Ren stumbled backward, barely able to regain his footing as the one-minute timer ran out. His moment of tangibility ended, and a wave of disorientation hit him, leaving his mind ringing sharply. The intense sensation began to subside, but the discomfort lingered.

“Damn... that was way worse than I thought,” Ren muttered, covering his ears to dull the remaining ringing. “I thought I was dead when she closed in on me.”

As the memory of the confrontation flashed through his mind, he quickly glanced forward. The priestess was back in her seat, her expression unreadable. The other council members were similarly frozen in place, though their faces showed varying degrees of frustration or anger. Francea, in particular, looked livid, her eyes burning with fury.

Despite their reactions, Ren’s skill had worked—he was invisible again.

“Thank God, that was too close,” he sighed in relief.

But something felt off. Even though his hands had dropped from his ears, there was no sound. The room was unnaturally silent, but it wasn’t just that. He couldn’t hear anything.

“No… I can’t hear,” Ren said, his voice edged with panic as he touched his ears. “It’s like something is blocking everything out.”

His sense of hearing was completely gone, and the loss was disturbingly disorienting. He tried to stand, but with one of his senses so abruptly cut off, even the simple act of rising to his feet felt awkward. He swayed slightly, his balance off.

“Ugh... just walk slowly,” Ren murmured to himself, taking careful, shuffling steps toward the door. “Step by step... don't rush it, Ren.”

He moved like a man out of sync with his own body, but eventually, after what felt like an eternity, he reached the door. Now came the real test.

“If I’ve got this skill figured out, I should be able to pass right through this door,” he murmured, extending his hand tentatively.

His hand phased through the door as if it were made of air. Relieved by the confirmation, Ren took a breath and decided to leave the room as quickly as possible. He needed to escape the base, and he had a plan to make it happen.

Meanwhile, back inside the meeting room…

The silence was almost suffocating in the aftermath of Ren’s disappearance. SIN's council members, each one an individual of formidable power and influence, sat motionless, their expressions shifting from shock to deep contemplation. For the first time in years, perhaps decades, they had been rendered speechless—not by an enemy’s strength, but by a handful of cryptic words that seemed to cut directly into their very cores.

Even the priestess remained silent. Her earlier outburst had stunned everyone, none more than her own council. No one in the room had ever seen her lose control like that—and they likely never would again.

Yet, despite the tension, no one dared to speak. Each member was lost in their own thoughts, battling the personal demons Ren’s words had stirred. One word, in particular, echoed through the minds of the council.

“Resa...” Velara whispered under her breath, the name of a ghost from her past. It had been so long since she had thought of that name, but hearing it now felt like being pulled back into another life—one she had carefully buried. A time before she became the ruthless woman she was today.

But all of it felt wrong. The fact that a total stranger knew such an intimate detail was deeply unsettling.

Francea, on the other hand, could barely contain her rage. Her usual poised and delicate appearance was gone, replaced with an expression of raw anger.

“How?” she hissed, seething with frustration. “How does that brat know about that?”

The term “half-demon” had struck a nerve so deep that it felt as if old wounds were being ripped open. She had destroyed her entire family to hide the truth, silenced anyone who dared to speak it. The word represents everything that was wrong about her childhood. The harsh and violent environment that was not suited for a child at all and the constant abuse in everyday life.

Francea holds her body as it shivers from the memory of the past. She had spent her life crafting her perfect image—her beauty, her voice, her entire persona—all to mask the ugliness of her past.

“I will find him,” Francea snarled through gritted teeth, her hands gripping the arms of her chair tightly. “And when I do, I will cut that tongue out of his mouth. He will suffer so much, he’ll beg for death.”

On the fifth seat, Faris had also fallen into a spiral of doubt.

“Union...” he muttered, his tired expression darkening. “Is he talking about what I think he is?”

That word carried multiple meanings, but in this context, there was only one possibility. Somehow, the man knew everything about Faris’s secret plans, something that should have been impossible.

“How...?” Faris murmured again, his head resting against the table. “How does he know everything?”

His mind raced through every detail of the meeting—the stranger’s appearance, his cryptic words, the way he seemed to know each member’s deepest secrets. Nothing made sense. His security measures should have made it impossible for anyone to breach this room. Yet, here they were, utterly outmaneuvered.

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“My defense plan, and even this room unbreakable barrier,” Faris murmured with a frustrated voice. “All my perfect design that should have been impossible for a stranger to bypass, and yet, it was all useless.” This is the first time in his life that the genius young man known as Faris Salirin, felt so inferior to another person, other than the priestess.

While most of the room sat in confusion or rage, one person was grinning. The boy seated in the second-ranked chair crossed his legs casually, as if he were enjoying the chaos around him.

“Heh... Specimen,” he chuckled, the word rolling off his tongue with grim amusement. “Haven’t heard that one in a while.”

It wasn’t just a word. It was a reminder—a scar left by the experiments that had twisted him into what he was today. He could still hear the voices of the scientists who tormented him, feel the pain of their experiments. And he could still remember the pleasure of silencing each one of them, slowly and painfully. their screams and begging as he tortured and kill every single person and their family who participate in the experiments.

