Chapter 189: Launch the Probe

Evren lay on the grass of the canyon ridge, his breath catching in his throat. His ribs throbbed with sharp pain, but that was nothing compared to the ice-cold dread in his stomach.

Beside him, Zephyra stared with wide, terrified eyes. She reached for his arm with shaky fingers. "Master..." she whispered in a trembling voice. "Amber’s link... did she..."

Before the dark thought could settle, a sudden pulse of warmth flickered in Evren’s chest. A second later, Amber’s voice broke into his mind, breathless and coughing. ’Evren?! Can you hear me now? Are you there?!’

Evren let out a shuddering breath, pressing a hand against his forehead. Pure relief washed over him so fast his head spun.

’Amber!’ he replied in his mind. ’I’m here! What the hell happened? I felt a wave of burning pain through the bond, and then you went completely silent!’

Across the distance, Amber let out a rough cough before answering.

’I’m okay, I swear,’ she said quickly. ’Something insane just happened above District One. Right in the middle of our fight, an invisible shockwave exploded out of the Sky Rift.’

Evren frowned, sitting up slowly while Zephyra supported his back. ’A shockwave?’

’It hit like a massive bomb,’ Amber explained. ’It swept across the whole district in a split second. The blast blew every hunter off their feet, and it threw me straight into a rooftop ledge. That’s what caused the pain you felt. The link went fuzzy for a few seconds.’

Zephyra leaned closer to Evren, listening in through their shared connection. ’Amber, is the frontline breaking? Are the beasts overrunning the streets?’

’That’s the craziest part, Zee,’ Amber answered with sheer disbelief. ’They stopped. The exact second that shockwave hit, thousands of void monsters froze mid-air. Then, in complete unison, every single beast turned around and flew straight back up into the rift. The sky above District One is completely empty right now.’

Evren exchanged a stunned look with Zephyra. Void beasts were wild, mindless predators driven only by the hunger to kill. They never retreated.

’Did they close the rift?’ Evren asked.

’No,’ Amber said. ’The rift is still wide open, but not a single monster is coming through. General Kincaid has ground teams setting up a perimeter around the plaza. Walter is checking on his men right now. Evren... where are you? Are you safe?’

’I took down the Level 80 Titan,’ Evren said, glancing down at his left hand. The glowing star-diamond core rested safe inside his grip. ’The western chasm collapsed, but Zee got me out in time. I’m on the ridge with the transport pilot right now.’

’Thank the stars,’ Amber whispered in relief. ’Get back here as fast as you can. You need to see this.’

Evren closed the link and turned to the military transport pilot, who was still standing a few yards away in stunned silence.

"Is the bird ready to fly?" Evren asked, pushing himself to his feet. Every muscle in his chest screamed in protest, but his SS-Rank constitution kept him steady.

"Y-Yes, Chairman Evren!" the pilot stammered, saluting quickly. "Engines are idling. We can take off immediately!"

"Let’s go," Evren said.

Zephyra wrapped an arm around his waist, helping him up the metal ramp of the Imperial Defense transport. The pressurized door hissed shut behind them, and within seconds, the twin scramjet engines roared to life.

The high-speed transport shot off the cliff edge, blasting eastward at Mach 3.

Inside the cabin, Evren sank into one of the padded jump seats. He strapped himself in and leaned his head back against the headrest, breathing through his teeth.

Zephyra knelt in front of him. She took a clean cloth from the cabin’s emergency kit, soaked it in water, and gently wiped the dried blood from his cheek and jaw.

"You really pushed it to the limit down there," Zephyra scolded softly, though her violet eyes were filled with gentleness. "Taking on a Level 80 boss alone... if I hadn’t restarted your heart, you would have died in that dark hole."

"I knew you’d come for me," Evren said with a faint smile. He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. "Besides, I promised Calista I’d bring her cure back. I wasn’t going to break that promise."

Zephyra leaned her cheek into his hand for a quiet moment, letting out a soft sigh. "You’re stubborn, Master. But I’m glad you’re alive."

Evren opened his spatial storage ring and slipped the glowing Level 80 Star-Diamond Void Core inside, placing it safely beside his other high-tier materials.

With that secured, he closed his eyes and let the passive recovery boost from their Soul-Bond go to work. His cracked ribs still ached, but the blunt pain was slowly dulling.

Fifteen minutes later, the aircraft decelerated hard, the cabin shuddering as it entered District One airspace.

"Approaching Citadel Pad Four," the pilot’s voice came over the speakers. "Medical teams are standing by on the tarmac."

The transport touched down smoothly, its landing gear bouncing once against the reinforced concrete. The rear ramp lowered with a loud hiss of hydraulic pressure.

