Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

Reyan mumbled under his lips. While everyone was looking at the team leader’s communication device, the statistical voices coming from the device were cut off, and instead, another voice was heard.

-Team leader!

It was deputy team leader Bray who was talking in an urgent voice. Team leader Dains glanced at the commander before talking to the device.

“Report the situation!”

It was obvious that something urgent had come up. No one needed to confirm that as all of them was experienced agents and had been through these kinds of situation quite a lot of times.

-it’s the ruins. Just in the span of ten minutes, a white-haired man was seen in the three ancient ruins that we visited before. The last time he was seen, he was on the 3rd ruin. Since then, we can’t receive any news or signals from the agents in the station there.

“What?”

The commander’s face changed in an instant. The angry man from a few seconds ago was completely gone and now he had a dead-serious face.

.....

“A white-haired man?”

Team leader Dains urgently asked.

-Yes. A mysterious man with long white hair. He appeared and disappeared so fast as if he teleported in just an instant but no use of mana was detected from him. None of our devices could sense his presence before he was caught in the videos.

The frown on the faces of the people in the room deepened as they listened to the deputy team leader’s voice.

-Also the-

QUAAAAKKKKKKK

BOMMMMMM

Before deputy team leader Bray could finish her words, a huge vibration shook the whole place.

“Wha-”

“Ren!”

QUAAAAKKKKK

-Gah!

“What the hell?”

The people in the room were either thrown to the floor or leaned on the walls to stay standing. The ground was shaking so intensely as if it was an earthquake... No, a normal earthquake wouldn’t be this intense.

“Uh-”

“Ren?”

Kairen fell to his knees while clutching his chest. Beside him was his scared brother who bent down from his chair as much as the restrictions binding his body allowed him to.

“This...”

Kairen muttered under his lips while his body was getting drenched in a cold sweat. It was because of the sudden pressure, a too familiar pressure, he was feeling.

“It’s him...”

He was sure that it was the same feeling he got when he faced that white-haired man a few weeks ago. He was more than sure. The suffocating feeling couldn’t be caused by anyone else. At least, not by anyone that Kairen knew of.

QWAAAKKKKK

Crack

Crack

They could see the walls starting to crack and dust falling down from the ceiling. The structure, which was made sturdy enough to keep even the strongest and most dangerous criminal inside itself, was starting to collapse.

“This pressure...”

The commander mumbled as he pressed his forehead. It was not just Kairen, it looked like even the others were also affected by the pressure judging by their pale faces.

“Get out of here!”

The commander yelled and ordered at once. The frozen people were all forced to their feet as soon as those words left the man’s lips. The blue dust was swirling around, filling the whole room. The power of law was affecting everyone present, making them obey the commander and move out of the room.

“Ugh-”

Aaron moved his hands. He was still tied to the chair.

“Gah-this shit!”

The punishment of not obeying the order -which was to run away- was making him feel pain throughout his body. He cursed under his lips as he added force to his tied arm, and moved them in opposite directions.

CLAANGG

The handcuffs and restricting devices that were surpassing his power the whole time broke to pieces in an instant.

“...What the hell!”

He ignored the commander’s surprised voice and proceeded to break all of the other restricting devices.

GUAAAAKKKKK

“Ren, move!”

He then stood up and grabbed Kairen, who was wobbling around him not knowing how to help Aaron free, by his shirt, and dragged him away.

“...”

“...”

The commander and team leader Dains, who was also in the process of moving out of the room, could only stare blankly at the man, who had been tortured for days and was still bloody all around, and looked as if he would pass away just moments ago, just free himself and run away.

‘Couldn’t he just run away the whole time?’

The commander glanced at team leader Dains.

‘Was he acting all this time?’

The team leader also looked back at the commander’s eyes. Those questions were silently exchanged between the two as they left the room and ran out of the building.

-EMERGENCY EMERGENCY

-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPP

At the same time that they stepped out of the building, the emergency alarms all around the headquarters ringed loudly. The voice of a woman was heard through the loudspeakers of all of the buildings.

-Everyone, attention! Attention!

It was the voice of SMF’s deputy commander.

-An intruder has been noticed in the- Gah!

QWAAAAAAAKKKKKK

It seemed like the shakings of the ground didn’t let the woman finish her words as her voice was cut at the same time that the ground shook one more time.

-Be ready for any-

QWAAAAKKKK

“An intruder?”

The commander was visibly confused. What was with an intruder all of a sudden? How was that even possible? This place had layers upon layers of protection systems. The most advanced gadgets and devices, magic spells cast by the best of the best mages, on top of his law, had all created a barrier that was not breakable by anyone, at least not this easily! They had to be informed if anyone attempted to enter the place forcefully at least a few minutes prior to the barrier collapsing!

“He is there...”

Kairen raised his hand, pointing in one direction with his finger that was slightly shaking. That was where he could feel the pressure of the man coming from. He was sure that the white-haired man was somewhere besides the man building.

“And he is moving this way...”

He mumbled. That person was approaching them at a fast speed.

‘What should we do...’

Kairen bit his lips. It wasn’t the time to think about how and why that man was here, but what they were supposed to do now that he was approaching them. If he was to attack them once again in this place... Kairen doubted they stood any chance against him.

Kairen was injured and had not fully recovered yet, and he also couldn’t use his power properly either. He wouldn’t be able to block the man’s attacks once again today. His brother was also injured. Kairen knew that he wasn’t in a critical situation and that he could still fight, but he doubted that he would be able to go all out in a place like this. On top of that, they were low on numbers. He couldn’t say anything like, ‘we will find a way to resist if we work together, ’cause there were only a few people beside him.

Crackle

Despite knowing that he didn’t stand a chance against that mysterious man, Kairen still cast a shield around everyone. He added the small bit of his power that he could use in this state of his body and made the shield as sturdy as he could.

“Is this the person you told me about?”

The commander asked while staring in the direction that Kairen had pointed at. He raised his head a little bit to look at the silver-golden cracks that were moving around to form a shield.

“Probably.”

The one who answered him was team leader Dains, who was busy taking out and loading his guns with a serious face.

.....

“Hah!”

The commander then glared at Kairen.

“I wonder what he wants!”

He mocked Kairen on his face, but there was nothing that Kairen could say in his defense. The man was probably here for Kairen again. If it was him, there was no surprise that he managed to break all the barriers in the blink of an eye.

QWAKKK

BOOOMM

Once the ground shook again, the sound of something collapsing was heard. Far in the distance, they could see one of SMF’s small buildings collapsing. Dust rose to the air and debris scattered around. The group looked at the building with grim expressions.

“He is there...”

Reyan mumbled.

He was right. Now they could see a person approaching them from distance. His face was familiar to Kairen. His guess was right. It was indeed the same man. The head of the religion. The holy priest.

“Hoh! I was right!”

They next heard the man’s voice.

“You were indeed here!”

The white-haired man’s eyes lingered on Kairen, before switching to Aaron.

“And that as well...”

Instead of Aaron, he was looking at the white stone on the cloak he was wearing.

“....”

“....”

“All of the units.”

The group that was frozen on his spot all moved their heads to the commander. The man was talking on his communication device which was connected to all of the unit leaders of SMF.

“No one is allowed to approach this area until further orders.”