The Mysterious Continent — The Region of Doors —
At the heart of the most impossible labyrinth of all...
Amid the thunderous conflicts and endless battles ravaging the continent...
Three demons alone had managed to seize control of the labyrinth’s central region, gaining the upper hand over the other races.
Stationed at the center, the old demon Marvas wandered among the doors from time to time, inspecting them carefully and attempting to study their structure in hopes of uncovering something that might help him understand and surpass them.
Behind him, Agares followed under Crimson’s direct orders.
Among the three of them, Crimson alone was permitted to move freely due to his overwhelming strength.
As for Marvas and Agares...
They were forced to travel together to avoid being ambushed by enemies lurking in every direction.
"Old man... do you seriously have to do this every single day? All you ever do is stare at those damn doors without accomplishing anything."
Agares, holder of the Second Rank, complained irritably, clearly annoyed at being forced to accompany the endlessly boring Marvas.
The old demon showed no reaction whatsoever to Agares’ tone and simply continued what he was doing.
"Violence isn’t always the only answer, Agares."
"Yes, the number of doors decreases whenever someone dies in this place..."
"But we’ve already reached a dead end. Starting another reckless battle without thought would be foolish."
Marvas was right.
And Agares understood that perfectly well.
With so many terrifying existences gathered within one place, entering random battles had become extremely dangerous due to the constant risk of betrayal and outside interference.
Exactly as Crimson had done when he nearly killed both Midir and Gael during the peak of their battle.
The same thing could happen to any of them.
And that reality created a stagnant silence that now dominated the entire region.
Even Gael himself had stopped charging recklessly into battle after realizing his own life was no longer guaranteed.
"It’s already been an entire month since we entered this cursed place..."
"A whole month spent doing nothing except wandering through endless random labyrinths without gaining anything meaningful."
Agares sat nearby while watching Marvas closely, impatience obvious on his face.
"We know absolutely nothing about this place, and all communication with the outside world has been completely severed."
"In other words... we’re completely ignorant of what’s happening both inside this continent and outside it."
Exploding the ground beneath him in frustration, Agares attempted to destroy one of the nearby doors.
Yet unlike the earth and everything else around them...
The doors themselves were impossibly durable, protected by some bizarre force neither of them could break.
Crimson was different.
He had previously managed to destroy one of the doors after attacking it seriously.
Yet even that changed nothing.
Another door had simply appeared in place of the destroyed one.
"Agares... I know you’re nothing more than a thick-skulled brute who relies solely on physical strength, but even empty-headed idiots are capable of understanding that this continent is anything but ordinary."
Marvas spoke without even turning toward him.
The insult immediately ignited visible anger within Agares, but the old demon continued speaking regardless.
"Think, Agares. Think."
"Why do you believe these labyrinths exist in the first place? Why are they this numerous... and this difficult?"
At the question, Agares fell silent for a moment before eventually answering after calming himself.
"To hide something..."
"That’s right," Marvas confirmed with approval.
"The more effort someone puts into hiding something... the more valuable whatever they’re hiding becomes."
"I’ve lived for longer than most living beings in this vast world of ours... yet I’ve never once seen labyrinths like these."
"The one who designed them seems desperate."
"Desperate to keep everyone away for as long as possible... terrified that someone might uncover the secret hidden at the continent’s core."
Marvas brushed his fingers across the surface of one of the doors before turning toward Agares.
"Look around you."
"Every race sent forth its strongest warriors and greatest elites because they all understand one thing clearly..."
"This may very well be the Land of Opportunity they’ve sought for so long."
"Whatever lies in the depths of this place... will be enough to change everything."
"A massive number of powerful figures have already died merely trying to surpass these labyrinths."
That was another detail Marvas had noticed.
And most of those within the Region of Doors had noticed it as well.
The labyrinths had clearly been designed to fulfill two objectives.
The first...
Was slowing them down and preventing them from reaching the continent’s depths.
The second...
Was reducing their numbers as much as possible.
As though someone was trying to kill them slowly.
Like a poison gradually taking effect over time.
"If only the King were here... he would’ve slaughtered all those bastards already and found the correct door by now."
Agares leaned lazily against one of the doors, having completely given up on searching.
Marvas sighed softly in response.
"There’s no point dwelling on impossible scenarios."
"The King remains imprisoned beneath Nameless’ seal, and it doesn’t seem like he’ll be escaping anytime soon."
He spoke casually and with complete confidence...
Completely unaware that the very King he spoke of had already been freed.
"The King may not be here, but we’re fortunate to have Crimson, the First Rank."
"I doubt anyone in this world is capable of defeating him right now aside from the King himself."
At that, Agares nodded in agreement.
"That bastard... he’s grown absurdly strong."
"If I remember correctly, there was once a time when you ranked above him, old man."
Agares laughed, taking the opportunity to provoke Marvas.
After all...
Marvas was one of the oldest demons in existence and had once held the title of First Upper Demon himself.
But over the long passage of years...
He had fallen far from that throne.
Even so, when it came to Crimson specifically, Marvas showed no irritation whatsoever.
"The current First Rank is different."
"He’s different from all of us."
"In many ways... he resembles the King more than any other demon alive."
Crimson’s strength was so overwhelming that Marvas felt no resentment toward being surpassed by him.
The gap between them was simply too vast.
Unlike his hatred toward Wesker, whom he never considered worthy of surpassing him in rank—
Neither him...
Nor his foolish sister, Vayne.
Marvas’ final words carried hidden meaning.
The resemblance he spoke of concerned their horns.
Marvas possessed a single horn extending from the back of his head, while Agares had two emerging from his forehead.
Unlike Agaroth and Crimson...
Who possessed none at all for reasons neither of them understood.
The two demons discussed that strange difference for a while before suddenly falling silent after sensing a terrifying presence approaching.
"Speaking of the devil..."
Marvas slowly turned his head.
A crimson-red meteor descended from the sky before them, unleashing a violent storm both demons were forced to resist.
From within the smoke and dust...
Crimson emerged carrying his colossal spear, his armor shining more brilliantly than ever before.
The look on the First Upper Demon’s face carried clear traces of irritation and impatience, allowing Marvas to immediately understand what had happened.
"Another failure?" he asked.
Crimson nodded.
"Yes."
"Just another damned labyrinth."
Letting out a long breath, Crimson swept his crimson eyes across the surrounding area.
The Red Moon had been moving constantly lately.
Ever since the major powers stopped openly fighting out of fear of betrayal and ambushes, Crimson had begun entering the remaining doors one after another personally, searching for the correct path himself.
Yet every single time...
He found himself inside another meaningless labyrinth that forced him several steps backward once more.
Even so, he always managed to return quickly and crush anything standing in his path thanks to his overwhelming strength and speed.
By counting the latest attempt, Marvas realized that Crimson had already cleared well over a hundred doors in an absurdly short period of time.
"What’s our next move? At this rate, we might remain trapped here for months without finding the correct path."
Agares spoke with visible irritation, though his tone became noticeably more respectful whenever addressing Crimson.
The First Upper Demon looked entirely prepared to continue breaking through doors forever if necessary.
"I’ll enter every damned door in this region."
"And if none of them are the correct one... then we’ll invade the other territories until we find the proper path."
"Weeks. Months. Years."
"So be it."
"We’ll continue searching for however long it takes."