The moment the ramp touched the ground, half a dozen medics in sterile white coats rushed forward, carrying trauma kits and glowing green mana wands.

"Chairman Evren!" the lead military doctor shouted, rushing up the ramp. "General Kincaid ordered immediate triage! Where are your injuries?"

"Blunt trauma to the chest and cracked ribs," Evren answered, walking down the ramp under his own power. "Nothing life-threatening."

"Please hold still, sir," the doctor insisted, quickly pressing a mana wand against Evren’s chest while another nurse handed him a small glass bottle of high-grade elixir. "Drink this. It will accelerate bone regeneration."

Evren took the bottle and swallowed the bitter liquid in one gulp. At the same time, warm emerald mana washed over his torso as three healers worked together. Beneath his skin, the hairline fractures in his ribs knitted shut with a dull, soothing itch. The tightness in his chest melted away.

"Evren!"

A familiar voice called out across the tarmac.

Evren looked up. Amber was walking quickly toward the pad, her twin dragon-bone sabers sheathed at her hips. Her armor had a few scuffs, and her red coat was dusty, but she looked completely whole.

The moment she reached him, Amber threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder.

"You idiot," Amber murmured, holding him tight. "Don’t ever scare me like that again. When your heart stopped, I felt like the world ended."

Evren wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close while Zephyra smiled softly beside them. "I’m right here, Amber. I’m not going anywhere."

Amber pulled back after a long moment, looking him up and down. She reached out and touched his bandaged chest. "The medics said your ribs were cracked. Are you really okay?"

"Good as new," Evren said, rolling his shoulders to test the movement. The elixir and the healers’ mana had done their job. "Now, show me what’s going on with that rift."

Amber nodded, her expression turning serious. "Follow me. General Kincaid and the other guild leaders are down in the underground command bunker."

The three of them walked across the busy tarmac, passing dozens of armored personnel carriers and squads of heavily armed soldiers. They entered the main Citadel building and took the high-speed security elevator down to Sub-Level 4.

The doors slid open into the Citadel Command Bunker.

The room was packed with military analysts, radar technicians, and top guild executives. Giant holographic monitors lined the walls, displaying live camera feeds from around District One.

In the center of the room, Grand Arbiter Raymond Kincaid stood over a massive holographic table, his arms crossed over his armored chest. Guild Master Walter stood to his left, while Silas Drake and several other guild leaders stood on the opposite side.

On the main central screen, the dark purple Sky Rift hung in the clouds above the city. It was roughly ninety feet wide, its jagged edges swirling slowly like a giant, dark whirlpool.

Not a single monster was in sight.

"Chairman Evren," Kincaid said, turning as the trio walked in. The supreme commander gave Evren a firm nod of respect. "I heard the western chasm was cleared and sealed. Outstanding work."

"Thank you, General," Evren replied, stepping up to the tactical table. "What’s the situation here?"

"A total mystery," Kincaid said, gesturing toward the screen. "Twenty minutes ago, an anomalous shockwave burst from the rift. It registered as a Class-Four spatial pulse. Immediately after, all hostiles ceased engagement and retreated back through the aperture."

"It wasn’t a panic retreat," Silas Drake spoke up, studying the holographic readouts. "I watched their flight vectors from the central formation. The beasts didn’t scatter randomly. When that shockwave hit, they turned in tight, organized clusters. That was an orderly recall. Something inside that rift just sounded an assembly horn."

Walter nodded grimly. "For once, Drake is right. In thirty years of fighting on the frontlines, I’ve never seen void beasts pull back in formation. Whatever is on the other side of that tear has genuine intelligence, and it just recalled the monsters for a reason."

"True," Kincaid agreed coldly. "Void entities operate on pure predatory instinct unless an alpha or a rift commander issues an override. We don’t know if that shockwave was a recall signal, an energy build-up, or a beacon."

"So what’s the plan?" Evren asked. "We can’t just stand here and stare at an empty hole."

"We aren’t going to," Kincaid said, tapping his wrist console. "We’re launching an armored tactical reconnaissance probe directly into the event horizon. We need to see what’s happening on the other side."

A technician across the room looked up from his station. "General, Recon Probe Delta-One is loaded into Silo Three. Telemetry link is green. Ready on your command."

Kincaid looked up at the main screen and gave a single nod.

"Launch the probe."

In the Citadel launch courtyard below, a steel hatch slid open. A sleek, rocket-boosted drone shot into the sky with a roar of white fire, tearing upward through the clouds.

On the bunker’s central display, the live camera feed from the drone showed the city falling away below. Ahead of it, the massive purple rift grew larger by the second.

Evren, Amber, and Zephyra stood side by side, watching the screen as the drone’s nose punched straight into the swirling purple vortex.