Rael sat on the edge of the dock, his empty gaze fixed on the crimson sea shimmering under the artificial sunlight. In his hand, he held a shard of blue crystal—the only physical clue to his lost past. Every time he tried to remember, his head throbbed with pain, as if an invisible wall blocked his memories.
"I told you, he'll never be the same," muttered Niro from behind the storage room door, watching Rael from a distance. His new mechanical arm was still stiff, creaking with each movement.
Lyra approached Rael with two cups of warm tea. "You need to be patient. Memories can return slowly."
"Or not at all," Rael replied flatly. "What's the point of living if I don't even know who I am?"
Lyra looked at him, then took a deep breath. "You once saved my life. You're more than just your memories, Rael."
In the Observation Tower, Dax stared at a holographic screen displaying a dimensional map. "Something's wrong," he whispered. "The energy in the Southern Dimension… it's fluctuating wildly. Like something's tearing at the fabric of reality."
Niro entered the room, his face tense. "The Proto-Supremacy is gone. What else could be causing this?"
Dax zoomed in. At the center of the swirling purple energy, a faint silhouette of a woman with glass wings appeared. "Lycanthea… But how? Her crystal was destroyed!"
"Or maybe what's left of her energy is seeking a new form," Lyra said, just as she walked in. "We need to go there."
Rael rose from his seat. "I'm coming with you."
Niro groaned. "You can't even remember how to fire a gun!"
"If that dimension is connected to me, maybe the answers are there," Rael replied, his voice firm for the first time.
Their dimensional submersible plunged through a still-unstable portal. Inside the cabin, Rael stared at the crystal shard in his hand—suddenly, flashes of images appeared: a woman with glass wings smiling, then screams, blood, and… a garden of crystal flowers.
"You okay?" Lyra touched his shoulder.
Rael nodded, but his heart pounded. Who was he?
Upon arrival in the Southern Dimension, a horrifying sight greeted them. Floating cities lay in ruins, Vrynn hybrid corpses scattered everywhere, and the sky was filled with purple lights shaped like claws raking at the heavens.
"Residual energy from Lycanthea," Dax muttered. "She's trying to form a new body from this chaos."
Amid the wreckage, a hooded man in a black cloak appeared. In his hand, he held a staff topped with a crimson crystal—Sang Pencipta's blood.
"You're too late," his deep voice echoed. "Lycanthea has already risen in a form you cannot comprehend."
"Who are you?" Lyra demanded, drawing her sword.
"I am Eldrin, the last guardian of Sang Pencipta's bloodline. And you," he pointed at Rael, "are a mistake that must be corrected."
Niro fired, but the ion bullet ricocheted off Eldrin's energy shield. "We have no business with you!"
Eldrin laughed. "You're all pawns in this eternal game. Lycanthea, the Proto-Supremacy, even Kael—they were all tools to achieve one goal: the rebirth of Sang Pencipta."
Eldrin raised his staff. The crimson crystal projected holograms of the past:
- Sang Pencipta was still alive, trapped in an unknown dimension after being betrayed by Lycanthea.
- The Proto-Supremacy had been Kael's attempt to create a new body for Sang Pencipta.
- Rael was not just a reincarnation—he was a vessel designed to unite the blood of Sang Pencipta and Lycanthea.
"You were created to be the perfect body," Eldrin hissed at Rael. "But you rebelled, destroying everything. Now, it's time to correct that mistake."
Eldrin unleashed a blast of crimson energy. Instinctively, Rael raised his hand—blue-violet energy surged forth, but it was weak and unfocused.
"Rael, use this!" Lyra threw him Kael's medallion.
The moment the crystal touched his hand, his memories exploded:
Training with Kael in the palace gardens.
The last embrace of the Arcanis Queen before a portal swallowed him.
His vow to himself: "I will not be a weapon."
"I… am Rael Veygar!" he shouted. Blue-violet energy surged, shattering Eldrin's attack.
But victory was fleeting. The sky split apart, and Lycanthea's new form emerged—her body made of black crystal, her wings ripping through dimensions.
"My child… Join me. We will destroy everything and start anew."
Rael looked at Lycanthea, then at Lyra, covered in blood. In his hand, Kael's medallion glowed—a symbol of both hope and destruction.
"I'm not a vessel," he whispered. "I… am human."
With one final surge, he shattered the medallion, releasing a wave of energy that swept away both Lycanthea and Eldrin.
When the light faded, Rael collapsed—his body fragile, but his eyes clear.
"I remember… I remember everything."