On the other side, the one making this notorious unit dreadful...
"Hey, don't go!" Miyabi cried out.
"How am I supposed to watch you guys if you fight out of sight?" she grumbled to herself. The battle she was forced to only sit by was excruciating for her.
And of all things, their enemy had the gall to rob her of her front-row seat to the action, leading their friends to an alleyway where she could no longer see them. Frustration boiled within Miyabi as she imagined the epic(?) showdown unfolding just beyond her reach.
If she knew this would have happened, she would have insisted on joining them just so she could enjoy herself, regardless of the danger. But now, all she could do was sulk.
And seeing her twin like that—as Miyabi-centric as she was—Mizuki felt compelled to cheer her up. She wouldn't let her join the fight, what with them being weakened by their last battle, but she could at least try to distract Miyabi from her frustration. It would cost them their stock of darkness, but Mizuki was willing to take that risk for the sake of her sister's happiness.
And so, by using her Manifestation of Darkness, Mizuki showed Miyabi a real-time feed of the fight that was currently happening. The intense battle unfolded before Miyabi's eyes, with the sparks from the combatant's Holy Fire Arts vividly caught on camera.
The clash of blades and the burst of elemental magic filled the screen, captivating Miyabi's attention and momentarily easing her frustration.
...was entertaining her sister to keep her from noticing the creeps creeping upon them from the creepily dark dimension.
As the fight raged on, Miyabi's focus remained fixed on the captivating display of skill and power. The vibrant colors and dazzling effects of the Holy Fire Arts mesmerized her, momentarily transporting her to a world far removed from their current predicament.
Like an old man watching a boxing match, Miyabi couldn't help but be completely engrossed in the intense battle unfolding before her. She was watching with her whole body, throwing punches and kicks in the air, and criticizing the fighters' techniques out loud.
Mizuki was aware of the true reason why Miyabi let Harthela join Aidy in the fight against Gareth. She was her twin, so she knew. Miyabi deliberately decreased their defenses so she could fight whoever was behind this attack. That's how starved she was of action and excitement.
She craved the adrenaline rush that came with battling formidable opponents, and this dire situation presented the perfect opportunity for her to unleash her pent-up energy.
But Mizuki wouldn't let her beloved twin face any danger. 'I'm sorry, Miyabi. But please understand that I cannot bear to see you put yourself at risk.' She mentally apologized to her sister, knowing that her obsessive nature would always prioritize Miyabi's safety over anything else.
Assured that her combat-freak sister was preoccupied, Mizuki focused her mind back on the dark dimension. Even if she herself wasn't actually in there, the darkness of this realm was deeply connected to her senses, allowing her to perceive the subtlest of movements and the faintest of sounds. And the Void Hunters were her hands and feet in this realm, carrying out her will to the fullest extent.
Diving into the darkness, the dark hounds scoured the twisted landscape, their eyes glowing with an otherworldly intensity. Their sleek bodies moved with predatory grace as they sniffed out any trace of interdimensional shifts.
It wasn't the Void Hunters who found the allies of those four who were targeting Princess Ruri. Instead, it was Mizuki herself who sensed the presence of these aggressors.
'How?' She frowned. Mizuki knew how sharp the Void Hunter's senses were, and it was unusual for her to detect something before they did. Even if these aggressors were just under their noses, the dark hounds couldn't detect them. This puzzled Mizuki.
She wondered if there was something unique about these aggressors that made them invisible to the Void Hunters. And looking closely, Mizuki noticed that the aggressors seemed to possess aether items, which could potentially be masking their presence from the Void Hunters.
'It's useless, however,' Mizuki thought to herself. With Mizuki sharing her senses with the dark hounds, the concealment aether items they had would be rendered ineffective.
'Leave no one alive.' She commanded the Void Hunters, to which they responded with a nod with their somewhat doggish heads.
***
Maintaining a tight-knit formation with no gaps between them, Emily's unit moved cautiously through the dark realm, their senses heightened and their aether wands at the ready. They made sure to protect each other's backs, knowing that any moment could bring an ambush from lurking Void Hunters.
On the periphery of their visions, they caught glimpses of flickering shadows. They weren't children to be easily frightened, but the eerie atmosphere sent shivers down their spines. But they can't help it; their aether items for detecting presence show no signs of any living beings nearby, even though they could feel presences lurking in the shadows.
Emily could see the fatigue showing on her companions' faces, the toll of constant vigilance weighing heavily on them. They were only in this realm for a few minutes, but it sure felt like they had been there for hours.
Are they caught in a time-contraction phenomenon? She didn't know the answer to her own question, and she sure wouldn't want to find out.
