"Look, I understand you said this was important."
Joseph rubbed his forehead.
"But did we seriously need to do this inside your house?"
Rio coughed awkwardly.
He had originally planned to use the guild headquarters as his base of operations.
Unfortunately, that would require explaining everything to Elena.
And that sounded like a headache he'd rather avoid.
So here they were.
Inside the Valen mansion.
Rio glanced around the room.
The remnants of Astryx sat before him.
William Astryx.
Anastasia Astryx.
Joseph Valoris.
Isolde Viremont.
Queen Eloise Astryx.
Vice Headmaster Christopher Nova.
Professor Evillise.
Along with several others.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
William eventually broke the silence.
"So."
"What exactly is the purpose of this meeting?"
All eyes turned toward Rio.
Rio froze.
How should I explain this?
Should he start with the Demon King of Envy?
The gateway to Hell?
The insane queen of Eldros?
The fact that the fate of the entire continent might depend on them?
Rio rubbed his forehead.
Then spoke in the most uncertain voice imaginable.
"Hm."
"I suppose..."
"...saving the world."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Nobody moved.
Nobody blinked.
Joseph stared at him.
William stared at him.
Even Christopher's glasses seemed to stop reflecting light.
Evillise's eye twitched.
"...What?"
...
William sighed.
"So you're basically saying that the Queen of Eldros is trying to open a gateway to Hell and bring out the Demon King of Envy?"
"Not just the Demon King."
Rio's expression darkened.
"If the gate opens, countless demons will pour into Aetherion."
"Some of them could easily reach SSS- Rank."
The room instantly became silent.
Evillise slammed her hand against the table.
"SSS-?"
"Even the strongest human alive is only SS+!"
"No human has ever crossed into the SSS Rank!"
"How the hell would we fight them?!"
Rio sighed.
"We don't."
The answer made several people frown.
"Our only chance is stopping them before the gate opens."
Christopher suddenly spoke.
"You all are assuming something impossible."
Everyone turned toward him.
The Vice Headmaster slowly adjusted his glasses.
"There is no possible way for the Queen of Eldros to open a gateway to Hell."
Rio narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Christopher leaned back.
"Aetherion and Hell are separated by one of the oldest laws in existence."
"A true gateway cannot be created through mana."
"It cannot be created through rituals."
"It cannot be created through sacrifices."
Joseph frowned.
"Then what does it require?"
Christopher was silent for a moment.
Then he spoke.
"An Angel."
The room froze.
"...What?"
William stared at him.
Christopher nodded.
"An Angel is not simply a divine creature."
"They are a bridge."
"A being that exists between Heaven and the lower realms."
"Their very existence allows them to connect worlds."
His gaze grew serious.
"A complete Angel possesses enough divinity to pierce dimensional barriers."
"Enough authority to create a path between realms."
"A path..."
"...between Heaven and Hell."
Silence filled the room.
Even Evillise stopped arguing.
William frowned.
"But Angels don't exist."
"Exactly."
Christopher's expression darkened.
"There hasn't been a confirmed Angel in thousands of years."
"Which is why opening a gateway to Hell should be impossible."
Rio's eyes narrowed.
Should be.
He immediately noticed the wording.
Christopher slowly stood up.
"But if the Queen of Eldros truly intends to open a gateway..."
His fingers tightened.
"Then there is only one explanation."
The atmosphere became heavy.
William slowly spoke.
"...What explanation?"
Christopher's eyes became grim.
"She isn't trying to summon an Angel."
The room held its breath.
"She's trying to create one."
The moment those words fell—
everyone froze.
An artificial Angel.
A being forged by human hands.
A bridge between Heaven and Hell.
And if such a thing truly existed—
then the Queen of Eldros might already be far closer to success than any of them wanted to believe.
...
Christopher slowly sat back down in his chair.
His expression had become noticeably heavier.
Then his gaze fell toward William, Anastasia, Joseph, and Isolde.
"You were all curious about the mission Raze and the Headmaster were assigned to, correct?"
The four immediately straightened.
Christopher nodded.
"It was because of this."
"The information first came from one of our intelligence agencies operating within Eldros."
He paused briefly.
"According to the reports, the Queen of Eldros had become increasingly unstable."
"Many described it as her losing her sanity."
The room remained silent.
Christopher continued.
"There were also repeated mentions of a secret project."
His eyes narrowed.
"A project known as..."
"Project Seraph."
The name alone caused unease to spread through the room.
Christopher's voice lowered.
"The Creation of an Artificial Angel."
Rio's eyes narrowed.
