It was quiet again.
Too quiet.
Raizen sat on a floating shard of stone, overlooking a warped section of sky above the Southern Grave Sea. The clouds here didn't move. The sun bent oddly. And the air… was heavier than usual. Like something had been watching this spot for a long time.
He held a small stone between two fingers. It was nothing special—just something he picked up from the ground after the fight in the jade forest.
At least, that's what he thought.
Now?
The damn thing wouldn't stop humming.
Raizen closed his eyes and pushed a sliver of void energy into it.
The stone lit up—once, twice, then cracked.
It didn't shatter.
It opened.
Inside was a tiny shard of golden metal, etched with swirling, ancient runes… and one symbol Raizen didn't recognize.
He stared at it for a long moment.
Then muttered, "Okay, that's new."
The runes weren't just carvings. They were moving—crawling across the metal like they were alive.
And just as suddenly, he heard it.
A whisper.
No… not a whisper.
A message.
> "To the successor of the forgotten spark… if this finds you, leave this world. Go north. Past the Red Sun Peaks. Seek the Gate of Bone. Burn the watchers."
Raizen's fingers tightened around the shard. "Burn the what?"
The message ended.
Silence.
Void energy around him flinched. It recognized the phrase. Watchers.
He stood up. "So it's not just rogue sects and cosmic weirdos trying to kill me. There's a whole damn club?"
He turned the shard over. There were letters now.
"Property of Sareth Varn, Keeper of the Fourth Door."
"…Who the hell is that?"
Raizen dropped the stone. It floated instead of falling.
Behind him, the void twisted—and Kael emerged from a ripple.
"You disappeared again," Kael said.
Raizen glanced back. "I needed space."
"You found something?"
Raizen pointed at the floating shard. "Ever heard of a 'Gate of Bone'?"
Kael's brows furrowed. "That name is forbidden in most archives."
"Figures."
Raizen looked at the sky. "I think we've been assuming I'm just being hunted by powerful sects and greedy immortals."
Kael nodded. "You're not?"
"I think I tripped over something older. Something even the gods tiptoe around."
Kael fell silent. Then said, "Should we mobilize the legion?"
"No. Not yet."
He took a step forward. "Let's let them believe I'm still playing in the dirt."
Then his voice dropped lower, darker.
"We'll go north. Quietly. If this 'Gate' exists… I want to see what's behind it."