In a luxurious chamber deep inside the Eastern Empire, three figures stood in rigid silence. Their postures were straight, their expressions tense, and their eyes locked on the closed door before them.
These three were the leaders of Cerberus, the underground organization pulling strings behind the Empire's walls.
The door finally opened.
Damrada the Gold stepped inside first—calm, composed, and unreadable as ever. Behind him followed Misha the Lover, drifting like a whispering shadow, her strange beauty as unsettling as it was captivating. And towering last came Vega the Power, whose massive body and murderous aura were enough to suffocate the air itself.
They took their seats.
Today's meeting was not about their usual espionage.
Today, every one of them had only one concern:
Atem.
The new Demon Lord of the rising nation Eterna.
The King who carried an ancient authority.
Damrada folded his hands.
"Let us begin. Reports from our agents in the Western Nations are in. Everything points to one truth—Eterna has already expanded its influence far beyond what we expected."
Misha tilted her head.
"Is the council of Western Nations fully under Atem's control?"
"Yes," Damrada said. "Completely. Without resistance."
Vega scoffed.
"Tch. They must be weak if they kneel so easily."
Damrada ignored him.
"What is concerning," he continued, "is the speed. Atem united them in record time, and the moment negotiations finished, he fortified Eterna with preparations far beyond conventional warfare."
Misha shifted forward, intrigued.
"How so?"
Damrada's voice sharpened.
"For starters, they're mobilizing around twenty thousand soldiers near a riverside stronghold—converted into a military outpost. They used something called the magitrain to move their supplies."
Misha blinked.
"A train? Powered by magic?"
"That is what our agents reported. And Eterna has brought in food reserves enough for a drawn-out war—imported from Farmenas."
"Farmenas alone couldn't stand against us," Vega grunted.
"Not a year ago," Damrada agreed. "But now? It could wage war with the Empire and possibly endure long enough to cause real damage."
Misha mused aloud,
"Even so, numbers matter. Eterna has one hundred thousand troops. The Empire? Over a million. Modified with physical enhancements. Strength Rank C and higher."
"To say Atem stands no chance… is not wrong," Damrada said. "He simply cannot match the Empire's overwhelming numbers."
Vega slammed a fist into his palm.
"Then the solution's obvious! We crush them. Kill them all before Atem even reacts!"
Damrada frowned.
"This is not a tavern brawl. Strategy wins wars, not muscles."
But he didn't dismiss Vega entirely.
After all, brute force did matter—especially in a world where a single individual's power could reshape a battlefield.
"Still," Damrada added, "Atem is unlike any Demon Lord we've seen. He commands authority. He commands loyalty. He acts with precision, not fear."
Misha nodded.
"He is charismatic. Confident. A king by nature. Not childish like Rim—like gods we knew before."
"And," Damrada said quietly, "he is far stronger than the reports from Walpurgis ever suggested."
But none of them believed Aten could destroy the Empire alone.
Not because they underestimated him—
but because the Empire itself was a monstrous war engine.
Damrada leaned back, his tone shifting.
"What troubles me is this: Atem has gathered a frightening number of powerful warriors.
Benimaru. Shion. Gabiru. Geld. Souei. Diablo. Zegion.
Each of them could lead a tactical unit alone."
Vega grunted. "Zegion, that bug freak? He's dangerous."
"And there are others," Damrada continued. "Majins who rival Demon Lords in strength. Many of them were unknown until they appeared under Atem's banner."
Misha whispered,
"For one man to gather so many high-ranked fighters… it makes me wonder what kind of charisma he carries."
Damrada didn't answer.
But he clearly wondered the same.
Atem wasn't naïve. He wasn't merciful like other Demon Lords.
He was decisive. Authoritative. A true king.
No one in the room thought he was reckless or sentimental.
Just… unknown.
And the unknown was dangerous.
Next came the topic that unsettled them all.
"Eterna has started selling strange new products," Damrada said.
"Items no nation has ever produced. Tools. Equipment. Weapons."
Misha frowned.
"We still can't find the source?"
"No." Damrada's eye twitched. "Our agents can't locate the production site. Every supply route is hidden. Completely. As if the whole infrastructure is placed somewhere we cannot access."
Misha muttered, "Atem is hiding something…"
Damrada agreed silently.
But he didn't know what.
Damrada cleared his throat.
"And then we have the strangest report."
Misha's eyes sparkled.
"Oh? Something exciting?"
"Atem has introduced something called an 'evacuation drill' in Eterna's capital."
"Evacuation?" Vega snorted. "Are they children?"
"No. Listen."
Damrada's voice tightened.
"When the announcement ended, the entire city vanished."
Both Misha and Vega froze.
"...Vanished?"
"Stop joking."
"It disappeared," Damrada repeated. "Only a
massive gate remained."
The spies tried entering.
What they found was—
"A stone labyrinth," Damrada said. "Deep. Endless. Filled with monsters. They fled, but entry and exit were easy."
Misha whispered in awe,
"A whole city… inside a Dungeon?"
