Free Web NovelChapter 111: _Operating Like A Body
Back Outside, Norfolk Virginia
Irina and Magnus had arrived, occupied with isolating the Leviathan long enough to take it down. The beast still had bruises from their previous days’ long battle with it—so they used that to their advantage.
In the open waters around them, elemental energies crashed into each other like raging storms. Dark clouds rumbled with lightning, spreading for miles. Battle ships struggled to stay steady as the battle raged.
But while Irina and Magnus faced off against an old foe... SS-Ranks from South Africa and South Korea respectively approached a new enemy in the form of the black hole-faced humanoid.
The SS-Rank South African Esper, Zola, soared through the air via wings shaped energy structures on his back. He got tens of meters above the humanoid entity before diving like a hawk.
A twist of one wrist conjured chains made of a sky blue energy around him, each chain thicker than tree branches. The chains shot downward—but the entity avoided them by simply teleporting to another spot. Still relatively close to the Rift.
Next came the Korean SS-Rank.
She spread out her arms from a nearby battleship, her raven black hair whipping into the air like snakes.
Thin crimson threads spread from her fingertips—visible only to her.
One wrapped around the humanoid entity’s arm. The rest... anchored to the air itself.
"Got you," she whispered, her unfocused eyes regaining deadly precision.
When the entity teleported, the thread pulled tight. The entity paused, as if sensing something was wrong.
Too late.
"Now, Zola!" She yelled into her comm device, lowering her hands.
This time when Zola sent energy chains snaking toward the entity, three of them successfully caught it with less effort. One wrapped around its neck. The other its torso. The next its legs.
Han Ji-hoon let out a short breath, a proud smile curving her mouth. Sure enough, the other South Korean Hunters on her ship cheered, shouting praises.
"As expected of Hunter Han!"
"Wait—what exactly did she do?"
"Fate and probability manipulation, of course! Top-tier powers. There’s no way these beasts could stand a chance."
As flattering as the praises were, she didn’t let her guard down. There was only so much her powers could do against an SS-Rank threat.
She hated to admit it, but she’d worked mostly with luck to be able to directly affect its movements the way she did.
Meanwhile, Zola tugged hard at the chains, tightening them around the entity. He swirled a finger in a circle, manifesting thousands of energy sword constructs.
With a wave, they merged into one giant sword which launched at the entity like a rocket. The sea itself seemed to hold its breath as the sword whooshed through the air.
Then—the entity’s head tilted, the mini black hole on its face spiralling slowly. A domain of pure darkness spread out of it like ink on white paper, covering the sky around it in black.
The energy sword eroded, fading into nothing before the eyes of everyone watching. Even the chains disappeared entirely like they never existed.
Silence.
Every heartbeat faltered. Every chattering halted. Even the battle between Magnus, Irina and the Leviathan seemed to slow down, the ocean itself roaring in response to the power being exuded by the entity.
Zola’s eyes widened, his energy wings spreading wider and making him stop mid-flight. "What was that?" He questioned himself and Hunter Han through his comm device.
The Korean SS-Rank mindlessly wrapped her palms around the railing of her ship’s foredeck, her pulse stuttering. "It... It erased your energy constructs. Not destroyed..."
She paused, her eyes trembling with dread as the entity’s head angled in her direction. Fixed on her.
"... Made them nonexistent." The words came out rushed. "It’s controlling the very concept of nonexistence."
★★★★★
While the Hunters outside the Rift were facing what felt like a world-ending shift in the battle, Ambrose and the rest of the raid crew stood frozen, eyes glued on the floating whale that suddenly decided to stop.
Its colossal shadow hovered over them like death’s hand, its bellows echoing through the inverted ocean and bouncing off the earth below.
Other whales joined in, so loud that Ambrose was forced to cover his ears.
"Are they going to attack or what?" Viktor didn’t realise when he instinctively placed himself in front of the Guide, his fingers already frosting in preparation.
"No..." for once Valentine sounded uncertain. "At least, they shouldn’t be able to. Directly anyway. They seem bound to the floating ocean."
"What about the ones we saw floating in open skies?" Devon was the one who spoke this time. "D–Do you think they noticed us because of your—"
"Don’t tell me you’re about to point fingers at me," Valentine sounded neither amused nor teasing. He sounded agitated. "Those things would’ve brought their attention to us regardless."
"Yes—but the main point is that they are now," Viktor blurted. "It took like six S-Ranks for us to defeat one S-Rank centipede queen last time. We even lost someone... and now we’re faced with multiple whales of the same rank?"
Throughout all this talking, Gabriel remained silent.
His mind swirled, picking up details from the last few minutes or so. From the appearance of those A-Rank coral beasts to how easily Valentine defeated them.
Plus the way their bodies dissolved back into the earth. Directly feeding the aether energy veins beneath their boots. The veins themselves had reacted after the coral beasts were killed.
So... what if...?
"The dungeons are operating like the inside of a body," Gabriel murmured, attracting glances from the others.
He arched his head skyward. "Veins. A core or ’heart’... And a system of beasts that don’t attack until a threat is noticed. Like antibodies."
Valentine arched a brow, surprised by how much sense that made. "Antibodies... so, they don’t attack directly..."
"But they alert ’cells’ that are actually involved with attacking." Ambrose was the one who finished their line of thought, his face losing colour. "Which means—"
The rest of his words caught in his throat when the inverted ocean trembled—the roars from the whales ceasing simultaneously.
Figures plopped out of the water, ignoring the unstable gravity. These figures came in various forms and sizes, all headed straight for the group.
Their eyes glowed in contrast to the bright ocean waters above, feral and ready for blood.
"Duck!"
