Black Badger

I called Yehyeon immediately.

“Commander!”

I shouted that before realizing that Yehyeon was no longer the Supreme Commander.

“Ah.”

[I know. I understood. Just get to the point.]

“Kyle is here.”

I was grateful that Yehyeon answered so quickly.

Keeping my head turned toward the direction where I could feel Kyle’s presence, I reported.

“He’s near the Core perimeter. Open the portal. I’ll go immediately.”

[I’ll report it.]

Yehyeon answered flatly.

[Go down to the portal zone.]

I didn’t ask twice.

The moment the call ended, I saw the seniors who had already finished preparing to head to the battlefield. Before I could even open my mouth, they were already opening the doors and rushing outside.

I followed them.

Running after them, I contacted my subordinates.

“Yoow!”

[I’m on my way.]

The tactician replied.

[I felt it too! What the hell! Damn it!]

“Bring Rose too.”

[Yes!]

“I’ll contact Igor.”

Igor answered immediately.

[What should we do?]

He didn’t sound excited.

[I’ve taken care of the Saint. But you’re not planning to deploy her directly to the battlefield, are you?]

“I’ll go first. I’ll assess the battlefield and only request Deltei’s help if it’s absolutely unavoidable. Don’t jump in right away.”

[Good.]

He didn’t ask further questions.

[Where is the portal zone? Underground? Top floor?]

[Underground.]

The call ended.

I shoved my phone away and ran after the seniors, gripping the sword hilt tightly.

“Your face.”

Jonathan, who was running ahead, glanced back at me and asked.

I let out a small, dry laugh.

“After all that chaos, I didn’t expect it to end like this. But since I’m heading outside the Core to face Kyle °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° soon, there’s no need to hide my face anymore.”

Instead, I was worried about the people currently facing Kyle.

Kairos and Ami kept coming to mind.

They would surely try to face Kyle together. Just like last time.

But the last time Kairos faced Kyle, he ended up losing an eye.

It was an injury that could never be restored.

I knew the direct cause had been the Venom Meridian and the Remnant Wraith, but if the opponent hadn’t been Kyle, things might never have escalated that far. In truth, I also knew that outcome had actually been a lucky one.

There was no guarantee luck would favor them again.

I couldn’t hope that Kyle would hesitate out of affection for Kairos.

If anything, he might face Kairos even more calmly than when he faced me. Among their people, duels fought with one’s honor and life at stake were a concept that existed.

They would probably face each other far more comfortably.

Please... just hold out until I get there.

“Why isn’t the alarm going off...?”

It had been a while since we pressed both the leadership elevator button and the regular elevator button.

Yet the leadership elevator wasn’t moving, so we were standing in front of the regular one when Ricardo muttered.

“The emergency summons should’ve gone out...”

The Supreme Commander.

I’d have to deal with him somehow.

Even if I didn’t intervene, Ska or Yehyeon would probably handle it soon.

Ding!

The elevator arrived and we immediately rushed inside.

“Ah!”

The scientist already inside dropped his tablet.

His eyes trembled violently as he looked at me.

“Hilde...?”

His voice cracked as he said my name.

“Hilde? Hilde...? Is that really Hilde?”

“Hiroshi.”

Jonathan pressed the floor button.

I gave a bitter smile at Hiroshi and the office staff staring at me blankly.

“It’s been a while.”

“...You!”

The scientist pointed at me with a trembling finger.

“Y-you-you—you!”

“I’m sorry.”

The people already inside either stared blankly, glanced repeatedly while furiously typing on their phones, or openly raised their phones and started filming me.

“I’m sorry for causing a disturbance. Taking pictures is fine, but could you please not upload them online? Just for today.”

“Hands!”

Whether he heard me or not, Hiroshi screamed while pointing.

“Feet! Your hands and feet!”

“I regenerated them.”

Inside the descending elevator, I smiled awkwardly.

“Hiroshi.”

Then I called the only person there whose name I actually knew.

Hiroshi lifted his head and stared at me in a daze.

“I’m sorry. Were you very worried?”

The scientist opened and closed his mouth but couldn’t form words.

Meanwhile the elevator kept descending.

Then—ding!

It stopped midway.

Not at the underground portal zone, but at the 8th floor where the lobby was.

“We’re a little busy~.”

Ricardo turned toward the staff who seemed to have forgotten they needed to get off.

“Anyone getting out?”

Several office workers snapped back to reality and hurried out.

Jonathan mercilessly pressed the close button.

