The Christmas gala at the Grand Lapis Hotel, situated right beside the Essence of Strait headquarters, was intended to be a symbol of humanity's resilience.
The 40th-floor ballroom was a dizzying fusion of 21st-century opulence and Loen-style Victorian elegance. Crystal chandeliers hummed with mana-circuits while tuxedo-clad Heroes discussed the recent stabilization of The Unified North.
Then, the festive music was silenced.
BOOM!
A catastrophic explosion tore through the 40th floor, blowing outward like a blossoming flower of fire and steel.
Glass shards, glowing with high-velocity kinetic energy, rained down upon the panicked streets below. From the heart of the billowing black smoke, a woman soared.
Jin Sahyuk didn't fall; she ascended. Her eyes were burning with a sharp, arrogant light as she gestured with both hands.
"Bell?!" she snarled.
Around her, the air vibrated and fractured.
Hundreds of illusory weapons—crystalline spears, jagged broadswords, and shimmering axes—materialized in a rotating halo.
These weren't mere conjurations; they were manifestations of her Reality Manipulation Authority. As demonic orbs of corrosive shadow shot from the smoke, Sahyuk's weapons met them mid-air, changing the physical properties of the demonic fire into harmless sparks upon impact.
Suddenly, the festive atmosphere was replaced by a suffocating, leaden weight.
This wasn't the standard magic power of a high-tier Djinn.
This was a primordial pressure that bypassed physical armor, pressing directly against the hearts of everyone in the district, roof and whole of Seoul.
Aileen, the Association's Executive, stepped onto the air, her breath hitching. She saw the shadow rising from the hotel ruins—a figure using the body of Bell as a host, but radiating a malice that belonged to the Devils.
"FREEZE!" Aileen's Spirit Speech roared.
The sound wave rippled through the air, turning the falling debris into static sculptures of ice and stone. People on the streets started panicing and running away from the falling debris, that was frozen in the air now.
But the shadow didn't stop.
In that heartbeat, the sky above Seoul flickered, and a massive blue scenario window burned into the retinas of every living soul in the city.
===
< Hidden Scenario – First Devil>
Category: Hidden Difficulty: ???
Clear Conditions: Defeat the 'Collector of the Worlds - Baal' that found his way into this world.
Time Limit: — Reward: ???
Failure: Further Demon Realm transformation of Earth.
===
On the roof of Essence of Strait's headquarters, Yoo Joonghyuk unsealed his sword, the black blade humming with the weight of transcendence, his black coat and scarf faltering in the cold wind. He looked up, his gaze meeting Jin Sahyuk's.
"You look like you're struggling," Joonghyuk called out, his voice a low rumble.
"And you look like you're still a brooding bastard who spends too much time on his hair!" Sahyuk screamed back, barely dodging a dark meteor. "Are you going to keep posing, or are you going to help me?!"
The snow of Seoul, once pristine and festive, was instantly vaporized by a pillar of obsidian fire that geysered through the Grand Lapis Hotel.
The explosion at the 40th floor rippled the very fabric of space, a side effect of the 1st Devil Baal using Bell's body as a vessel—a void manifesting in a world of matter.
The giant illusory figure of Baal now stood 100 meters tall, its head wreathed in the fractured clouds of the Star Stream.
With a flick of its hand, the shadow unleashed a magical storm.
Meteors, wrapped in the corruption of the demonic energy, began to rain down, targeting the Essence of Strait building.
A blinding arc of holy light sliced through the sky.
Kim Suho, holding the glowing Misteltein, stood atop a nearby rooftop.
The black branch emitted a resonance that purified the air, its "Concept Cutting" ability slicing through the very trajectory of the falling meteors.
"Suho-ssi, cover the left flank!" Heynckes shouted. The legendary German Hero stood at the hotel's entrance, his skin shimmering with the Authority of Steel. He caught a charging, three-headed demon with his bare hands, the demonic fire washing over his metallic skin like harmless water. He laughed, a booming sound that gave heart to the fleeing civilians.
"Hallo, monster! Have you ever tasted German steel?"
Beside him, Fors Wall flipped through a spectral book.
