The monster's claw was halted by a gleaming, sharp dagger in Ling Lian's hand. The force of the impact pushed her delicate frame back several steps. The interdimensional monster quickly lunged at her again. This time, however, the young woman had no intention of defending against its claws.
Ling Lian moved her fingers slightly. Suddenly, countless silver threads appeared, like nearly invisible, ethereal fibers. Gleaming, they wrapped tightly around the monster's body before slicing it into tiny pieces. Vomit-inducing green liquid splattered onto the ground, some splashing towards Ling Lian, but it couldn't touch her pure, beautiful form. A thin, transparent shield appeared around her body, blocking the liquid.
This interdimensional being wasn't very strong, and Ling Lian swiftly dispatched it, turning it into scattered flesh on the ground. The entire battle had lasted only a few seconds. Ling Lian carefully wiped her dagger with a cloth before returning it to its secret sheath.
Ling Lian wasn't weak. In fact, if comparing strength within the organization, she was even stronger than Selene, Team A's leader. It was simply that the young woman didn't want to hold a leadership position; she didn't like it, and it wasn't her style. Ling Lian remained more accustomed to fighting alone than in a group.
Indeed, she alone was equivalent to an army. Ling Lian's strength couldn't be measured on an individual level. She could handle both solo and group combat with ease. Her fighting prowess allowed her to manage a wide variety of situations. Only catastrophic-level monsters, or worse, could truly be her opponents.
The rift defense forces quickly moved to deal with the monster's corpse. When interdimensional beings die, their remains cannot be left behind, as it could lead to serious problems. These ranged from the least severe, like environmental degradation and permanent ecosystem damage, to the creature regenerating and becoming stronger.
"Director, there's no possibility of sealing the rift." Ling Lian rejoined Kilenc's group. She said, shaking her head slightly. This dimensional rift was intentionally opened with an enormous amount of interdimensional energy, not on the same level as typical catastrophic-level interdimensional beings. It might be an even more powerful catastrophic-level being, or something even worse.
Kilenc nodded subtly, as if he had anticipated this. He showed no special reaction. "Have the rift defense forces wait here. Team A and I will go inside."
"Understood," Ling Lian agreed without hesitation. She then conveyed his wishes to the rift defense forces.
Selene walked alongside Kilenc on the beach. Both walked towards the other two members of Team A, Aleah and Elena. Young Aleah's eyes sparkled slightly the moment she saw her director. However, the young woman didn't have much courage. She remained buried against Elena's chest.
"Long time no see, both of you. How have you been?" Kilenc greeted them casually, his gaze fixed on the two young women. Although he didn't see them often, he could still remember them. Aleah was lively, while Elena was quite similar to Ling Lian, though not as cold as she was.
"Greetings, Director," Elena bowed slightly in respectful greeting. She offered him a rare, gentle smile before looking back at the young woman in her arms. Aleah's cheeks were as red as tomatoes. She slowly, reluctantly detached herself from the incredibly comfortable embrace.
"Hello, uh... Director, do you remember me?" Aleah seemed nervous, a little hesitant when near Kilenc. Her heart swelled and pounded, and the imagined scene from earlier resurfaced in her mind. Her face, already tinged with red, became even more pronounced now.
"Aleah, right? Of course I remember you," Kilenc offered a faint smile back to the young woman. His action nearly melted Aleah's heart. Her heart screamed wildly, He smiled at me… Those imagined scenes reappeared.
"A-Aleah, yes." Afraid the director would notice her inappropriate behavior, Aleah quickly tried to gather her wits. She took a deep breath, trying her best to respond to his words.
"I'm glad you're still as lively as ever." Of course, Aleah's behavior had already been noticed by Kilenc. More than just noticed, he typically studied and learned information about every individual within the organization. If one day they were to turn into his enemies, Kilenc would be able to deal with them immediately.
