"It’s a ritual," Grozque’s voice rang out through the space.
"This is a ritual ground. The altar itself is the clearest proof of that."
"These Foreigner Archguards died due to having their blood sucked out. That’s the power of the runes present in that altar."
"It sucked their blood, transferring it to wherever this portal is..." he explained.
But Orrelith shook her head.
"No. It didn’t suck their blood."
"It sucked away their energy—blood energy, to be exact."
"When I placed my hand on it, it tried to suck mine. But my divine concentration was beyond it, and therefore, it shattered into pieces."
"When blood energy is completely sucked away, the blood itself refuses to exist," she explained, as Ryuk—standing behind them—narrowed his eyes in thought.
"So the altar was sucking the energy of the Archguards and transferring it to an altar located in a different area?" he muttered silently to himself.
What happens to this energy? Is it being harnessed by someone? Or is it being used by something?
Just what is it being used for?
Why target only the Foreigner Archguards instead of the True Archguards or any other Fallen Angel or race?
Just who is behind all this?
What is their purpose?
The questions stirred questions after questions into Ryuk, whose brows creased sharply.
Everything he’d ever been involved in before, he always had a clear head, and just enough information to justify what he was doing.
But this time... he felt lost.
"Our mission was to find the missing Archguards," Grozque’s voice echoed through, silencing their thoughts.
"Which we have."
"We take them back to base and report." He said in a finalized tone.
"The Crimson Demons are an occultic race. What’s going on here is most likely one of their bizarre awakening rituals."
’Awakening ritual?’ Ryuk repeated in his head, introduced to a term he’d never heard before.
"But whatever it is, it’s none of our business. If the base wants to find out more, they’ll post a new Loyalty Quest for it."
"For now, our mission is complete," Grozque concluded.
But just then, it flashed before Ryuk’s eyes:
[Secret Mission: Find the Archguards — Completed]
[Reward: ???]
[New Mission: Find the Reason for the Missing Archguards.]
[Time Limit to begin: 5 Hours!]
The system notification flickered as Ryuk’s eyes widened and his brows tightened further.
’A new mission? And it has a time limit!? This... this is the first time that’s happened.’
While the others were busy packing up the corpses, stuffing them into storage bags, Ryuk and Orrelith were the only two who stood idle.
And unlike Ryuk, busy fidgeting with the System panel and lost in his thoughts.
She was well conscious and could see his creased brows as he stared blankly at the ground.
"Is something the problem?" her voice echoed beside him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He turned slightly, meeting her unblinking golden eyes, which seemed to stare right into his soul.
She knew something was off.
But Ryuk couldn’t mention the system’s mission. Instead—
"I think..." he started, pausing with reluctance in his tone.
The hesitation only intrigued her further.
"You think what?" she asked.
"I think I can," he said, pausing again before stepping forward, descending from the mountain ridge, and landing on the runic circle drawn into the ground.
Now, the strange, incomplete circle beneath him looked so much more familiar after her actions.
It was the same image he’d seen flash into his mind right before Orrelith shattered the altar into fragments.
Without wasting another second, Ryuk’s hand morphed into a claw, folding tightly into his palm until blood began to drip.
Orrelith slowly descended as she observed him in silence.
At first, she was amused for his blood wasn’t red or golden—it was white, milky white.
That alone was unusual, as she’d never seen a race with white blood before.
But it didn’t stop there. Ryuk moved toward the incomplete runes and began to spill his blood onto them.
He wasn’t just dumping it.
He traced it, pausing at certain points, then continuing again—carefully and deliberately, like a ritual of his own.
By the time the group finished storing the bodies, Ryuk was still at it.
"What... what is he doing this time?" Grozque muttered tiredly as he descended from the mountain ridge and stepped forward towards him, only to be blocked by Orrelith, who spread her hands, stopping him in his tracks.
"Let him continue," she said calmly.
With Orrelith holding them back, Ryuk got his chance.
He tried to draw the image, as he had seen it in his memory.
It was hard.
The more he drew, the more the image seemed to blur in his mind.
But he pushed through, sweat pouring down his temple.
And finally, when the last stroke was done—
RIIIIIPPPLLLLLEEE
A bizarre red ripple surged beneath their feet, shaking the entire ground like an earthquake.
Ryuk stepped back as the runic circle lit up brilliantly.
The tremors didn’t stop—only worsened with each second.
Then suddenly, something began to emerge from the runes.
It rose slowly, grandly, into the air, at a height of ten meters, before stopping.
A grand door, built from ancient black stones, streaked with crimson runes all over its surface.
There was no aura coming from it.
It looked like an ordinary door.
But Ryuk glanced beneath his feet—
CRACCKK
CRAAACCKK
Spiderweb cracks spread out beneath him.
The gravity had just increased by thousands of times.
GRUUUUUUUUMMMMM
Moments after its appearance, the door began opening, its frame swinging slowly backward into itself.
And within it was a revolving vortex of deep crimson spun quietly, ominously.
Silently revolving and...waiting.
It was clear to Ryuk.
’This was the answer to the quest he had been given by the system.’
But he didn’t jump in immediately.
He turned toward the group, who all stood in stunned silence.
Especially Orrelith, whose brows were now slightly creased.
"I think I can open the door to wherever the energy is being sent," he finally completed.
As he spoke, Orrelith took a silent step forward toward the door, but