Chapter 93: Anomalous situation

A/N:- Can’t figure out what was the name of their nation so I put Balendhall. If someone could find it, comment here. I will change it.

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"What?!"

It was rare for Adam to react so strongly, but the news was so absurd that he struggled to process what he had just heard.

[Yes, sir! The Void has shifted and suddenly taken root in Blue Mountain! Our forces are already moving toward the location. However, something seems wrong with this particular occurrence.]

As if the sudden appearance of the Void in one of the city’s central districts wasn’t alarming enough, there was something unusual about this one.

Clicking his tongue he switched the phone to the speaker.

"What is it?" Adam asked as he began changing his clothes. Given that it was nearly four in the morning, his presence at home was hardly surprising. Still, the moment he received the report, he knew there was no time to waste.

[Sir, the nearest unit was unable to breach the powerful magical barrier surrounding the entire area. Surveillance has gone useless as well, as usual and the mana compass is all over the place.]

Adam paused midway through getting dressed.

"A barrier? That hasn’t happened before."

[Yes, sir. None of our units have been able to phase through it, and even an A-rank unit failed to penetrate the barrier.]

Adam nearly clicked his tongue again in irritation. Just what kind of variable had appeared this time?

Could this be the Void’s final push?

They had already anticipated that this would be the last major jump in its short history of appearances. If so, perhaps the Void was finally going all out, unleashing something far more dangerous than anything they had encountered before.

Shaking his head, Adam returned his attention to the call.

"How many S-ranks have been deployed?"

[Three, sir.]

"Is Hunter Hannah among them?"

[No, sir. She hasn’t been informed because...]

"Dave. I don’t want to hear excuses." Adam’s voice grew sharp. "If we’re serious about putting an end to this long-running disaster, then we need to assemble our strongest team. We can’t afford to leave our best hunter out of this."

[U-Understood, sir. What should I do next?]

Adam let out a weary groan.

"Nothing for now. Just keep me updated on the situation."

With that, he ended the call and released a long, measured breath.

They were already running short on manpower and resources. The Void’s recent jumps had steadily worn down their reserves, claiming some of their strongest warriors and forcing them to expend enormous resources just to keep the situation under control.

And now, the Void had reached what appeared to be its peak, a stage where the threat level could rise beyond anything they had faced before.

Worse still, there was the Void Monarch.

The being had been sitting at the bottom of that seemingly bottomless pit, pulling the strings and playing this game all along. Whatever its intentions were, Adam had no reason to believe the worst was behind them.

Just before getting into his car, he hesitated and took out his phone.

There was still someone he wanted to check on.

Kai.

Adam decided to give him a call, hoping that, by some stroke of luck, the hunter had managed to avoid being caught up in this latest disaster.

But the moment the call connected, an automated voice greeted him instead.

[The number you are trying to reach is currently out of the coverage area.]

Adam stared at his phone for a moment before letting out another deep sigh.

’Disasters seem to have a particular affection for you, Hunter Kai.’

Their last meeting had ended rather abruptly, leaving Adam with plenty of things he had yet to say. Now, with Kai’s whereabouts unknown and another crisis unfolding before him, he couldn’t help wondering whether that brief encounter had been the last time he would ever see the young hunter.

....

"Chief! Ehehehe!"

The cheerful voice of a pink-haired girl rang through the room as she came bouncing inside, her enthusiasm apparent in every step.

The room, however, stood in stark contrast to her lively demeanor. The officers gathered inside sat in silence, their attention fixed on the live feed displaying the latest developments surrounding the Void. No one seemed inclined to share in the girl’s excitement. There was clearly somthing else to focus on right now.

One thing that distinguished the people in the room was their uniform, worn by everyone except the girl who had just hopped inside. Each uniform bore a small badge identifying its wearer as a resident of Arden, a neighboring country that had been offering its resources to Fairmont.

At present, the screens displayed the aftermath of the Void’s latest jump. It had reached its final destination, and now, every surveillance device within a five-hundred-meter radius of the affected area had lost its ability to record anything properly. Whatever was happening inside that perimeter remained shrouded in uncertainty.

"Isn’t it time? Shouldn’t we get started and save the day?" the pink-haired girl asked, practically bouncing in place. She even grabbed the shirt of an officer standing nearby, giving it an impatient tug as though she could hurry the entire operation along through sheer enthusiasm.

The man at the center of the room remained unfazed for a while, his gaze still fixed on the screens.

The others occasionally glanced in his direction, waiting for his decision. Acting without an official agreement between their nations could lead to consequences far beyond what they were ready to bear. This was not a simple rescue mission. Every move they made carried political implications, and a single misstep could complicate the relationship between Arden and Balendhall.

Yet, they had reached a point where hesitation would cost them more than action.

If they failed to move now, they might lose their chance to acquire what they had come for in the first place.

"It’s time we showed them the benevolence they failed to show us ten years ago."

The man finally turned toward the officer seated at the computer terminal and gave a decisive nod.

"Release the orders. Send in the reinforcements and have them prepare to contain the threat."

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.

What had been a gathering of silent, watchful officers erupted into activity. Excitement and determination spread through the ranks as they began contacting agents, coordinating their forces, and making the necessary arrangements. Orders were relayed from one station to another, while preparations began for the deployment of additional surveillance equipment around the perimeter.

They were about to undertake an unsolicited rescue operation, one that Fairmont had neither requested nor officially approved.

But regardless of how it began, this was an operation that the people of Fairmont would never forget.

The officer in charge reached beneath his uniform and drew out a small locket. Holding it in his palm, he brought it to his lips and pressed a brief kiss against its surface.

’May God grant us glory.’

With the orders issued and the operation underway, there was little left for him to do but hope.

Hope that their forces would succeed.

Hope that the Void would not prove more dangerous than they had anticipated.

And above all, hope that some unforeseen anomaly would not emerge to ruin the entire operation.