2222 – A Special Number
At the entrance of the passage—
“…?” Holak hung at the edge of The Gate and stretched his head to the other side, then pulled it back and shouted, “What in Hell is going on?!”
Thud
A massive human wearing the Distinctive Imperial Guard Armor landed beside Holak. His enormous bulk and towering height made him not look entirely like a dwarf next to Holak… It was Derek, Squad Leader of the Body.
“Chief, what’s wrong? Why have the beasts stopped coming in? Did we finish them all off?”
Behind Derek, black blood covered the ground like swamps, and around the salty sea of something resembling oil, battles were still ongoing, but the corpses had become more numerous than the remaining beasts, and the pace of killing the rest had accelerated.
When the First Guardian announced an increase in tempo and the addition of another battalion to the battles, adrenaline surged, and they began fighting with their lives on the line. But suddenly, The Gate stopped spewing more, which gave everyone conflicting feelings.
They didn’t know whether to catch their breath from the chief’s crazy decision or to mourn because the chance to increase their points had slipped away.
“How could it end?! Of course not!” Holak waved and then pointed toward The Gate. “Before it opened, I managed to count thousands, thousands!!”
Bam
Bam
Bam
Bam
Four others landed beside them, each wearing distinctive armor bearing the insignia of the Imperial Guard.
Three of them were Malik, Wade, and Latania, all covered in blood like Derek.
With them was the fourth, a human girl.
Her hair was extremely thick and black, reaching the middle of her back, soaked in the blood of beasts. Her eyes were very light hazel, gleaming with the reflection of any faint light. Her features were not masculine like Latania's, but sharp as a dagger, commanding respect and fear from anyone standing before her.
She had a faint blue tattoo around her eye, a beautiful, sharp design that added to her features, not appearing to be an energy tattoo.
This was Nancy, born in one of the human farms in Nihari, with a high natural affinity for the Law of Gravity, and currently the leader of the Gravity Squad.
When Holak saw them gathering around him, he raised his voice, "What the hell do you want from me? Am I the one who breeds the beasts for you?!"
"Can't you communicate with His Majesty, Chief?" Nancy asked seriously. "The waves stopped after His Highness and Asr entered directly." Then she furrowed her brows slightly. "Judging by the way His Highness and Asr entered, it's clear something big is happening. Whether more beasts enter or not is the last thing we should worry about."
"How can I communicate with him when he's on the other side of the Void? I can't even see over there!" He then turned back to look through the Gate, "Where did they all go? What is this darkness?!"
Of course, no one heard his voice—he himself heard nothing; he was just moving his lips in anger. There was nothing near the Gate for his weak spiritual sense to pick up... Everything was pitch black.
Then, suddenly, something happened.
*Whoosh*
A star appeared within the Void, born from nothing, illuminating everything.
Holak's furious expression instantly shifted to shock...
Hundreds of thousands of beasts gathered, the Father Tree attacking, Asr, Morgana, Blokan, and Althera standing helplessly on the side, and His Majesty standing there surrounded by glowing symbols, clearly fighting seriously—fighting a dark-skinned woman with white hair...?!
"This..." The five squad leaders standing by the passage saw everything too, their eyes wide open.
"C-Chief!!" Holak shouted and immediately leaped inside.
"Hold on!!" Malik quickly slowed Holak down using the Law of Time, then stepped forward and hugged him tightly from behind, shouting behind him, "Derek, Wade, grab him with me!"
"Hmph." Derek stepped forward and bound Holak's hands from behind.
Meanwhile, Wade jumped and wrapped his arm around Holak's neck, "Calm down, Chief!"
"What are you doing? Let me go!!" Holak shouted and began to advance despite the three holding him back, but slowly. "He's fighting... I'm his guard... He's fighting alone!!"
Latania stepped forward and put her head next to the Void for a moment, then pulled it back, choking. "...Any of us entering the other side means near-instant death. We possess the laws and high combat power, but we don't have enough pure energy to stay alive here for more than five minutes, and that's without fighting." She looked toward Holak. "Malik is right. Your entry would be an obstacle and an unnecessary loss."
"Obstacle?" Holak shouted in refusal, then lowered his voice. "...Obstacle?!"
"Calm down, Chief. Even you can't punch death!" Malik raised his voice, then looked toward Latania. "Move all four battalions to finish off the remaining nascent space beasts. We must be prepared in case any entity crosses over."
"Understood." Latania did not argue; there was no time.
"I'll summon the Royal Spirit Masters and the Nexus States for help." Nancy turned and leaped toward the Spirit Squad Leader from the Burton Family.
After Latania and Nancy left, Malik looked up. "Wade, please take The Gate and personally inform headquarters of what's happening. Request support from all Royal Spirit Masters and Nexus States under our personal armies—only those who have taken the Strong Spirit Oath. We don't know what kind of secrets might be leaked there."
"Understood." Wade tilted his head and whispered in Holak's ear, "Don't take this personally, Chief."
Then
Whoosh
He vanished.
"..." Malik, who had been bracing himself to bear more of the burden after Wade left Holak to him, felt that nothing had happened.
Holak stopped trying to advance.
"..." Malik waited a few moments until he was sure Holak had completely stopped, then spoke without looking around him. "Brother Derek, please help the guards finish quickly and order them to rest and prepare. Your presence in the battle will boost their morale to finish swiftly."
"Hmm..." Derek slowly released Holak's shoulders, made sure he wasn't moving, then turned and leaped toward the nearest beast to ram it.
Malik also slowly let go of Holak, then deactivated the Fundamental Law of Time on him and took a step back. "...No need to grieve, Chief. Our duty is to assist His Majesty with all we can. Dying without purpose won't benefit him or bring him joy."
When Holak saw him silent and his body convulsing, he took a step back. "I'll go coordinate with the Royal Spirit Masters." Then he vanished.
Even if Holak tried to enter again, he wouldn't be able to stop him alone anyway.
As for Holak, he remained staring through the Gate...
Swish
Swish
A number of Royal Spirit Masters passed by him like arrows and entered without hesitation to help.
Meanwhile, he stood still.
Watching... watching his master fight before his very eyes.