"That is what it seems."
"And Atem controls it?" Vega asked.
Damrada nodded.
They all swallowed.
This was no ordinary military strategy.
This was Atem turning his capital into an
invulnerable fortress.
Damrada steepled his fingers.
"I believe Atem does not intend to let the Empire destroy his capital. He has created a movable city—protected by the Dungeon. If the enemy ignores the gate, Eterna's forces strike from behind."
Misha shivered.
"A pincer attack… unpredictable and brutal."
"The Western allied forces hold the Imperial vanguard in a war of attrition," Damrada continued.
"Meanwhile, Eterna's elites dismantle the enemy from behind."
Vega, shockingly, didn't argue this time.
"...That's scary."
"Yes," Damrada said. "Atem fights like a king who's prepared for every scenario. He anticipates. He calculates. And he strikes without hesitation."
Misha's lips curled in fascination.
"What an extraordinary Demon Lord."
Damrada exhaled.
"We must watch carefully.
The Empire believes this war will be simple.
But with Atem involved…"
He looked at the other two.
"This battle will be unlike anything the world has seen."
Deep beneath the Imperial Capital, in a sealed stone chamber only the highest members of Cerberus could enter, three figures sat around a heavy obsidian table.
There was no leader among them now.
Yuuki was gone. Erased.
Not killed—erased from existence by Demon Lord Atem.
Laplace, Footman, Tear—gone just as easily.
The memory of that day still haunted them.
Atem had appeared without warning.
Solarys, the Sovereign of Wisdom, had whispered truths that stripped away their illusions.
And then, with a single divine command, Atem erased Yuuki and his entire faction.
No soul.
No afterlife.
No reincarnation.
Just silence.
Now Cerberus had no puppet master—only fear and uncertainty.
"We begin."
The one to break the silence was Damrada, his composed voice masking the unease in his heart.
He had always been calm, intelligent, and precise—but this time, even he chose his words carefully.
Misha touched her fingertips together, eyes narrowed.
"Damrada-sama… without Yuuki-sama, what path do we take now?"
Vega leaned back and cracked his knuckles.
"Yeah. What's the plan? We can't just sit here forever."
None of them dared mention Atem's name.
Even speaking of him felt like invoking a god's attention.
Damrada breathed out slowly.
"We continue our mission for the Empire. But we will do so on our terms."
🔥 Atem's Shadow Over Their Plans
The original Cerberus plan—Yuuki's plan—was to use the Empire and the West to bleed each other, then stage a coup.
But Yuuki's death shattered that strategy.
Damrada spoke with calm clarity:
"The West is no longer led by Rimuru. That entire calculus has changed."
The others swallowed hard.
They remembered Atem's aura:
A sovereign presence that felt like standing before a divine judgment.
A king whose will bent space, time, and reality.
Solarys whispering truths beyond comprehension.
Damrada continued:
"Eterna's ruler is Demon Lord Atem, the King of Games. He is not interested in politics or petty manipulation. He simply protects what is his… with absolute authority."
Vega muttered:
"Don't tell me we're planning to fight him?"
"Of course not," Damrada replied sharply. "The Empire cannot defeat him. We cannot provoke him. And no one must mention his name carelessly."
All three nodded quickly.
Atem was not naïve like Rimuru.
He was kingly, direct, decisive, and terrifyingly powerful.
Cerberus was now operating in a world where one wrong move meant true annihilation.
🔥 Reshaping the Plan
Damrada pressed his hands together.
"The war between the Empire and the West will still happen. But we no longer rely on the Demon Lords weakening the Empire."
Misha nodded.
"So instead…?"
"We exploit the Empire's internal weaknesses ourselves."
Vega grinned.
"Ha! Now that's more like it."
Damrada continued:
"When the Empire launches its invasion, their forces will shift outward. The interior will weaken."
He leaned forward, eyes sharp.
"That is when Cerberus acts.
We will take control of the Empire from within—quietly, surgically."
Misha smiled slyly.
"That means a coup."
"A precise one," Damrada confirmed.
🔥 Three Threats to Cerberus
Damrada placed three metal markers on the table.
"These are our obstacles."
1. Archmage Gadra
"Gadra possesses influence and a dangerous mind," Damrada explained.
"He hates the Western Nations and may act on his own."
"And he survived Veldora once," Vega added.
"Not someone we want angry at us."
"But he has no real authority," Misha noted.
"True," Damrada agreed. "But he is unpredictable."
2. Tatsuya Kondou — Head of Imperial Intelligence
Everyone stiffened.
His identity was unclear.
His rank unofficially above the corps commanders.
His abilities unknown.
"I suspect," Damrada said, "that he is one of the Single Digit Imperial Knights."
Misha frowned.
"That makes him extremely dangerous."
3. The Woman Beside Emperor Rudra
There was no name.
No record.
Just power.
"I saw her silhouette once," Damrada said quietly.
"Her aura was overwhelming."
Vega whistled.
