An Awakened appeared at the spatial warp array in the capital. He was the Spatial Mover who had been sent to the United States.
As the warp array in New York, which had been dormant for over a decade, reactivated, he was sent first to verify it.
It was because a Spatial Mover could respond if problems arose during spatial movement, and preparations had to be made before sending the dimensional larvae queen.
“In the end, I’m just a lab rat.”
Grumbling, he said this upon safely arriving in New London.
At any rate, he urgently reported the situation in New York to the President, and the President’s plan was immediately revised.
The warp array, originally modified for the C dimension, was repurposed for transporting the dimensional larvae queen, and the Awakened who were supposed to depart for the C dimension were reassigned to defend the city.
The central hall of the warp array was completely emptied.
The central hall, capable of accommodating up to four dimensional larvae, seemed just barely able to contain the dimensional larvae queen.
Samantha, who had been peeking into the President’s office through the wall, wiped the screen from the wall with a hardened expression.
The queen of the dimensional larvae–though she didn’t know exactly what it was, judging by the stories, it seemed to be a monster several times larger and stronger than the other dimensional larvae.
Samantha immediately reported to the island.
Due to a recent attack, the drones had moved farther from the city, worsening the signal, but she still managed to make contact.
It was a triumph of science and technology.
This was a world where communication was nearly impossible due to unstable Dimensional Power.
However, after suffering communication blackouts from singularities and dimensional larvae attacks, governments around the world had desperately searched for usable frequency bands and communication technologies-and ultimately succeeded.
Now, that technology was being used for the first time.
“……End of report.”
Thud.
Samantha, who was about to finish her report, was startled by the noise outside the door.
Multiple footsteps. And the door bursting open.
Awakened carrying shields and spears stormed into the room.
“Don’t move. If you do, we’ll shoot to kill.”
Though the Awakened in the back shouted loudly, the ones in front clearly had no intention of leaving Samantha unharmed. The spears of the Awakened without shields gleamed with light, and they charged at Samantha. It seemed they intended to at least shatter her limbs before anything else.
It was when they reached right in front of Samantha.
Flash!
The entire room was filled with light. Startled by the blinding brightness, the Strike-type Awakened dove toward the Defense-type Awakened, who created a shield to protect them.
Clang!
However, the explosion they feared did not occur.
When the light faded, the room remained unchanged, except the shattered window and Samantha were gone.
Samantha had used her other innate ability, Light Ability, like a flashbang to deceive them and escape through the window.
From a room on the second floor, a burst of bright light erupted, and a woman smashed through the window and leapt to the ground. She immediately started running along the road.
On a distant rooftop, a man with white hair was reaching out his hand toward her.
Having gathered Dimensional Power to attack, he ultimately had no choice but to cancel the attack.
“Are you trying to wreck the city again?”
Jose, standing beside him, spoke with a look of exasperation.
At her words, Jack, who had been happily gathering Dimensional Power, smacked his lips and released the power. His hand, which had been shining brightly, returned to normal.
“Leave it to the other Awakened. Anyway, this whole area is under control. She can’t possibly escape.”
She stared at the fleeing Awakened. To her eyes, the Dimensional Power flowing around the female Awakened was clearly visible.
“Besides, she’s already caught in my net. She can’t possibly get away.”
It had been a mistake for Samantha to remain in the heart of enemy territory for so long.
Returning to the capital with Jack, Jose had habitually checked the city’s Dimensional Power and sensed a different presence.
Contaminated Dimensional Power. An enemy.
Unless she completely hid her Dimensional Power like an assassin-type, she couldn’t avoid detection.
In the end, Samantha was exposed and had no choice but to flee like this.
“Will a spatial ability user show up to rescue her?”
“It would be nice if they did, but will they move so easily?”
Tilting her head, she reported to her official superior, Jack.
“I’ll join the pursuit team. Please be a bit careful.”
Saying that, Jose vaulted over the rooftop railing. She tapped her feet lightly between the bricks, slowing her descent.
Watching her, Jack placed his arms on the rooftop railing and waved at her with his other hand.
With someone capable of detecting Dimensional Power in pursuit, escape was impossible.
Moreover, the countless Awakened gathered in the city had formed an encirclement. Capture was only a matter of time.
“Hurry up and show yourself, spatial ability user. I need to settle the score from last time.”
A cruel smile bloomed at the corner of Jack’s mouth as he blankly gazed at the city.
The Control Room of the island grew extremely tense. Both the shocking content Samantha had sent and her current situation contributed to it.
Hearing the urgent situation through the loudspeakers, Yonghoon reached out his hand.
It seemed he would have to rescue her himself.
Although the Dimensional Detector would vomit out sirens, he was now almost unaffected by the surrounding Dimensional Power. He could grab her and escape immediately.
It was then.
[I will rescue Samantha.]
A message came from Sunhee.
It was as if she could see the situation in the Control Room. Or perhaps it was because Sunhee knew Yonghoon so well.
It was better to hide Yonghoon’s enhanced abilities if possible.
The enemies would be waiting for Yonghoon. While he could escape by repeatedly using spatial movement, it wouldn’t be good to keep revealing his new abilities.
At Sunhee’s message, Yonghoon immediately canceled the dimensional tunnel, and Marcus, seeing Yonghoon’s reaction, chuckled and responded to Sunhee.
“Understood. Proceed.”
Seeing the Awakened blocking the road, Samantha turned into a back alley of a nearby building, only to see more Awakened blocking her path, darkening her expression.