As for Aleah's thoughts and feelings towards him, Kilenc was aware of them too, but he didn't care. As a higher-dimensional being, transcending time and space, why would he care about trivial human emotions? They were no different from worthless ants, mere pawns on a board for entertainment. They held no more or less value than they already possessed. If not for the fact that humans were still interesting to him, Kilenc wouldn't even spare them a glance.
Finding the director's gaze fixed on her, smoke practically poured from Aleah's blushing ears. She fidgeted awkwardly. Those embarrassing imagined scenes seemed to be coming true. He's staring at me… Does he like me? Oh no, my heart won't stop pounding… Countless thoughts flooded Aleah's mind at this moment.
Noticing the young woman's silence and downcast head, Kilenc reached out and touched her forehead. "Is something wrong? Or is there too much interdimensional energy here, affecting you?"
Kilenc's action was incredibly gentle. The warmth emanating from his hand was comforting. Finally, Aleah's heart reached its limit. She bit her lip, trembling slightly, stifling an inappropriate sound that was about to escape. She looked up at the concerned director.
"I... I'm fine. Thank you," after finishing her sentence, Aleah could no longer hold back. She unintentionally let out a soft, sweet cry. After making the sound, the young woman felt very satisfied, but soon, she regained her senses. How could she do this in front of him? What would he think of her in the future? Aleah was filled with anxiety, wanting to flee and burrow into the sand where no one could find her.
However, the young woman didn't do so. Aleah couldn't resist the director's gentle touch. It was more addictive than Elena's chest and embrace. She didn't want his touch to disappear for even a second.
"That's good then." Naturally, Kilenc wouldn't do anything that might lead to problems and complications later. He released his hand from the young woman and turned to Elena, who was behind Aleah, quietly observing their close interaction.
"Any relapses recently?" Hearing that question, Elena shook her head slightly. She didn't explain further, and Kilenc didn't press when he saw she didn't want to elaborate. Aleah looked at the two with curiosity. Did Elena know the director personally?
Ling Lian stepped closer and stated that everything was prepared. The atmosphere of the group changed. Everyone became more serious. Even the usually lively Aleah changed her demeanor. She reached for the hilt of the sword at her waist, unconsciously tightening her grip.
"Let me guess, your coming here personally means the other side of that dimensional rift must be very dangerous, right, Commander?" Selene's body relaxed slightly. The sea breeze swept her light grey hair with its currents. It wasn't that she wasn't worried. In fact, the young woman felt a lot of pressure. She had to bear the safety of all of Team A's members.
Even so, with her Commander joining this rift exploration, Selene felt reassured. His presence was a symbol of her comfort. Every time she was near him, the young woman always felt relaxed and at ease.
"Correct, but don't worry too much. I've prepared a contingency plan," Kilenc said in a flat, emotionless voice. He turned to look at the dimensional rift, thinking something unknown.
Kilenc had a contingency plan. Even if he had to face interdimensional gods, he could deal with them. But if the other side was on par with him and deliberately targeted Team A, he wasn't entirely sure if he could protect all of them.
No matter how strong they are, if they dare to touch what's mine, they'll face the consequences… Kilenc thought coldly to himself. He might not be able to protect all of Team A or Ling Lian, but one thing he could do was return what they received tenfold.
A few minutes later, after a thorough check, all of Team A and Ling Lian prepared to cross to the other side of the dimensional rift.
Selene was relaxed but not careless. Elena wore the same expression as Ling Lian, and Aleah was trying to stop herself from worrying too much.
The exploration to seal the dimensional rift in Port City L didn't have many participants. There were only five people: Kilenc, Ling Lian, Selene, Aleah, and Elena. Other teams weren't deployed, and some members of Team A didn't join either.
There were several reasons. When facing true, overwhelming power, mankind couldn't resist with mere numbers. It was a foolish fantasy to think that vastly differing strengths could be compensated for by more humans.
Another reason was that this dimensional rift had only recently been discovered, and manpower was insufficient. Normally, in such an urgent emergency, if Kilenc wasn't personally entering the area, the organization would send alerts to other teams, calling in external members to deal with the more critical threat first.
