(Narrator POV)

The three black vans rolled quietly into the back entrance of Lebius City Bank. To an ordinary passerby, it looked like any other staff parking zone — plain concrete walls, dim lights, and yellow caution lines fading with age.

But the moment one of the soldiers stepped forward and punched in a code on the steel keypad, the ground beneath them gave a low metallic groan.

A vibration rippled through the air.

Then, with a deep hum, the entire platform began to descend.

Yuuta gripped the side handle inside the van, eyes wide. He'd seen hidden elevators and secret bases plenty of times — in action movies, in anime — but watching it happen for real was something else entirely. The world above slowly vanished from sight as the light shrank into a narrow circle above them. The walls around the platform gleamed faintly, covered in intricate runic symbols that pulsed like veins of molten silver.

He exhaled softly.

"Okay… this is officially insane."

Erza, sitting across from him, didn't flinch. Her expression remained composed, though her voliet eyes sharpened slightly as they descended. Beneath the hum of machinery, she could feel it — a faint, unnatural pulse in the air. A demonic presence. Faint but unmistakable.

Her hand twitched toward the hilt of her Sit handle. It's close, she thought. Too close.

When the platform finally settled with a hiss of hydraulics, the heavy doors in front of them parted. Bright white lights flooded the chamber, revealing rows of armed soldiers waiting in formation.

The moment they saw Erza step out of the van, their stance changed instantly.

"Welcome back, Special Commander!" they barked in unison, their voices echoing down the steel corridor.

The air shifted. Respect — and tension — rippled through the room.

Erza stepped forward, her boots striking the metal floor with deliberate rhythm. Even without a word, her presence commanded attention; soldiers straightened instinctively as she passed.

Yuuta followed a step behind, his eyes darting around in quiet awe. It wasn't just a base — it was an underground fortress. Reinforced walls, automated turrets, layers of security checkpoints… and every single person here looked ready for war.

He swallowed. "So… this is where they keep the big secrets and ofc Demons, huh?"

No one answered.

From the third van, Fiona emerged, already in uniform. Without a word or even a glance toward the others, she turned and strode down the hallway toward the armory. Her focus was absolute — her footsteps sharp, clipped, purposeful.

Yuuta watched her disappear through the heavy doors before turning back to Erza.

"Fiona...?? Wait.," he murmured.

Yuuta's eyes followed Fiona as she strode down the corridor, her steps sharp and purposeful. "Where's she going?" he asked, curiosity edging into his voice.

Erza's gaze flicked toward him — cool, sharp, and faintly irritated. "Fiona has a keen sense, she can sense Aura," she said evenly. "She must have felt something. She's going to retrieve the Minru Sword."

Yuuta tilted his head. "Minru Sword?" His tone carried both awe and confusion, like someone trying to connect myth with reality.

"It's a holy weapon," Erza explained, her voice steady but low, as though speaking about something sacred. "Forged and blessed with divine energy strong enough to wound a demon. A normal blade would only slow them down — this one burns their very essence."

Yuuta blinked, still trying to process that. "Hold on. A sword… with holy magic? That's actually real? How do you even make something like that?"

Erza's expression didn't change, but there was a flicker in her eyes — a mix of reverence and fatigue. "There are very few humans capable of wielding true holy magic. Maybe two or three alive today who can channel a blessing into a weapon. When a demon is struck by it, its energy drains away. Keep hitting it, and it becomes… hollow. Mindless. Eventually, it loses everything — its power, its will, even the memory of what it once was and they submitted themselves."

Yuuta stared, lips parted. "That's… brutal. So these demons must be insanely strong if you need something that powerful just to fight them."

Erza let out a quiet sigh — not of annoyance, but something close to resignation. "Exactly. Which is why you'll stay close. I don't want you wandering off and getting yourself killed, idiot mortal."

Yuuta frowned, folding his arms. "I'm not a child, Lizard queen."

Her Voliet eyes narrowed. "You're worse than Elena. One careless move and poof—you vanish. Don't test me."

"Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence… Lizard Queen," he muttered under his breath.

Her hand moved faster than he could react. A sharp pinch twisted his ear.

"Ah—! Ow, ow, ow—!"

"Let's move," she said flatly, ignoring his yelp. "We don't have time to argue."

"Erza, seriously—my ear—!"

"Not now," she replied, already walking ahead.

Yuuta groaned, rubbing the sore spot as he hurried after her.

The corridor stretched endlessly before them — narrow, metallic, humming faintly with machinery. Rows of reinforced doors lined each side, their panels marked with glowing access codes and caution symbols. Security cameras tracked every movement, red lights blinking like watchful eyes.

They passed storage rooms stacked with weapon crates, data control chambers buzzing with activity, and soldiers moving with machine-like precision. The air was cold, heavy with the scent of metal and gun oil. Every sound — footsteps, distant machinery, murmured commands — seemed to echo through the vast underground space.

