The room became completely silent.
Not successfully explored?
That was not the kind of phrase anyone wanted to hear moments before deployment.
The powerhouse seemed amused by their reactions.
"Relax."
Nobody relaxed.
The man nodded approvingly.
"Good. Anyone who relaxes after hearing that probably won't survive long anyway."
Several expressions darkened.
Zael remained quiet.
Instead of panicking, he focused on the wording.
Not successfully explored.
That implied attempts had been made before.
The man continued.
"As some of you already know, the Gods and Demons Battlefield is not a single battlefield."
A holographic map appeared behind him.
An enormous world materialized.
Continents.
Oceans.
Mountain ranges.
Ancient ruins.
Thousands of marked locations.
The scale alone was ridiculous.
"It is a world."
The room remained silent.
"More accurately, a collection of overlapping worlds that have fused together over countless years."
The map shifted.
Large portions became highlighted.
"Humanity controls these regions."
Several areas glowed blue.
Then red regions appeared.
"Demons control these."
The red territory was slightly larger.
Nobody looked surprised.
Then golden regions appeared.
"The Divine Alliance."
Those territories were enormous.
Auralis would probably make a joke about that if she were here.
Zael almost smiled at the thought.
Then the map zoomed toward a distant location.
Far from every major power.
Far from every established route.
Near the edge of the known map.
A small black region appeared.
The powerhouse pointed at it.
"This."
The room's atmosphere changed instantly.
Even Zael felt it.
The black region looked wrong.
Not visually.
Instinctively.
As though something about it naturally attracted attention.
"The Forgotten Expanse."
Nobody spoke.
The man continued.
"Discovered three hundred years ago."
"Entered fifty-seven times."
"Successfully mapped..."
A pause.
"...zero times."
That wasn't encouraging.
At all.
One of the participants finally spoke.
A spear-wielding woman standing near the wall.
"If nobody mapped it, how do we know it exists?"
The powerhouse nodded.
"Good question."
The map shifted.
Dozens of paths appeared.
Each entered the black region.
Each ended abruptly.
"Because people returned."
A pause.
"Sometimes."
That was somehow worse.
The man folded his arms.
"Most returned with incomplete memories."
"Some returned insane."
"Some returned speaking languages that no longer exist."
The room became very quiet.
Then he casually added—
"One returned claiming he had spent two hundred years there despite only being missing for three days."
Nobody laughed.
The man didn't seem surprised.
"Most people assume he was insane."
Zael's eyes narrowed slightly.
Most people.
Not everyone.
The powerhouse continued.
"The mission itself is simple."
Simple.
Nobody believed that.
"You will enter the outer region of the Forgotten Expanse."
A new marker appeared.
"You will investigate."
Another marker.
"You will gather information."
Another.
"And if possible, determine why activity levels have increased recently."
There it was.
The real reason.
Something had changed.
Otherwise they wouldn't be sending people.
One of the participants frowned.
"If this place is that dangerous, why send us?"
The powerhouse smiled.
"Because you're talented."
Nobody looked convinced.
The smile widened.
"And because older people disappear."
The room froze.
Zael's eyes narrowed.
The man pointed at the map.
"For reasons unknown, the deeper regions reject stronger individuals."
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"Tier Five experts vanish."
"Tier Six experts vanish faster."
"One Tier Seven entered two centuries ago."
The map zoomed inward.
A single golden marker appeared.
Then vanished.
The powerhouse shrugged.
"Nobody saw him again."
Nobody spoke.
After several moments, the man clapped once.
The map disappeared.
"Fortunately."
That word sounded dangerous.
"You won't be entering the deeper regions."
That was not reassuring.
Not after everything else he'd said.
The powerhouse looked around the room.
Then his gaze settled on Zael.
For a second longer than everyone else.
"There is one final matter."
The room grew quiet.
The powerhouse reached into his coat.
Then placed something on the table.
A black card.
Zael's pupils contracted slightly.
Because he immediately recognized it.
It looked almost identical to the card currently sitting in his inventory.
The same material.
The same darkness.
The same strange feeling.
The powerhouse tapped it lightly.
"Two weeks ago."
"We recovered this from an abandoned outpost near the Forgotten Expanse."
Zael felt a chill.
The man's gaze moved directly to him.
"And according to our information..."
A pause.
"...you possess a matching one."
The room instantly turned toward Zael.
And for the first time since entering the briefing room—
Zael realized this meeting might have been arranged specifically because of him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
Seven pairs of eyes settled on Zael.
Some curious.
Some surprised.