"So even stronger than Gadra?"
"Far stronger," Damrada replied. "She might be the Emperor's true trump card."
🔥 Assignments
Damrada stood and gave his orders:
"Misha."
"Yes."
The air inside the dim imperial chamber felt unusually heavy. Cerberus—Misha, Damrada, Vega, and their remaining operatives—gathered with rigid tension. For the first time, their leader, Yuuki, was nowhere to be seen.
He had vanished.
No message.
No orders.
No trace.
And none of them knew that Atem, King of Eterna, had already erased Yuuki from existence so cleanly that reality itself refused to remember him.
But Cerberus did not know that.
They only felt a faint, cold fear.
"So… how should we proceed now?"
Misha finally broke the silence.
Without Yuuki, their direction was gone. But none of them were willing to admit it outright.
Now they feared the opposite:
Was this silence part of his plan?
Or had something gone terribly wrong?
Damrada leaned back, folding his arms.
"We continue exactly as he intended. Even without direct orders, we know the roadmap. The Empire is preparing to invade the West, and Eterna's king—Atem—will almost certainly stand in their way."
At the mention of Atem, expressions tightened.
None of them knew Atem's true power.
None of them knew he was far beyond Yuuki, any Demon Lord.
They only believed he was a newly risen, mysterious Demon Lord whose charisma and authority demanded fear and respect.
Damrada continued, voice level:
"Our goal remains the same—use this war to weaken both the East and the West. When tensions peak, we strike the Empire's heart."
Misha nodded slowly.
"It's still the safest path… assuming Atem does not crush the Empire immediately."
Vega scoffed.
"Tch. The West isn't that strong. Even with Eterna, there's no way they can destroy the Empire on their own."
"Don't underestimate him," Misha shot back. "Atem is… different. The way the Western Nations rally around him is unnatural. His presence alone commands obedience."
"But he's still just one king," Vega insisted. "No matter how strong."
Damrada said nothing—but internally, he felt uneasy.
Atem radiated something beyond logic.
Something ancient.
Something like a monarch from before the world began.
But he dismissed the thought.
"We move according to plan," Damrada declared.
Even without Yuuki, they remembered the structure he built:
1. Leak information to Master Gadra
The old man hated the West and wanted revenge. Feeding him intelligence on Eterna would spark his aggression.
2. Incite conflict between Empire and West
If they fought long enough, both sides would be exhausted.
3. Identify the Empire's true dangers
Yuuki had warned of three:
Master Gadra
Tatsuya Kondou
And a woman beside the Emperor whose identity no one could confirm
Cerberus still feared these unknowns.
4. Prepare a coup during peak chaos
With the Empire exhausted and distracted, Cerberus would strike.
This remained the backbone of their strategy.
"Damrada, continue the Kondou investigation."
Damrada bowed slightly.
"I've already started. The man is a ghost. His records don't exist. His movements don't match his title. If Yu— if our leader were here, he'd say the same thing:
Kondou is the most dangerous piece on the board."
They all agreed.
Misha placed a hand on her hip, confident.
"I'll continue tightening my hold on the Armored Corps commander. Once he's wrapped around my finger, information flow will be guaranteed."
"Good," Damrada replied.
"And what about me?" Vega asked.
"You will infiltrate the Magic Beast Corps," Damrada answered. "With your strength, you will rise quickly. But do not kill the commander."
"Hah! Fine, fine. I'll behave… for now."
They weren't entirely sure Vega could restrain himself.
But they had no choice.
The plan required him.
"We still don't know where the mastermind is."
Misha finally spoke the thought they all feared.
Their leader's absence threatened everything.
Damrada frowned.
"He always operated from the shadows. Perhaps he is simply preparing another piece."
They all forced nods.
None sensed Atem's invisible hand in Yuuki's erasure.
None felt Solarys—the Sovereign of Wisdom—watching them from afar through Atem's power.
"The war is coming," Damrada concluded.
"And when it does," Misha added, "the Empire and Eterna will clash. The longer that conflict drags on, the better for us."
"Right," Vega smirked. "We weaken both sides. And when the Empire starts to crumble—"
"We strike," Damrada finished.
"We take control, we install a puppet emperor, and we reshape the Empire from within."
"And then?" Misha asked with a knowing smile.
"Then we betray both sides," Vega grinned savagely. "Empire, West, it doesn't matter. We take everything."
Their ambitions remained intact.
Their confidence absolute.
But they were blind to the truth:
**Atem had already erased the man who built their plans.
And Atem was watching.
So was Solarys.
The Shadow King of Eterna was three steps ahead of them already.**
"Be cautious," Damrada warned.
"Of what?" Vega asked.
"…Eterna," he replied quietly.
"Atem. His presence… I cannot explain it. He feels like a king from another age. A ruler I cannot gauge."
Misha nodded solemnly.
"Then let us avoid provoking him directly."
"Good. Continue your missions. The war will decide the future."
They dispersed.
Confident.
Ignorant.
Walking straight into Atem's hand.