Kaito and all his friends met back up and are relaxing now.
"I was right I did deserve a party." Rika says.
The group banters and Kaito smiled at Dante. "Hey, Dante do you remember that thing you asked me, back in stud-whatever?" Kaito asks.
Dante's eyes light up. "You don't actually mean!?" Dante asks and Kaito smiles brightly.
"Yeah, let's do it Dante, let's start a guild!" Kaito declares and Dante's eyes sparkle with joy. "Of course dude I'd love to be in a guild with you!"
Nanami lifts an eyebrow. "A guild huh, well that does sound interesting."
Toni smiles. "I'd love to be apart of the guild too friend!"
Rika however does not smile, she just sits on the sidelines watching them creating their guild. They don't know it but something else was bothering her.
Rika had other duties to head on her way to. So when no one was looking she took her leave.
Kaito looks around for Rika. And he gets no answer so he assumes she left somewhere and would be back soon.
Hours later…
The music had faded into murmurs. The guests had mostly gone. Embers in lanterns flickered low, casting warm shadows across marble floors.
Kaito stood by the balcony, still in formal wear, the weight of the night settling in. He didn't expect Nyla's father to appear behind him.
"You're still carrying that book," the older man said.
Kaito glanced down at the weathered tome resting beneath his arm, the same one he'd kept since the beginning. "I always do."
"Come with me."
They descended a winding staircase behind the estate's main hall, deeper than Kaito expected. The light dimmed with each step until only the hum of magic illuminated the path.
At the base, a sealed chamber waited, lined with old banners, faded portraits, and thick silence. Nyla's father stepped to the center.
"The Unifates," he began, "is not a legend. Not anymore."
He turned to Kaito, his expression harder now. "But if you're going to pursue them, you need to understand what you're stepping into."
Kaito's eyes widened. "You've studied it, it's really true?" Kaito struggled to hold back his excitement.
"I've lost a lot because of it. My personal guard. My reputation. I kept one piece hidden, not for pride... but because I knew the danger it carried."
He stepped toward a sealed pedestal, voice low.
"There are others who seek these relics," the old man said, his voice low and steady. "Beings with power far beyond anything you've faced. Some of them don't want the Unifates for noble purposes… They want it because it can do anything."
He fixed his gaze on Kaito. "If you take this… you will be hunted."
Kaito didn't flinch. He looked the man in the eye and said, "I've been hunted my whole life."
The old man nodded slowly. "If you thought Renji was powerful, the ones who come next will make him seem small. You'll face forces that defy understanding. Trials you may not survive. To claim this shard is to inherit every danger that follows it."
Kaito's lips curled into a fearless smile. "Good. I'm tired of running."
Silence. A moment suspended in time.
Then the man turned to the pedestal. He raised his hand. The seal flared to life, ancient runes glowing and unraveling with a sharp hiss.
He reached forward and lifted the artifact, a crystal pulsing with raw, barely-contained energy. The very air hummed around it.
He held it out.
"Then take it."
Kaito stepped forward.
And opened the book
The shard didn't wait.
It slammed into the page, blinding light flaring out, and locked itself into one of the four empty slots. The book snapped shut with a final click, and a low hum echoed from its spine.
Kaito's breath caught. His heart raced.
"It's real. It's all real."
Nyla's father didn't smile.
"That piece cost me every top-ranked soldier I had. You won't be so lucky."
Kaito nodded, a little too eagerly.
The man held out his hand. "Thank you. For saving my treasure… and my daughter."
Kaito shook it firmly. Then turned and walked back up the stairs.
Upstairs, the air was cooler. The others waited.
Dante looked up immediately. "You alright?"
Kaito nodded, but his eyes scanned the room. "Where's Rika?"
Kaito is passed a note, one left by Rika.
Silence.
It was Dante who spoke first. "Her guild came. They took her. She didn't fight it."
"She… she wanted to have one last dance," Nanami added softly. "But I think she knew it was time."
Toni looked away. "Didn't even get to say goodbye."
Kaito stared at the floor for a long moment.
"I wanted to start a guild with you," he said to Dante. "But not without her."
Toni stepped forward. "Then we get her back."
Nanami nodded. "She's one of us. That hasn't changed."
Dante cracked his knuckles. "Then that's our next mission."
Kaito lifted the book, now warm in his hand.
"Let's bring her home."
Nyla taps Kaito on his arm. "Oh, and Kaito one more thing,"
"What is it?" He asks.
"You've been pardoned for only some of your crimes, you're all still wanted for destroying that bridge, and the chaos in Mozam." Nyla smiles.
"And those guards were only waiting for after the party to hunt you." She says before hugging him tightly. "So i think you should start running." She says with a Koi smile.
"Enjoy your adventure's, Kaito." She says as she holds her umbrella. "Tell me all about them when you're done, ok?"
Kaito smiles brightly. "Of course!"
As the guards began chase Kaito and his friends ran away smiling. At the edge of the estate, his team beside him, no longer just traveling together, but united.
Nyla smiled watching them run off to their next adventure, "oh Kaito, if only I had the ability to go on a grand adventure, i'd love to be by your side, as you grow."
"What would I do if I were you, it must be so nice to be free, living by your own standards, oh I shouldn't be thinking of all this."
Wasting no time they committed another crime, stealing someone's carriage and riding it outside of town.
As they all laugh Kaito smiled brightly. "This is gonna be a long adventure, and i'm all for it!" He happily says.
The Unifates search had only just begun.
But their first journey wasn't for power.
It was for Rika.
They road into the road as the wind picked up behind them.
And somewhere, beyond the horizon, destiny stirred.