The sky was not supposed to scream.
But it did.
A long, rending cry tore across the horizon like the shriek of an ancient god. Even Kazuki, half-asleep on a bench made of fried tofu at the edge of Renga Town's plaza, jolted upright, pieces of spicy radish clinging to his face.
"…Did I just wake up to the end of the world again?" he mumbled, blinking toward the sky.
Above him, clouds swirled like panicked fish in a bowl of cosmic soup. The sun flickered—no, shimmered—as if it was being rewritten. Not blocked. Not eclipsed. Edited.
"Smile?" Kazuki called out.
The slime oozed out of a nearby boot and bounced lazily onto his shoulder, unaffected by the chaos overhead.
"Oh, that's just the sky realizing it got the color wrong," Smile said, in his usual dreamy hum. "It thinks it's a novel now. Needs a more dramatic backdrop."
"That's not funny," Kazuki said, now fully upright. His hand twitched toward his belt—though he never remembered if he actually wore a belt. "Is this the Echo's doing?"
"Not yet," came a new voice, cold and sharp as steel.
Aurelis stood behind him, arms folded. Her hair whipped in the sudden updraft, eyes fixed upward with grim intensity. "This… This is prelude-level nonsense. Something is tearing open a veil that's supposed to stay shut."
Kazuki looked up again. He squinted—something was descending.
A rift had opened in the sky like a massive, upside-down tear, leaking golden light and fractal patterns. And from it, wings emerged. Massive. Unnatural. Feathered in both flame and frost. The silhouette was regal, divine, and—
"Oh no," Kazuki said softly. "Regulus is trying to one-up me again."
The massive eagle—larger now than he had ever appeared—descended like a royal comet. But something about him had changed. His eyes no longer burned with wild fire but instead glowed with layers of magic symbols. He beat his wings once, and the wind carved new symbols into the air.
"He's been communing with the Echo," Smile said, no longer sounding playful. "Or worse… with the Flame Whispers."
Kazuki paled. "Wait—are those a real thing?!"
"No," said Smile. "But they are now."
Regulus landed before them, talons cracking the stone tiles of Renga's plaza. Townsfolk screamed and scattered. Guild bells rang in confused panic.
And then, he spoke—in perfect Human tongue.
"He approaches. The one beyond all titles. The Origin… awakens."
Aurelis stepped forward, sword half-drawn. "Regulus. You bonded with Kazuki. We fought together. What are you doing?"
"I have remembered a purpose older than bonds," Regulus said. "Older than flame, older than sky. I was born not to aid the boy—" he nodded at Kazuki "—but to prepare him. The Echo is not an enemy. It is a test."
Kazuki took a shaky breath. "You sound like my high school math teacher. All riddles and disappointment."
Regulus continued, ignoring him. "The sky has remembered the name of its maker. The Flame Whispers are returning to this plane. And so must we climb."
Before anyone could question him, the plaza shimmered again. Symbols lit the cobblestones, forming a ring around Kazuki.
A teleportation circle.
But not one cast by any mage.
Not one fueled by any known mana.
It was Smile's.
Yet the slime blinked. "Hey. I didn't make that."
The circle activated.
Kazuki looked around wildly. "I'm not emotionally prepared for another sky dungeon! I haven't even digested breakfast!"
But the light was already swallowing him—and his companions.
Aurelis. Regulus. Tika. The wolf. The cobra. Even Smile.
They vanished in a flare of golden symbols and absurdly loud harp music.
Meanwhile… In the Flame Realm
Somewhere else—somewhen else—a voice stirred.
Not loud. Not soft.
Just… present.
"He arrives, clothed in coincidence and crowned by chaos."
"The Wild Hero. The Broken Thread."
"The one who wasn't supposed to be summoned."
A being with ten wings and no face stirred in a temple of flame and stars. Around it, mana coiled like serpents of light.
"Begin the Trial."
Back in Transit
Kazuki opened his eyes mid-flash.
They were floating.
Above a sea of cloudfire. Below a mountain that bent into impossible angles. All around, ancient glyphs whispered truths he couldn't understand.
He turned his head.
Aurelis floated beside him, face pale.
Regulus hovered with wings folded, waiting.
Smile was… surfing on a piece of toast.
And far above, something vast, something watching, opened its many eyes.
Kazuki groaned. "I knew I should've stayed asleep."