Kazuki's voice echoed through the throne hall, sharp yet steady—his words layered with both curiosity and conviction.
"All my life, I heard the same thing," he said, pacing slowly as Vareon silently watched."Everyone around me spoke about you, Vareon... as if you were the complete opposite of my father, Shang."
He paused, his gaze distant for a moment.
"You were painted as a villain. And honestly—why wouldn't they?"
The corner of his mouth twitched into a grim smile.
"The empire feared you. Hated you. And they passed down that fear to the next generation... including me."
Kazuki took a breath before continuing, his voice becoming more introspective.
"But something about it never made sense to me. I always wanted to know more about you. To understand the version that nobody else talked about."
[The Clue That Broke the Illusion]
He raised his hand slightly, recalling that moment—the one that changed everything.
"When the demon attack happened at the academy... I knew—after confirming every detail—that it couldn't have been orchestrated by anyone from South Ryehem."
He turned to Vareon and smiled lightly.
"Elsa told me no one in South Ryehem was contracted to demons. And I trusted that.But even beyond that... some things just didn't add up. Basic logic. Basic instinct."
[The Question No One Dared Ask]
Kazuki's voice dropped into a thoughtful tone, and his smile faded.
"But then I asked myself something strange: If the Ryehem Incident was so important, why does nobody talk about it?"
He walked slowly toward the throne, not threatening—just pondering aloud.
"It's like a ghost of a memory... something buried so deep that even history avoids it."
"And my father… Shang," he added quietly, "He was said to be a victim of that incident."
Kazuki looked up at the ceiling, his words slower now.
"Then why didn't he ever speak of it? Why didn't he, the hero of South Ryehem, ever tell his own son what happened that day?"
There was silence.
Then Kazuki smiled again—but this time, colder.
"The only conclusion I could come to... was that my father was hiding something."
[Flashback: Chapter 29 – The Warfield Mission]
The scene rippled again as Kazuki's narration pulled the story into another memory—one long buried in the pages of Volume 1, Chapter 29.
Kazuki, armored and resolute, walked toward the gates of the Warfield.
"So I decided to go there," he narrated."To the Warfield."
His voice lowered.
"To grow stronger… yes. But also to search. To uncover the truth my father never told me."
"Because in reality, the Warfield… is more than just a battlefield for the academy. It's a vault. A place where secrets bleed through combat. A place where history, spirit, and suffering are buried beneath the surface."
Kazuki recalled it clearly.
The academy called it a "training ground."
But no student ever truly knew what lay beyond the first few zones.
"I always found it strange," he continued."Why are students never told what really happens there?"
He glanced back toward Vareon.
"You know, don't you?"
Vareon's lips parted—but he said nothing.
Kazuki's eyes narrowed slightly.
"That warfield hides more than monsters and mana-rich soil. It hides traces of the incident. It hides remnants of your rise. It hides why my father chose silence."
[End Scene Setup for Deeper Revelations]
"And that's where it started to click," Kazuki said softly."If I wanted answers… I had to enter the heart of the forgotten."
He raised his hand—and with a flick of his finger, summoned a faint illusion: the Warfield, its gates glowing under a red sky, shadows swaying within.
"And so I did."