Just before the elevator doors shut, I heard them shouting.

“Hildebert’s here!”

The elevator stopped once more on the first floor.

I had been watching the floor indicator carefully, but when the doors opened, I flinched at the crowd waiting outside.

“Hilde!”

People shouted.

“Hildebert!”

“Taleb!”

“Is it really him?”

“Hey, I think it is!”

“He cut his hair.”

“What about his hands? His feet?”

“We are on duty.”

Jonathan grabbed the elevator frame with one hand and blocked the people trying to push in.

“This is an urgent mission. Please step aside.”

The alarm should be ringing to make this easier.

Ricardo muttered a small curse.

It was probably directed not at the gathered people but at the current Supreme Commander interfering with the operation.

I completely agreed with his mood.

Feeling guilty toward the people who had gathered to see me, I nonetheless ushered the remaining elevator passengers out.

“I’m sorry!”

That was the most I could say before the doors closed.

After great difficulty, we finally reached the portal zone.

Normally when the emergency summons sounded, staff outside the hospital wing would rush out of elevators immediately.

I had even heard the elevators moved faster during emergencies.

None of that was happening now.

What if the portal also...

“But how did you know?”

Ricardo asked as we hurried anxiously into the portal zone.

I answered while looking ahead.

“I felt his presence.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t sense him because he erased it with magic. Ever since that mage went berserk in the Core...”

“He deliberately released the magic.”

Even now I could clearly feel Kyle.

Because of the distance, I couldn’t sense exactly what he was doing.

“He’s probably telling me to hurry.”

His presence stood alone, radiating overwhelming power.

Ricardo sighed.

There was no time to think about what that meant.

We waited in front of the restricted zone until the heavy doors opened.

The moment there was enough space, we forced our way inside the portal zone.

Then I saw the people already gathered there.

Even though no alarm had sounded, there were many people.

Jason Trevain.

Chen Koenig.

Gregory.

Asil Fiscer.

Leeho Chang.

Bobby Winter.

Angela—Tom’s mentor—was also there.

And Nana Dol, who had joined after me.

Hesh Lyle.

Hesh.

“Hilde!”

The comrade whose eye was bloodshot waved urgently when he saw me.

“Stand at the front!”

“Hesh.”

I ran toward him.

I hadn’t been able to speak properly with Hiroshi, but I couldn’t pretend ignorance with Hesh.

Everything that happened to his father and Luke had happened because of me.

“Hesh. I’m sorry. I—”

“You said it’s urgent!”

Hesh Lyle grabbed my shoulders firmly and shouted.

“Go first. The portal’s being prepared right now!”

“Your father...”

“We’ll talk when you get back.”

Hesh said firmly.

“This isn’t the time. You said the enemy’s here, right? Deal with it first, then we’ll talk. So make sure you come back alive. Got it?”

I stared blankly at Hesh.

I must have looked terrible.

When Hesh turned his head to check the portal preparations and saw my face, he looked startled.

But thankfully he didn’t mention it.

After staring at me for a moment, he regained himself and slapped my back.

“Get a grip.”

“Sorry.”

I returned to reality.

“But how did you know to come here?”

“The former Commander.”

Hesh tapped the communicator in his ear.

“He told us to go down first. The authorization hasn’t come through yet, but he said he’ll take responsibility for everything. He’s an amazing person, right?”

“When the hell is this opening?”

“It’ll be ready soon!”

A scientist quickly replied to Chen’s grumbling.

I turned my head in surprise at the familiar voice.

At the end of my gaze I saw a familiar ponytail.

Scientist Kate was adjusting the portal device.

“We’ll begin activation shortly! Please prepare!”

I suppressed both relief and guilt and stepped closer to the portal device.

Thankfully everyone moved aside so I could stand at the very front.

Perhaps they had already heard.

Even though the junior who had supposedly died in a spectacular fashion had returned, no one blamed me.

Their gazes were painful, but the atmosphere remained calm.

Leeho even lightly patted my back in encouragement.

Bobby Winter stared at me for a moment.

Then, once I stood in front of the portal machine, she said,

“Did you cut your hair?”

Oh.

I had forgotten.

“Uh... yes.”

“It looks way better. Could be even shorter.”

“...Really? Well, thank you.”

“Where’d you reattach your hands and feet?”

Chen grumbled as he asked.

“Did you become the intelligence director or something?”

I was about to reply.

At that moment the door opened.

The heavy door I had forced my way through earlier.