“He’s more interesting than I thought,” the boy murmured, his grin widening. “I can’t wait to play with him.” Now he has something much more interesting to look forward to in the future.

All eyes turned toward Reus, the one who had taken the stranger’s words in a far more contemplative manner. He leaned back in his chair, his thoughts consumed by a single word: Zenith. It echoed in his mind like a distant drumbeat. He felt as if a long-lost memory had begun to resurface, something from a past life—a fragment of an identity that didn’t belong to who he was now.

It was as if a piece of a puzzle that was once lost had suddenly emerged and had once again placed itself on the board. The sensation was unsettling, even for him. Plus, the fact that a complete stranger was the one who did this to him, he was certainly not happy. Right now, all he can feel is lost, leaving him grasping at this new elusive memory.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the priestess moved. All eyes snapped toward her as she stood, her expression once again unreadable beneath her veil. They straighten their seat and wait for the priestess response.

Right now, her expression has become unreadable once more despite the earlier outburst. Her real thoughts once again hidden behind her dark veil. But now, the gravity of the situation was not lost on her.

An outsider of unknown origin had breached the most secure place in the organization, disrupting their meeting and telling cryptid words to her top members that left them shocked and confused. This is not an act that can be ignored.

Her voice, when she spoke, cut through the silence like a knife. “This... variable cannot be ignored.”

Her words were calm, but the authority behind them was absolute. “Each of you now has personal reasons to find this man. But remember, our grand plan remains the top priority.”

Despite their personal grievances, the council members held their tongues. Even Francea and Velara, who were visibly seething, did not dare challenge her authority.

“However,” the priestess added, her gaze sharp as it landed on them, “I will assign some of our best to track this man. He poses a threat too dangerous to ignore.”

Francea clenched her fists but nodded in compliance. She wouldn’t get her personal revenge just yet, but she would find him—and she would be ready.

“I trust that both of you will follow this order excellently?” The priestess’s gaze shifted between Velara and Francea.

“Yes, Priestess!” Both women replied in unison, their voices firm with resolve.

“Now, as for the rest of you, continue with your current plans,” the priestess commanded, addressing the other council members. “But if you uncover any clue about the whereabouts of this mysterious man, pursue it at all costs.”

“Yes, Priestess!” the rest of the council echoed.

The priestess then turned her attention to Faris. “As for you, Faris, I trust I don’t need to remind you of your responsibilities. However, I expect your department to recheck all base defenses and security features thoroughly,” she said firmly. “We must discover how this man was able to completely breach our base.”

“Of course, Priestess,” Faris responded with determination. “I will have my department working full-time to uncover the answer.”

“What about the academy?” Reus interjected, reminding them of their earlier plans to sabotage the academy’s operations. “Are we still proceeding with the mission?”

“No, leave them for now,” the priestess replied sternly. “While they remain a thorn in our side, we have a far bigger problem to deal with at the moment.”

She paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she added, “Besides, there’s still a chance they’ll fall on their own with the monster invasion. Let them handle that for now.”

The council members nodded at her orders, each of them digesting the shift in priorities. With the mysterious man now in their crosshairs, they had a new goal in mind—capturing him as soon as possible.

Unbeknownst to Ren, his plan had worked. The full attention of the most dangerous organization in the world was now fixed on him. Whatever consequences unfolded in the future would all stem from the decisions he had made in this very room.

The chamber fell silent again. Only a single figure remained in the vast, dimly lit space. The priestess walked slowly around the circular table, her long, silver hair shimmering as it cascaded over her shoulders, catching the faint blue light of the chamber. She placed her hand gently on each seat as she passed, the soft jingling of her dark veil breaking the silence with each of her graceful steps.

“Solis...” she whispered to herself, the word that the mysterious man had spoken earlier. The word had struck her deeply, shaking her in a way she hadn’t expected. She had been so sure, absolutely certain, that nothing he said would hold any significance for her.

Yet, it did.

“What happened earlier... that outburst,” she murmured. “I swore such emotions were gone, buried until my end.”

The word, Solis, lingered in her mind, a word that didn’t exist in any text on this side of the world.

“How...?” her voice softened, the puzzle forming in her mind. “Could he be the same as me?”

No matter how hard she tried to recall, his face was unrecognizable to her—both in this side and the other. They had never met before, of that she was certain.

“The only explanation,” she reasoned, “is that he comes from the other side. There’s no other way he could know that word.”

Her eyes darkened as she thought of the knowledge he had displayed—not only the name but also the secrets of her council members’ pasts. He was dangerous, a man with access to forbidden information that shouldn’t exist in any record. And even more disturbingly, he had managed to breach her defenses with ease.

There was no doubt left in her mind. Capturing this man was now her top priority, second only to the grand plan itself.

“I need to understand every variable,” she whispered, her gaze rising to the ceiling of the chamber. “And if necessary, erase them—for the sake of my plan.”

Above her, painted across the ceiling in intricate detail, was a massive stained-glass depiction of a black dragon, engulfing the world in flames and darkness. The symbol of the end of known existence.