My Primordial Demon System

Elena's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?" she demanded.

Luke let out a small, almost amused chuckle. He adjusted his glasses with two fingers, smoothed the front of his jacket, then set his hand flat on the marble table as if anchoring the conversation. His expression was calm, but there was an edge to it that made the room colder.

"The problem is not localized to your state, nor to the borders you patrol," he said, voice steady. "What you've encountered in the desert is one visible thread of a much larger weave. These incidents are occurring across all five continents, not isolated skirmishes, but coordinated patterns. The quasi-demons are only one method. They are a spectacle, a brutal distraction."

He paused and let the words sink in. Elena's jaw loosened; Lily drew in a breath; Silva felt his skin prickle.

"The cult's summoning is a smokescreen," Luke continued. "While people's eyes are fixed on the monsters, darker deeds are being committed under the world's very light. There are mass killings, political manipulations, and rituals carried out with surgical precision, the kind of atrocities that leave no obvious trace, and therefore no immediate outrage. Powerful institutions have been infiltrated; resources are siphoned; lives, innocent lives, are being extinguished to feed schemes far more diabolical than simple demon-craft."

He fixed each of them in turn with a cool stare. "What you've done so far is brave, necessary, but superficial. We need operatives who can dig, who can see past the spectacle and uncover who profits from the chaos."

Silence followed his words like a held breath. Elena, Lily, and Silva exchanged looks, each of them suddenly aware they stood at the edge of something far darker than any of them had imagined.

Elena slammed her fist onto the marble table, the sharp crack echoing through the pristine hall. She rose to her feet, eyes blazing.

"If all of this has been happening, why has the Awakened Council been so lax?" she demanded. "You sit here talking about moles and rats in the system while people are dying every single day. Do you even care about the lives you claim to protect? And tell me, " her voice cut sharper, "is Gia truly aligned with what you're doing, or are you acting on your own accord?"

At her words, the two suited figures flanking Luke turned their glares on her, cold and sharp as blades. Their eyes carried the weight of authority and silent warning.

"Calm down," Luke said, raising a hand lightly without breaking his composed smile. "She is not questioning our loyalty. Elena is simply… emotional. That is because she is deeply dedicated to saving humanity, even if it means shouting at us." He adjusted his glasses, his calm tone wrapping around the room like velvet.

He fixed his gaze on her. "But listen carefully, Elena. If we do not root out the men and women in power who are secretly working with the cult, it will not matter how many demons we slay or how many lives we save. Those killings will continue. Their influence will always find ways to feed the corruption. The disease is deeper than the wounds you see on the surface."

Elena's chest heaved, but she said nothing.

Lily spoke up instead, her tone cutting through the tension. "But Gia, she's the strongest existence alive. If she wanted to, couldn't she stop this? Couldn't she say something, or use her power to find them?"

For the first time, Luke's smile faltered into something solemn. He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together. "Gia cannot. Her ability is tied directly to the foundation of this world. She is not merely powerful, she is holding humanity itself together. Without her focus, the gates would break more frequently, more violently. Entire continents would collapse under the surge. You cannot imagine the scale of the chaos that would follow if she diverted her ability, even for a moment."

He exhaled slowly. "Gia bears that burden in silence. She shoulders a task no one else could, binding the very seams of this world. That is why we, the Council, take initiative where she cannot. We act because she cannot risk shifting her focus."

Silva, who had been silent, finally leaned forward. His voice was calm but deliberate. "If you are the ones taking initiative… then does Gia know everything you're doing? Or are you assuming this is her will?"

The question dropped like a stone into still water. The two suited attendants immediately turned their glares on him, sharper than before, as though he had crossed an unspoken line.

Luke, however, only chuckled softly, pushing his glasses higher up his nose. "Sharp question," he said, smiling faintly. "But let us not linger there." He leaned in slightly, his gaze settling on Silva. "What I'd like to know is this: how is it that you were found in the exact gate where a demon was summoned?"

Silva felt the shift, the sudden redirection, and realized Luke had sidestepped his question without answering. He didn't push it further. Instead, he kept his expression calm. "What would you like to ask me?"

Luke's smile widened by the smallest fraction. "Everything," he said.

Silva thought quietly. A deliberate misdirection… He's hiding something. But he only nodded. "Ask, and I'll answer."

Luke folded his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly. "Then let's start simple. How were you found there in the first place?"

Silva met his gaze calmly. "I wasn't found there. I went in with a party to raid the gate. Things went wrong." He explained everything that had happened during the raid: the chaos, the deaths, the final confrontation. He ended by recounting Nubris's words: only two could leave. "Two people made it out alive," Silva said. "I should have died there… but Nubris didn't kill me."

The room grew still. Luke tilted his head, his eyes narrowing as suspicion flickered behind the lenses of his glasses. "A demon that slaughtered everyone else decided not to kill you?" he said softly. He studied Silva with a piercing stare.

Silva felt the weight of that gaze but didn't flinch. He knew Luke had drawn his own conclusions, but he gave him nothing more.

Finally, Luke exhaled and adjusted his glasses again. "Nubris," he said, "is not merely a demon. He is an ancient. To what extent his strength reaches, we cannot say, but it is at least on par with, if not greater than, the current number one awakened in the world."

A ripple of unease moved through the room.

"If Nubris had broken free of that gate," Luke continued, his tone sharpening, "the Council, the Awakened Guild, and every major guild on all five continents would have faced the greatest struggle of their existence. And even then, victory would not be assured. The likelihood is high… that he could not be killed."

Lily sucked in a sharp breath. Even Elena's expression darkened at the weight of his words.

"So yes," Luke said, "Nubris vanishing from that gate was a blessing. But the fact that we do not know where he went is the problem. The castle behind the gate was his domain, his nest. That gate is now classified as an S-rank gate. It must be explored further." His eyes shifted to Elena and Lily. "That responsibility will fall to you. Both of you are S-rank awakened. You are suited for it."

Elena's jaw tightened. "That plan is already in motion. The Awakened Guild and other major guilds are organizing an expedition."

"Too slow," Luke cut her off. "The cult moves faster than you realize. More gates are appearing by the day. If one of them shelters another demon like Nubris, and the wrong people stumble into it, the consequences will be irreversible. We cannot afford delays. You will press this expedition forward. Immediately."

The words rang heavy in the white hall, leaving the weight of urgency hanging in the air like a storm about to break.

"I don't remember you being my boss," Elena said, looking him right in the eye.

"We will enter the gate when it is right, not when you tell us. There are people whose lives depend on me and will be entering that gate with me, so I will not rush it and endanger their lives," she said, eyes cold.

"Elena, you must understand the importance of urgency," he said.

"I do, and I'm not risking more lives because I want to save more. Every life is important, and if we plan properly, we'll have everything done," she said.

"As you plan, another little girl is getting snatched up for a sacrifice. Think about that," Luke said.

"You really go too low for a chosen. You have no right to pressure someone to do something when you yourself can't do it," Silva suddenly spoke, looking Luke right in the eye. "Don't make Elena feel like she isn't doing enough when she is doing her best."