Only a small bonfire illuminated the campsite. It was extremely quiet, as if everyone had gone to sleep.
The campsite was located in a small basin shaped like a bottle.
The basin was surrounded by rocky mountains, so by blocking the entrance, it could be kept safe even at night.
In the southern hunting grounds, where giant beasts and Deathmen roamed at night, there weren’t many campsites like this.
However, a night watch was still necessary.
Elena briefly looked down at the quiet hunting camp before turning her gaze outward. Under the faint light scattered by the aurora, beasts were moving.
“It’s a little cold.”
Elena pulled up the blanket wrapped around her body against the chilly night air.
She was at the northern peak of the rocky mountains surrounding the basin. From there, she could see both the campsite inside the basin and the surrounding area, making it an ideal spot for standing watch. However, it was a bit cold because it was exposed to the harsh, open winds.
Elena had volunteered to stand watch on the northern rocky mountain because her mind was unsettled. Since it was difficult for her to contribute much during the hunt anyway, doing night watch duties helped with the hunting distribution.
But for Elena, calming her troubled heart was more important than the hunting distribution.
It seemed she had acted out of character.
Staying up alone like this only made the loneliness feel even worse. It had already been five years since she lost her parents during a hunt and had been surviving alone in the world.
Thanks to her deceased parents’ connections, she had been able to join hunting teams, but even that was reaching its limit.
She had managed to endure with sheer grit, but after spending the past few days with a strange man, she felt like she had changed.
“Was I lonely?”
She muttered as she blankly stared out at the plains.
Elena thought of Yonghoon and let out a small chuckle.
No matter how she looked at it, he was a strange man. On top of that, his behavior was extremely suspicious. Normally, she would have reported him without hesitation.
But even now, being separated from him, she felt no urge to report him, which meant it must not have been a bad encounter.
When she parted ways with Yonghoon, she had a feeling that it was their final farewell. At that moment, she felt more regret than relief.
“It must be because I’m lonely. Maybe I should find a boyfriend?”
Elena rested her head on her knees and let out a sigh.
As she sighed, a space opened in front of her, and a man popped out.
It was Yonghoon.
Elena stared blankly at Yonghoon, who had appeared before her eyes.
Yonghoon also looked surprised to see Elena.
“Have I gained the ability to track a person’s Dimensional Power instead of just coordinates?”
He muttered as he looked at the dazed Elena.
Yonghoon had been unable to set coordinates during the spatial movement. He had opened the dimensional tunnel while recalling the last connection he had in this world.
As he spoke, he grimaced. The forcibly created dimensional tunnel had severely damaged his body. Although he could feel Dimensional Power flowing into him from the dimensional core in his hand, he needed to rest for now.
Yonghoon slumped to the ground and lay flat on his back.
Elena, who had been stunned by Yonghoon’s sudden appearance, ran to him in alarm when he collapsed onto the ground.
She was shocked to see his tattered clothes and his exhausted appearance.
Yonghoon left her with a single remark before closing his eyes.
“I’m going to sleep for a bit.”
Elena gave him a dumbfounded look at his words.
She stared blankly at the sleeping Yonghoon before inspecting his body here and there. Fortunately, despite his ragged clothes, his body didn’t have many injuries. However, the trail of blood from his mouth pained her.
Once Elena confirmed that Yonghoon was simply asleep, she let out a sigh of relief and sat down in front of him.
She loosened one side of her blanket and covered Yonghoon with it.
She then stared blankly at Yonghoon’s face.
Above them, the green aurora was scattering its light.
The fire that had started in the military facility continued to spread without being extinguished. New Berlin City was fully awake.
Soldiers were desperately trying to put out the fire, while the security forces roamed the city conducting inspections.
However, Brigadier General Hans and the city’s command were standing atop the wall, gazing toward the old city center to the east.
From afar, it looked like the entire old city center was writhing.
“It’s confirmed that the dimensional Warp Zone has collapsed. We barely made contact with the eastern watchtower of the Warp Zone, but the building is half-destroyed, and all control devices seem to be broken. The dimensional larvae and the imprisoned beasts have all poured out and are charging toward the city.”
At the adjutant’s report, Brigadier General Hans, the person responsible for New Berlin City, twisted his rugged face.
“Mitterrand got taken down? Who could possibly defeat the commander of the personal guard units?”
No one around him could answer his question.
“Damn it, a catastrophe of this scale happening in my city after decades of peace.”
He muttered while glaring outside, then shouted toward the rear.
“Abandon the military facility! Gather all forces at the western wall!”
As soon as he spoke, some civilian officials tried to protest, but they quickly shut their mouths, intimidated by the nearby personal guards.
The adjutant standing to the side grabbed a radio and started issuing commands everywhere.
The sound of the sirens changed.
Brigadier General Hans asked the adjutant a question.
“Is support from other cities possible?”
“It’s nearly impossible. The military Warp Zone has been burned down, and the civilian and hunting Warp Zones aren’t connected to the troops. Even if we try to switch urgently, the current managers are either dead or missing, making it difficult.”
“Damn it! Was this all planned?”
Brigadier General Hans slammed the wall in anger. What Yonghoon had done as a diversion had turned into a deliberate strike.
With a hardened face, Brigadier General Hans gave the adjutant an order.
“Evacuate the influential figures and government officials to other cities as quickly as possible. And send their families through the Warp Zones too. In the worst case, we might not be able to stop it.”
At Hans’s words, the faces of the people around him stiffened.
