The neutral sanctuary slept beneath silver moonlight, calm and untouched by the horrors stirring elsewhere. Floating rivers shimmered peacefully through crystal valleys while ancient spirits drifted silently among the trees.
But Luke could not sleep.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The seven-year-old sat upright suddenly in his chamber, breathing unevenly. Golden light flickered faintly beneath his skin as if the Balance itself had become restless.
Then he heard it.
A whisper.
Not through his ears… but through the threads.
Ancient.
Heavy.
Hungry.
Luke's amber eyes widened.
The darkness beyond the realms had moved.
At the foot of his bed, the dragon Spirit Guide instantly lifted its massive head. Its ancient eyes narrowed dangerously.
You felt it too.
Luke nodded slowly.
"It's cold…"
The Spirit Guide rose immediately. For the first time in years, Luke saw genuine alarm in the ancient creature's expression.
Stay here.
"But....."
Stay here, Luke.
The dragon's voice carried authority sharp enough to silence the air itself.
Luke froze.
Without another word, the Spirit Guide vanished into streams of silver light.
Deep beneath the infernal realm…
The forgotten gate trembled.
Massive chains forged before celestial law strained violently against the growing pressure behind them. Ancient runes burned across black stone walls while infernal winds screamed through the underground abyss.
Lilith stood before the gate, crimson robes flowing behind her like blood-soaked shadows. Beside her, Azael looked increasingly uneasy.
"This is madness," he muttered. "That seal exists for a reason."
Lilith did not look away from the gate.
"The heir changes everything."
"You would unleash that because of a child?"
Her eyes darkened.
"He is no longer merely a child."
The gate pulsed violently again.
BOOM.
The underground realm shook.
Ancient darkness leaked through the cracks now not ordinary infernal energy, but something older. Something wrong.
Azael instinctively stepped backward.
"I can feel it…"
Lilith's expression hardened.
"So can the realms."
Far above them, infernal citizens had already begun panicking. Entire regions of Hell trembled unnaturally as ancient corruption spread through the lower currents like poison.
Even demons feared what slept behind the forgotten gate.
Because before the First War… before celestial law… there existed creatures so dangerous that all realms united to erase them from history itself.
And one of those beings was waking up.
Meanwhile, inside the neutral sanctuary, Luke quietly slipped from his room despite the Spirit Guide's warning.
The strange whisper still echoed inside his mind.
Pulling him.
Calling him.
As he walked through the moonlit sanctuary, golden threads instinctively spread around him, reacting defensively to the disturbance crawling through the realms. Ancient spirits watched nervously from afar but did not stop him.
The heir of Balance was being summoned by something ancient.
Luke eventually reached the highest cliff overlooking the sanctuary.
The skies above the realms looked wrong tonight.
Dark cracks spread faintly across distant stars.
The currents trembled.
Then suddenly....
A massive presence appeared behind him.
Lucien.
Dark flames flickered softly around the King of Hell as he stepped beside his son, his expression grim.
"You felt it too."
Luke nodded immediately.
"What is it?"
Lucien remained silent for several seconds.
Then quietly:
"Something that should never awaken."
Luke looked up at him nervously.
"Is it stronger than you?"
Lucien's jaw tightened slightly.
"Yes."
The answer chilled the boy instantly.
Because until now, Luke had secretly believed Lucifer, Lucien, and the Father of All were nearly unstoppable beings.
But the fear in his father's eyes tonight was real.
And that frightened him more than the darkness itself.
A soft light soon approached behind them. Celestia's mother emerged quietly, her expression filled with worry.
"The neutral currents are destabilizing," she said softly. "Ancient spirits are beginning to panic."
Lucien cursed under his breath.
Then suddenly, silver light exploded across the sanctuary.
The Spirit Guide returned.
But something was wrong.
The dragon's scales flickered erratically, and ancient wounds covered parts of its body as though it had crossed through violent currents.
Luke ran forward immediately.
"You're hurt!"
I am fine, the dragon growled, though its weakened aura said otherwise.
Lucien stepped forward sharply.
"What happened?"
The Spirit Guide's ancient eyes darkened.
The gate beneath the infernal realm has been disturbed.
Even Lucien stiffened.
Celestia's mother covered her mouth slightly in horror.
"No…" she whispered.
Luke looked between them anxiously.
"What gate?"
For a long moment, nobody answered.
Then the Spirit Guide finally spoke.
Before the First War… before Balance was shattered… there existed primordial beings born directly from chaos itself. They consumed realms. Corrupted laws. Destroyed entire planes of existence.
Luke swallowed hard.
Even the architects feared them, the dragon continued. So the First Balance sealed them away beneath all realms where no power could ever reach them again.
Lucien's fists clenched tightly.
"But someone is trying to open that prison."
Luke's eyes widened slowly.
"Lilith…"
The Spirit Guide nodded grimly.
She is desperate.
Silence fell heavily across the cliffside.
The winds themselves seemed afraid tonight.
Then Luke quietly asked the question nobody wanted to answer.
"If the gate opens… what happens?"
The Spirit Guide looked directly at him.
And for the first time since Luke met the ancient creature…
The dragon looked uncertain.
Then the war for Balance truly begins.