The Author's POV

—BOOOOOM! 

"——!" 

The whole building shook, and all the furniture in the room fell onto the ground. Stumbling back a couple of steps, my eyes opened wide. 'What in the world just happened?' Without wasting time, dashing out of the room, I ran towards the entrance of the dorms. 

Because the area had been sealed by Matthew and his two companions, there was no one in my area. It took a while for me to spot some people. 

"What's going on?!" 

"What happened?" 

Turning right and walking into a corridor, startled guards appeared everywhere as they wondered about what had just happened. The confusion only grew deeper as more and more people came out 

'Is the Monolith under seige?'

I wondered as I recalled the explosion that had just rung not long ago. 

The force coming from the explosion was so strong that I knew that a big enemy had attacked the whole building. 

The real question was, who attacked the Monolith? Was it perhaps the Union? Or was this due to some internal disputes inside of the Monolith? 

Quite frankly, I wasn't sure.

There was a chance this was the work of the Union.

'If I don't remember incorrectly, they have an artifact that allows them to travel to the main headquarters of the Monolith'

This was something that I knew they had since it did not only teleport to the Monolith, but to other places as well. In the novel, they actually never used it to travel to the Monolith, but I knew all too well just how much the story had deviated from the original one.

The chances of this being the Union were not low. 

—BOOOOOM! 

Disrupting me out of my thoughts, the building once again shook. This time, the explosion was even louder than before as the tremors intensified. Holding onto the side of the wall, I tried not to fall. 

—WHIIIIIII!  —WHIIIIIII! 

[This is an emergency message, we're currently under attack. I repeat we're currently under attack. All personnel and members please make your way to the first level to aid the defense unit. I repeat, all personell...] 

The blaring sound of the sirens rang out, and a warning echoed from the speakers around the building. Immediately after, almost everyone around me rushed towards the exit of the second level. 

"Quick!" 

"Everyone onto the first level!" 

With almost everyone here being a guard, upon receiving the orders, everyone rushed towards the first level just like the alarm had told them to. Because of the chaos, no one particularly noticed me, as they all rushed downstairs. 

"Might as well take advantage of the situation." 

Lowering the cap on my head and putting my mask away, I decided to follow them downstairs. 

Though I had the mask available to me, now that the whole place was in chaos, I could take advantage of it and escape through them. 

This was for the best. With this, my mana which was quite low could be conserved. The mask did consume a lot of mana after all. Furthermore, amongst the chaos, the probability of someone actively looking for me through the cameras was low. They had probably forgotten about me by now. 

'Perfect'

Joining the crowd and hiding my presence amongst the masses, I quickly headed for the first level.

Freedom had never been this close. 

***

At the same time. 

Three elderly-looking people levitated in the air as they coldly looked down below them. Their majestic mana filled the area causing the air around them to tremble slightly. 

The three elders who appeared in the sky were wearing black-colored robes. Upon closer look, they all looked malnourished with sunken cheeks and red-blood eyes. Their bright red eyes swept the entire forest until finally, they paused on Monica, Tasos, and Amon who were all wearing skin masks to mask their true identities. 

Instantly, a terrifying pressure bore down on them the moment the three elders spotted them. Had it been someone else and not them, their legs would involuntarily become limp under these violent gazes that were filled with killing intent. 

"Hmph!" 

Stomping her foot on the ground, the killing intent that was directed towards her vanished instantly. 

"Such tricks won't work on me," Monica muttered in utter disdain. 

Although the auras of these three black-robed old men were lower than hers, a seriousness that was difficult to mask covered Monica's face. 

"Hmm, the Devlon brothers. You should be able to handle them, right Monica?"

Behind her, Amon's expression was lighthearted as he looked at the three old men who had appeared in the sky. Just his expression alone made it obvious that he didn't take them seriously. 

Tasos's expression was also leisurely as he nodded his head with a faint smile on his face. Staring at the sky, he mused for a moment before looking at Monica.

