June 3rd, 2032.
Paris, UES.
CORG Central Headquarters — Underground Level 7.
09:22 The room felt different this time.
Not in structure.
The round table, the fifteen chairs, the light that illuminated without comforting — all unchanged.
But there was a different energy in the air, the specific quality of people who had arrived at a meeting already thinking, already calculating, already halfway to their conclusions and needing only shared context to finish them.
No one had slept well.
It was not visible in everyone.
Some in the room had decades of training in maintaining composure regardless of what their bodies had endured in previous hours.
But it was there, in small details: the coffee in Dumas Rei’s hand that was not his first, the way the Dwarf representative’s shoulders were slightly tenser than usual, the expression on Yselith Faern’s face which was always precise and today somehow even more precise, sharpened to the limit.
Aldren Mous remained standing.
No introduction.
No opening rituals like other meetings.
This one did not need them.
“New York.
Tokyo.” He spoke the two names like coordinates.
“In less than twenty-four hours.” He activated the screen.
Two images side by side.
On the left: the Big Hero stage.
The punch.
The wall.
Captain Angola airborne with Angola’s flag.
On the right: Tokyo emergency camera footage.
Fragmented, incomplete, but enough.
The SR entity.
And a six-foot figure wearing a wooden hat and carrying a bowl of ramen, who had forced the entity back into the dungeon in eleven minutes.
“Two confirmed members of the Katta Beshlik,” Aldren said.
“Captain Angola.
Identified live at the world’s largest hero event, before one hundred and seventeen countries.
Claimed responsibility for the destruction of Base 121.
Attacked Prime Human.
Made statements constituting…” He chose the word carefully.
“…a direct threat against the global number one hero and an indication of knowledge regarding the highest level of classified information.” Pause.
“Mahãdaran.
Identification confirmed through outfit analysis, movement patterns, and correlation with the Area 51 incident.
What we have on him is insufficient.
What we witnessed yesterday in Tokyo suggests insufficient is a serious problem.” Dumas Rei set his coffee down.
“An SR entity,” he said.
In the tone of someone confirming mathematics he disliked confirming.
“One that resisted SS-grade celestial fire.
One that did not respond to high-tier curse containment.
One that all of Japan failed to stop.” A pause.
“In eleven minutes.
With two fingers and a wooden hat.” “And ramen,” someone on the other side of the table added.
No one laughed.
But the silence that followed carried the acknowledgment that the observation was technically correct, and that somehow made everything more disturbing, not less.
“The behavioral pattern between the two is consistent,” Yselith said without opening her notebook.
“Captain Angola: public action, direct declaration, maximum exposure.
Mahãdaran: effective action, minimal presence, no declaration.
One speaks.
The other acts.
And both know exactly what the other is doing.” “Coordination,” Aldren said.
“Not improvisation.” “High-level coordination,” Yselith confirmed.
“The New York attack was not a response to Big Hero.
Big Hero was chosen for the New York attack.
The media coverage, the one hundred and seventeen countries, Prime Human on stage — it was the ideal stage for the message they wanted to send.
And they delivered it with surgical precision.” Silence.
“Which means,” the feline Hybrid said slowly, “they knew the event schedule far enough in advance to plan around it.
And someone within Katta Beshlik analyzed the moment of maximum impact for the message they intended to deliver.” “Five,” Vorath said.
The Orc had kept his arms crossed since the meeting began.
“There are five.
We’ve seen two.
Code 3€21# was generated to cover all five.” He looked at Aldren.
“Who are the other three?” Aldren changed the slide.
The screen now displayed a document.
Sparse.
More blank spaces than actual information.
“What we have on the remaining members is fragments.
Inference.” He looked at the screen.
“Except for one thing.” He activated the next section.
One entry.
One name.
El Sobá / IOGORO SUNG WOO — ヨゴロ・ソンウ “This name,” Aldren said, “does not exist in our archives as a member of the Katta Beshlik.
It exists in our archives as a legend.
