Chapter 372: The First Expedition

The meeting ended less than an hour later, and the map of the seven ruins was sealed inside the Church archives. Nobody outside the Church’s highest ranks knew about it yet, and Gabriel had made it very clear that she wanted it to stay that way.

"If this spreads before we understand what we’re looking at," she said, "every Hunter team on the continent will start hunting for these ruins."

Lily raised her hand.

Gabriel looked at her. "Yes?"

"I’d like to hunt for them."

"No."

Lily lowered her hand. "You didn’t even think about it."

"I didn’t need to."

Sera laughed, and Kai shook his head, but Gabriel turned to him. "That’s exactly why I need your help."

Kai frowned. "My help?"

"Yes." She set a folder on the table. "One of the seven sites is relatively close to Nexus, about two hours by airship."

Lily’s eyes lit up. "That is close."

Sera looked at her. "You’re excited about ancient ruins again."

"Of course I am."

Kai opened the folder to a satellite image of a massive forest with no roads, no cities, and no buildings, only trees and mountains surrounding a small red marker at the center.

"This is the location?" Kai asked.

Gabriel nodded. "It appeared in our records three days ago. Before that, the structure was dormant."

"And now?"

Gabriel tapped the screen, and a second image appeared. The trees had been pushed outward in a perfect circle, and in the middle stood an enormous stone structure that looked like the top of a buried building.

Lily stared at it. "What is that?"

"We don’t know."

"Then why are we going?" Kai asked.

"Because we need to find out before something worse happens."

That was enough for Kai. He closed the folder. "When do we leave?"

Gabriel smiled. "Now."

...

Six Nexus Hunters were waiting for them at one of the city’s eastern airship platforms. Kai didn’t recognize any of them, but it only took one look to see they weren’t ordinary Hunters.

Their leader was a tall woman with short black hair, and she held out her hand. "Captain Aria."

"Kai," he said, shaking it. "Nice to meet you."

Aria looked at Sera. "Hunter Sera." Then at Lily. "Researcher Lily."

Lily blinked. "You know who I am?"

Aria smiled. "Everyone in the Church knows who you are."

Lily looked very pleased, and Sera leaned toward Kai. "She likes that."

"I noticed."

Aria introduced the rest of her team, a shield specialist, a long-range Hunter, a healer, a scout, and a close-combat fighter. All six were at least A-Rank, and two were approaching S-Rank. This was an elite Nexus expedition team.

As soon as the airship lifted off, Kai could see how good they were. Their equipment was ready, everyone knew their role, and their communication was sharp. But something was missing. The shield specialist stayed up front while the ranged Hunter kept far to the back, the close-combat fighter moved on his own, and the healer kept her distance from everyone. They were six excellent specialists, but they weren’t one unit.

Sera noticed him watching. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You’re staring."

"They’re good."

Sera smiled. "But?"

"They’re used to fighting alone."

Sera watched them for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah."

Lily looked up from her tablet. "What are you two talking about?"

"Their formation," Kai said.

Lily glanced over. "They have a formation."

"They have positions," Sera corrected. "That’s different."

Lily thought about it, looked back at the team, and nodded. "Yeah."

Aria had overheard them. "You have something to say?"

Kai looked over. "No."

Aria smiled. "You were staring at our formation."

"I was observing."

"That’s a nicer way of saying it." Aria crossed her arms. "What would you change?"

Kai looked at her team. "Nothing."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

"You’re experienced."

"That wasn’t my question."

Kai smiled. "You asked what I’d change. I wouldn’t change anything."

Aria studied him for a moment, and then she smiled too. "I think I understand."

Sera glanced at Kai. "You’re making friends."

"I’m trying."

...

The airship landed two hours later in a forest that stretched all the way to the horizon, surrounded by mountains with not a single building in sight.

Aria stepped off first. "Formation."

Her team moved immediately. The shield specialist took the front, the scout vanished into the trees, the ranged Hunter climbed onto a nearby rock, the healer moved to the center, and the close-combat fighter covered the flank. It was very good, and it was still separate.

Gabriel stepped down after them. "Everyone, stay alert."

Lily followed, her eyes going straight to the forest. "It’s beautiful."

Sera looked at her. "That’s your reaction?"

"Have you seen how old those trees are?"

Sera sighed. "Of course."

Kai looked ahead. The forest was quiet, far too quiet, and when he let Distortion spread outward, the air shifted in a way he didn’t like. "There are no animals."

Aria raised her hand, and her team stopped. "You’re right."

The scout came back through the trees looking nervous. "Captain, I didn’t find anything. No monsters either."

Aria frowned. "That’s impossible." A monster zone this large should have been crawling with activity.

"Something cleared them out," Kai said.

Aria looked at him. "You think the ruin did it?"

"Maybe."

A deep vibration rolled through the ground, and everyone froze.

"Did you feel that?" Lily asked.

BOOM.

The ground split open. Birds exploded from the canopy as the trees shook, and a massive stone structure began rising out of the earth. Ancient walls tore through the forest floor, snapping trees like twigs as dirt collapsed around them and stone towers pushed their way into the sky.

Kai took a step back. The ruin was far larger than anything in the satellite images.

Gabriel stared at it. "The records said this was a small structure."

"They were wrong," Lily said.

A deep grinding sound echoed through the forest, and Aria shouted, "Combat formation!"

Her team moved faster this time. The shield went up, the ranged Hunter took aim, the healer raised a barrier, and the close-combat fighter drew his blade.

"Something’s coming," Kai said.

