The sky was overcast, and the sea began to stir with a slight turbulence, as if something were about to emerge.
Ryan took a step closer… then another.
Every part of him was telling him to retreat, but something deeper was pushing him forward.
"This is impossible…" he muttered.
The light intensified, and then—
Something slowly emerged from the water.
A sword.
It wasn't ordinary.
Its blade gleamed with an eerie blue, as if brimming with living energy.
And the water around it didn't touch it… it receded.
Ryan felt his heart would stop.
"Is this… real?"
He reached out slowly, hesitating for a moment.
Then, in a low voice, he said,
"If this is connected to what I'm seeing… then I must know."
He grasped the sword.
And at that very moment—
He screamed.
Memories… not his…
Wars…
Kings…
A dark island…
And a young man fighting a monster from the shadows…
Salim.
Ryan fell to the ground, the sword beside him, breathing heavily as if his soul had left his body and returned.
Then… he appeared before him.
A phantom… translucent… yet clear.
The same face he had seen in his dreams.
Salim.
But this time… he was looking directly at him.
He said in a quiet, deep voice:
"Finally… I have found you."
Ryan could barely speak:
"Who… are you?"
He replied:
"I… am the one who ended the Island of Immortality."
"And you… are the one who will begin it anew."
The air grew heavy.
And the sea behind them began to churn even more.
Ryan looked at the sword… then at Salim.
He said in a trembling voice:
"I… don't want this."
Salim smiled sadly.
"Neither did I…"
Then he added:
"But the shadow… doesn't let anyone choose."
And suddenly—the sea shook violently.
And from the depths… something dark began to rise.