The world thought the nightmare had ended.
The Regional Devourers were gone.
The self-proclaimed "God" had vanished.
Ryu Arc had sacrificed his strength and lived as a man of peace.
But the truth… had only just begun to surface.
---
A Whisper in the Shadows
Five years after the great war, strange anomalies began occurring across the continents.
People—ordinary ones—started disappearing.
Temples that had long been sealed began to hum with strange power.
Ruins once dormant began pulsing with energy patterns not native to the world.
In the heart of the Fleedorb Empire, a secret investigation led by the Emperor's personal scholars uncovered a forbidden scroll.
The markings on it were not of any known language.
But with help from some of the oldest Elven scholars and Dwarven rune-smiths, the truth was uncovered:
> "The being called God... was summoned. Not born of this world. Not awakened—but brought."
The energy signature used was not native to this world at all.
It belonged to another realm entirely—an alternate world that no one had ever reached… until now.
---
The Council of Seven
A secret meeting was called.
The seven strongest remaining World-Class Mobs—known as the Council of Seven—gathered in a hidden stronghold beneath the Floating City of Narveil.
Even Reina Arc was summoned to speak, as both a survivor of the first war and a wielder of 7th Stage power.
The Emperor spoke first.
> "If what we've uncovered is true... then the being we fought wasn't acting alone. He was sent. Brought forth. Which means... someone here opened the gate."
Silence filled the hall.
None had an answer. But fear ran deep in all hearts.
---
Mina Arc's Discovery
While this council discussed politics and dangers, Mina Arc—now one of the top researchers in Fleedorb—made her own discovery.
She had been researching Caline Arc's unusual energy flows.
Caline was barely five years old, but her body showed signs of dual essence—a hybrid of external and internal mob energy, and something else…
> A third pulse.
Subtle. Dark. Familiar.
It was the same pattern Mina had detected during the examination of Ryu years ago—when the blackish heart was sealed inside him.
Except now... it was dormant, resting inside Caline.
> "Ryu didn't carry the god's seed... he carried a key."
Mina panicked.
If Caline was the vessel now… then the "God" may not be dead at all.
---
A Second Gate
On the western edge of the world, near the ruins of a long-destroyed nation, a tremor broke the skies.
A second gate began to open.
This time, the energy was stronger—less chaotic, more controlled. It was no longer a test invasion.
It was an arrival.
---
In the Arc Household
Ryu sat silently that night under the stars.
He felt it—deep in his bones.
A chill he hadn't felt since the battlefield.
Even as a man stripped of his mob foundation, his instincts hadn't left him.
Reina sat beside him, brushing Caline's hair as the child slept.
> "...It's not over, is it?" Reina asked quietly.
Ryu didn't answer for a moment. Then whispered,
> "No. Something... or someone... is coming again."
---
To be continued...