The ground exploded, and a stone creature burst out from beneath them. It stood nearly ten meters tall, covered in ancient armor, with a head shaped like a horned beast. The ranged Hunter fired, and the shot struck its chest, but it barely moved.

"Damn!"

A second creature climbed out after it, then another, then ten, then twenty, until hundreds of glowing eyes appeared between the trees.

Lily’s face went pale. "How many are there?"

"More," Kai said.

Sera drew her sword. "That’s more like it."

"Everyone, engage!" Aria shouted.

The shield specialist charged first and slammed his shield into the nearest stone warrior, staggering it, and the close-combat fighter followed with a strike to its exposed joint. A crack split across the stone. "Got it!"

The ranged Hunter fired again as the healer reinforced the shield, and for the first few seconds, the Nexus team dominated.

Then more creatures poured out of the ground, and the battlefield turned to chaos. One stone warrior broke through the line, and the whole team reacted to it at once. The shield specialist turned, the ranged Hunter fired, the close-combat fighter moved in, and the healer tried to cover all of them. Everyone was fighting, but no one was fighting together.

A second warrior slipped through the gap and struck the ranged Hunter, sending him flying.

The healer ran to him immediately, and that left the shield specialist exposed as another monster charged.

"Fall back!" Aria shouted.

Sera looked at Kai. "Should we help?"

"Not yet."

She raised an eyebrow. "They’re getting overwhelmed."

"They’re still fighting."

Another monster crashed into the shield specialist, and he blocked it, but a second one was already coming at him from behind.

Kai sighed. "Now."

He vanished, and Sera went with him. Lily threw up a relic barrier, and Gabriel raised her hand, and the whole battlefield changed at once.

Kai appeared beside the shield specialist and caught the monster’s arm. The creature tried to pull free, but Kai didn’t budge, and the stone warrior stared down at him.

Kai looked back. "Go."

He threw it. The ten-meter monster sailed through the air and crashed into three others.

BOOM!

Sera appeared behind another creature, and her blade flashed once before its head fell from its shoulders. Lily’s barrier expanded to catch five attacks at the same time, and light from Gabriel’s hand spread across the battlefield as the Nexus Hunters found their footing again.

Aria stared, but Kai was already moving. One monster fell, then two, then three. He didn’t rush, and he didn’t use some massive technique. He simply moved, a step and a turn and a strike, and every blow landed exactly where it needed to.

A stone warrior swung at him, and Kai leaned back as the weapon passed an inch from his face. Then he stepped in and pressed his palm to its chest, and the whole creature shattered.

Sera glanced over. "You’re showing off."

Kai destroyed another. "I wasn’t trying to."

"That’s worse," Sera said, cutting one down. "Try harder."

Kai smiled. The next monster came at him from behind, and he didn’t even turn. Distortion bent the air, the creature’s fist curved away from him, and it smashed into the monster beside it instead.

Sera stared. "Okay. That was definitely showing off."

Kai shrugged. "I’ll take that."

The Nexus Hunters watched in silence. Aria had fought beside S-Ranks and seen people wipe out entire monster groups, but Kai was different. There was no wasted movement and no hesitation, and he didn’t look like he was even trying. He wasn’t overpowering the monsters. He was deciding where the fight happened.

"So that’s Rank One," Aria said quietly.

The close-combat fighter heard her. "That’s not normal."

"No," Aria said.

One by one, the stone warriors fell, until the last one charged straight at Kai with both arms raised. Kai stepped past its swing and touched its chest, and a pulse of Distortion spread through the ancient stone. Cracks raced across its body, and it collapsed.

Dust drifted through the air over the broken bodies covering the forest floor. The Nexus Hunters stood breathing hard.

Kai looked around. "Everyone okay?"

Aria nodded. "Yeah."

Lily was already crouched beside one of the fallen creatures. "Wait. This isn’t a normal golem."

Kai looked over. "What is it?"

"It’s ancient."

"We noticed," Sera said.

Lily ignored her. "There are symbols carved into the armor."

Gabriel stepped closer. "What do they say?"

Lily brushed away the dust, and her expression changed. "They’re not instructions."

"Then what are they?" Kai asked.

Lily slowly stood up. "Names."

Everyone went quiet.

"These creatures were people," Lily said.

Aria’s expression hardened. "You’re saying they were ancient Hunters?"

"Maybe."

A deep sound echoed through the forest, and everyone turned toward the ruin. Its towers were lighting up one after another.

Kai’s eyes narrowed. "Everyone, get ready."

The ground shook. Not every stone warrior had been destroyed, and dozens still lying intact among the wreckage began to move. Sera raised her sword, but they didn’t attack. Every one of them froze, and then their heads slowly turned, not toward Sera or Aria or Gabriel, but toward Kai.

Kai didn’t move, and neither did anyone else.

One stone warrior lowered its weapon, then another, and the forest fell silent.

Aria slowly lowered her own weapon. "What..."

The nearest warrior took a single step toward Kai, and Distortion twisted the air around him. The creature stopped, and then it lowered itself onto one knee.

THUD.

Another followed, then another, and within seconds, every remaining warrior on the battlefield was kneeling, and every one of them was facing Kai.

Lily’s mouth fell open, and Sera slowly turned to look at him. Kai stared back at the ruin. He had no idea what was happening.

"They recognize him," Gabriel whispered.

Kai’s expression hardened. "Why?"

No one answered. From deep inside the ruin, a massive door began to open, and a voice echoed through the forest. It wasn’t the System, Tiamat, or Bahamut. It was ancient.

"The Candidate has returned."