As a historical figure of unverified status.
As the kind of entry databases accumulate over decades of field reports from agents who encountered references to something they could neither confirm nor dismiss.” Dumas Rei’s expression changed.
Subtly.
But Aldren noticed.
“You know the name,” Aldren said.
“Everyone with level-four historical archive access knows the name,” Dumas replied.
“The question is whether he’s real or merely the heroic version of a myth that accumulated enough details to become convincing.” “What does the archive say?” the Dwarf representative asked.
Yselith answered because she had clearly memorized the archive before entering the room.
“Iogoro Sung Woo.
One hundred and two years old, if the reported birth dates are accurate.
Japanese origin.
Martial monk, affiliated with a martial arts lineage with no registered name in CORG records.” A pause.
“Field reports from agents operating in Japan over six decades mentioning him in connection with resolving incidents the agents themselves could not resolve.
One archive entry from 1987 states…” She recited from memory.
“‘We found what remained of an SR-grade entity on a northeastern plain.
There were no signs of conventional combat.
A local resident mentioned the name Iogoro when questioned regarding what had happened.
We were unable to locate any Iogoro in the region.'” Silence.
“An SR entity,” Dumas said.
“In 1987,” Yselith confirmed.
“Before most modern classification systems even existed.” “There’s more in the archive,” Aldren said.
He said it in the manner of someone indicating that what came next was the important part.
Yselith continued.
“A 2003 report.
A field agent in Japan, infiltrating an unregistered demon hunter network, encountered references to an event the hunters referred to as the Silence of the North — an approximately three-year period during which high-grade demonic entities completely ceased activity in a northeastern region of Japan.
According to the hunter network, the reason was that someone had spoken with the Three.” Yselith paused.
“The Three referred, within the context of the legend, to the Three Primordial Demon Kings.” The room became very quiet.
Within CORG taxonomy, the Three Primordial Demon Kings occupied a category balanced between theory and certainty — demonic beings of such power that their existence was considered historical fact, though their current location and condition remained unknown.
The classification immediately below the category containing the ruler of Babilond, the Seventh Demon King.
“Spoken with the Three,” Vorath repeated, sounding like someone verifying he had heard correctly.
“The field report interprets it as a euphemism for confrontation,” Yselith said.
“But the agent noted the hunters deliberately used the word spoken.
As though what happened had not been mere combat.” “If Iogoro Sung Woo is real,” Dumas said slowly, “and if even half of what the archive suggests is true, then the Katta Beshlik’s third member has operated for decades at a level this organization never fully documented.” “Not the third,” Aldren said.
Everyone looked at him.
“The Eclipse Event archive from 2029 lists the Five Greats according to order of intervention during the confrontation.
Captain Angola is identified as leader — top one of Katta Beshlik.
Mahãdaran as highest combat capability — top two.” He looked at the screen.
“Iogoro Sung Woo, assuming the references are accurate, is internally classified as top three.” “Which means there are still two more,” the feline Hybrid said.
“Yes.
And regarding those two, we know even less than we know about the others.” Silence.
“So what do we do with this?” the Dwarf representative asked with his characteristic bluntness.
“Two confirmed, one probable, two unknown.
A pattern of actions clearly coordinated and clearly directed at us and the systems we maintain.
Bases destroyed.
Prime Human publicly attacked.
An SR entity neutralized in Tokyo in a manner no Japanese hero managed to approach.” He looked at Aldren.
“What does this organization do with five beings who appear to be systematically demonstrating they can go anywhere, do anything, and leave without consequences?” Aldren remained silent for a moment.
“We continue observing,” he said.
“And we begin understanding the pattern before the pattern surprises us.” “And if the pattern’s next step,” Dumas said, “is something we cannot simply observe?” Aldren opened his mouth to answer.
The communicator on the table vibrated.
Everyone in the room heard it.
Aldren looked at the screen.
Read it.
Stayed motionless for three seconds.
“This meeting is over,” he said.
He stood.
“Captain Angola is in London.”