"I'm not. You saw all of this through your eyes. You saw the city that burnt infront of you. A city where you live and born."
Infront of Ren's eyes every moments appeared. A good and bad time spent with his family and friends. The old man's shop from where he brought a candy in his childhood. A games that he played with Mira and Watson. Everything. Then he spoke softly in sadness...
"Then why... why am I here? Why didn't they...?"
Vael raised a hand.
"They didn't die. We caught it early. We tried every method to save them. No curse-breaking worked. No spirit-healing either. Then... we used a sealed core. A risky method. It erased the memories but could save them. But..."
He paused.
"It took too much."
Ren stared at him, unmoving.
"They forgot you, Ren. Everything. Their names, their home, their past. They only remember each other now. We gave them new names. New identities. They're somewhere safe. Far from all this."
Ren's throat dried.
"And Watson?" he croaked.
A shadow passed across Vael's face.
"He tried to find your parents. On his own. He was infected too. But unlike them... he resisted."
"What?"
"He resisted the parasite's pull. For days. For weeks. Long enough for us to try the same method. We saved part of him. His memories... they're fragmented. He remembers your parents. Not you. But something inside him still fights to recall."
Ren dropped to his knees.
He didn't cry.
He simply stared at the ground, the pain too deep to leave his body.
Elara gripped the grass, her chest tightening.
"We're trying," Vael said softly. "We haven't stopped. But the infection spreads fast. The civilization that created it is still watching. They want something."
He looked up, voice grim.
"Something buried beneath Qiyun. Something they once lost. Something they'll destroy this world to reclaim."
"And what is it?" Ren asked hoarsely.
Vael shook his head.
"We don't know. Only that it pulses beneath the deepest caverns. That it reacts when magic nears. And that the parasites grow restless when it's close."
He stepped closer again.
"That's why I need you. Not for your strength now... but for what you're going to become. You're part of something larger, Ren. And if you want the truth... about your past, your family, your future..."
He extended his hand once more.
"...then walk forward. With me. Into the storm. Before that you will need to prove yourself. Figh with me and prove yourself that you are able to save everyone."
Ren looked up.
The lake behind him rippled under the breath of a rising wind. The sky had gone dark, stars scattered above like cracks in a glass dome. Elara crouched silently, a single tear slipping from her cheek.
Ren didn't answer.
Not yet.
The grass shifted slightly as Elara pressed two fingers to her temple.
Her breath was low, slow, controlled but her pulse thundered in her ears.
The conversation had shifted. The weight of Vael's words still echoed in her chest, but now there was something more pressing. She couldn't let it go unheard.
Her voice formed inside her thoughts, steady and crisp.
"Father. I'm near Kullon Lake. Ren is here and Vael too. He revealed everything. About the infection. The parasites. The ancient civilization. They're real. Everything the Arkenhall kept hidden... it's true. And Ren's family... they're alive. Now Ren know everything."
A pause.
Then she added, quieter.
"He's about to fight him. Vael challenged him. He putted offer that after telling truth Ren have to fight with him."
The telepathic connection shimmered like water. Elara waited one heartbeat. Then two. Then she severed the link, eyes narrowing on the two figures standing by the shore.
Ren was silent for a long time.
The lake rippled behind him. The air grew colder. The wind moved through the trees with a sharper voice.
He looked up slowly.
"You said... they're somewhere safe." His voice shook. "Then tell me. Where are they? What is their condition?"
Vael studied him for a moment. Then, without a word, he flicked his wrist.
A glyphless image shimmered from Vael's hand to life in the air between them. It wasn't magic Ren had seen before no light rune, no elemental trigger. It felt like memory made solid.
A house. Modest. Hidden in the high reaches of the Eldrine Mountains. Snow-covered, far from civilization.
Ren saw a man and woman tending to a quiet garden. Their hair was different. Their clothing simple. They moved like strangers.
"They go by the names Elian and Sera now," Vael said calmly. "We placed them in the northern cloister. Isolated. Protected by spell-bound terrain. They live peacefully... but without their past. We kept them safe by removing everything that made them targets."
Ren's eyes stung.
"And Watson?"
Vael tilted his head slightly, and the image changed. Now a young man sat on a stone bench, head low, shoulders tense. A healer nearby tended to his hand, but Watson barely moved.
"He's in the southern archive compound. He asked to stay closer to old records, as if something might spark a memory. He remembers your parents. But you... only in shadows."
Ren stepped closer. The image rippled as his fingers reached for it, but it faded before he could touch.
"They're alive," Vael said gently. "But they've forgotten you. The memories might return... or not. That's the truth."
Silence fell between them again.
Then Vael turned his body fully, meeting Ren's gaze with solemn clarity.
"But the truth comes with price. I've told you everything. More than any Arkenhall lord ever did. Now you fulfill your end."
His voice hardened.
"Show me your Spark."
Ren didn't hesitate.
"I will."
★★★
Far from the lake, deep beneath the citadel walls of Arkenhall, Seroi stood still. The message had come to him a breath ago, but he hadn't moved. His mind was turning faster than ever.
"Elara found Ren," he said, voice heavy. "And Vael."
In the grand chamber behind him, twelve robed figures paused mid-discussion. The stained-glass windows painted colors across the marble floor. The air stilled. But it's now cracked bcz of previous battle.
" From Elara?" one of the Council asked.
"Yes," Seroi said. "Vael wasn't running. He was watching. He revealed everything to Ren. The parasites. The ancient civilization. He said the infection has already touched our walls."
The true Mage King, seated at the highest arch of the platform, opened his eyes.
"Location?"
"As Vael told Kullon Lake."
The King rose.
"Then we go. All of us."
No one raised questions. As they all knew this was emergency. Slowly slowly they all started to move without any preparation. Without any plans. They had no much time left to made that.
★★★
Back on the lake's shore, Ren rolled back his sleeves slowly.
His breath moved slower now. His eyes steadied. The storm of emotion still surged beneath his skin, but he held it down like a blade against his chest.
"Spark..." he muttered. "I've only used it in survival. Never in a duel."
Vael smiled faintly.
"Then survive."
He raised his hand, and something strange flared to life in the space around him. It wasn't like mana. It wasn't like flame or light. It was pressure. He just released his pressure. His physical pressure. Just swing his left hand in air.
The ground beneath Vael's feet cracked slightly.
The air shimmered like glass under a blacksmith's hammer.
Ren didn't hesitate.
He moved.
His Spark ignited from the depths of his chest. A pulse of blue-dark light tore down his spine and into his limbs. The grass around him flattened. His muscles surged with heat. Not from adrenaline, but from memory. Memory shaped like will. A mana blast.
Vael didn't attack. He waited.
Ren steeped forward. The air tore where he had been. A faint streak of dark mist marked his step.
Vael turned, barely.
Ren's fist flew... but hit nothing.
Vael vanished.
Then came the counter.
A wave of silver heat struck Ren in the ribs, sending him rolling across the grass.
Elara flinched behind the reeds, her mouth parted, eyes wide.
Ren pushed himself up, coughing once.
"Fast..."