We all turned toward the entrance to see who had arrived.

The entrance was noisy—because the loudest footsteps clearly didn’t belong to field personnel.

They were excited, unsteady, and shallow.

“Stop the work!”

Ah, shit.

That inferior human.

As I frowned deeply at the furious current Supreme Commander who stormed in—

Someone grabbed my shoulder.

Jason Trevain.

“Get back.”

The senior growled quietly, staring at the Supreme Commander with burning blue eyes.

“You just get ready to enter the portal.”

***

Getting close was forbidden.

Ami watched the enemy standing completely still.

Distance was the key.

And speed.

Why else had Hildebert singled her out as the only Badger he couldn’t confidently say could kill him?

When it came to mobility, she was unmatched.

She needed to focus on avoiding his attacks.

While circling Kyle and drawing his attention.

Everything was just a temporary measure until Hildebert arrived.

But if she did well, the survival chances of the others would increase.

“By the way... have you considered surrendering?”

Ami slowly brought her hand toward her waist as she asked.

Kyle remained standing where he was.

No change in expression.

He simply stared at Ami blankly.

Wait... does he even speak the common language?

Ami felt slightly confused.

The common language is basically English!

Does he speak English?

The last time they met, she had been too busy running to remember.

The rain of blood and flesh had already stopped.

The battlefield noise filled the air.

Gunfire and the screams of Creatures blended together like a grotesque harmony.

It felt like fighting in the middle of a herd of migrating buffalo.

Even in that chaos, the area where Kyle stood remained calm.

As if he alone had drawn a boundary.

Of course, his subordinates were controlling the Creatures flooding in.

But to Ami, it looked as if the monsters themselves didn’t dare approach Kyle.

BOOOOM!

She had come here prepared to risk even her comrades’ lives.

Ami grabbed her gun and placed her finger on the trigger.

“Hilde is back.”

Kyle’s expression did not change.

“So if you surrender, things might turn out okay.”

She still vividly remembered the final scene she had seen before falling into her long sleep.

The catastrophe created by the red-eyed enemy who had slaughtered countless people.

“What do you think?”

Yet the opponent with the same power as that enemy wasn’t even looking at her anymore.

He had casually turned his head, scanning the battlefield.

“I lost many important people in the First War too.”

Still, she said what she wanted to say.

“I slept for two whole years. My youngest brother and Yehyeon oppa suffered so much because of me.”

Her muscles tightened, ready to explode into motion at any moment.

“But I can forgive. So what do you say?”

Kyle looked back at her.

“Surrender?”

BANG!

The instant the enemy moved the hand holding his sword, Ami raised her gun and fired.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

“Ah—”

Golden eyes came closer.

The man rushed forward like a jaguar.

Rather than running, it looked like a predator lunging at prey.

The moment she realized the man she had tried to shoot was charging at her and pulled her arm back—

She was already within the trajectory of Kyle’s sword.

“Ahh!”

Ami shot upward like a bullet.

Barely dodging the razor-sharp arc of the blade, she quickly landed behind him.

BANG!

CLANG!

“What the hell!”

The bullet she fired the instant she saw Kyle’s back was deflected when Kyle twisted around and slashed.

“That’s totally cheating!”

The black-haired knight didn’t reply.

Still expressionless, he launched another series of sword strikes and dashed toward Ami again as she hopped away.

Ami swallowed a sharp breath, feeling instinctive fear.

She launched herself diagonally upward again to avoid him.

Then she stretched her foot out to land behind him again—

At that exact moment a sword strike shot toward her foot.

BOOOOM!

“Jack!”

A Creature burst upward in front of her.

It intercepted the sword strike that had traveled through the ground.

And Ami was suddenly yanked backward by the collar.

She looked at the assistant gunner who had saved her right leg.

“Thanks!”

“You must be careful. Kyle has exceptional battle sense. He predicts an opponent’s movements about three steps ahead.”

“I thought he was going to cut it off.”

Kyle slowly turned toward Ami and Jack.

His golden eyes looked almost bored.

“So you’re hopping around like fleas again.”

“Huh?”

Ami said blankly.

“He speaks English.”

Jack smiled faintly but didn’t move, keeping his eyes fixed on Kyle.

Kyle looked at Ami and Jack indifferently.

A brief standoff.

Amid it, Ami stared blankly at the black-haired knight—then suddenly processed what he had said.

“Flea!?”

Ami shouted in shock.

“Fleeeeaaa!?”