William clenched his fists.
Even Evillise stopped speaking.
"I wasn't present for all the details."
Christopher shook his head.
"But after that information arrived..."
"Both Raze and the Headmaster departed for Eldros to investigate."
His expression darkened.
"That was last year."
Silence.
The room slowly processed his words.
Then Joseph frowned.
"If they were investigating, then they should know what's happening."
"Just contact them."
Christopher didn't answer immediately.
Instead—
he closed his eyes.
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"I can't."
The room froze.
William immediately leaned forward.
"...You can't?"
Christopher nodded.
"Six months ago."
"For reasons we still don't understand."
"Every transmission from both Raze and the Headmaster suddenly ceased."
His voice became grim.
"No letters."
"No mana communications."
"No reports."
"No signs of battle."
"No signs of death."
"Nothing."
A chill ran through the room.
It was as if the two had simply vanished.
Christopher slowly looked toward Rio.
"Those two were supposed to be our eyes inside Eldros."
"Our only source of information."
His fingers tightened.
"But now..."
He let out a long sigh.
"We don't even know if they're alive."
The room became deathly silent.
"Haah... fine."
Rio rubbed his forehead before looking around the room.
"Then let's establish a proper plan."
The atmosphere immediately became serious.
Rio pointed toward the map.
"There will be three primary objectives."
His finger landed on Eldros.
"Objective One."
Locate Raze and the Headmaster.
"We verify whether they are alive or dead."
"If they're alive, we extract them."
"If they're imprisoned, we rescue them."
His expression darkened.
"And if they're dead..."
Nobody spoke.
Rio continued.
"We find out who killed them."
His finger moved deeper into Eldros.
"Objective Two."
He paused briefly.
The Cradle of Divinity.
The name alone caused several people to narrow their eyes.
William spoke.
"The Cradle of Divinity?"
Rio nodded.
"If Project Seraph truly exists..."
"There must be a central facility."
"A place where the Artificial Angel is being nurtured."
"A birthplace."
"A workshop."
"A sanctuary."
"Whatever they call it."
His eyes sharpened.
"We locate the Cradle of Divinity."
"And destroy it before completion."
Even Christopher nodded at that.
Then Rio pointed toward the royal capital.
"Objective Three."
The Queen of Eldros.
The room became silent.
"Whether she is being manipulated by Envy."
"Whether she has gone insane."
"Or whether she willingly supports this madness."
"We find the truth."
Joseph crossed his arms.
"And then?"
Rio's gaze became cold.
"Then we decide whether she remains queen."
Silence.
Nobody doubted what he meant.
Rio slowly leaned back.
"Tomorrow the celebration banquet for the conquest of Astryx will take place."
"During that time."
"I'll speak with King Altheris."
"I'll discuss our next steps."
The moment those words left his mouth—
Joseph's fists clenched.
His expression darkened.
"You're going to discuss this..."
"With the King of Verilian?"
Several others shared uneasy glances.
William remained silent.
Anastasia lowered her eyes.
Even Eloise's expression became complicated.
After all—
this was the same man who had crushed Astryx.
The same king whose armies now occupied their homeland.
Rio understood their hesitation.
He truly did.
But—
he shook his head.
"I understand your concerns."
His voice was calm.
"But this situation has already grown far beyond any of us."
His eyes fell upon the map.
Upon Eldros.
Upon the possibility of Hell itself opening.
"We're no longer dealing with kingdoms."
"We're dealing with a catastrophe."
His gaze slowly moved toward everyone present.
"If a gateway to Hell truly opens..."
"Neither Verilian."
"Nor Eldros."
"Nor Astryx."
"Will survive."
The room became deathly silent.
Rio then spoke the simple truth.
"We need reinforcements."
"We need resources."
"We need authority."
"And right now..."
"The strongest force on this continent is Verilian."
Nobody could argue against that.
William eventually sighed.
"...I hate admitting it."
Joseph clicked his tongue.
"Tch."
But neither of them disagreed.
Christopher nodded.
"Then speaking to the King is the correct decision."
Rio finally stood.
"Good."
"Then tomorrow we begin."
As those words fell—
everyone understood.
The meeting had ended.
And the countdown to Eldros had begun.
...
As they were about to depart—
only William and Rio remained inside the room.
The others had already left.
The mansion had become quiet.
Rio was about to leave when—
"Wait."
William's voice stopped him.
Rio glanced back.
William's expression was serious.
"How did you even get your hands on this information?"
Rio raised an eyebrow.
William continued.
"It was obvious you knew nothing about our intelligence network inside Eldros."
