The next morning — 7:00 a.m.

  Navraan Headquarters, Main Gate

  Morning light spilled across the front of the headquarters, pale and quiet, as if the city itself was holding its breath.

  Ishan stood at the front of the gathered group, his posture straight, his expression steady.

  Behind him were Soraya, Shahin, Afraan, Alok, Rihan, and Sifan.

  Alongside them stood eighteen more awakeners—each no lower than C-rank. Some were low-tier, some mid-tier, a few top-tier. Their expressions varied—nervous, resolute, excited—but all of them had chosen to be here.

  Metal clinked softly as weapons shifted.

  Swords hung at waists and rested against shoulders.Shields were strapped tight.Leather creaked.Boots scraped against concrete.

  Ishan, Shahin, Alok, and Sifan each held a sword, as they were combat-type awakeners.Rihan, the tanker, stood solid and unmoving, his large shield secured to his back, sword resting at his side.

  Afraan and Soraya, being mage-type awakeners with elemental powers such as wind and fire, didn't require any weapons.

  More people had shown up than expected.

  A low murmur spread through the group as everyone took in the number of participants. No one spoke too loudly. Even casual chatter felt inappropriate today.

  The gate was far from here.

  Very far.

  And whatever waited beyond it was unknown.

  Ishan glanced once at the assembled awakeners, then toward the road stretching ahead—leading out of the city, toward the distant, floating blue anomaly that had shaken Cumilla's fate.

  "It looks like everyone joining today's mission is here," he said calmly.

  The murmurs died instantly.

  He turned, facing forward.

  "Then… let's move."

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  With that, the entire group set off toward the floating blue gate.

  ***

  After some time, they arrived before the Blue Gate.

  The Blue Gate hovered silently ahead of them.

  It was circular in shape, suspended slightly above the ground as if reality itself had forgotten to let it fall. Its surface rippled endlessly—sloooosh…—like a tranquil ocean trapped inside the air. Layers of soft blue light folded into one another, distorting the space behind it, bending distance and depth until the world beyond felt unreal.

  The mana radiating from it was unmistakable.

  Dense. Heavy. Oppressive.

  Several awakeners instinctively swallowed.

  Standing before the gate were members of the Bangladesh Awakeners Association, already waiting.

  Fifteen in total.

  At their front stood a man whose presence alone made the air feel tighter—

  Rayhan Zaevor.

  A low-tier A-rank Awakener.

  Behind him were four others ranging from low to top-tier B-rank, while the remaining members were all C-rank.

  For a moment, the Navraan members simply stared.

  No one had expected this.

  Not just support—but high-rank awakeners.

  A murmur rippled through the group. Relief surfaced on several faces. Tension eased, if only slightly. Even Ishan's expression shifted, his eyes narrowing with quiet surprise.

  Formal greetings were exchanged.

  Short.

  Respectful.

  Efficient.

  This was not a place for long conversations.

  With both groups assembled, nearly forty awakeners now stood before the floating anomaly. Weapons were adjusted. Shields tightened. Mana subtly stirred beneath skin and bone.

  The gate pulsed once.

  Fwooom…

  As if acknowledging them.

  One by one—

  They stepped forward.

  And entered the Blue Gate.

  ***

  The moment they crossed the blue threshold—

  —everything shattered.

  No voices.

  No footsteps.

  No familiar presence beside them.

  Each of them landed alone.

  The sensation was abrupt, like being torn out of reality and dropped into something unfinished and hostile. One heartbeat they were together—shoulder to shoulder—and the next…

  …silence.

  A suffocating, absolute silence.

  When their senses finally stabilized, shock spread through every single one of them for the same reason—

  They were completely alone.

  But there was something that was even more shocking.

  And that was the world itself inside the gate.

  The world inside the gate revealed itself slowly, as if savoring their fear.

  It was night.

  But not the kind of night they knew.

  Above them stretched an unfamiliar sky, vast and heavy, dominated by two moons—both enormous, both crimson. Their red light did not illuminate; it bled across the land, staining everything beneath it in shades of blood and shadow.

  The air felt cold.

  Dead.

  Countless trees surrounded the area, tall and twisted, their branches clawing toward the sky. Not a single leaf grew among them. They stood like corpses frozen in time—silent witnesses to something long forgotten.

  A river cut through the land nearby.

  Its water was pitch black.

  Not dark blue.

  Not muddy.

  Black.

  It flowed without sound, without reflection, as if it were swallowing light itself.

  No insects buzzed.

  No wind whispered.

  No living thing made a sound.

  Only the oppressive stillness of a world that did not welcome visitors.

  That—

  That was the world inside the very first gate in history.

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