The Climate Arena's exit platform shimmered as the class gathered, still buzzing from what they had witnessed.
Hiko stood near the edge, watching the shifting environments fold back into silence. He could feel it—the stares. Not fearful anymore.
Curious.
Heavy.
Sashira 100 remained behind them, hands clasped behind her back. The wind around her slowed, as if listening.
"Before we leave," she said calmly, "there is something you all deserve to know."
The chatter died instantly.
Hirukami leaned against a pillar, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
Sashira's gaze swept across the class… then stopped on Hiko.
"Hiko Shinoegami," she said, "is not simply a student with a Devil's Mark."
A pause.
"He is a descendant of a Hero."
The words struck like a bell.
"…Huh?"
"A hero…?"
"Wait—what?"
"Im sure you will learn this in your next year but.." she said
Sashira continued.
"A hero from another world."
The air tightened.
"His name," she said, voice steady, "was KaeKasto."
The reaction was immediate.
"NO WAY."
"R–Really?!"
"THAT KaeKasto??"
One student staggered back. "The one from the forbidden history texts?!"
Hiko blinked.
"…Descendant?" he murmured.
Sashira nodded slightly, acknowledging him.
"KaeKasto was summoned from a different world," she said, "during the Age of Absolute Magic. A time when power had no ceiling."
She raised a hand, and the air projected faint images—old, distorted visions shaped by weather and mana.
"A man existed then," she said, "who wielded the most dangerous magic ever recorded."
The image shifted.
A shadowy figure stood at the center of the vision.
"Wish Magic."
Gasps.
"Wish Magic…?"
"That's impossible…"
"That's a myth…"
Sashira's voice hardened.
"It was real."
She turned slightly.
"The user's name was Kaizen Modori."
Hirukami straightened.
"That name…" he muttered.
Sashira continued.
"Wish Magic allowed Kaizen Modori to bend reality through spoken desire. Whatever he said… became true."
The illusion showed the world twisting—cities forming, armies erased, storms created with a word.
"However," Sashira said, "Wish Magic had a cost."
She lifted one finger.
"Every wish consumed a massive percentage of the user's mana."
The image showed Kaizen weakening with each use.
"One day," Sashira said, "Kaizen Modori spoke a wish that changed history."
Her voice echoed.
'Wish Magic: Infinite Mana.'
The class froze.
"…Infinite?"
"That's—"
"No limits…?"
"The wish was granted," Sashira said. "And the balance of the world shattered."
The vision exploded with endless mana, flooding everything.
"With infinite mana," she continued, "the cost of Wish Magic became meaningless. Kaizen Modori became unstoppable."
Students swallowed hard.
"He reshaped nations."
"Erased bloodlines."
"Declared himself the end of destiny."
The image darkened.
"And that," Sashira said softly, "is when KaeKasto chose to act."
A new figure appeared—standing alone against the endless mana storm.
"He was not the strongest."
"He was not immortal."
"But he understood something Kaizen did not."
Sashira looked at Hiko again.
"That even wishes can be cursed."
The class leaned forward.
"KaeKasto used forbidden magic," she said. "Cursed magic. Magic that ignores rules—but consumes the soul."
She raised her hand.
"The curse was simple."
The vision showed KaeKasto standing before Kaizen.
'You will now have finite mana.'
The illusion shattered violently.
Sashira's voice lowered.
"The curse took everything."
Silence.
"KaeKasto's body broke."
"His soul burned."
"And the backlash… killed him."
A student whispered shakily, "He… died just to cast it?"
"Yes," Sashira answered. "But the curse succeeded."
The image showed Kaizen Modori collapsing, infinite mana severed.
"The Wish Magic user was finally killable."
The vision faded.
The platform was silent.
Then—
"…Really?"
"You mean… THAT KaeKasto?"
"The hero who ended the Infinite Wish?"
Hinata covered her mouth. "He's… related to Hiko?"
All eyes turned.
Hiko stood still, expression unreadable.
"…I didn't know," he said quietly.
Sashira believed him.
"History erased his bloodline," she said. "Feared it."
She met the class's gaze.
"The Devil's Mark," she continued, "is not a sign of misfortune."
Her eyes hardened.
"It is the afterimage of a curse-born hero."
Hirukami clicked his tongue, uneasy. "So that's it… cursed magic lineage."
Sashira nodded.
"And why his mana feels… wrong."
She looked at Hiko one last time.
"You are not Kaekasto."
"But you carry the echo of a man who defied wishes themselves."
The class stared at Hiko—not with fear now.
With awe.
And somewhere deep within him, something old… stirred.