"Do you want us to help you, or can you take care of it by yourself?" 

"Who do you think I am? I can at least take care of this much." 

"Can you really? You do know that the three of them combined have a strength equivalent to <SS> rank." Amon chimed in. Even though he knew that she could do it, he was merely trying to get under her skin. 

"So? As long as I finish them quickly, I don't really see a problem." 

Unfortunately for him, Monica did not fall for the provocation. 

Turning their heads and staring at each other, they both shrugged their shoulders before giving her the green light. "Alright, do whatever you want. We're here to stall for time anyways. Once the big dogs show up, Amon and I will step up." 

"True, she should deal with the small fries for us." 

With her eyes closed and holding her sword vertically, Monica's brow twitched. Opening her eyes, she glared at the two of them. 

"Can you guys shut up? I'm trying to concentrate." 

"Alright, we're sorry. Do your thing." 

Tasos bitterly laughed before taking a step back and looking at the enormous infra-structure in the distance.

If the Union had done their job, half of the higher-ups of the Monolith should've already been lured out of the headquarters.  By directly exploiting one of the spies amongst the higher-ups, the Union had set up an intricate trap designed to lure the higher-ups away from the Monolith who were hoping to kill Monica. 

Unfortunately for them, it would end up being a fruitless effort as the real Monica was with them. Unless an external factor that they did not account for meddled their plans, their plans of dealing a massive blow to the Monolith should work. 

"Ke,ke, what's this? Some unexpected guests have shown up out of nowhere? You must be looking for death." Surprised by Monica's power, one of the elders levitating in the air throatily laughed. His blood-red eyes flickered brightly. 

"It seems like it. Who would've thought that there was someone stupid enough to actually attack our main base?" Another elder added, licking his lips. 

Squinting his eyes, the last elder and the youngest brother spoke up. "I can't seem to be able to make out their identities. They must be wearing skin masks." 

Hearing their brother's words, the two elders that were talking to each other glanced at each other before taking a better look at the individuals below them. 

Skin masks were generally a great way for someone to mask their faces. However, they had a fatal flaw, and it was that they could be easily spotted by those whose rank was in the <S> ranks. 

Placing his hand on his chin, the oldest of the siblings mused. "Hmm, you're right...what's also strange is that I can't feel the aura's of the two guys standing behind the little girl." 

"They might be using an artifact to mask their real strength." 

"True." 

Whilst the three elders were talking amongst themselves, Monica's gaze indifferently swept over them before once again raising her sword. Slowly an orange hue enveloped it. 

"You guys talk too much." 

Disrupting the three elders, was Monica's voice. 

With her sword raised, her body trembled slightly. Wild and violent energy suddenly surged out explosively from the veins within her body. Finally, it became like a torrent of floodwater that flowed to every corner of her entire body. 

Her eyes mysteriously shone in bright orange color. Her feet which were touching the ground slowly lifted up as Monica's body raised into the air. Raising her hand slightly, Monica clenched it into a fist. 

Following this, the orange hue revolving around her body abruptly soared. An instant later, the glow disappeared and an orange-colored armor materialized, covering her exquisite pretty body. Once the armor appeared on her body, with her hair fluttering wildly in the air, her demeanor completely changed. 

If before she was silly and childish, right now she looked like a war goddess that was craving blood. 

Staring at Monica from below, Amon showed a surprised expression.

"Mana conglomeration, I now see why those bastards put so much hope on her." 

Though he disliked Monica due to her childish character, he had to admit, she was extremely talented.

Especially since she could perform Mana-conglomeration, or more specifically, psyon-conglomeration which was the process in which someone whose control over psyons reached such levels of fine control that they could summon tangible mana in the air and form it into whatever shape they wanted. 

In Monica's case, an armor. 

It was a high-leveled technique that only the strongest individuals could use it. For Monica, who was only 28 years old to be able to accomplish this, it was nothing short of miraculous. 