Moments later, Hans’s expression hardened. The figure of a dimensional larva appeared from behind a building in the distance.
“It’s here!”
The anti-aircraft guns that had been aimed at the sky shifted their aim to the ground, and the machine guns and mortars turned their barrels toward the approaching larvae, beasts, and Deathmen.
It was then.
The back of the dimensional larva began to glow. Soon, Dimensional Power gathered around the larva and formed glowing orbs.
The orbs created from Dimensional Power began flying toward the wall.
“Take cover!”
Brigadier General Hans shouted to the people and threw himself down behind the wall. The personal guards followed him and jumped down as well.
However, the civilians with them were F-rank Awakened. They couldn’t jump down from such a height.
Boom!
The glowing orbs collided with the wall, and the wall of New Berlin City, which had withstood decades, burst open.
Beasts and Deathmen rushed toward the gaping hole.
Sunlight was shining on the rocky mountains.
“Move quickly! Pull it!”
Loud noises were coming from below the rocky mountains. Yonghoon opened his eyes at the sound.
Lying there blankly for a moment, Yonghoon soon regained his senses. He remembered where he was.
Yonghoon sat up. The blanket slid off his body. Seeing the blanket, he remembered meeting Elena.
He looked around, but Elena was nowhere to be seen.
Unable to find Elena, Yonghoon turned his gaze toward the source of the loud noises.
Outside the rocky mountains surrounding the basin, people were gathered. In the center of them lay a giant monster.
‘A C-rank rhinoceros-type monster.’
Yonghoon immediately recognized the fallen monster. It was a monster he had fought before.
The monster was lying on the ground, bleeding. However, it didn’t seem to be dead yet. It was breathing heavily.
He spotted Elena there.
She was carrying a large machine with the others. Several of the machines she was carrying were positioned around the monster.
The sun was already high in the sky. A lot of time had passed.
Yonghoon, who had risen to his feet, checked his body. His internal injuries were almost fully healed. The body that had been coughing up blood was now fine after just one day.
He was no longer in a condition to complain about the monster.
“Are they trying to teleport the monster?”
Yonghoon muttered as he watched the scene unfolding below.
It was something he had heard from Elena.
Small monsters could be transported by loading them into vehicles, but it was impossible to move giant monsters that way. However, this world had machines that used Dimensional Power for spatial movement.
According to Elena, hunting teams that captured monsters of a certain size always carried spatial movement machines.
However, that machine was powered by Dimensional Power.
A single use would leave many people exhausted. It was not something that could be used carelessly.
After a while, the machine setup was completed. Eight machines surrounded the monster. Eight people stood in front of the machines, placing their hands on them.
It was a scene Yonghoon had seen at the New Warsaw Warp Zone.
But it was different from back then. The amount of Dimensional Power being poured out by the people was massive. Maybe because it was a portable version, its efficiency seemed poor.
Dimensional Power surged around the monster, and the ground beneath it began to ripple.
‘But where are they sending it? With that size, it can’t fit into a normal Warp Zone.’
It was the moment Yonghoon tilted his head in confusion.
The rippling ground shattered.
“Uwaaah!”
The people channeling Dimensional Power into the machines were flung in all directions.
They had failed the spatial movement.
They had tried to teleport through the collapsed dimensional Warp Zone and were bounced off the blocked space.
To make matters worse, the monster, which had only been breathing heavily, began to have its eyes turn red.
“The beast is rampaging!”
People watching the scene from nearby shouted.
The high-level Awakened who were supposed to stop the monster had fainted from the shock while channeling Dimensional Power. The remaining people couldn’t stop the rampaging monster. Everyone started fleeing in all directions.
Elena, too, panicked and began to run.
But she thought of Yonghoon, lying in the rocky mountains. She turned her head to look at the rampaging beast. The beast rose to its feet, bleeding as it moved forward.
In that direction was the rocky mountains.
Elena stopped in her tracks. She sighed and raised her gun. Elena fired at the monster.
Tatatatang!
Against the giant monster, which was over 10 meters long, ordinary bullets were almost useless. They only left scratches on its skin.
However, her gunfire managed to draw the rampaging monster’s attention. The monster stopped and turned its body. It began moving toward Elena.
“I must be crazy!”
Seeing the monster turn toward her, Elena started to run. But after only a few steps, she collided with someone.
“Ouch!”
Startled, she looked up. She saw Yonghoon’s face.
“Eh? You’re awake?”
“We’ll talk later.”
Yonghoon gently pushed her aside and drew his sword. He swung his sword at the monster charging toward him.
Kwaaang!
Blood spurted from the monster’s leg as it tumbled forward. There was no spatial movement blocking device here. Yonghoon’s attack had precisely severed the monster’s Achilles tendon.
The monster slid and was pushed right in front of Yonghoon. It tried to lift its head to bite him, but Yonghoon’s sword was faster.
Yonghoon’s sword pierced deep between the monster’s forehead and then withdrew.
The light faded from the monster’s eyes. Its head dropped, and Yonghoon sheathed his sword and turned around.
Elena, who had been blankly watching the scene, snapped back to her senses.
“Y-You must have a lot to say to me! I have a lot to say to you too. You… huh? Your eye color?”
Elena, putting her hands on her hips, started to rant at Yonghoon but then widened her eyes when she saw his eyes.
Yonghoon calmly looked at her and opened his mouth.
“It seems we have a lot to talk about.”
Elena stood there with her mouth agape at Yonghoon’s polite tone.