“Jorgen? Where the hell is Ne- Argh…!”

Before she could finish her question, Jorgen delivered a powerful kick to Makina. The force of the blow sent her body flying straight into the Rift.

---

“Argh!”

Makina twisted on the ground as her back slammed against the damp grass. The air escaped her lungs in a choked groan, her face contorting in pain from her leader’s brutal strike.

The impact knocked the breath out of her.

Before she could react, the Rift behind them began to tremble violently.

“Move! Now! Get away from here!” Jorgen shouted as he ran out of the Rift.

The air grew heavy, charged with an unnatural pressure.

“Wait… Nene…!”

She didn’t get to finish. Jorgen grabbed her by the collar of her suit and hurled her away from the unstable Rift they had escaped through.

A shockwave erupted like the roar of a waking beast. Jorgen’s body was thrown through the air, spinning out of control, until his head slammed hard against the trunk of a tree.

Everything went white.

Then black.

---

When he came to, the world was swaying. A constant ringing pierced his ears. Night was beginning to fall, darkening the area.

He crawled as best he could toward Makina, fear stabbing into his chest when he saw her lying motionless. With trembling fingers, he placed two fingers beneath her nose.

She was breathing.

“…Thank God…”

The relief lasted only a second.

When he saw the cerulean core… the image of what he had done pierced his mind like a splinter.

He had… he had…

“…Shit.”

With his legs still shaking, he hoisted Makina over his shoulder, making sure not to drop the Bizarre’s core, holding it between his torso and arm.

Judging by the absence of his teammates, it was obvious Makina had stayed behind waiting for them to come out. If they were lucky, the others must have run off to assist the injured…

Then he noticed it.

The forest.

The trees weren’t right. Their trunks were paler, twisted, with leaves tinted pink—almost fantastical.

“…We’re… somewhere else?”

Through his confusion—and the strain of carrying a body—an idea suddenly struck him.

If their suits weren’t completely damaged… he might still be able to contact someone from his team.

He activated the communicator.

“This is Jorgen speaking. Marge, can you hear me? I think we exited in a different place than where we entered. Over.”

Silence stretched too long.

Just when he thought there would be no answer—

“Jorgen! Thank God!” Marge’s voice came through, distorted and filled with panic. “Please tell me Makina is with you. That idiot refused to go through the Rift until you were there.”

“Affirmative…” he replied. “She’s unconscious for now… M… Marge…”

His voice faltered.

The adrenaline rush began to fade, and with it, exhaustion crashed down on his body like a slab of stone.

“My Vitality is almost at zero… We’re in the Rift… Send—”

His strength gave out.

Jorgen collapsed to the ground.

---

“Shit! Shit!”

In a white, sterile, lifeless room, a blonde woman struck her left arm in desperation, trying to activate her communicator again.

She gritted her teeth and cursed once more.

Suddenly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

She turned, meeting the kind face of a black-haired woman dressed in a peculiar outfit—white, with a small cap on her head. A nurse. But not like the ones Marge was used to.

“Are you alright? I heard you speaking with your teammate.”

“He needs help! He said he was in the Rift—it must be the exit we used to get here. Please, send a rescue team to the forest! We’ll pay you when we return to our city, I swear!”

The voice that responded was firm, trained to remain calm even in chaos.

“Don’t worry. In Karakura, we provide assistance to all Hunters. I’ll request a search team immediately. For now, Marge-san, you should go to medical care for your injuries. This time, I won’t accept any excuses. We will do everything we can to find them.”

Her voice was so steady and professional that it eased the woman’s nerves, even if only slightly.

“Th-Thank you…”

With that, the young official left.

Marge remained there, seated, her mind in knots.

She couldn’t understand it.

They had entered through the City of Megar, in the country of Meck.

So how…?

How had they ended up in another country?

And even then, that wasn’t the most disturbing part of the day.

The things they had faced… weren’t normal.

They didn’t belong to any registered Rift.

Her body trembling, she could only clasp her hands together and pray that Jorgen and Makina were still alive.

Exhaustion finally overtook her.

She fainted in her seat.

---

“Minamoto Sakura speaking. I request to be connected with the Administrator of the Hunters Association of the country of Meck, Megar City branch.”

A mature-featured woman made the request in a firm voice toward the holographic screen, where a young man with a nervous gaze appeared.

In contrast, the woman maintained a calm expression. The dark circles under her eyes revealed the experience she carried with her. A clear, sharp voice left her delicate lips.

“Reason: a group of Hunters, known as Neo, has been located. Two of its members are in critical condition. I demand an explanation as to why no operation in Lerhoy territory was reported.”

The woman adjusted a gray strand of her long black hair while slightly repositioning her thick glasses, waiting for the young man’s response.

He could only stammer a few words before admitting he would immediately contact his superior.

That beautiful woman, who exuded such an intimidating aura even through a screen, was none other than Minamoto Sakura, Head of Administration of the Hunters Association of the country of Lerhoy, based in Karakura City.

Half an hour earlier, she had received a report from the Hunters Association in Karakura: a foreign group had arrived requesting medical attention and a rescue team.

The situation was bizarre, to say the least.

That group was desperate, shouting incoherencies. And as if that weren’t enough, they claimed they didn’t know how they had arrived.

Despite everything, the honor of Lerhoy’s people was the purest form of nobility among all nations. So they offered hospitality to the injured.

But… hospitality was one thing. Ignoring an incident like this was something entirely different.

