Free Web NovelChapter 108: _Threading Into Chaos
"Wait—Han tried to do what?"
"And this is why I didn’t want to tell you to begin with." Ambrose sighed as they got outside the Phoenix Flight HQ.
The sun’s rays bounced off the tall glass walls of the skyscrapers, making them glisten like giant crystals. The Guide squinted, shooting a glance at Devon.
The latter’s forehead creased, blinking like he was still trying to process things. "Why would Han attempt to attack you within Guild property?"
"He’s done it before, remember?" Ambrose rolled his eyes. "The first night you actually talked to me. In that alleyway."
Devon shook his head. "That—"
"Did you ever even believe me on that?" The Guide arched a brow. "I feel we moved past that quickly. Your crazy ex almost killed me and now he’s at it again."
Technically, Han was also his crazy ex... but that wasn’t the point.
This recent confrontation made him realise that, until he’s managed to get strong enough, idiots like Han would keep walking all over him.
If Devon hadn’t stepped in on time, he wasn’t confident in being able to dodge the attacks of that A-Rank fast enough. Even as an Aether Hybrid, the disparity between the two ranks was still clear as night and day.
"Ambrose," Devon lowered his voice, inching closer to his side. "I... I need to tell you something. About Han."
While Ambrose stared at him with a clueless expression, the Esper was pondering deep down if he should go through with this.
It’s not like he didn’t believe Ambrose. Especially after everything they’ve been through before this. It was that now he was conflicted on keeping his permanent Guide safe.
While also acknowledging he willingly collected information on said permanent Guide from the man now trying to hurt him.
He needed to tell Ambrose about the video Han sent him.
Just when his mouth parted to speak however, a rush of wind blew past their faces, interrupting his thoughts. A shimmering white portal sparked to life before them.
People across the street stared in awe as a figure stepped out, arms behind his back.
Gabriel.
"Good. You’re here." The SS-Rank nodded once, gesturing with a head bob. "Come."
He waltzed back into the portal, not even bothering to say anything else. Ambrose inhaled sharply, trailing behind him. "Lord help us..."
Devon watched him walk away, clicking his tongue silently. ’Yeah. Maybe when we get back.’
Despite thinking that, he wasn’t sure if there was even any ’getting back’ for them. Not when they were threading into a Cataclysm Level Rift.
★★★★★
Norfolk Harbour, Virginia
The moment Ambrose stepped through the portal, the world shifted.
Not metaphorically. Not subtly.
It snapped.
Space folded in on itself like a sheet being yanked taut, air compressing around his lungs before releasing all at once. His boots touched down on something solid—but it didn’t feel like earth.
It felt... Hard. Too smooth.
Ambrose’s head tilted up slowly, breath catching in his throat.
They stood atop an elevated platform suspended midair—hundreds of meters above the ocean. It stretched wide in a circular radius, its surface resembling crystallised glass, faint lines of silver energy pulsing beneath like veins.
And ahead of them...
"There she is." Devon muttered under his breath.
The Echo Rift loomed.
A massive tear carved into the fabric of reality itself, hanging over the ocean like a wound that refused to close. It was a black void so deep it swallowed light whole, its edges jagged and constantly shifting like something alive.
Around it, space had been locked.
A translucent barrier encased the Rift—a spherical distortion that bent light unnaturally. It looked like glass... if glass had been forced into existence against its will.
And it was breaking.
Thin fractures spread across its surface, glowing with violent streaks of white. Aether energy leaked out in unstable bursts, distorting the air and sending ripples across the ocean below.
The sea itself churned violently, waves crashing in chaotic spirals as if trying to flee.
Ambrose swallowed. "...That’s a spatial lock?" He asked quietly.
"Was," a voice answered.
Valentine.
Ambrose turned slightly, spotting the man a few steps ahead, dressed sharply as ever despite the literal end-of-the-world scenery. His eyes were fixed on the Rift, expression unusually grim.
"It’s collapsing faster than projected."
A distant roar cut through the air.
Ambrose’s gaze flickered upward just as a squadron of fighter jets tore across the sky, engines screaming. Below, massive battleships carved through the ocean, their presence dwarfed by the Rift above.
"They’re early," Viktor noted.
Valentine tapped something against his wrist, a translucent screen flickering to life. His eyes scanned it briefly before he exhaled.
"More like desperate. US Guilds have mobilised first. Others won’t arrive for at least three hours."
Three hours.
Ambrose looked back at the cracking spatial lock.
They didn’t even have three minutes.
Another sharp crack echoed. Louder this time.
The fractures widened before their eyes.
Gabriel stepped forward then, his presence cutting through the chaos like a blade. His coat fluttered slightly despite the lack of wind, iridescent eyes reflecting the unstable light of the Rift.
"Brace yourselves."
The simple command carried weight.
Ambrose’s spine stiffened instinctively.
Devon shifted closer to him without thinking. Viktor huffed a breath, adjusting his gloves.
Valentine stilled.
Another crack split through the air. And then—the spatial lock collapsed.
Not all at once, but in cascading fractures that exploded outward in shards of warped light. The barrier disintegrated into nothingness, releasing a pulse that slammed into the ocean below.
The water erupted as a familiar colossal shape surged upward, tearing through the sea with a deafening roar. Scales the size of buildings glistened beneath the fractured light as the SS-Rank Leviathan revealed itself, its sheer mass sending waves crashing in every direction.
"Move! Move!" Distant voices shouted through comms.
Figures—tiny against the scale of the monster—launched into action from the ships and jets. Explosions lit the air as attacks rained down, colliding against the creature’s hide.
But it wasn’t alone.
A second figure hovered near the Rift. Humanoid. Unusually still.
Its head was a swirling miniature black hole, devouring light and warping everything around it.
"You’ve got to be kidding me..." Ambrose whispered.
The pressure in the air turned suffocating. Reality itself seemed to bend toward that thing.
"The resistance team is engaged," Valentine murmured, eyes alive. "They’re buying us time."
Gabriel didn’t respond.
He simply watched with a calculating glint in those iridescent orbs. And then—he moved.
Space twisted violently beneath their feet, the platform vanishing as reality folded inward once more. Ambrose barely had time to register the shift before his vision warped, the world stretching into streaks of light and darkness.
"Stay close," Devon’s voice cut through.
Ambrose didn’t argue.
The pull intensified as the Rift expanded before them. And then, in a single, seamless instant... they were gone.
