The sun illuminated the entire city, casting a warm golden hue across buildings and roads. Yet, the man walking alone carried a heart shrouded in darkness.
His eyes held emotions too deep to name—hidden, buried, and boiling beneath the surface. His steps were steady, but his soul trembled with each one. Outside the city walls, a violent storm raged, but the city itself stood untouched—calm, unaffected. As if the chaos beyond and the order within were two separate worlds.
But within Leonard, a different storm raged.
His body wavered slightly as he walked, unstable—yet he pressed forward, relentless. As he approached the towering main gate, two guards stepped in his path.
"It's unsafe outside," one warned. "The storm is only getting worse."
Leonard didn't flinch. He reached into his coat, pulled out a worn identification card, and handed it over without meeting their eyes.
"Open the gate," he said hoarsely.
There was something in his voice—a deep, haunting weight. The guards exchanged glances, feeling an unease, they couldn't explain. One of them hesitated, then slowly opened the gate.
As Leonard stepped forward, the wind howled louder, like it was calling him. One of the guards shouted behind him—
"Wait! Your card!"
But Leonard didn't stop.
His eyes were red—not from tears, but from the fire of resolve. He never turned back.
And then he stepped into the cold, merciless storm.
His figure slowly disappeared into the white haze, like a ghost swallowed by the storm's fury.
Inside a high-tech laboratory, several scientists stood around a glass chamber. Inside the chamber, a young boy floated, suspended in a strange, translucent liquid. Wires and tubes were connected to his body, blinking with signals—part of an ongoing experiment.
Suddenly, the heavy metal doors slid open with a hiss. A man in a sleek black suit entered. The atmosphere instantly shifted. Every researcher froze; their attention locked on him.
"How much progress have you made?"
His voice was cold—sharp enough to silence a room. It carried authority, and more than a hint of menace.
The scientists exchanged uneasy glances. No one spoke until one man finally stepped forward.
"Sir… we've done everything we could. But… there's been no change in his condition. We even exposed him to dark energy to test for a reaction. But what we saw was… strange."
He paused, swallowing hard.
"The dark energy vanished. Without a trace. Any normal human would've at least mutated turned zombie-like at best. But in his case, it was like the energy simply… ceased to exist."
The man in the suit narrowed his eyes.
"So, you're saying… he absorbed the dark energy without any trace? That shouldn't be possible."
His expression darkened further.
"Maybe… he's more than I thought."
He turned toward the chamber, eyes sharp.
"We'll move him to the regional branch."
He paused, thinking.
"But before we move him... let's give it one last try. If there's still no reaction, then we'll transfer him to the regional branch."
From inside his coat, he pulled out a small vial—no bigger than a thumb. It held a single drop of thick, black liquid that pulsed faintly as if alive.
"Take it," he said, handing it to the scientist who had spoken earlier. "Be extremely careful. This is a blood drop recovered from ancient ruins. It's said to belong to a Primordial Demon from the otherworld. Even the Four Kings would kill each other to get their hands on something like this. The power it contains is... beyond comprehension."
The scientist hesitated, visibly shaken.
"Sir… isn't this going too far? What if it reacts… what if he turns into a demon?"
"You don't have to worry about anything," the man replied, eyes narrowing. "If something does happen, I'll handle it. Now do your job."
The lab sprang into motion. The scientists worked quickly, prepping the injection system with trembling hands. Sweat ran down their brows, but none dared disobey.
Within minutes, everything was ready.
"Sir, we're prepared."
"Begin."
"Yes, sir."
The drop was injected directly into the boy's bloodstream.
Everyone watched.
They expected chaos an eruption of demonic energy, screams, or even a complete system meltdown. Even the man in the suit, whose face had remained cold until now, revealed a flicker of fear... though behind it, there was a hint of madness. A hunger to see what would happen.
But then Nothing.
The boy remained still, floating in the liquid as before. Calm. Silent. Unchanged.
Confusion filled the room.
"Check the readings," one of the scientists shouted.
They scanned everything—his vitals, blood composition, energy fluctuations.
And then another shock.
"There's no trace of the drop in his body," one of them whispered.
"What?"
"It's gone. As if it never existed."
The room fell into silence.
Even the man in black looked shaken his lips parted slightly in disbelief.
Not because the child had absorbed the drop...
…but because even that had vanished, without leaving a single mark.