The boy with glowing red and blue eyes stepped out from the ocean depths onto the shore. His gaze swept across the horizon as he clenched his fists.

  “Tch... this body,” he muttered, inspecting his small frame. “The Old Ones... or should I say, the Custodians… they defaulted my physical form.” His voice carried both irritation and amusement. “But it doesn’t matter. My energy is still tethered. I can sense him… Kazuki.”

  He raised his hand, and with a flick of his wrist, a strange sigil of glowing aqua and crimson formed beneath him. The spell completed and he vanished.

  Moments later, he reappeared on the outskirts of a small town. Dusting his clothes off, he walked toward the local guild hall. Curious eyes followed him, sensing something off about the boy, though no one dared approach.

  Inside the guild, the boy approached the receptionist.

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  “I’d like to register as an adventurer.”

  The clerk blinked. “Um… you’re awfully young. Are you sure—?”

  “I’m more than qualified,” he interrupted, his gaze intense. The receptionist paused, shivering slightly before nervously continuing the registration.

  With his new ID in hand, the boy exited the guild, smirking. “This should make it easier to find him.”

  ---

  Meanwhile, at the Duke’s estate...

  Kazuki stood beside the Duke in the war room. Maps of the kingdom and shaded regions linked to the Shattered Veil and R.I.S.K. were spread out on the table.

  “I’ve been investigating the remnants of the Shattered Veil,” the Duke said gravely. “It’s more than a forbidden experiment. There are signs—ruins, artifacts—tied to an ancient force. Something that predates our kingdoms.”

  Kazuki’s eyes narrowed. “The Custodians?”

  The Duke turned to him in surprise. “You know of them?”

  Kazuki nodded slowly. “The Seer mentioned them… along with the Crimson Sigil.”

  The Duke placed a sealed scroll on the table. “Then we may be in more danger than I feared. The Custodians may be real—and the Crimson Sigil… might not just be a symbol. It’s appearing again. In ancient catacombs. On cursed items. Even in hidden noble archives.”

  Kazuki stared at the scroll silently, deep in thought. A presence far greater than his own had appeared on the edge of his awareness earlier that day. Malicious. Familiar. Powerful.

  Someone… or something was coming.