Yuuta couldn't help but take it all in. The polished steel, the tension in the air, the strange blend of technology and magic running through the facility — it was unlike anything he'd ever imagined.

For the first time since he'd stepped into this secret world, the thrill and fear hit him at once.

This wasn't some fantasy adventure.

This was real.

And somewhere below them, something powerful — something wrong — was waiting a Trauma.

As they moved down the long corridor, Yuuta's attention snagged on a door that seemed out of place. It resembled a laboratory, though there was something unsettling about it. The lights inside flickered weakly, shadows stuttering across the walls. A low hum vibrated through the metal frame, and even from where he stood, Yuuta caught a faint, acrid scent—chemicals, sharp and biting.

His steps faltered. An odd pull stirred within him, as if invisible threads were tugging at his chest. His heart thudded faster, memories and nightmares blurring together at the edges of his mind. He couldn't tell which was real, only that something inside that room was calling to him.

Before he could stop himself, Yuuta's hand pressed against the cold handle. The door creaked open, and in the next breath, he slipped inside.

Unaware, Erza continued forward with her guards flanking her. She hadn't noticed the absence at first. Yuuta had been quiet since she playfully pinched his ear earlier, and she assumed he was sulking in silence. With a faint curl at her lips, she decided to tease him out of it.

"You're awfully quiet today, mortal. What's wrong, Finally learn to be slient..huh?" she said, expecting a sharp or annoyed reply from him.

But there was no answer.

Still thinking Yuuta was behind her, Erza kept walking. She didn't realize he was gone.

It was the guards who noticed first. They exchanged nervous glances, their steps faltering.

"Where's the man who was with us just now?" one whispered.

"I don't know. He was here a moment ago, then… vanished."

"Should we report this to the Special Commander?" another asked hesitantly.

Their hushed voices reached Erza's ears. She turned sharply, irritated. "What are you whispering about back there, mortal?" she demanded, assuming Yuuta was talking with them.

But her eyes met only the four guards, pale-faced and shifting uneasily. Yuuta was gone.

The realization struck her like a blade. "Where is Yuuta?" she demanded, her tone cracking like thunder.

"Special Commander," one of the guards stammered, "we… we don't know. He was here a moment ago, then suddenly—he was gone."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, the air around her chilling. "Gone...??, Do you take me for a fool? Do you think he is some superhuman—or a ghost—that he can vanish into thin air? Find him. Now. Or I will tear every one of you apart."

The guards scattered at once, boots pounding against the floor as they flung open doors and checked every corner of the corridor. Fear drove their search, but even desperation had its limits. Not one of them touched the door Yuuta had slipped through.

A bold warning was written across it in stark letters:

SECRET AGENCY – EXPERIMENT LAB

A place forbidden to enter.

Inside the lab, Yuuta froze.

The design of the room sent a shiver through him. It wasn't the same place from his childhood, and yet… it was almost identical. The same sterile walls, the same cold glow, the same suffocating air. The resemblance was so close that his body reacted before his mind could—every nerve flaring alive, old scars burning as if the wounds had been freshly carved. His stomach knotted, his breath caught in his throat, and a crawling dread slithered up his spine.

"What is this place…? Why does it feel like I've been here before?" His voice was only a whisper, trembling, as if afraid the room itself might answer.

Each step forward only tightened the grip of fear inside him. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, louder and louder, until it drowned out the hum of the machines. A sharp pain shot through his head, forcing him to clutch his temple, but still his body kept moving—drawn ahead by some unseen rope, pulled toward something he couldn't resist.

And then he saw it.

A spider.

It was contained within a glass aquarium in the center of the room. Not an ordinary one—its body was slick black, marked with strange, shifting spots of green and violet that shimmered unnaturally under the dim light. It didn't belong in this world. The creature was alive, but everything about it radiated wrongness. Alien. Dangerous.

The moment Yuuta's eyes locked on it, agony exploded in his skull. His vision blurred, his knees buckled, and memories slammed into him—fragmentary, twisted, unbearable.

"What… what's happening?!" Yuuta's scream tore through the silence as he clutched his head, his body convulsing with pain.

And then the vision came.

A man stood before him—white lab coat, face half-hidden in shadow. In his hand, he held the spider. His voice was cold, clinical.

"Here, Devourer this. My little weapon. Eat this, and I will let you out this time."

Another voice—his own, younger—answered, hesitant and sickly. "R-Really, Doctor? If I eat this… you'll let me go?"

Yuuta's stomach heaved. In the vision, he saw himself gagging, vomiting, as if something inside him refused. The memory wasn't whole, but the voice, that man's tone—it scraped against Yuuta's ears, filled him with revulsion.

"No… I don't want this. I don't want to eat it… You liar!"

