"Your parents trusted me."
The words echoed inside Daniel's mind.
The battlefield seemed distant.
The screams.
The fighting.
The explosions.
None of it mattered.
Daniel stared at Mr. Stone.
"What does that mean?"
Mr. Stone remained silent.
Daniel stepped forward.
"What happened to them?"
Still silence.
Bill looked away.
That hurt even more.
Because Bill wasn't denying anything.
The Great 8 slowly gathered nearby.
Mary.
David.
Felix.
Lucy.
Noah.
Zoya.
Lily.
All of them could feel the tension.
Something was wrong.
Something had been hidden for years.
Daniel clenched his fists.
"You both know something."
Bill sighed heavily.
"Daniel..."
"No."
Daniel interrupted him.
"No more secrets."
The battlefield suddenly shook.
BOOM!
A section of the western wall collapsed.
Ghost soldiers poured through.
Teachers rushed to stop them.
The war wasn't over.
Yet Daniel couldn't stop.
Not now.
Not after what Finn said.
"Tell me."
Mr. Stone closed his eyes.
For several moments he said nothing.
Then finally—
"I can't."
Daniel froze.
The answer felt worse than a lie.
"You can't?"
"No."
"Or you won't?"
Mr. Stone didn't answer.
That answer was enough.
Daniel's anger began rising.
For years he had trusted Mr. Stone.
For years.
Now it felt like everything was built on secrets.
Meanwhile David suddenly grabbed his head.
The whispers returned.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Millions.
Then a vision appeared.
An old room.
A candle burning.
Ancient books scattered across a table.
A younger Mr. Stone stood there.
A younger Bill stood beside him.
And standing opposite them—
Daniel's parents.
David couldn't hear every word.
Only fragments.
Fragments that terrified him.
"...the bloodline..."
"...the Vessel..."
"...if the child awakens..."
"...Caden..."
The vision shattered.
David's eyes widened.
"Caden?"
Lily immediately turned.
"What?"
David looked shaken.
"I heard a name."
"What name?"
"Caden."
Silence.
Even Mr. Stone reacted.
Just slightly.
But Daniel saw it.
The old Ghost Killer had flinched.
Daniel's heart raced.
"Who is Caden?"
Nobody answered.
Not Bill.
Not Mr. Stone.
Nobody.
Then the horn echoed again from beyond the mountains.
MOOOOOOOOONNNNN!
Everyone froze.
The Hunter.
It was still watching.
Waiting.
The atmosphere immediately darkened.
Noah looked toward the horizon.
"We have bigger problems."
Felix nodded.
"The army is regrouping."
The academy was exhausted.
The walls were damaged.
Hundreds were injured.
And now another attack seemed inevitable.
Yet Daniel couldn't stop thinking about the name.
Caden.
Why did that name frighten Mr. Stone?
Why did Finn know about his parents?
Why did everyone keep hiding things?
Then suddenly—
A messenger Ghost Killer sprinted into the courtyard.
His face was pale.
Terrified.
"Mr. Stone!"
The veteran turned.
"What is it?"
The messenger struggled to catch his breath.
"We found something."
"What?"
The messenger swallowed.
Then held out an old file.
A very old file.
Its edges were burned.
Its cover torn.
Yet one word remained visible.
Daniel felt his stomach drop.
The file was labeled:
WILLIAMS.
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Bill's face instantly changed.
Mr. Stone looked horrified.
Daniel stared at the file.
His family name.
The messenger continued.
"We found it beneath the old archives."
Daniel slowly reached toward it.
Bill immediately stepped forward.
"Don't."
Daniel stopped.
"What?"
Bill looked genuinely afraid.
The same look Finn's arrival had caused.
That terrified Daniel.
Inside that file—
There was something Bill didn't want him to see.
Something important.
Something dangerous.
Daniel's hand slowly closed around the file.
Bill moved again.
But this time—
Mary stepped between them.
Then Felix.
Then Noah.
Then the rest of the Great 8.
Nobody spoke.
But their message was clear.
Daniel deserved answers.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Then Bill lowered his head.
Defeated.
Mr. Stone closed his eyes.
Daniel looked down at the file.
His hands were shaking.
Slowly—
He opened it.
And on the very first page—
There was a photograph.
A photograph of a man from centuries ago.
A man with Daniel's eyes.
A man with Daniel's face.
At the bottom of the photograph was a single name.
CADEN WILLIAMS.