Rain poured over Kaizen Academy.
The skies hadn't closed—not entirely.
The second gate pulsed like a heartbeat above the clouds, held barely at bay by the academy's remaining barrier wards.
Inside the underground chamber, Jin paced restlessly, his eyes still faintly glowing from the Herald's proclamation.
Aezra'el.
Kael stood near the echoing crystal wall, arms crossed.
"Who is he?" Jin asked again, sharper now.
Kael finally spoke. "Not who. What. Aezra'el was the first human ever chosen by the Abyss. The first to host a spirit that defied the natural order. Before the Spirit Rankings. Before the Ceremony."
Arin leaned forward. "So what, he was like Jin?"
"No," Kael said. "Jin isn't like him. Jin is the echo of him."
Jin froze. "What does that mean?"
Kael stepped closer. "You're not his reincarnation. You're not his heir. You're his shadow—a spirit imprint left when Aezra'el refused to be erased. When the ancients sealed Noctis, they used Aezra'el's own resistance as the final lock."
Jin's voice dropped. "So I was never supposed to exist."
"Correct," Noctis murmured in his mind. "You are the flaw in the system. The one truth they couldn't purge."
Meanwhile, in the ruins of the Forbidden Archives…
The golden crystal cracked.
A figure stepped out—barefoot, silent, with long pale hair and closed eyes. His aura was calm. Still.
And yet… the grass beneath him wilted as he passed.
Behind him, the Hollow Legion knelt.
"My Lord," Veyla whispered, battered and broken. "They know your name."
The figure paused. Opened his eyes.
Pitch black. With a golden ring.
"Then it is time I remembered theirs."
Back at the academy, Arin slammed her hand on the stone table.
"So what's the plan? Sit here until they finish whatever 'Rite of Claiming' is?! That gate is still open!"
Kael nodded. "We're going on the offensive."
Jin turned to him. "We?"
Kael smirked, tossing him a black-and-silver crest. "Welcome to the Midnight Rankers. Unofficial, unrecorded, and completely against the rules."
Jin caught it.
And smiled.