From her notebook, a torrent of blue flame erupted, incinerating a squad of lesser demons. She adjusted her glasses, her eyes scanning the battlefield with the analytical calm of a high-sequence Apprentice.
"The spatial coordinates of Baal's manifestations are erratic. He isn't fully anchored to this world."
"Han Sooyoung! How long are you going to stare at your nails?!" Sahyuk yelled, her illusory weapons now forming a grand wall to protect the evacuation routes.
Han Sooyoung sat on a chair, her hands in her pockets. She watched the chaos with a smirk. Beside her, a small, dark shadow flickered—the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon in its incarnation body, currently grumbling about the "lack of dramatic flair."
"Patience, you lizard," Sooyoung muttered.
Suddenly, her pupils dilated, shifting from black to a deep, royal purple. Her status amplified, the [Predictive Plagiarism] skill spinning millions of possibilities.
A roar that shook the very foundation of Seoul erupted as the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon and Uriel manifested their powers.
"What are the other Constellations of Korean peninsula doing?!"
[Constellation 'Bald General of Justice' is polishing his head to blind filthy Devil.]
Uriel, the [Demon-like Judge of Fire], descended in a whirlwind of white-hot flames, her wings expanding to cover the sky. She used the literal judgment of the stars to burn the demonic army to ash.
As the battle intensified, Jin Sahyuk's voice echoed directly inside Yoo Joonghyuk's mind.
«Listen to me, Joonghyuk. Something is wrong. Baal's magical power is leaking. If he had his full authority, this entire city would already be a Demon Realm.»
Joonghyuk parried a blow from a Nine Evil, his eyes narrowing. «Explain.»
«I guess... that servant of mine must have done something in the Demon Realm. Baal's castle is gone. He's a king without a throne, desperate for a new anchor. Bell's last conscious message warned me—do not let him reach North Hamgyeong.»
Joonghyuk's heart stilled.
North Hamgyeong—the location of the Demon Realm Gate.
«Without his castle, he can't utilize his full powers. I have zero idea why, but behind that Gate might be something Baal needs.»
Just as the heroes began to push back the demon army, a new threat emerged from the shadows of the ruins. Members of the School of God's Descent and the Nightstalkers materialized, their eyes glowing with the madness of the Mother Goddess of Depravity.
"Traitors of the Earth!" Monsterrat shrieked, his voice distorted by the Chaos Primogenitor pathway. "You allowed the Moon to be destroyed! You allowed our Mother to be wounded! Now, you shall rot in the soil!"
Pualis de Roquefort (Madame Night) gestured, and the fallen bodies of demons and heroes alike began to bloat and mutate, turning into carnivorous vines and bloated abominations. The heroes which tried to attack her were stunned by her immense beauty.
The battle turned into a three-way slaughterhouse. Baal and Djinns were now joined by the vengeful worshippers of the Outer Deity.
The air in Seoul grew thick with the scenario effects.
Across the street, now in the Essence of Strait command center, Yoo Yeonha moved with mechanical precision. Her Skills, allowed her to process the tactical data. She wasn't fighting with a sword; she was fighting with the logistics of gods.
"North flank is failing! Red Gloves, move in!" Yeonha commanded over the secure channel.
From the shadows of the alleyways, the Red Gloves of Evernight manifested. Clad in deep crimson and black, they moved with a silent, terrifying grace.
Beside them, the Mandated Punishers of the Lord of Storms unleashed literal lightning from their fists, their Sailor Pathway powers amplified by the chaotic tides of the Star Stream.
Three of the Nine Evils stepped forward, their forms twisting in Devil Transformation:
Zhong Wang, the Architect of Ruin, seventh of Nine Evils. His skin turned into jagged black marble. He slammed his hands onto the pavement, and the street itself rose like a tidal wave of stone, attempting to crush the Essence of Strait building.
Vepar, third of the Nine Evils. Her hair turned into a swarm of corrosive, violet eels. The devil she signed contract with is Foras. She exhaled a mist that dissolved the magical shields of the lower-rank heroes.
Pasha Vitovski, the Iron Scourge, second of Nine Evils. A puppet of the tenth Devil which was already defeated by Secretive Plotter in Demon Realm. He manifested a fortress of cursed iron around himself, turning into a living siege engine that fired spikes of "Fate-Wounding" metal. He was currently in a battle with Yoo Joonghyuk.