The words burst from his mouth before he realized it, his eye was glowing Red like he was in rage or more worse. Acting on raw instinct, Yuuta lunged at the aquarium. His fists slammed into the glass. It shattered in an instant, shards flying in every direction.

He didn't stop. His palms pressed down on the writhing spider, smashing it against the steel table. Again and again, he crushed it, his scream echoing through the sterile walls.

"I don't want it! I don't want to eat it! You liar Doctorrrrr!"

When the frenzy passed, silence returned. Yuuta staggered back, chest heaving, as he regain his composure he forget everything again his seal activate in an instant. The remains of the spider lay crushed beneath his hands, violet ichor staining the steel. But his hands… his hands were clean. No cuts, no scratches, not even the faintest bruise from breaking through thick glass.

He stared at them, wide-eyed. It wasn't possible.

For a long moment, he just stood there, panting, his breath fogging in the cold air, confusion in his face. The pain in his head dulled, but the echoes of it lingered like shadows clawing at the edges of his mind.

Something about this lab was wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong.

And yet, despite everything, Yuuta couldn't turn away.

For several minutes, the lab was silent. Yuuta stayed still, trying to make sense of what had just happened. His chest rose and fell in uneven, heavy breaths, his mind replaying the flashes of pain, the shattered glass, the crushed spider. It was as if the room itself pressed down on him, forcing him to feel every moment all over again.

Then, a voice cut through the quiet. Not his own. Female. Sharp, commanding, and cold.

"What are you doing here?"

Yuuta turned toward the entrance. The light there flickered weakly, casting long, restless shadows across the room. A figure stepped forward, moving slowly, deliberately. Her uniform was white, adorned with a wolf emblem on the chest, and a white sword hung at her side. Step by step, she approached, her gaze fixed on him like a predator sizing up prey. Recognition lit her eyes immediately.

"Erika Hemut," Yuuta thought, his stomach tightening.

"What are you doing here, Yuuta?" Erika's voice was calm, but every syllable carried authority—and barely restrained anger.

Yuuta swallowed hard, words faltering on his tongue. "I… I don't know how I got here," he admitted honestly. He truly didn't understand; something had dragged him in with a force beyond his control.

Erika's eyes narrowed. Her gaze swept the floor, and then she froze. Violet stains glimmered on the steel floor—dark, sticky, unnatural. She knelt quickly, pushing past Yuuta, her hands trembling slightly as they hovered over the remains.

"No…" she whispered, panic threading her voice. She picked up the crushed spider, inspecting it like the loss itself had burned her.

Yuuta stumbled backward, hitting the floor with a dull thud. "Ouch," he muttered, still off balance.

"How did this die?" Erika demanded, voice sharp with disbelief. "You… did you kill it?"

Fear coiled in Yuuta's chest. He could lie, but it felt pointless—the truth had already screamed itself into the air. "I… I found myself… I crushed it," he admitted quietly.

Rage exploded across Erika's face like lightning. "You idiot! Why would you do that?!" Her hands went to her head as she struggled to keep her composure.

The thought of Sara—the one who had relied on this weapon to paralyze demons—hit Erika like a hammer. Her jaw tightened, her shoulders stiffening under the weight of the realization.

She straightened and fixed Yuuta with a gaze that burned. "You will pay for what you did, Yuuta," she said, her voice low, deliberate, and sharp as a blade.

Yuuta's heart pounded. He couldn't explain what had pulled him here, why his hands had moved on their own, why the spider had been crushed before he even realized it. All he could do was stare, trapped between fear and something deeper, something he didn't yet understand.

Suddenly, Erika's Raido, clipped to her waist, crackled to life. The sharp, commanding voice of the Chief came through, cutting through the tense silence.

"White Wing! White Wing!" the voice demanded.

Erika's hand moved instinctively to the device. "Yes, Chief," she replied, her tone steady, though the tightness in her shoulders betrayed her unease.

A second voice followed—this one unmistakably Sara's. "Come here. Now."

Erika opened her mouth to explain the situation, to tell them what had just happened, but Sara's voice cut her off before she could finish. The Raido went dead, leaving her staring at Yuuta with panic flaring in her chest. She didn't know what to say next.

Yuuta seized the moment. He quickly got to his feet, brushing himself off nervously. "Okay… looks like I have to go," he said, forcing a laugh that sounded far too weak. He stepped forward, trying to move past her.

But he didn't get far. In an instant, Erika Hemut had drawn her white sword and pressed the tip sharply against his neck. The cold steel glinted under the flickering lab lights, and Yuuta froze.

"You made this mess," Erika said, her voice low, hard, and unyielding. "And now you will tell the Chief yourself. Every word. Every detail."

Yuuta swallowed, feeling the weight of the situation press down on him. His throat was dry, his heart hammering, but he forced out a quiet, awkward reply.

"I… I'm sorry,"

To be continued…

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