"T-that's mana-conglomeration." 

Similarly staring at Monica in the distance, the expression of the elders standing not so far from her turned extremely ugly. Their previous arrogant faces had long disappeared. 

Unaware of what was happening, suddenly opening her eyes, a bright shine enveloped the area as Monica's voice rang out in the distance. 

"Haaa!"

Waves of wild, violent energy that lingered inside of her body rushed out, reaching all the way towards the tip of her sword where it converged together before releasing a terrifying orange beam of light that shot towards the three elders suspended in the air. 

WHIIIIING! 

"Get into formation!" 

Staring at the incoming attack, the three black-robed elder's expressions were incredibly serious.

Taking a step back, they got into a triangular formation and frantically moved their hands creating different seals.

Following the appearance of this formation, three powerful mana signatures that were all dark green in color surged out from the bodies of the three of them. 

The mana that surged out from their bodies did not scatter. Instead, it agglomerated above their heads forming a translucent circle that slowly expanded before everyone's eyes. The mana that was excluded by the three elders quickly linked itself onto the shield. Within seconds, the shield started thickening up. 

"Brace!" 

For a brief moment, silence ensued, waiting for Monica's attack to apprach the shield. As if time slowed down, everyone stared at the devastating attack approaching the elders at unprecedented speeds. Finally, Monica's attack made contact with the shield and an even more powerful explosion rang out. 

—BOOOOOM! 

Everything shook. 

***

—BOOOOOM! 

"The fuck is going on?" 

With another explosion reverberating, the building once again shook, and I almost lost my footing. This time the explosion was so powerful that a lot of the people in front of me fell down. The ceiling also started showing signs of cracking, sending a lot of people into a panic. 

Fortunately, I was near someone big, and thus, using him as support, I was able to keep my footing. 

"Hurry!" 

"Let's go!" 

"We're under attack! Grab your weapons and go downstairs!" 

Following the other people, I quickly rushed towards the first level. Honestly, although it was chaotic, somehow within ten minutes I found myself on the bottom floor. 

Had I been following my original plan, this wouldn't take me far longer and it would've been far more dangerous as well. However, contrary to my expectations, someone had enough balls to attack the Monolith's headquarters. 

'Well, I don't care whoever you are, thanks to you I can finally go back home.'

Clenching my fists tightly, I increased my pace. Along the way, I consumed a couple of potions just so that I could recover as much mana as possible. 

Though unsure, there was a chance that I might once again have to be forced to go through another battle, thus, not wanting to take any chances, I consumed as many potions as possible. 

BANG—!

Turning around the corridor that led towards the portal areas, suddenly a whistling sound rang out. Following this, a muffled explosion echoed in the distance and multiple colors flashed. A terrifying pressure enveloped the area, resulting in my breathing becoming more laborious. 

"What is happening?"

I was immediately alarmed. The pressure was definitely something that belonged to someone far above me. To make matters worse, it wasn't just one that I felt, there were multiple ones. 

From where I was, I could feel the stinging sensation coming from the residual mana lingering in the area. It was that bad. 

A bad premotion arose from within me as my footsteps slowed down. 

"Call for backup! call for backup! The headquarters have been infiltrated!"

"Someone is attacking the portal—Hueeek!" 

Chaos. 

Total chaos. 

Upon entering the lobby area that led towards the portals, all I saw was chaos. 

Halting my steps and staring into the distance, what appeared in my vision were people trying their best to run away from the place as explosions and screams rang out. Different colored hues appeared everywhere, and blood splattered everywhere. 

Squinting my eyes, I was able to spot a group of ten or so people brute-forcing their way towards the general portals in the distance. 

"Ah, shit." 

Taking a better look at the situation and coming to a realization of what was going on, my face contorted.

Massaging my forehead, I silently cursed to myself. 

'Seriously, why can't they just let me escape peacefully?'