The pain had dulled… but the fear hadn't.
Kairos sat under the twisted bark of a dead ironwood tree, his back straight, legs stretched, breathing slowly. He could still feel the residue of that black energy crawling inside his veins. It was cold. Ancient. Alive.
He'd heard stories—about Void-touched warriors. Not in the Guild, not in history books… but in nightmares. The kind of stories whispered in hushed tones around dying campfires.
People who could bend reality. People who weren't supposed to exist.
And now… he was one of them?
The stars overhead shimmered, indifferent to the chaos below.
Across from him, Ravenna Vale leaned against a boulder, polishing her twin blades. She hadn't said a word since bringing him out of the Hollow. No guild scouts, no healers—just the two of them, deep in the ruins of an old watchtower where the air reeked of rust and memories.
Kairos finally broke the silence.
"Are you going to kill me?"
Ravenna chuckled without looking up. "If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have woken up."
"…Then why help me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?"
She looked up at him, and in that moment, her expression softened—not out of kindness, but something else. Familiarity. Maybe even pity.
"You remind me of someone," she said. "Someone I failed to protect."
He stayed quiet, letting her words hang in the cold air.
After a pause, she slid one of her blades back into its sheath with a satisfying click. "What you unleashed back there… that wasn't your magic. It was something older. Something you were born with. Hidden, locked, maybe even sealed. But the moment your life was on the edge… it responded."
Kairos clenched his fist. "Then what is it? This 'Void'?"
Ravenna walked closer, crouching in front of him, her voice low.
"Do you know what lies beyond our stars, Kairos?"
He stared at her. "…Space?"
She shook her head. "No. Beyond the known stars. Beyond the walls of the Akaros Realm. Beyond even the Thread of Fate itself. There are places… where gods go to die. Where memories take shape. That's where the Void comes from."
"Are you saying I'm… from there?"
"I'm saying something in your bloodline is," she replied. "And I've seen that kind of power once before—years ago, during the Fall of Akaros… when your father—King Veyron—awakened it for the first and last time."
Kairos's heart skipped. He stood slowly.
"You knew him?"
Ravenna nodded. "He tried to protect this realm from the same corruption that's returning now. The same force that's twisting Shatterbeasts into abominations."
Kairos looked down at his hands. "Then why didn't he win?"
Ravenna's expression darkened. "Because the Guild betrayed him. Because they feared his power. Because the people he trusted most… turned into monsters."
A long silence followed.
Then she spoke again, this time with purpose.
"I don't know how you survived. I don't know who sealed your power or why you were left to rot as a nameless hunter recruit. But I do know this—the world is changing again. The stars are cracking. And someone… wants you dead before you remember who you are."
Kairos looked up sharply. "Who?"
She turned away. "Someone who calls himself the Star-Eater. A man who commands not just armies—but fate itself."
His breath caught. "I've heard that name… in dreams."
"You'll hear it again," Ravenna said, tightening her gloves. "He's hunting you, Kairos. And he won't stop until you're erased completely—mind, body, and soul."
For a while, the only sound was the wind brushing against the broken stones.
Then Ravenna tossed him a sealed scroll. It bore an insignia he hadn't seen in years—a phoenix wrapped in chains.
"What's this?"
"A map. And a task," she said. "There's a hidden sanctuary in the Northern Ridges. An exile's temple—built by those who once served the Akaros bloodline. Go there. You'll find answers… and maybe others like you."
Kairos looked at her. "And what about you?"
"I've got stars to hunt," she said, smirking faintly. "And traitors to kill."
Then she turned, stepping into the shadows—vanishing like smoke.
Kairos stood in the ruins, scroll in hand, heart heavy with questions.
The past he tried to bury… was clawing its way back.
And the Void inside him was only beginning to awaken.
> In the distance, the constellations above the Akaros sky flickered—one by one—like candles snuffed out by an invisible hand…
---
[To Be Continued…]