The red dot on the digital map pulsed slowly rhythmic, like a heart waking from a sleep that lasted millennia. The dim lights of Ravel Tower reflected across the faces of Arel, Mira, and Lynette, all suddenly more tense than a minute ago.
Arel swallowed hard.
"…So this is the location? The Edenveil gate emerged in"
Lynette nodded before he could finish.
"North Jakarta."
Mira immediately massaged her temples.
"I knew it. That place has been cracked with weird energy for two months."
Arel frowned in disbelief.
"North Jakarta? Seriously? Hot, traffic jams, random buildings, floods that's not a portal to Edenveil, that's a portal to stress."
Mira pinched his arm.
"Shut up. Portals don't choose locations based on aesthetics."
Lynette slid the map and zoomed in.
The pulsing red dot landed squarely on
Old Ancol Harbor Complex Warehouse 7F.
Abandoned. Government-sealed. Packed with rumors.
A place locals always called "noisy at midnight."
Now Arel knew why.
"High-level entities often appear there," Lynette explained. "And the pulsations tripled these past two weeks."
Mira folded her arms against her chest, breathing uneven.
"If that's really the Edenveil gate… the Demon Cult will definitely target it."
Arel held his breath.
"So… we're going there?"
Mira shot him a sharp look.
"You're a Guardian Lineage, Rel. Want it or not, you're coming."
Arel opened his mouth to argue when suddenly
KRRRIIIK
A scraping sound slid across the roof.
Like something dragging metal from the outside.
Everyone froze.
Lynette grabbed her scanner. The red light flickered violently.
"…Something's here," she whispered.
Mira lifted her knife silently, body switching into attack mode.
Arel stood closest to the back door.
The back of his neck went ice-cold.
THUD — THUD — THUD
Footsteps.
Heavy. Measured. Approaching.
Mira yanked Arel behind her, shielding him.
"Rel, whatever walks through that door, don't try to be cool. Hit the floor."
Arel wanted to protest, but didn't get the chance.
Because the back door
BRAAAAKKK!
was ripped off its hinges.
A figure stepped inside.
A body wrapped in black robes marked with red sigils.
A metal mask with three vertical slits.
The smell of sulfur flooding the room.
An Acolyte of the Fallen.
A second-tier envoy of the Demon Cult.
Arel froze.
Mira dropped into battle stance.
Lynette retreated, activating her energy scanner.
The Acolyte stared at Arel in silence… then lowered its head.
As if studying prey.
A rasp slipped from behind the mask.
"New Guardian… finally revealed."
Arel felt his bones turn cold.
Mira stepped forward.
"You just walked into the wrong room, trash."
The Acolyte lifted something long from its robe.
Not a sword.
Not a spear.
A black scroll.
Arel recognized it.
The same symbol carved on Lynette's body.
The same scroll the cult used to summon entities beyond the veil of reality.
"Level Four Summoning Scroll…" Lynette whispered, face draining of color.
The Acolyte raised the scroll overhead.
Its surface began to pulse.
Symbols stretched and warped.
The air thickened.
The walls trembled.
"He's calling something!" Lynette shouted.
Mira lunged
but the Acolyte unfurled the scroll before she even reached him.
BRUUAAAAARRRRKKK!!
A blast of energy erupted.
Lights shattered.
Glass splintered.
Arel was thrown against the wall.
In the darkness, a shape began forming.
Not human.
Not animal.
Not any spirit that should exist here.
A towering shadow with twisted horns and arms like dried roots.
Something that should never appear in the modern world.
A FALLEN SHADE.
Mira cursed loudly.
"This is way above my pay grade!!"
Arel pushed himself up, feeling blood drip down his forehead.
"I… I can't fight that. I'm nobody!"
Lynette snapped toward him.
"Nobody?!"
She pointed at the glowing mark on Arel's hand now burning even brighter.
"Rel, look! Your mark is reacting to the Edenveil gate!"
Arel stared as the lines of light crawled up his arm.
Warm.
Pulsing.
Alive.
Mira shouted while holding back the Fallen Shade with her energy-charged blade.
"Arel!! If you don't activate that line, you're dead!!"
Arel's hands trembled violently.
"I DON'T KNOW HOW!!"
Lynette fired back.
"Think of one thing just one thing you want to protect!"
Arel closed his eyes.
Silence.
In his mind… he saw his father's silhouette.
Tang Khaiel.
Standing before a massive luminous tree.
Smiling faintly.
"Protect Edenveil, son."
Light exploded from Arel's hands.
BRUUUUUMMM!!!
The Fallen Shade recoiled with a shriek.
Mira was blasted back but survived.
Arel stood
eyes glowing white-gold.
Mira swallowed hard.
"…holy crap. Now that's a Guardian."
Lynette stared at him, tears gathering.
"Rel… you just opened your first access."
The Acolyte stumbled backward.
Its voice trembled.
"The gate… has chosen…"
In a burst of black smoke, it fled through the wall.
Only Arel, Mira, Lynette, and the Fallen Shade remained
the creature dragging itself back into the dark…
growling in fury.
Mira exhaled sharply.
"We need to get out.
The Edenveil gate opens in 48 hours."
Arel looked at his glowing hands.
"…and if I'm not ready?"
Mira met his eyes.
"You have to be.
Because if you fall
the fruit goes into the wrong hands."
Lynette added softly, trembling:
"And if that happens… this world ends."