Location: Dawnblight Atoll – The Grave Sea
Three days later, the Red Blade docked at a ghost atoll to repair its sails.
But there was another reason Shanks stopped here.
A warning had been sent.
A message nailed to driftwood.
"They are waking. The Old Hunt remembers the Twin Blades."
Beckman explained over a flickering lantern:
"There used to be a faction within Cipher Pol. A hidden division called the Old Hunt. They monitored relics… and people who came near them."
"They were erased by the Government?"
"No. They erased themselves—after they failed to contain something ancient."
Ankit's fingers tightened on the scroll. The handwriting… felt like a whisper.
The same whisper that haunted his system alerts.
Location: Grave Shrine – Atoll Interior
Ankit, Makino, and a few crewmates found the shrine—half-buried in stone.
Inside: murals showing twin-bladed warriors facing down a black storm with seven sealed gates.
System Trigger: Relic Recognition – Forbidden Artifacts Detected.
Accessing Lore Memory…
But then—
A figure moved from the shadow of the shrine.
A man in a silver cloak with no eyes, only a metal mask.
"You carry the Stormmark," he said. "You were never meant to awaken."
Ankit drew his blades.
"Who are you?"
The man extended a hand.
"The First Hunter. And I am here to give you a choice—run… or open the gate."