Some openly suspicious.
Zael himself remained calm.
Mostly because panicking wouldn't help.
And partially because he genuinely had no idea what the card actually did.
The powerhouse continued studying him.
Unlike the others, there was no hostility in his gaze.
Only interest.
"Well?"
Zael sighed internally.
There was no point denying it.
The moment the man produced the matching card, the conversation had already moved beyond that.
"I do."
The room immediately became more attentive.
The powerhouse nodded.
"May I see it?"
Zael considered for a moment.
Then retrieved the black card from his inventory.
The instant it appeared, several people frowned.
Apparently they could sense the same strange feeling he had noticed before.
The powerhouse accepted it.
Then placed it beside the other card.
The moment the two cards touched—
Nothing happened.
The room waited.
Still nothing.
Several participants looked disappointed.
One even rolled his eyes.
The powerhouse, however, seemed unsurprised.
He studied both cards for several moments.
Then returned Zael's card.
"Interesting."
Zael raised an eyebrow.
"What is?"
The man smiled.
"I was hoping you'd tell me."
"..."
The room became awkwardly silent.
Eventually the powerhouse laughed.
"Relax."
He walked back toward the holographic display.
"Truthfully, we know very little."
That wasn't reassuring.
The display reappeared.
Several images floated into view.
Ruins.
Ancient structures.
Collapsed cities.
Mysterious monoliths.
Among them was a picture of a black card.
The same one.
The powerhouse pointed toward it.
"Over the past three centuries, thirteen of these have been discovered."
The image shifted.
Twelve cards appeared.
Then thirteen.
All identical.
"Nobody has managed to activate one."
"Nobody understands their purpose."
"And nobody knows who created them."
Zael's expression remained neutral.
Internally, however, he was paying close attention.
Because his card had done something.
Not physically.
But it had triggered a hidden quest.
A hidden quest nobody else apparently knew about.
The powerhouse continued.
"Three weeks ago, activity related to these artifacts increased."
Another image appeared.
A ruined structure deep within the Forgotten Expanse.
The black card hovered above an altar.
Surrounded by symbols.
Strange symbols.
The moment Zael saw them—
His heart skipped a beat.
Not because he recognized them.
But because Origin Dominion reacted.
Very slightly.
A tiny pulse.
Gone before anyone could notice.
His expression didn't change.
Years of practice kept his face completely neutral.
Inside, however, alarms were ringing.
That was the first time Origin Dominion had reacted to anything external.
The powerhouse continued.
"Normally, we wouldn't send a team this small."
"However..."
His gaze briefly flickered toward Zael.
"...circumstances have changed."
At this point, Zael was almost certain this mission had been assembled around him.
The powerhouse folded his arms.
"Your objective is simple."
"Investigate."
"Survive."
"If you discover information, report it."
"If you encounter something beyond your capabilities..."
A pause.
"Run."
Several participants looked surprised.
The powerhouse laughed.
"I'm serious."
"Heroes die young."
"Veterans know when to retreat."
That sounded like practical advice.
Which meant most people would ignore it.
The briefing continued for another fifteen minutes.
Maps.
Known danger zones.
Emergency extraction procedures.
Rules of engagement.
Everything important.
Finally, the powerhouse dismissed the display.
"Any questions?"
A hand immediately rose.
One of the participants.
A young man carrying twin sabers.
"What are our chances?"
The powerhouse looked thoughtful.
Then smiled.
"Better than the previous team."
Nobody looked reassured.
The man laughed.
"Tough crowd."
Then his expression became serious again.
"Listen carefully."
The room fell silent.
"The Forgotten Expanse isn't famous because it's dangerous."
That immediately got everyone's attention.
The powerhouse's smile vanished.
"It's famous because it doesn't follow the rules."
The room grew quiet.
"Mana behaves differently."
"Space behaves differently."
"Time occasionally behaves differently."
Nobody spoke.
The powerhouse's gaze swept across them.
"Trust your instincts."
"Trust your teammates."
"And if something feels wrong..."
A pause.
"It probably is."
Silence followed.
Then—
A powerful vibration echoed throughout the facility.
The entire building trembled.
A moment later, a massive announcement filled the deployment center.
"FINAL DEPLOYMENT SEQUENCE INITIATED."
"ALL PARTICIPANTS REPORT TO PORTAL GATES."
The powerhouse looked toward the ceiling.
Then back at them.
"That's our cue."
The mission briefing was over.
The battlefield awaited.
And somewhere within that vast unknown world...
Something connected to the black cards was waiting for Zael.