Hikaru didn't move.
He didn't blink.
He didn't even breathe properly.
His father.
The man who packed boring lunches.
The man who snored like a broken lawnmower.
The man who said things like "Hard work beats talent, son!" while failing every household DIY project…
THAT man was part of G.A.R.I?
Hikaru's soulblade pulsed again—once, sharply—almost as if reacting to his thoughts.
Ria watched him carefully.
"Sit down, Hikaru."
"No," he said.
Then he sat down anyway, because his knees gave up.
Ria continued, speaking with the caution of someone handling a bomb with emotional issues:
"Fifteen years ago, during the First Rebirth Incident, four Armament Users vanished. Your father… Saeba Ren… was one of them."
"My dad wasn't a hero!" Hikaru snapped.
"He wasn't even good at assembling chairs!"
Ria sighed.
"Hikaru, Genso doesn't choose people based on their IKEA skills."
"But"
The cube of black light flickered violently, interrupting him.
A distorted voice leaked out, unsettling and metallic:
"—…ikar— …Sa—eba… hik—…"
Hikaru froze.
"Did that thing just say my name?"
Ria immediately drew her katana.
"That's impossible. The cube only stores visual data—no audio. Something's interfering with it."
The lights dimmed.
The walls groaned.
A cold draft swept across the room.
His Armament blade materialized without him calling it—
its whisper now clearer, darker:
He's coming…
Hikaru shivered.
"Who's coming…?"
The cube flashed again.
This time, the shadowy recording sharpened—
and the silhouette was no longer a monster.
It was a man.
Tall.
Torn jacket.
One eye glowing violet.
One eye still human.
And he looked straight at Hikaru through the projection.
"Hikaru… run."
Hikaru's heart stopped.
Ria gasped.
"That— that's your father."
The projection glitched, warping into static.
"They… they're not who you think… don't trust"
The cube exploded.
Glass shards and Genso sparks blasted outward.
Hikaru shielded his face, stumbling backward.
When the smoke cleared, alarms blared throughout the entire HQ.
"BREACH DETECTED. CONTAINMENT FAILURE. UNKNOWN ENTITY IN SECTOR 3."
Sector 3.
The training arena.
Ria grabbed Hikaru's wrist.
"Come on! We need to evacuate—"
A boom erupted above them.
The ceiling cracked.
A figure crashed down through the upper floor, landing in a swirl of corrupted violet smoke.
Tall.
Human-shaped.
Dripping with unstable Genso.
A Reborn
but not like any they'd seen before.
Ria pulled her katana.
Hikaru summoned his blade instinctively.
The creature raised its head.
Where eyes should've been, two glowing violet flames burned.
It spoke in a distorted voice:
"Hikaru Saeba… come."
Hikaru stepped back.
Ria blocked him with her arm.
"You're not taking him!"
The creature tilted its head.
"Not yet…"
With a burst of corrupted wind, it vanished
leaving behind nothing but a pressure wave that knocked them off their feet.
The alarms continued.
Ria pushed herself up, coughing.
"Hikaru… we need to get you to a secure room. Whatever that thing was, it's targeting you."
Hikaru didn't respond.
He was staring at the shattered cube.
At the place where his father's image had been
And at the final whisper his Armament murmured:
He's alive.