Leo slowly lifted his head. His eyes were red and filled with tears as he looked at his older sister. It seemed to take all his strength to form the words, his voice raw with pain.
"Big sis… please… tell me what happened."
Skye flinched at his question. For a long moment, she was silent, her beautiful silver hair falling like a messy curtain around her pale face. Finally, as if her legs could no longer hold her, she pulled a chair over and sat down in front of Leo and Rina. She clasped her trembling hands together on her knees, took a deep, shaky breath, and began to speak.
"You know that Father and Leonis… they led a team to investigate a Void Portal in the Solomon Desert."
Leo gave a stiff, painful nod. "I know."
The Solomon Desert was well-known. It was a dangerous place about a hundred kilometers west of Babylonia, a land of burning heat and shifting sands. The Roschild clan was responsible for several high-level dungeons there. A Void Portal appearing in such a place was a major disaster. If it wasn't sealed quickly, the built-up mana could spiral out of control. This would cause a chain reaction, breaking open multiple dungeons and unleashing a horde of monsters that would destroy everything in their path.
And Void Monsters were different from normal monsters. They were evil creatures from another world. The weakest could wipe out a small town. The stronger ones could destroy entire cities. The sensors near the desert had already confirmed their worst fears: this was a Red Gate. That was the highest danger level, requiring an immediate and powerful response.
That's why, Skye explained, their father hadn't gone alone. Two Grandmasters—including the Flame Giant himself—were sent, along with a team of their best Masters. Leonis, the clan's prodigy and future hope, had also joined them. It was a powerful force, prepared to face whatever came through the gate.
And yet…
Skye's voice broke. She clenched her hands in her lap, trying to find the courage to continue.
"They never came back."
She took another trembling breath, as if afraid to say the next words. When she finally spoke, a chill ran down both Leo and Rina's spines.
"A demon appeared."
"What?!" Leo's voice was sharp with shock.
"A… a demon?" Rina gasped, her hand covering her mouth as she began to shake.
It was a terrifying thought. Demons were living nightmares, as dangerous as the most powerful Void Dragons. Both were classified as "Disaster-class" beings—threats capable of destroying entire nations.
Skye's voice grew even heavier, each word feeling like a hammer blow. "And not just any demon. A high-level one. One of the Seventy-Two."
Leo felt the air leave his lungs. His hands clenched into fists so tight his nails bit into his palms. The Seventy-Two Demons of Pandemonium—the legendary Archdemons whose very names were spoken in fear. They weren't mindless beasts. They were intelligent, cunning, and cruel. Since the arrival of mana in the world, they had appeared a few times in history, and each time, they left only ruin behind.
This time was worse.
"Rank Nine," Skye whispered, the name itself seeming to darken the room. "Belial."
When Leo heard the name, his arms went limp, falling heavily to his sides as if made of stone. Rank Nine. That placed the demon among the most powerful of its kind. A being like that could shift the balance of the entire world. Now it was clear why such a tragedy had occurred.
Skye forced herself to go on, her voice quivering.
"Out of the fifty elite warriors who went… only three came back alive. And they were barely hanging on. Two of them are permanently crippled." She paused, then delivered the final, crushing detail.
"Abel Ashfall… he lost a son. He lost an arm, his legs… and an eye. His cultivation was shattered. He will never grow stronger again."
Leo's face twisted in pain, his jaw clenched so tight it hurt. Abel Ashfall was the leader of their rival clan, the Ashfalls. Despite his terrible injuries, he had survived. He was alive. Their father and brother were not. The unfairness of it was a heavy, suffocating weight on Leo's chest.
Yet, amidst the grief, a single, clear thought formed in his mind.
Something about this… doesn't feel right.