Ren stumbled through the broken alley behind the ruined warehouse, every muscle shaking as the fire inside him slowly dimmed. The adrenaline that carried him across collapsing concrete now abandoned him all at once. His legs buckled—
—but Yui caught him under the shoulder before he hit the ground.
"Ren! Hey—hey, stay awake."
Kaito supported his other side, breathing heavily. "Dude… you almost nuked the whole building. Warn us next time?"
Ren managed a weak, humorless laugh. "Like I knew what I was doing."
Sora kept a few steps ahead of them, scanning every rooftop, every shadow, every alley mouth. His jacket was torn, dust-coated, blood-smeared. Yet his posture remained rigid, alert, calculating.
They reached an abandoned dockyard storage building, its metal siding rusted and sagging. Sora forced the door open and waved them inside.
"This place is secure. For now."
As they entered, Ren's knees finally gave out. He collapsed onto the cold floor, chest heaving as wave after wave of exhaustion crashed over him.
Yui knelt beside him. "Ren, are you hurt? Does anything feel broken?"
"My… everything," Ren whispered. "Everything hurts."
Sora approached him slowly—cautiously. Like Ren was now something unstable. Something dangerous.
"Ren," Sora began, voice low, "unlocking the First Gate without training should have killed you. Your bloodline… it's stronger than we understood."
Ren closed his eyes. "I don't want this bloodline."
Sora didn't respond.
Yui stroked Ren's hair gently, her touch steady. "You're still you. No power changes that."
Ren gave a weak nod. But inside—he wasn't sure.
The Seal had awakened.
He had seen the dragon again.
He had felt power that didn't feel human, didn't feel safe.
His heartbeat was irregular. Every few beats, a faint echo vibrated in his ears—like a distant roar.
He wasn't sure he could stay himself.
Kaito sat down heavily against a crate. "So what now? The Council wants him. The Serpents want him. Mons's groups probably want him. What are we supposed to—"
A metallic click cut him off.
Sora's head snapped toward the far wall.
A shadow detached itself from the darkness.
Someone was already inside the abandoned building.
Ren felt the air shift.
His blood turned to ice.
The dragon inside him stirred sharply.
Yui tensed. "S-Sora…?"
Sora's hand hovered over his weapon.
A tall figure stepped forward.
His footsteps were silent. Controlled.
His coat was long, black, draped like a cloak.
His hair was tied back neatly, streaked faintly with premature silver.
His presence was disciplined, powerful—far more dangerous than Sora's, yet far calmer.
He lowered his hood.
And Ren's world cracked.
The man's face was achingly familiar.
Sharp eyes.
Strong jaw.
A scar running through his eyebrow—one Ren saw every day when he looked in the mirror.
Ren froze. His lungs refused to move.
"…Dad?"
The Man in the Shadows
The man's expression softened, though only slightly.
"…Hello, Ren."
Yui gasped. Kaito's jaw dropped.
Sora didn't lower his weapon. "Tatsuya Longwei," he said, voice uncharacteristically tense. "Or should I call you—"
The man cut him off. "Don't."
His voice was flat. Quiet. But something in it made even Sora fall silent.
Ren stared, unable to blink, unable to breathe.
His father…?
The man who had died in a car accident when Ren was four?
The man Ren barely remembered except in fragments of warmth and faint laughter?
Standing alive. In front of him.
Ren's throat trembled. "You're… alive? How? You—Mom said—she said you—"
His father's gaze flicked away, as if the guilt weighed more than his own body could endure.
"I know what your mother told you. And I let her tell it."
Ren's voice rose, raw and cracking.
"You LET us think you were dead?!"
"I had to," his father said quietly.
"WHY?"
His father looked at him with eyes filled with a lifetime of exhaustion.
Because he wasn't just Tatsuya.
He was someone else.
Someone far more dangerous.
"You weren't meant to inherit the Seal," Tatsuya said quietly. "It should have died with my father and me."
Ren stared at him in disbelief.
"You're… his son? Wu Long's son?"
Tatsuya nodded once. Slowly.
Sora exhaled sharply. "Then it's true. Ren isn't just heir by adoption. He's heir by blood."
Tatsuya continued, stepping closer.
"The Seal responds only to those of the Dragon Bloodline. My father passed it to me. I rejected it because it would've consumed everything I cared about. Including your mother."
His jaw clenched.
"So I disappeared. I faked my death. To break the cycle."
Ren's voice quivered in anger.
"You abandoned us!"
"I saved you," Tatsuya said softly. "Because inheriting the Dragon Seal destroys people. I thought I broke the chain. But instead—my father found you."
Ren felt sick.
The room tilted.
His heartbeat thundered with a painful rhythm.
"I never wanted this…" Ren whispered. "I never wanted ANY of this!"
His father stepped closer.
"And neither did I."
Yui stood protectively in front of Ren, eyes blazing. "Stay back. You don't get to walk into his life and act like you know anything about him."
Tatsuya paused.
Studying her.
Respect glinted faintly in his eyes.
"You're strong," he said.
"And loyal. He'll need that."
Ren pushed himself up, shaky but defiant.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
Tatsuya met his gaze directly.
"To train you."
Everyone froze.
"…What?"
Tatsuya continued calmly, as if discussing weather.
"The Red Serpents will not stop."
"The Council will not stop."
"The other factions will not stop."
He took a step closer, kneeling down so he could meet Ren's eyes at level.
"You awakened the First Gate. The world will hunt you now. If you don't learn to control it… you will die. Or worse—be controlled."
Ren shook his head. "No—no. I can't do this. I don't WANT to do this."
His father's voice softened—low, pained.
"You think I wanted this? I ran from it my whole life. I ran to protect you. But running doesn't erase blood."
Ren's fist tightened.
Tears blurred his vision.
Tatsuya placed a hand over Ren's shaking one.
"You survived the First Gate. That means the Seal has accepted you."
His voice cracked—barely noticeable, but real.
"That means you're stronger than I ever was."
Ren's eyes widened.
His father—this man who radiated power, control, and danger—
actually sounded afraid.
Afraid for him.
"I will teach you," Tatsuya said firmly.
"Before the world tears you apart."
Yui and Kaito stared at Ren, waiting.
Sora remained silent, studying both father and son with wary calculation.
Ren looked at his father—really looked at him.
He didn't know this man.
He barely remembered him.
And yet—
his chest tightened painfully.
He wanted to hate him.
He wanted to scream.
He wanted to demand answers that no explanation could ever satisfy.
But beneath all of that…
He wanted the father he remembered.
Just once more.
Ren inhaled shakily.
"Then start explaining everything," he whispered.
"From the beginning."
Tatsuya nodded.
"Good."
He placed a hand on Ren's shoulder.
"Because the Second Gate will not wait long."
And in the shadows outside, unseen—
A silent figure watched them.
Someone who should've been dead.
Someone who knew Tatsuya better than anyone.
Ren's mother.