle.
"Animus rely on their own spiritual force. But there's another kind. Bounderers."
Ris exhaled through his nose and looked away.
Mika gestured toward him. "They make contracts with remnants. Dangerous ones. In exchange for something lifespan, a limb, an organ, even memories they gain control over the remnants. The stronger the Remnant, the heavier the cost. That's the law of binding."
Rael looked at Ris. The man didn't seem injured. No missing arm. No empty eyes.
He opened his mouth to ask but Ris' eyes cut into him.
"Don't even dare ask it," the man said, his voice a blade.
Rael recoiled slightly.
Mika sighed. "He doesn't talk about what he gave. Not even to me."
Silence settled briefly between them.
Then Mika continued. "But there is a third kind. Rarer than gold. They don't come from bloodlines. They aren't passed down through tradition. They just... happen."
She stared into Rael's eyes.
"They are called Eidolons."
Rael felt the floor vanish beneath him.
Mika spoke with solemn reverence. "They are born not with Myre. Not with Remnants. But as a vessel. A host. Their souls are linked to powerful Remnants beings whose nature defies understanding. No one knows why. It is as if fate plucks them from obscurity and brands them."
She took a breath.
"Eidolons have no limit. While Animus break their bodies pushing Myre, and Bounderers must bleed to gain strength Eidolons just... are. They command the inhuman. They warp balance. And they do not pay."
Rael stood, speechless.
Mika's voice grew heavier.
"But they are not saviors."
Rael's gaze flickered.
"The first Eidolon opened a Gate. A portal that ruptured reality and let in waves of remnants we had never seen before. Whole cities disappeared. The second Eidolon tried to rule. He proclaimed himself the new law. Executed thousands. And the third..."
She stopped.
"Let's just say, not all gods stay sane."
Rael swallowed.
Ris chuckled grimly. "And if you side with them—that makes four."
Rael felt something cold spiral in his chest.
He stammered. "So I... really am...?"
Mika nodded. "Yes. We saw it. You have a strong Myre, but it isn't yours. Not entirely. Something's inside you. Watching. Waiting. Your reaction to the spear, the Remnants—everything points to it."
Rael gritted his teeth. He thought of the bird. The belt. The screams. The loneliness.
He thought he was cursed.
He didn't know it was power.
"So what if I don't join you?" he asked.
Ris' gaze sharpened.
"Then we kill you."
The words struck like a whip. No hesitation. No emotion.
Rael staggered back. "W-what...?"
Mika was calmer, but her eyes were ice. "We can't leave a god walking around unsupervised. If you go mad, thousands die. Maybe millions. We end that possibility before it begins."
Rael looked down at his shaking hands.
So that was it.
Be chained or be destroyed.
But...
Maybe the chains were different.
Maybe, just maybe, within this nightmare, he could find meaning.
He had lived in silence, beaten for things he never understood, hated by those who birthed him. Maybe there was something else beyond it.
A place. A purpose.
His voice rose, clearer this time.
"Then I'll become a Harbringer."
Mika nodded slowly.
Ris exhaled. "Tch. Hope you don't regret joining than choosing to be killed brat, its a tough wolrd."
The blue flames flickered, casting monstrous shadows along the corridor.
In the silence that followed, something shifted in Rael.
Not fear.
Not awe.
But recognition.
A sleeping thing inside him stirred, curling like smoke.
The distant rumble of metal wheels and humming energy echoed through the dark alley. The scent of rust, fuel, and something older almost ancient hung in the air. As Mika and Ris led Rael deeper, the murmur of the surface world faded. The city above, with its false promises and artificial lights, had no power here.
Before them stood a massive iron door, its surface worn and scarred, as if it had resisted time itself. Splattered across its frame was a large graffiti symbol: H, jagged and layered with strokes of rebellion. Its chaotic style glowed faintly, pulsing like a heart, as if the underground itself breathed with life.
With a groan that shivered down Rael's spine, the door slowly creaked open.
What awaited beyond wasn't just a hideout it was an entire world hidden beneath the streets.