The world tilted when they stepped through the portal. For a brief moment, Orion felt like he was being folded into origami, bent and crumpled through colours that shouldn't exist, and then...
He stumbled forward into blinding white light.
His jaw nearly hit the floor.
Before him stretched a colossal facility that looked like it had been ripped out of some futuristic sci-fi blockbuster. Sleek steel walls towered upward, lined with glowing blue veins that pulsed like arteries. Platforms floated in midair, ferrying uniformed exorcists from one sector to another. Elevators shot up and down transparent shafts, vanishing into levels so deep below he couldn't even see the bottom. Giant holographic displays flickered across the walls, showing maps, readings, and streams of data Orion couldn't even begin to comprehend.
The place was alive with movement.
People in identical black-and-silver uniforms hurried about, carrying tablets, weapons, or strange items sealed in glass cases. Teams jogged past him in formation. It was hard to believe that this many people were exorcists, or at least supported them.
And all Orion could think was:
'This… is the headquarters of demon hunters?'
He had expected something very different.
A church, maybe. One with old priests chanting in Latin and swinging incense. Or a monastery full of bald monks tapping beads and muttering prayers about salvation. Hell, maybe even a grim military base with sandbags and shooting ranges.
But this?
This was greater than both.
It was a fusion of technology and the supernatural, a machine built to keep the world from collapsing under the weight of demons.
And the craziest part? This was only what he could see from the entrance. For all he knew, the facility was just one of many. It could also go on for miles underground, or maybe it wasn't underground at all. Maybe this was a pocket dimension, or somewhere on another planet.
At this point, Orion had learned not to have any limitations or expectations.
"Move," Kalen instructed sternly, yanking him by the hood.
Orion glanced sideways at the man dragging him along. The Silver Blade looked right at home here. And by the way everyone else stiffened or snapped to attention the moment he passed, he could tell this guy wasn't your average officer here. He was respected. Feared, even. Probably some uptight superior who made rookies wet themselves during training drills.
'Figures. He fights like the final boss of a video game.'
Still, Orion couldn't shake the thought. 'There's no way everyone here is as strong as him. If they were, the whole world would just be a battlefield of overpowered exorcists turning cities into rubble.'
He had no way to confirm and had other things to worry about as he was passed on to someone else. It was as if dealing with him was beneath Kalen.
"Check if he's on our database," the Silver Blade barked, his tone clipped and precise. "Then place him in a holding cell."
"Also, it is clear to send out some auxiliary squads to clean up, but tell them to remain vigilant," he added.
The unlucky officer, who had met his gaze and was chosen, flinched before nodding. "Yes, sir."
He then gestured, and two others immediately seized Orion by the arms.
"Wait, what-? Where are you even taking me?" Orion yelped as they dragged him down a hallway, to no response.
'Damn, these guys are strong as hell,' he groaned internally before turning back to look at that silver-haired bastard one more time.
Kalen just exhaled a long, tired sigh and turned toward an office, his silver hair catching the glow of the lights as he walked away. He looked like a man who'd carried the weight of the world on his back for too long.
Orion, meanwhile, got the criminal treatment.
First, they snapped a picture of his face and ran it through their system. No results.
Then, they took his fingerprints.
And lastly, a full-body scan that made him feel like he was in an airport security line from the future. Strange glyphs spun around him, beams of light washing over his body from head to toe, like they were stripping his soul naked.
"Damn," Orion muttered as he stepped off the platform. "You guys are serious about this? What's next? An anal probe?"
Silence. The officers ignored him and his jokes, just like the Silver Blade had.
But Orion's eyes darted everywhere, soaking in everything. Transparent screens floating in the air. Drones buzzing overhead like mechanical fireflies. Doors slid open and shut as he passed, offering fleeting glimpses of rooms filled with strange machinery and even stranger figures.
The facility seemed to stretch on without end, a labyrinth of secrets humming just out of his reach.
'This is insane,' he thought, heart hammering with awe. 'I assumed the government had cool top-secret stuff hidden from us, but this? This looks beyond the government - it could even be the other way around. Maybe the government works for them.'
Not that he could ask. His escorts weren't exactly chatty.
Finally, after finishing their procedures, they shoved him into what they called a holding cell.
It was nothing like a jail. No bars, no cots, no toilet in the corner. Just a massive cube of reinforced metal, the walls humming faintly like they were charged with some kind of energy field. The door sealed behind him with a hiss.
And just like that, he was alone.
Surprisingly calm despite… well, everything, Orion exhaled slowly and sat down cross-legged in the middle of the floor.
"Alright," he muttered. "Step one: don't die. Step two: figure out what the hell is happening. Step three: profit."
His lips curled in a smirk despite himself. He wasn't scared. Not anymore. If anything, he was fascinated. He'd just seen a glimpse of a hidden world - one filled with supernatural warriors, futuristic technology, and demons.
And most importantly…
He still had the Exorcist System in his head.
That floating eyeball, that strange voice. He hadn't imagined it. It was real, just like everything else was. Which meant his story was just beginning. And one way or another, he would benefit from this all.
After all, if Orion was anything, he was an opportunist.
And maybe being here was the biggest opportunity he could ask for, alongside the Exorcist System. In the heat of the moment, he had almost forgotten about it, but now, sitting alone in the holding cell, it was at the forefront of his mind.
'Time to see what this system can do.'
But what he didn't know, what he couldn't know, was that outside his cell, chaos was about to ensue within the headquarters.
Something was causing a commotion.
Or, more correctly... someone.
And once again, Orion was about to find himself at the very centre of it all.