Loki was walking back from his home. His dark jacket was covered with drying blood—nothing too noticeable.
One hand in his pocket. He pulled his phone from his pocket with other arm.
Memes flashed by—stupid jokes about overpowered adventurers one-shotting bosses.
Game updates for some fighter app he hadn't played in days.
A viral video of a low-rank monster getting yeeted by a street performer.
Nothing caught his eye until he hit a news alert from an adventurer forum app the headline popped up: "Raid Party Assembled in Egypt: Red Portal Emerges in Sahara—Led by France's Top Z-Ranker!"
Loki paused mid-step, leaning against a lamppost as he tapped the article. A grainy photo loaded first: a swirling vortex of crimson energy tearing through the desert sands near the pyramids, dunes rippling like waves around its edges.
The portal loomed massive, easily 50 meters wide, pulsing with an ominous glow that screamed danger. Scrolling down, the details unfolded:
"A Red-class portal—designated as a Catastrophe-level threat—has materialized in the Egyptian Sahara. Estimated to contain intelligent monsters ranging from A to S-threat levels, the dungeon is the second-highest danger rating, just below Gray (Apocalypse). A multinational raid party has been formed on-site, led by France's premier Top-6 International Z-Ranker adventurer, Roxanne Cote, known as 'Chord Empress' sources confirm Cote was an route to Egypt for a prior expedition when the portal spawned."
Loki almost got ran over by a truck that let out a loud honk stopping meters away before hitting him, "That explain she's not on France during that Godzilla incident." He commented.
The truck driver around middle age, then yelled, "This kid— Hey! Watch where your going!"
Loki scratched his head, "My bad." he quickly went across the road preventing to cause anymore more trouble.
He scrolled further, the article diving into a breakdown of portal classifications for context:
Portal/Dungeon Classifications:
Blue — Tragedy
- A blue portal or dungeon is the lowest or weakest type of dungeon. It mainly contains E to D-threat monsters.
Green — Disaster
- Green portal is the 2nd to the lowest. Consist of C to B-threat monsters.
Yellow — Calamity
- Yellow is the middle. It consist a lot of treasure but has traps and swarmed by A-threat monsters.
Red — Catastrophe
- A red portal consist of intelligent monsters A to S-threat. It is the second to the strongest type of portal.
Gray — Apocalypse
- Gray means absolute Apocalypse, it is swarmed by S to Triple S threat monsters. It is considered the strongest dungeon out of the 4 and is the hardest one to clear. This type of dungeon rarely spawns every year.
Notes:
If dungeon is not cleared within a certain time it would cause an dungeon outbreak swarming cities and killing innocent lives.
Loki putted his phone back in the his pocket, letting out a yawn. "Red portal, huh? Sounds like a hassle." He continued to walk, It was not his problem. Not his world to save. Just another headline in the scroll.
By the time he reached his apartment door, the info was already half-forgotten, ran by thoughts of dinner on the couch. He opened the lock before he walked inside.
— USA, California, Los Angeles —
The sun dipped low over the skyline of Los Angeles.
The empty hallway—few paint on the walls, flickering lights ahead, and faint of traffic sounds can be heard in the distance.
Two figures appeared from the opposite ends of the alleyway. Both were wearing a dark cloaks, hoods were pulled doen to cover their faces, their footsteps made a sound in the concrete floor.
Guy 1 stopped around a meter away from Guy 2, his posture was straight and commanding, his deep voice ran breaking the silence, "How's the plan going? I trust there haven't been any... problems since our last meeting?"
Guy 2 cloak rustling as he adjusted a hidden amulet around his neck—a talisman etched with demonic runes that glowed faintly. "It is doing well. My team has been keeping track of that artifact."
The talisman glowed generating a red barrier surrounding them, it makes so that no one can hear their conversation.
He added.
"We've confirmed the intelligence from our spies in the Adventurer Association—it's hidden in France, Paris, directly below the Eiffel Tower."
"There's a secret chamber there, powered by an ancient generator that maintains the city's protective barrier."
Guy 1 tilted his head slightly, the hood concealing his expression, "Elaborate." his voice had a flicker of intrigue.
Guy 2 nodded, pulling a small crumpled map from beneath his cloak—a hand-drawn of the Eiffel Tower's underground layout. "The generator is heavily fortified, as expected. It's guarded by two elite beast-race warriors.
"One wields a spear enchanted with lightning runes."
"The other one is a professional martial arts user, a relentless beast with enhanced strength and self-regeneration abilities."
"They've been stationed there round-the-clock, rotating shifts with minimal time. My scouts barely escaped last week."
Guy 1 let out a low, rumbling chuckle that echoed off the walls, devoid of humor but filled with dark confidence. "Good. You don't have to worry about those beast... I have a couple of individuals in mind that will handle the fighting. the ones who've dealt with beast-races before."
Guy 2 hesitated for a moment, glancing at the map before folding it away. "And the artifact itself? Once we breach the chamber, we'll need to extract it without triggering the barrier's failsafe."
"The sigil of Beelzebub is embedded in it—disrupting that could alert every adventurer councils in Europe."
Guy 1 stepped forward, walking past Guy 2 with deliberate slowness, his cloak brushing against the other's as he passed.
"Leave the extraction to me. The ritual preparations are nearly complete on this end—the altars in the catacombs are aligned, the sacrifices gathered."
"With the artifact in our possession, the revival will be unstoppable."
He smirked, the expression hidden but evident in his voice, a satisfaction that sent chill to Guy 2.
"The Prince of Demons will rise, and the world will kneel down before him."
Guy 2 bowed his head slightly, his voice steady despite the implied threat.
"Understood, I'll mobilize the team for Paris immediately. We'll secure the artifact within next week."
"Everything to revive Beelzebub." Guy 1 laughed like some kind of villain as he dissapears into the shadows.