Currently, Kilenc was entering the field himself. If this boss-level individual couldn't handle the threat, then the entire world would be in severe crisis and utter despair. In other words, Kilenc was one of the most powerful individuals in the world. If he ended up defeated, it meant humanity was counting down to the end of civilization.
"Stay close behind me. Don't stray far." His voice was full of seriousness. With that, Kilenc stepped into the interdimensional space. The rift was only wide enough for one person, so they couldn't enter simultaneously.
Kilenc chose to go first. It would be safer. He didn't want to easily lose the 'toys' he had painstakingly collected, knowing they weren't strong enough to fully protect themselves from the threats in that realm.
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As the scenery shifted, from the familiar outside world to a landscape covered in thick fog, Kilenc immediately looked around. But before he could fully survey the area, a strong wind hit his body. A violent interdimensional storm raged, sweeping his body away without a trace. Ling Lian, who had just followed him in, tried to grab him, but her effort was futile. She couldn't catch him in time. All she caught was empty space. The director's body had vanished with the storm.
The young woman's beautiful eyes widened slightly before she regained her composure, turning to survey the surroundings instead of just worrying about the director. He won't die... Ling Lian muttered to herself, one of the few times her voice displayed some emotion. It was unclear whether she spoke like that because she had immense confidence in him, or if she was merely comforting herself.
"Sister Lian, where did the Commander go?" Selene entered the interdimensional space and looked left and right, but couldn't find Kilenc. Her heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, anxiety arose. She prayed that Ling Lian could dispel her bad feelings.
Unfortunately, Ling Lian didn't. Not only that, the young woman's answer nearly stopped Selene's heart. "The Commander was swept away by the interdimensional storm."
Selene trembled slightly, seeking reassurance from the woman in front of her. "Should we rush to find him?"
"No. We haven't explored the terrain here yet. It's too dangerous." Though she didn't want to admit it, Ling Lian felt just as worried as Selene. As soon as they entered, the situation was already bad. The interdimensional storm had immediately taken away their strongest combatant. Should they call themselves unlucky, or was the director unlucky himself?
"Then I'll create a safe zone first. After Elena and Aleah arrive, we can explore around." As team leader, Selene understood the risks well. She stopped focusing on negative feelings and concentrated on the mission ahead.
Selene took out some technological equipment from the storage bag Ling Lian had brought. She then placed small, cold black metal rods into the hard orange ground at various corners. Once all corners were set, she activated them via a central pillar.
The central pillar glowed faintly, but not so brightly as to attract the attention of monsters in this realm. The surrounding interdimensional energy was gathered to a single point, the core, before a transparent energy shield was rapidly created, covering the entire area in a sphere.
Selene drew a silver energy gun from its sheath beneath her smooth, white leg, preparing to deal with any frenzied interdimensional beings. During the process of creating the energy shield, the core would absorb a massive amount of interdimensional energy in the area. This could cause interdimensional beings nearby to sense the change in energy quantity in the area. They would become enraged and attack indiscriminately.
The second member of Team A arrived.
"An energy shield." As Elena's foot touched the interdimensional space, the strange scent of the area immediately hit her. The next thing she saw was the energy shield covering the sky above her head. She quickly understood what had happened.
Elena nocked a sharp arrow onto her giant black bow. Green symbols appeared in her black eyes. Her metal bow, which was originally so heavy that the young woman had to use all her strength to hold it, now moved as if she were holding a feather.
Aleah arrived last, and it seemed she suffered more from the side effects of teleportation than others. The young woman collapsed weakly onto the ground. She vomited a rainbow, colorful liquid gushing from her mouth and splattering everywhere. Ling Lian quickly rushed to help and handed her a medicine to reduce the effects of interdimensional warping.
"Thank you, Sister Lian." Aleah took the medicine with difficulty, then tore open the packet and swallowed the pill. Suddenly, the young woman's face changed color. The medicine was stuck in her throat! "Water… I need water…"