While it was true that Minamoto was aware of those exceptional cases of “disappearances” within Rifts, they were just that disappearances. People who vanished when a Rift closed and never reappeared—like that lunatic man a decade ago—but there had never been any mention of “moving from one place to another” as the foreigners claimed.

If this was a covert operation gone wrong…

There would be consequences.

“Tom Jefferson speaking,” a male voice finally responded as the hologram, which had been static, shifted into the image of a man in his fifties. “I understand you have a group belonging to Megar. Could you provide more details, Minamoto-sama?”

She summarized the situation with surgical precision.

Hunter Marge had been spouting nonsense about terrifying creatures, mixed floors, and the appearance of a Floor Boss of a higher rank. She also claimed they had been “teleported” to another Rift, ending up in Karakura.

It didn’t take a genius to notice the disbelief in Minamoto’s deep voice.

“…Minamoto-sama,” Tom said after a pause, carefully considering his approach. “I understand your concern, but I can assure you that the country of Meck has not deployed Hunters illegally within your territory.”

“Jefferson-sama,” she replied, “forgive my frankness, but you cannot realistically expect me to accept that explanation at face value. What occurred is serious. Even if they are merely raiders, it is the Associations’ duty to prevent such groups from proliferating in the first place.”

“I understand. That is why, as Head of Administration of the Hunters Association of Meck, I offer full cooperation for a private and transparent investigation. I hope that, with this show of goodwill, we can keep the matter discreet and confidential.”

Minamoto remained silent.

She did not wish to involve an assembly with the other nations, given her country’s… delicate situation at the borders.

But she also couldn’t ignore it. Her country’s reputation was at stake—not to mention her position if the Mayor were to learn of the situation and her failure to resolve it.

“I accept,” she finally said. “On one additional condition. Otherwise, I will request an assembly.”

“May I hear it?” Tom replied with a forced laugh. “You are reasonable, Minamoto-sama. I’m sure you won’t ask for anything outrageous.”

“We will investigate the most important companies in Megar.”

Silence fell heavily.

The idea was simple. If Jefferson was telling the truth, then those “Hunters” had been looting something from the native Rifts in Karakura. The suits they possessed were of high quality, which meant they had funding.

That left two possibilities: they were veterans who made a foolish mistake and got trapped in a Rift, ending up injured and crawling back to the Association with their tails between their legs… or a company had hired them to loot something behind the Association’s back in Megar.

Moreover, it was a perfect opportunity to uncover what the most important companies in other countries were developing. That alone made it worthwhile—even if the companies were innocent.

“…That…” Tom let out a deep sigh on the other end, as if already envisioning the disaster he would have to deal with. “I accept. You will have permission to investigate the three pillar companies of Hunters and development in Megar.”

“I appreciate your cooperation. I will keep you informed of the Hunters’ condition when I have updates.”

“Thank you. Would you mind if I send the manager of the group involved?”

“Not at all. In fact, I was going to suggest it.”

The line cut off.

Silence returned to the office.

Minamoto remained still for a few seconds, still holding the communicator between her fingers, as if expecting the voice to return.

It didn’t.

Slowly, she set the device down on the desk.

Then she walked toward the window.

Her heels echoed softly against the polished floor.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

When she reached the glass wall, the city unfolded before her.

Night was not dark there. It never was.

An ocean of light stretched as far as the eye could see.

Glass skyscrapers pierced the urban haze, their facades covered in luminous panels that pulsed slowly in shades of pink and blue. They weren’t just lights—they were pulses, waves of energy flowing through the structures as if the city had its own circulatory system.

Pink.

Blue.

Pink.

Blue.

The colors reflected off the low clouds, painting the night sky with an artificial glow that turned darkness into an eternal twilight.

Minamoto placed a hand against the glass.

It was cold.

Then something crossed the sky.

A massive shadow.

It moved slowly between the skyscrapers, with the calm elegance of a creature that had no enemies.

A whale.

Its body was formed by curved metallic plates reflecting the city’s neon lights. Between each segment ran lines of bright blue energy, pulsing steadily.

Like a mechanical heart.

Its massive fins moved gently.

The mechanical whale glided between the towers with impossible grace for something of its size. Small drones orbited its body, emitting pink flashes as they inspected its surface.

A burst of vapor escaped from its blowhole.

The pressure released a luminous cloud that dispersed into thousands of glowing particles.

For a few seconds, the city seemed covered in a rain of artificial stars.

Karakura was beautiful.

Brutally beautiful, in Minamoto’s eyes.

She narrowed her gaze.

Then her eyes drifted down toward the lower layers of the metropolis, where the lights grew dimmer and the shadows deeper.

A beautiful city, cruelly contrasted with the situation brewing beneath its surface.

“From the bottom of my heart…” she murmured, “I hope this isn’t as serious as it seems.”

They already had enough problems with the Hummingbirds and their border uprisings.

Taking advantage of the view, she began to consider several names to send to Megar.

Though in the end, she knew there was only one.

“That rebellious girl will definitely throw a tantrum to go to Megar when she finds out…”

Minamoto rubbed her eyes. She already knew who would be going—whether she liked it or not.

Sometimes she cursed the fact that that girl was so damn strong.

Then, her communicator vibrated.

She read the message.

Her eyes sharpened.

“They found two more…? A rare core…?”

She pressed her lips together.

“Confiscate the core. It will not leave here until we analyze it.”

The atmosphere, silent until then, seemed to grow heavier.

---