Fors Wall disappeared and then appeared again. Beside her stood a very short woman, with features that made her look young and immature, she was almost the same height as Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung.
Xio Derecha, now a Sequence 4 Imperative Mage, stepped forward.
She didn't draw a blade; she drew a law.
"DEVIL TRANSFORMATION IS PROHIBITED IN THIS AREA!" The invisible weight of the Law, combined with her new power of Deprevation, slammed into the Three Evils. Pasha's iron fortress cracked, and Zhong Wang's stone wave faltered as the "logic" of their devil forms was momentarily suppressed, but not entirely, after all she was only a Sequence 4.
And, talking about Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung, a giant Chimera Dragon swallowed tenths of Nightstalkers, while swarms of enormous insects clashed with thousands of lesser demons.
At the same time everyone began using their narrative powers.
[Giant Story 'Torch That Swallowed the Myth' has begun its storytellin!]
[Giant Story 'Season of Light and Darkness' has begun its storytelling!]
...
Seizing the opening, Jin Seyeon, the Divine Archer, took her position on a skyscraper's spire. She pulled back her bow, her Gift manifesting an arrow made of concentrated sun-fire. It tore through Vepar's corrosive mist, evaporating the demoness's hair in a flash of holy light.
Baal, however, was unimpressed. He ignored the heroes, incarnations and beyonders, his gaze fixed on the North Hamgyeong Province. Every step he took left a crater of void that consumed the streets.
Yoo Yeonha clasped her hands and began praying:
"The Evernight Goddess stands higher than the cosmos
and more eternal than eternity..."
She chuckled midprayer, but continued:
"Support needed, we cannot let Baal reach the North Hamgeyong!"
Suddenly, the sky—already fractured—went pitch black.
The stars didn't just dim; they were replaced by a peaceful, terrifying tranquility.
A giant hand, pale and translucent, emerged from a rift of darkness.
The Evernight Goddess herself descended into the scenario, her presence causing even the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon to quiet down.
She held a sword that seemed to be made of the first and last twilight of the universe.
With a motion that was both slow and blindingly fast, she sliced through the air. The Sword met Baal's shadow.
The impact wasn't a sound; it was a cosmic silence that extinguished every light in Seoul for a full five seconds.
Evernights hand with a giant twilight sword disappeared back into the rift.
Baal's shadow form was cleaved in two, a jagged wound of pure white light appearing across his chest. Yet, because of the Convergence Probability and his connection to the Star Will, Baal didn't dissipate.
He utilized the momentum of the strike, turning into a streak of dark lightning that bypassed the heroes and reached the Demon Realm Gate in North Hamgyeong.
"I ASKED FOR THE CONCEALMENT OF THE GATE, YOU..!" Yoo Yeonha cursed under her breath.
The giant Demon Realm Gate began to groan, releasing a pulsating tide of violet magic power that spread across the peninsula like a shockwave.
Runic symbols, ancient and terrifying, rose into the air.
Through the Star Will system, the message was translated for everyone:
[The Demon Realm Gate shall determine who among the humans gathered here qualifies to enter it.]
A deathly silence fell over the battlefield.
Branch-shaped magic power, thick and obsidian-colored, erupted from the half-open Gate. They moved like living snakes, seeking specific targets.
—Kieeeek!
Two of the massive branches lashed out, wrapping around Jin Sahyuk and Yoo Joonghyuk with the force of a collapsing star.
"What the…! I'm a King, you piece of—!" Sahyuk's voice was cut off as the branch tightened.
"Not again," Joonghyuk growled, his [Giant Story] flaring in a desperate attempt to break the tether.
But there was no resisting the Gate's selection.
Along with 200 of the strongest Heroes, Incarnations, Constellations and Beyonders—including Kim Suho, Fors Wall, and Uriel's incarnation—they were dragged into the yawning, dark mouth of the Demon Realm.
The Gate slammed shut, leaving the survivors in a ruined, silent Seoul, staring at a sky that had just swallowed their greatest hope.
The Christmas lights flickered one last time before dying out completely.