Far away from the music and the chaotic politics of the main ballroom, a much quieter, far more dangerous meeting was taking place behind closed doors.

The table in the center of the private royal chamber was surrounded by the most powerful figures in the kingdom. The heads of the Great Families, high-ranking military commanders, and top guild officials were all gathered to discuss the escalating threat of the anomalous Gates.

"The situation is completely unstable," one of the military commanders said, pointing to a sprawling map spread across the center of the table.

"The recent Gate the Flint vanguard failed to clear has already shown signs of expanding. If we do not seal it within the week, we risk a localized anomaly break."

"Then the solution is simple," Duke Vahn said, leaning back in his chair with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We send in a specialized raid team. Dispatch a squad of high-ranking knights to handle the core and be done with it."

At the head of the table, the King sat in complete silence. He rested his chin on his steepled fingers, his eyes casually scanning the map while the lords argued over logistics and manpower.

"If I may make a suggestion, Your Majesty," a noble from the Silver-Wing faction said, stepping forward with a perfectly practiced smile. "Since this operation requires elite talent, perhaps we should include the Crown’s newly sponsored Ranker?"

The room went dead silent.

Near the end of the long table, Guildmaster Allen slowly crossed his arms over his chest, his jaw tightening. As the man who had personally overseen Hajin’s Ranker exam, he knew exactly what was happening here.

It was a blatant, highly calculated political ploy. Throwing an untested, newly registered Ranker into a high-risk Gate alongside elite knights was basically a death sentence.

If he died, the King’s judgment in sponsoring him would be publicly humiliated.

If he somehow managed to survive by hiding behind the raid team, he would be exposed as a complete liability, giving the Great Families the perfect excuse to question why the Crown was wasting resources on an untalented person.

The Flint Patriarch, seated near the middle of the table, kept his face completely devoid of emotion, though his grip on his cane tightened significantly.

The King didn’t answer immediately. He slowly lowered his hands, leaning back in his chair as a wide, deeply terrifying smile spread across his face.

"An excellent suggestion," the King said, his voice carrying absolute authority. "Put my Ranker on the raid team. Surviving a high-threat Gate alongside our finest knights is the perfect environment for him to grow."

The noble who had made the suggestion blinked, clearly caught off-guard by how quickly the King had agreed to the trap.

Allen let out a slow, quiet breath, shifting in his seat. He had personally seen the impossible mana readings Hajin had produced back at the guild, but even with that kind of raw potential, throwing him into a failing Gate was absolute madness.

The King was either a terrifying visionary or a complete lunatic.

Down the table, the Flint Patriarch felt a sudden jolt of shock, but he quickly completely masked it. His mind began racing, running through the political implications before arriving at a cold, pragmatic realization.

This was the absolute best-case scenario.

He had been agonizing over how to quietly eliminate Hajin before the boy could expose their bloodline connection and ruin the Flint family’s perfect reputation.

If Hajin went into a high-tier anomaly Gate, the chances of him surviving were virtually zero.

And the best part was that if the boy died to a monster inside a royal raid, absolutely no backlash or suspicion would ever fall onto the Flint family.

"Since we have agreed on the personnel, we must finalize the timeline," Duke Vahn said, leaning forward to tap his finger against the center of the map. "This anomaly is highly volatile. If we give it too much time, it will destabilize the surrounding mana veins."

"Agreed," one of the military commanders nodded, dragging a marker across the deployment routes. "We cannot afford to waste time. Assembling the elite knights and organizing the logistics will take at least forty-eight hours."

"Then it is settled," the King said, rising slowly from his chair to signal the end of the meeting.

The heavy atmosphere in the room shifted as all the gathered nobles and officials quickly stood up, bowing their heads respectfully as the King turned toward the exit.

"The raid team will be fully deployed in exactly two days," the King ordered, his tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. "Send the deployment orders to my Ranker. I expect him to be fully prepared when the time comes."

The moment the doors clicked shut behind the King, the rigid, formal atmosphere in the room completely shattered.

"Is this actually a wise decision?" one of the military commanders asked, immediately breaking the silence as he leaned back over the map. "I understand the political implications, but we are sending a completely untested ranker into a volatile, high-tier anomaly. If he panics, he could easily compromise the entire knight squad."

"It does not matter if he panics," Duke Vahn replied, his tone entirely dismissive. "The knights are elite veterans. They will secure the core regardless of what the boy does. If he dies, it simply proves the King’s judgment was deeply flawed."

"And what if he survives?" Allen asked, his deep voice cutting through the murmurs of agreement.

The Guildmaster slowly stood up, pushing his chair back. He looked around the table, his gaze lingering on the Silver-Wing noble who had initially proposed the trap.

"What if the kid the King just backed actually survives?" He repeated, keeping his expression entirely flat. "Because I was the one who tested him. You are all treating him like a disposable political pawn, but throwing an anomaly like him into a failing Gate might produce entirely unexpected results."

The Flint Patriarch, who had been completely silent until now, finally stood up and grabbed his cane.

"If he is truly an anomaly, then a high-tier Gate is the perfect place to test him," the Patriarch said, his voice completely devoid of emotion as he turned to leave. "If he survives, he proves his worth to the Crown. If he does not, the problem solves itself."

Miles away from the capital, deep within the southern forest, the night air was completely still.

The demon girl sat cross-legged on the thick branch of a massive tree, staring blankly down at the dark forest floor. She wasn’t paying attention to the low-tier monsters scurrying through the underbrush.

Her mind was entirely consumed by the memory of what had happened in this exact forest just a few nights ago.

She kept replaying the scene over and over again in her head.

She had watched Hajin fight Maren. She had crushed the incubation crystal herself to force the creature into a terrifying, Overlord-class mutation, fully expecting the raw, suffocating pressure of the demonic mana to crush Hajin’s spirit or kill him outright.

Instead, he had fought back. He had clashed against a monster that vastly out-scaled him, and when his physical strength wasn’t enough, he did the unthinkable.

It wasn’t just his resilience that bothered her. It was the way his golden chain had reacted. It was the way the fragment inside his chest had flared, forcibly absorbing and purifying raw demonic essence like it was absolutely nothing.

Humans weren’t supposed to be able to do that. The Underworld King’s mana was absolute, a highly corrosive force that shattered human minds and corrupted their bodies. Yet, Hajin had swallowed it whole.

"You are thinking entirely too loud," the boy said, stepping out from the shadows of the tree trunk and leaning back against the bark. His dark clothes blended perfectly into the night.

She didn’t look back at him, keeping her gaze fixed on the distant outline of the capital’s boundary wall.

When they had first started tracking Hajin, she had thought of him as an amusing piece on the board. He was just a weak, exiled human who had accidentally stumbled into borrowed power.

She had even intentionally fed demonic essence to that arrogant adventurer from the guild hall just to see if the pressure would force Hajin to grow or snap.

But after watching the fight in the forest, the game had fundamentally changed. Hajin wasn’t just a piece on the board anymore. He was an anomaly that actively broke the rules of their world.

"We underestimated him," she finally said, her voice dropping the casual, arrogant tone she normally used.

"I told you he was dangerous," the boy replied, his tone perfectly flat. "You were the one who wanted to play games and throw that failure at him to force his growth."

The girl slowly stood up on the branch, the wind catching her long black hair as she turned to look at her partner. The amused, mocking smile she usually wore was completely gone, replaced by a cold, deeply serious expression.

"I know," she said quietly. "That is why we need to talk."