It seemed the entire area was surrounded. For Samantha, who had almost no combat ability, there was no way to escape.
Samantha sighed. She decided to be satisfied with what she had achieved.
Over the past few days, she had performed admirably enough not to shame her fallen comrades back home. She had briefly hoped that Yonghoon might come rescue her, but this was deep in enemy territory. There was no way he could move recklessly before the operation began.
Samantha raised both hands, signaling her surrender.
However, the Awakened approaching her were those who had lost many comrades to Yonghoon. They gripped their weapons tightly as they approached her.
As the Awakened closed in on Samantha, Sunhee revealed herself from behind them.
Facing the Awakened who had their backs to her, Sunhee extended both hands, and Dimensional Power burst from them.
“Ugh!”
The Awakened groaned and collapsed on the spot. Only one B-Rank Awakened, stiff from resisting her attack, remained standing.
Sunhee approached the frozen Awakened with a hardened expression, her face gradually becoming expressionless.
Sunhee thrust the sword she held deep into the Awakened’s chest.
Unable to summon Dimensional Power due to paralysis, the Awakened’s heart was pierced by her sword, and he lost his life on the spot.
“I’m sorry. For making you take on something like this……”
A trembling voice leaked from Sunhee’s otherwise expressionless face.
“It’s okay. I was the same at first. There’s nothing to worry about. It’s natural.”
Sunhee had tried to handle it herself, but Major Sunhee stepped in. It was still too soon for her to take a life with a sword. It seemed too much for Sunhee to bear.
Except for the fallen ones, no one else had arrived yet. Major Sunhee quickly approached Samantha, who was staring at her with wide eyes.
“Run away alone. I’m not an assassin-type, so I can’t escape easily. If you stay here, you’ll get caught too.”
Samantha opened her mouth with a worried expression. But Sunhee standing before her remained expressionless.
“Leave it to me. I won’t get caught.”
Sunhee placed a hand on Samantha’s shoulder.
Jose, entering the alley, froze.
She saw the unconscious Awakened and the B-Rank Awakened bleeding from the chest.
The other Awakened following her into the alley also halted at the sight before them.
The enemy had an ally.
However, since no sirens had sounded, it didn’t seem to be a spatial ability user.
‘Strike-type? Assassin-type?’
Judging by the unconscious Awakened, it could be an assassin-type, but seeing the Awakened killed by a sword, it might be a strike-type.
In any case, the first encirclement had been breached. Moreover, somehow, the Dimensional Power of the Awakened they had been chasing had disappeared from her detection.
Now they had to find the enemy with their eyes.
Jose ordered the Awakened who had followed him to search the surrounding buildings. She also decided to search the building right in front of her.
The area was already surrounded in several layers.
It would take a long time, but by searching the surrounding buildings like this, they would eventually find the hidden enemy.
As she entered the building, she let out a sigh. Thinking about how Jack would tease her made a headache rise on one side of her head.
Samantha held her breath and stared at the Awakened in front of her. Especially when the female Awakened passed by her and entered the building, her heart sank.
Samantha didn’t dare move for fear of making a sound and only shifted her eyes to look at Sunhee.
Sunhee, who was pressed against the building wall with Samantha, still wore an emotionless face, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.
Samantha and Sunhee were hiding while invisible right at the spot where they had taken down the enemies.
Sunhee’s invisibility ability had strengthened once her raised level stabilized. Now, as long as she didn’t move, she could make one more person invisible along with herself.
The invisibility ability of an assassin-type, capable of hiding appearance, sound, and even Dimensional Power, was applied to Samantha as well, allowing them to remain hidden right under the enemies’ noses.
With a peaceful heart matching her expression, Sunhee focused her mind on operating Dimensional Power. While entering this area to rescue Samantha, she had spotted many Awakened along the way.
It was only because she was an assassin-type moving inward that she managed; if she had been trying to exit, it would not have been easy.
In the end, she gave up on escaping this place with Samantha. She decided they would hide here until someone came to rescue them. Fortunately, the sun was almost setting, and dusk was beginning to fall.
According to Samantha, they needed to start the operation quickly. Until then, they just had to wait quietly.
Seeing Sunhee’s calm appearance, Samantha also regained her composure. They leaned against the wall and watched the sun go down.
Learning through communication that they had successfully hidden, Yonghoon urgently summoned everyone on the island.
All the Awakened on the island gathered in the clearing in front of the Control Room, and Yonghoon relayed Samantha’s report to them.
Everyone’s expressions grew serious.
A beast several times larger than the usual Dimensional Beasts, and its Contaminate Zone might even surpass the continent.
They could not allow it to perform Dimensional Movement as it was.
Not only the Koreans but also the Awakened from other countries, who had initially wanted to stand by, now shared the same resolve.
Yonghoon looked around at the gathered people.
He saw Dohyeon, Hyangseol, Jimin, and team leader Han, along with the Korean Awakened. There were also Awakened from other countries, Linkers, and about thirty newly arrived Linkers from the B Dimension whose minds had crossed over.
They had already prepared to attack, just in case. Yonghoon opened his mouth.
“I believe you all understand the situation. There’s no turning back for us now.”
The people’s eyes gleamed sharply as Yonghoon’s final words settled into their ears.
“We attack in one hour!”
As Yonghoon finished speaking, everyone raised their weapons toward him.
Cheok.
A silent roar spread across the island.