She knew they couldn't afford to let their guard down, but if this continues, they might have no choice but to take a break and risk their safety. "Men, we'll be taking a short break," Emily announced, her voice filled with determination. "But stay alert; we can't afford any surprises."
The hardened soldiers of the Tindalos unit felt relieved to hear Emily's words. They set their bags down, finding a spot to rest and recharge. Some of them took out their rations, while others checked their weapons for any signs of malfunction.
But all of them had done something similar: they let their guard down—just a little bit. They can't help it; the constant state of vigilance and tension can be mentally and physically exhausting. It's only a little bit, yes, but enough for the Void Hunters, the hounds of this realm, to seize the opportunity.
Surrounding the weary soldiers, they make use of the darkness of this dimension to their advantage, leaving no gaps for escape where the soldiers could not see.
A larger Void Hunter, the alpha, communicated with the others through telepathy by showing images of what it wanted them to do. It ordered the others not included in the encirclement to dive into shadows and attack from below, catching the soldiers off guard.
The hounds obeyed and swiftly dove into their own shadows, disappearing into the darkness.
Emily was drinking water from her canteen when she felt her life was in danger. Trusting her instincts, with Ki-strengthened legs, she jumped upward and threw her canteen below with as much force as she could. The canteen hit the Void Hunter emerging from below with a loud thud, momentarily stunning it.
At the same time, both she and the Void Hunter landed on their feet. Suddenly—"Gyah!"—the death throes of multiple soldiers pierced the air. But she can't let herself be distracted by the chaos around her.
Her aether wand drawn, she cast a silent Holy Space Art, Space Cut, towards the Void Hunter, creating a rift in space that could slice through its body. That is, if it hits. As sensitive to spatial disturbances as Void Hunters was, it quickly evaded the Space Cut with a swift sidestep.
To buy herself some time, she quickly followed up with a series of rapid-fire Space Cuts, as densely packed as a swarm of bees, hoping to overwhelm the Void Hunter's evasion. Each cut sliced through the air with precision, leaving behind a trail of shimmering energy.
But the Void Hunter continued to display its agility, effortlessly dodging the onslaught of Space Cuts. Its movements were graceful and fluid, and its spatial sensing told it exactly where each Space Cut would land before it was launched.
But its target was Emily, the first lieutenant of the infamous Tindalos Unit. With her monotonous use of Space Cut, Emily lulled the Void Hunter to a false sense of security.
'Now!' Seeing the perfect opportunity, she mixed an Art with a wind element, Holy Wind Edge, hiding it within the barrage of Space Cuts. The Void Hunter successfully dodged the wave of Space Cuts, darting around them with ease. However, as it focused on evading the Holy Space arts, it failed to notice the concealed Holy Wind Edge approaching from a different angle.
The Holy Wind Art carved a shallow gash across the Void Hunter's side, causing it to whine in surprise and pain. And Emily wasn't generous enough to stop there. She followed up with a Holy Wind Bullet, a swift projectile that struck the Void Hunter directly in the forehead, ending its existence in an instant.
The force of the impact sent the Void Hunter's body crashing to the ground, lifeless. The shadows of this dark realm reclaimed the body as their own, its corpse sinking back into the depths of the abyss.
Emily stood there, her chest heaving with exhaustion and triumph, knowing that she had successfully vanquished a Void Hunter. It's a Void Hunter!
As both Holy Space and Cursed Space users in the Tindalos unit feared it, the country's Research and Development department spent significant resources developing aether items to evade its notice. They didn't even consider the notion of someone fighting it—that's just how deadly and formidable the Void Hunters were.
But here and now, Emily has proven that she is capable of defeating one. Immersed in her victory, Emily couldn't help but feel a surge of confidence and pride. Nevertheless, she immediately remembered the predicament the others in her team were still facing.
And when she looked at where they were, reality slapped her hard in the face. "Ahaha…," she laughed in despair, because what can she do? Or, more correctly, is there something she could do now that all of her teammates were reduced to nothing more than lifeless bodies lying on the ground?
Her knees gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground, overwhelmed by the weight of the situation. As she looked around at her fallen teammates, she gazed at the corpses, noting that most of them had lost their lower extremities, meaning they died at the onset of their attack.
She couldn't help but feel a surge of anger towards their attackers, but it was quickly doused as she felt the breath of a creature on the back of her neck. She froze, her heart pounding in her chest. Slowly, she turned around to face the creature, her hands trembling with fear. And the last thing she thought of was "Daddy" as the Alpha Void Hunter snatched her consciousness away, plunging her into darkness.
