Chapter 50: The Moonlit Eye

The mansion was quiet, steeped in the gentle perfume of lotus blossoms as a storm rumbled in the distance. Shisui sat alone beneath the moonlight in the garden, shirt torn, bandaged, his chakra low—his soul rattled.

The memory of the Phase I experiment's screams echoed in his ears. The sight of the convoy—twisted bodies, screaming souls, corrupted Arch Energy—burned into his mind.

He was failing to breathe.

Then he felt it.

A whisper in his mind. Cold. Ancient.

Something was breaking inside him—not pain. Not fear.

A fracture in the soul. A call from beyond the veil.

Suddenly, a searing wave of agony overtook him. His body seized. He collapsed to the grass as his heart slowed and spiritual pathways ruptured in discord.

"You were not meant to survive this world, child of iron and soul," echoed a voice from nowhere and everywhere. "But you will. If you open your eye."

---

Within the Veil Between Realms...

Shisui found himself floating in a realm of black mist and silver light. Above him, glowing symbols spiraled like constellations—scripture in a forgotten language.

Before him stood a figure—cloaked in flowering light, faceless, tall. The spirit reached toward him and touched his forehead.

"You carry the blood of the Morinaka. The Seers of Aether. The Veil has chosen you."

His body cracked, not with pain—but transcendence.

He remembered everything—

His father's sorrowful eyes.

Naoko's trembling lips after the battle.

His duty. His dreams. His rage.

And when he opened his eyes—he awakened.

---

Back in Reality

Shisui gasped, rising from the grass.

His sclera turned black.

His iris glowed pale violet like a moonlit pool, concentric silver rings spinning gently.

And his pupil—

A silver four-pointed star shimmered with divine brilliance.

The Aetherion Eye had awakened.

The garden responded—the leaves trembled, the wind stopped, and every light in the mansion flickered.

Naoko burst out of the house in a panic.

"Shisui?!"

He looked at her—and for the first time, saw her soul. Gentle. Trembling. Blooming with love and fear.

He smiled faintly, eyes glowing.

"Naoko... I see everything."

---

Ability Activation: Soulmirror Insight

He turned his head toward a presence hiding in the trees outside the mansion. A rogue scout.

Cloaked. Silent. Masked.

But to Shisui's eyes—they were bathed in red threads of deceit.

He moved faster than ever before—his new eye reading the enemy's intent.

A single mirrored technique:

Iron Petal Barrage.

Ten glowing shuriken formed from Arch Energy appeared and slammed into the scout's path before they could escape.

The intruder fell unconscious.

---

Later that night, Shisui stood alone before his father's portrait in the mansion's prayer room. His eye glowed softly in the candlelight.

"Father… You've hidden much from me. But now… I can see it."

"I will carry this legacy. Even if it kills me."

The moon above shimmered as if acknowledging the birth of a new force.

Thus ended Volume 1—with the awakening of the Aetherion Eye.

The world would never be the same.

End of Volume 1