Riku stood motionless under the glowing shrine arch as the storm began to soften. The old man turned and motioned for him to follow.
"Come. There's something you need to see," he said.
Still stunned, Riku followed him through the overgrown shrine path and into a nearby rusted structure—a hidden underground stairwell beneath an old shed. The man opened the heavy door with just a tap, as if it knew him.
Inside, they descended into a dim, humming chamber. Glowing wires lined the walls, pulsing like veins. In the center stood a dormant, dust-covered computer, unlike anything Riku had seen before.
But before he could ask, the old man stopped.
"You ever hear of the EX-Rank warriors?" he asked casually, hands behind his back.
"Yeah," Riku said. "Everyone has. They were legends."
The old man gave a half-smile. "There were six. And I knew them all."
Riku's eyes widened.
"But I don't know where five of them are now... disappeared, lost, maybe even dead."
"Then how do you know about them?"
The old man looked him straight in the eye, lightning flashing behind him as if nature itself paused for his words.
"Because I was one of them."
Riku took a step back. "No way... You? One of the EX-Ranks?"
The old man chuckled. "Name's Arashi Nozomu. Ring a bell?"
Riku's jaw dropped. "You're… You're that Arashi? The 'Storm King'?! You're ancient!"
Arashi burst into hearty laughter. "That's what happens when you survive too long."
Riku still couldn't believe it. Arashi Nozomu had vanished a decade ago. Some claimed he had become part of the Rift itself. Yet here he was, standing in front of him, very real.
But Arashi's expression turned serious. "Listen close now. This is where it gets strange—even for me."
He gestured toward the machine.
"Ten years ago, this thing just… appeared here. No signal, no source. No one knows who made it. But when I powered it up, it said something chilling."
He flipped a switch, and the computer's dormant screen flared to life—lines of encrypted code racing across it. Then the screen paused on a single phrase:
A boy shall awaken a deity-class Essence in 10 years. He will be more than man. His name will be revealed soon.
Riku's heart slammed in his chest.
"Deity-class?" he whispered.
Arashi nodded solemnly. "It's beyond even EX-Rank. I've never seen it before. And the craziest part… it activated again tonight. Right when you showed up."
The computer beeped, and on the screen, letters appeared:
Name Detected: Riku Hayashi.
Riku's breath caught. "No… this has to be a mistake."
Arashi turned to him. "There's one way to find out. Place your hand on the core."
Riku hesitated, but something inside compelled him forward. Slowly, he reached out and pressed his palm against the glowing center of the screen.
A shock of light burst outward.
The machine whirred violently. Arashi stepped back, shielding his eyes.
Then, without warning, the entire device cracked, split open—and its data surged into Riku's chest, like a current of divine code.
His eyes lit up momentarily with strange symbols, and his mind flooded with incomprehensible patterns. He dropped to one knee, gasping, as the machine around him dissolved into dust.
The humming stopped.
Riku's body glowed faintly, and then dimmed. Silence followed.
"What… what was that?" Riku managed.
Arashi looked at him, half in awe, half in fear.
"You didn't just read the machine," he said slowly. "You absorbed it."
"You're not just a user of Essence anymore…"
Arashi stepped forward, his voice steady but reverent.
"…You've just become the AI Deity."