Darkness.
Not empty.
Not silent.
Watching.
Kai stood in the middle of endless space.
But it wasn't cold.
It felt… familiar.
Above him floated a sky filled with fractured stars. Pieces of light drifted like broken glass across the void.
Then he saw it.
A planet.
Radiant.
Alive.
Covered in cities of silver architecture that stretched toward the heavens like living spires. Energy pulsed through its surface in visible streams — veins of light running across continents.
It was beautiful.
And it was dying.
The sky above the planet cracked open — just like the rift over the academy.
But larger.
Infinitely larger.
From within the fracture, darkness poured downward like a tidal wave.
And within that darkness—
Two eyes opened.
Ancient.
Unmoving.
Hungry.
A voice echoed across the stars.
Not loud.
Not angry.
Certain.
"Divinity is weakness."
The planet trembled.
Cities shattered.
Energy screamed.
Kai felt his chest tighten.
Then—
A figure stood before him.
Tall.
Armored in radiant light.
Silver markings across his skin.
Eyes calm, but filled with grief.
The man placed a hand on Kai's shoulder.
"You must not awaken too soon."
Kai tried to speak.
"Who are you?"
But no sound left his mouth.
The man leaned closer.
"If he finds you before the seals break naturally… the cycle ends."
The darkness above shifted.
The eyes turned.
Looking directly at Kai.
Not at the planet.
Not at the man.
At him.
Recognition.
The voice returned.
"He survived."
Everything shattered.
Kai jolted awake.
Breathing uneven.
Sweat clung to his skin.
His room was quiet.
Normal.
But his heart was pounding.
He looked at his hands.
Faint silver lines flickered beneath his skin… then faded.
"…Survived what?"
He ran a hand over his face and stood slowly.
The dream felt clearer this time.
Too clear.
Later that day, Kai sat with Ryo and Elias in one of the academy's quieter training rooms.
For once, none of them were joking.
Ryo leaned back against the wall, arms crossed.
"Alright. We're not pretending that was normal anymore."
Kai looked up at him.
"Which part?"
Ryo gave him a look.
"The part where you stopped a monster mid-air without touching it."
Elias added calmly, "Or the part where your energy signature stabilized instead of spiking."
Kai stayed quiet.
He wasn't avoiding them.
He was thinking.
"I had a dream," he said finally.
Ryo blinked.
"…Now?"
"No. Last night. And again this morning."
Elias leaned forward slightly.
"What did you see?"
Kai hesitated.
Not because he didn't want to tell them.
But because saying it out loud made it real.
"A planet."
Ryo frowned. "Like… Earth?"
"No."
Kai's voice lowered slightly.
"It felt older. Advanced. Powerful."
Elias' eyes sharpened.
"And?"
"It was destroyed."
Silence settled between them.
Ryo uncrossed his arms.
"Destroyed how?"
Kai met his gaze.
"Something hunted it."
That made Elias go still.
"Like the Riftborn?"
"No."
Kai shook his head slowly.
"Something worse."
Ryo exhaled.
"Okay… so let's say your dream isn't random. You think it's connected to that 'God Killer' thing?"
Kai didn't answer immediately.
But he didn't dismiss it either.
"I don't know."
Elias studied him carefully.
"But you don't think it's coincidence."
Kai's jaw tightened slightly.
"No."
Ryo ran a hand through his hair.
"So what, you're secretly some cosmic prince now?"
He meant it as a joke.
But the room didn't laugh.
Kai looked down briefly.
"…I don't feel human."
The words hung in the air.
Ryo straightened.
"…What?"
Kai didn't look away this time.
"When that Riftborn said 'He will come'… it wasn't talking about Earth."
Elias' expression shifted subtly.
"…It was talking about you."
Kai nodded once.
Slowly.
Before anyone could respond, the academy intercom crackled to life.
"All high-ranking students are requested in Research Hall immediately."
Elias stood.
"That's not routine."
Ryo pushed off the wall.
"Guess the science department finally caught up."
Kai stood last.
As they walked toward the Research Hall, he couldn't shake the feeling from the dream.
The eyes.
Watching.
Waiting.
Somewhere beyond the sky.
Inside the hall, holographic projections filled the air.
Energy signatures.
Dimensional fracture models.
Ancient text fragments.
And one phrase repeated across multiple recovered records:
ENTITY CLASSIFICATION: GOD KILLER
An instructor spoke to the gathered students.
"We believed Riftborn incursions were random dimensional instability."
He paused.
"We were wrong."
The hologram shifted.
Displaying fragmented cosmic script.
"Records recovered from ancient global ruins describe an entity that hunts concentrated divine energy across dimensions."
Ryo muttered quietly, "You've gotta be kidding me."
The instructor continued.
"It is referred to as 'The Silence Between Stars.'"
Kai felt his chest tighten.
The phrase echoed with something buried inside him.
At the back of the hall, unseen by most—
A hooded figure watched silently.
Eyes sharp.
Studying Kai carefully.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
Almost… expectant.
The figure turned and left quietly before anyone noticed.
Kai stared at the projection.
And for the first time since arriving on Earth…
He felt something undeniable.
This wasn't coincidence.
This wasn't random.
This was a trail.
And it led to him.