"So you couldn't have contacted them."
His eyes narrowed.
"Then how do you know the Queen is trying to open a gateway to Hell?"
Silence.
Rio stared at him for a few moments.
Then—
he chuckled.
A light laugh.
"Don't worry about it."
Rio chuckled.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Who knows?"
"Maybe after everything in Eldros is settled..."
His golden eyes glanced toward William.
"I'll tell you."
William frowned.
Something felt wrong.
Not with the words.
Not with Rio.
Just...
Wrong.
The moment Rio turned around—
William's heartbeat stopped.
The room became silent.
Not normal silence.
Not the absence of sound.
It was as if sound itself had ceased to exist.
No breathing.
No wind.
No movement.
Nothing.
The world had simply stopped.
William's body froze.
His instincts immediately exploded.
DON'T LOOK.
His pupils shrank.
DON'T LOOK.
His breathing became shallow.
DON'T LOOK.
Every survival instinct he possessed screamed the same warning.
Yet his eyes refused to move.
Because Rio was standing there.
Still smiling.
Still facing away from him.
Still completely normal.
Then—
blood slowly began dripping from Rio's eyes.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Dark crimson streaks crawled down his face.
Yet his smile remained.
The smile never changed.
William's fingers trembled.
His body begged him to run.
But his legs wouldn't move.
The pressure in the room increased.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Like something was waking up.
Watching.
Not William.
Not the room.
The entire world.
William felt it.
For the first time in his life.
True terror.
Not fear of death.
Not fear of battle.
Not fear of a stronger opponent.
This was different.
This was the terror of standing before something that should not exist.
Something so far beyond understanding that his mind couldn't even process it correctly.
His thoughts became chaotic.
Fragments.
Broken pieces.
Nonsense.
Yet one thought remained.
DON'T LOOK.
DON'T LOOK.
DON'T LOOK.
Then Rio laughed.
"Hahaha..."
The sound echoed.
William immediately felt his stomach drop.
Because that wasn't Rio's laugh.
No.
It sounded like Rio.
But beneath it—
there were others.
Thousands.
Millions.
Countless voices laughing alongside him.
Children.
Old men.
Women.
Monsters.
Things that didn't even sound human.
All laughing together.
All speaking through one voice.
The laugh grew louder.
And louder.
And louder.
Until it no longer sounded like laughter.
It sounded like the end of something.
Then another voice emerged.
A deeper voice.
Ancient.
Violent.
Filled with endless hatred.
A voice that seemed capable of burning the world itself.
And it laughed.
Wrath laughed.
"Hahahahahahahaha—"
The room shook.
No.
William's soul shook.
The walls twisted.
The floor warped.
Reality itself seemed unstable.
For a brief moment—
William thought he saw it.
Not Rio.
Not a human.
Something else.
Something standing behind him.
Vast.
Endless.
A silhouette large enough to swallow the heavens.
Its eyes opened.
William screamed.
Not outwardly.
Inside his mind.
DON'T LOOK
DON'T LOOK
DON'T LOOK
DON'T LOOK
DON'T LOOK
DON'T LOOK
DON'T LOOK
His thoughts shattered.
His vision blurred.
Blood dripped from his nose.
His ears rang.
His heart felt as though it would burst.
Every instinct.
Every cell.
Every fragment of his existence.
All screaming.
LOOK AWAY.
LOOK AWAY.
LOOK AWAY.
Yet he couldn't.
Because that thing—
that impossible thing—
was looking directly at him.
And it knew.
It knew he had seen it.
...
Then—
everything disappeared.
The pressure.
The laughter.
The blood.
The silhouette.
Gone.
Like a dream.
Like a nightmare.
Like it had never existed.
William stumbled.
His knees nearly gave out.
Cold sweat drenched his body.
His breathing came out ragged.
His hands shook uncontrollably.
Then—
a hand landed on his shoulder.
William nearly collapsed.
Rio stood beside him.
Completely normal.
No blood.
No laughter.
No madness.
Nothing.
Just Rio.
Rio tilted his head.
"Hm?"
"Did you doze off?"
William stared at him.
His throat felt dry.
His voice came out hoarse.
"...W-what?"
Rio chuckled.
A perfectly normal chuckle.
"Anyways."
"I'll see you later."
He patted William's shoulder.
Then casually walked out of the room.
Leaving William standing there.
Alone.
Trembling.
And for the first time since becoming a swordsman—
William Astryx was afraid.
Not of Rio.
Not of whatever he had seen.
But of one terrifying possibility.
That all of it...
was real.