---
**[Scene - Ironwood Kingdom – Eastern Demon Lord's Fortress]**
"You still haven't found the boy?"
The Eastern Demon Lord's voice was calm, yet the air vibrated with lethal intent.
A scout in black robes knelt.
"We have searched every village east of the human capital, Valerion... He is nowhere to be found. He is either very well hidden, or we were mistaken, my lord."
(Valerion is the human capital of Ironwood.)
> "We are not mistaken."
The Demon Lord's eyes blazed with hatred.
> "The magical resonance that shook the ruins eight years ago was identical to the Dark Magic God's final breath."
"He must be here."
---
**[Scene - Year 209 of the Velgrith Federation. Forest outside Ironwood human territory - Midnight - Kuro, age 8]**
The trees, which had been whispering in a language long dead, fell silent.
Kuro sat cross-legged in a clearing. Moonlight, which had been absent moments before, was swallowed by a sudden, unnatural mist.
[Flashback - Kuro's House.]
Kuro, reading an ancient book in his room, discovered a unique summoning magic. It was the magic to summon an Abyss Gate. Kuro studied it and attempted to summon the great abyss.
[Scene - Present.]
His breathing was heavy, yet his mind was calm. Focused.
> "It's time."
He raised his left hand. His fingers twitched unnaturally.
Dark energy coiled around him like a serpent.
The incantation:
> **"Invoke: Abyss Gate."**
The ground shook. A silent, dark abyss swirled into existence in the air, not like a whirlpool, but watching, silently.
The trees around him withered instantly.
Quietly.
He peered into the chasm.
---
**[Inside the Abyss – Beyond Time]**
At first, he saw nothing.
Then, a tremor.
Chains. A chilling cold. Magic Mana...
In the center, a girl not much older than him. Her arms were bound by magical chains of red and purple.
Her hair was a mix of silver and black. Her eyes were tightly shut in fear.
But Kuro could feel it.
> *Her blood... not just demon.*
*Ancient.*
*A species thought to be extinct.*
> "Who are you?" he whispered loudly.
Her eyes fluttered open.
Purple - a shade he liked.
She looked up. She seemed to see him.
> "Help..." she mouthed silently.
---
**[Scene - Kuro's Decision]**
> "She could be useful."
Kuro didn't lie to himself. He wasn't saving her out of kindness.
> "Rare blood. Strange magic. Her very existence is valuable."
But somewhere, deep down, submerged...
His heartbeat faltered.
An unidentifiable emotion.
He thrust his hand towards the chasm.
> **"Release - Shadow Grasp."**
The chains began to crack.
The runes shattered.
The circle glowing around him flared brightly. Energy erupted from the ground.
> **BOOM!**
Kuro was thrown back, landing hard. Smoke and dust filled the clearing.
He slowly stood up.
And then - from the fading shadows,
The girl from the portal emerged.
She collapsed into the grass.
Still breathing.
---
**[Cutscene - The Girl Sleeps – Kuro's Observations]**
He took her back to a hidden cave at the edge of the forest, far from the house, a cave he used for magic practice. (A cave where Kuro often practiced.)
She was unconscious, her breathing steady.
Kuro watched her sleep, not with affection, but with calculation.
> "Her Mana is unstable. Her body is rejecting itself..."
He placed a hand on her forehead.
It felt cursed. Deeply and subtly.
> "This isn't demon magic."
He closed his eyes.
> "It's human."
He did not know yet...
This girl had been mentally controlled by a high-ranking demon-worshipping sorcerer working under the Eastern Demon Lord, who had implanted psychic chains in her since birth.
She couldn't speak.
She thought she had her own dreams, her own aspirations.
But they were manufactured.
And now... she was free.
Or so it seemed.
---
**[Scene - Demon Empire – Eastern Frontier]**
"He opened an Abyss Gate?" The Great Demon Lord stood rigid.
His scout nodded. "For only three seconds, but the echo reached us."
The Demon King clenched his fists.
> "It is him. The heir to darkness."
His eyes narrowed.
> "Well... now he has the girl."
---
✦ **To be continued...**