Core 5.

Fully armed, they ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) waited for the train.

An hour and a half passed quickly.

When thirty minutes remained, they finished preparing to move out.

When fifteen minutes remained, the drivers who had been sitting inside the station dispersed and left the building.

When five minutes remained, the four men took their respective positions.

Not long after, a sound echoed across the wasteland.

The roar of a massive lump of steel tearing through the air at high speed.

RUUUUMMBLE.

The train appeared.

The Black Badger–exclusive train, growing larger by the second.

Riding the rails toward them, it slowly engaged its brakes.

The drivers watched the gradually slowing train without blinking. The ones whose faces bore the hardened experience of long-term smuggling leaned against their cargo trucks, dragging deeply on their cigarettes.

The freight vehicles were all parked at similar intervals along the railway.

Sand and dust rose into the air.

“The moment we confirm illegal contraband exchange, we move,” Yehyeon said.

“Until then, hold position.”

The train nearly stopped.

In silence, the Black Badgers watched it halt just short of the station platform. It wasn’t poor distance control. It looked intentional—stopping deliberately before fully arriving at the station.

As if prior agreement had been made, the drivers leaning against nearby trucks did not move.

They appeared to be waiting for someone to exit the train.

Whether it was a smuggler bringing contraband inside... or a humanoid Creature carrying goods outward.

Judging by the arrangement, something was definitely on board.

Pssshh—

The door opened.

A foot stepped out.

“Baek Byungyeong.”

Ju muttered with a faint smile.

The man stepped down alone onto the wasteland.

The moment both his feet touched the ground, Yehyeon gave the order.

“Move.”

Bang!

Ricardo’s shot struck the ground precisely between Baek Byungyeong and the transporter walking forward to shake his hand.

The men extending their right hands jerked their heads around.

Shock spread instantly across the drivers’ faces. At a glance, they looked like men who had been doing this for at least ten years. But even they had likely never faced four fully armed Black Badgers advancing with guns drawn.

From the crumbling station that looked ready to collapse at any moment, Black Badgers hidden in various corners revealed themselves.

They approached the train carefully.

Ricardo and Jonathan Kudo’s muzzles aligned perfectly with the heads of Baek Byungyeong and the transporter.

“Don’t move.”

Yehyeon warned the civilians.

“Step away from the train.”

“We’re civilians.”

The man who had been reaching out to Baek Byungyeong grumbled.

“Black Badgers shouldn’t be pointing guns at civilians.”

“You’re aware obstruction of Black Badger operations carries heavy penalties, I assume,” Yehyeon replied immediately.

“And civilians who leave the Core are considered to have forfeited the basic rights guaranteed by law. You wouldn’t be ignorant of that.”

“Have you lost your mind? This is inside the Core.”

“That train came from outside the Core.”

“Isn’t that the Commander-in-Chief?”

One of the smugglers muttered.

The transporters, who had been subtly backing away from the train and searching for escape routes, turned their heads.

They pulled up their masks and lowered visors fitted with scanning lenses, studying Yehyeon as he closed the distance.

“Can’t see his face.”

“The voice is identical.”

“Baek Byungyeong!”

Ju called out brightly.

Attention scattered. Several people shifted their gaze away from Yehyeon toward Ju.

The Badgers had stopped walking now. Those aiming at Baek Byungyeong and the open train door behind him stood in positions from which they could fire instantly if either he or the transporters attempted to flee.

The one standing at the very edge continued waving at the familiar figure.

A Titan who had once stayed in Center Core.

A man who had returned outside the Core through a hostage exchange now faced the Black Badgers. He showed no sign of fleeing, but the look in his eyes, standing in the wasteland, was unmistakably one of dismay.

You didn’t expect us to be here at all.

The moment Yehyeon saw his eyes, he understood the situation to some extent.

And he was certainly not alone.

If he were alone, he wouldn’t look like that.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

Ju smiled warmly, eyes crinkling, waving his hand lightly.

“You look healthy, thankfully.”

The transporters stared at the Personnel Director as if he were insane.

They were the only ones surprised. Yehyeon, Ricardo, Jonathan—of course Baek Byungyeong as well—didn’t even blink at Ju’s sunny greeting.

“I’m so happy to see you again.”

The man whose mask was pulled up to his nose like Yehyeon’s curved his eyes gently.

“Have you decided to come back?”

“Personnel Director.”

Baek Byungyeong spoke through his teeth.

“Why are you at the scene....”

WHOOOOOM!

The field of vision flared bright.

With a distinctive resonant ring, a massive magic circle formed beneath the train. WHOOOOOM! WHOOOOOM! As soon as one appeared, multiple circles manifested beneath the wheels in rapid succession.

Yehyeon recognized the formation instantly.

“A portal!”

He shouted sharply, lowering his gun to aim at the magic array.

“Prepare to engage!”

He was sick of that magic.

How many times had they been struck by it? During the Core Founding Anniversary. During the Science Wing incident. During the epidemic. Humanity’s proud defensive systems had collapsed helplessly because of that.

Depending on what emerged from it this time, the number of personnel who returned safely would be decided—

“Cut it!”

Baek Byungyeong suddenly shouted.

“Sever it and send it!”

The second carriage door burst open.

Clang!

A swordsman appeared in the doorway and swung his blade, slicing through the hook connecting the carriages.

WHOOOOOM!

At the same moment, the fully blossomed teleportation arrays began swallowing the detached carriage.

The Badgers grasped the situation immediately.

This time, it was the opposite.

Instead of pouring enemies out, they had chosen to escape.

“Fire!”

RATATATATATATATAT!

The moment Yehyeon’s command dropped, bullets rained down.

Rounds flew accurately toward the train windows.

The glass did not shatter.

Thud! THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

Bullets struck the barrier and ricocheted in all directions.

The transporters screamed and fled behind vehicles.

Clicking his tongue, Yehyeon lowered his firearm and began shifting his morphing weapon’s configuration.

Ricardo did the same, lowering his gun and altering the ring on his finger.

“I’ll bring Baek Byungyeong,” Ju said, sprinting forward.

At that moment, flames erupted atop the lead carriage—the one not yet swallowed by the teleportation array.

The fire bloomed like a flower.

Then it shaped itself into a human form.

“Ah, aren’t those the stragglers?”

The Archmage of Flame looked down at the Black Badgers and sneered.

Of course, none of the four understood his words.

“What do four inferior beings think they’re accomplishing?”

BOOOM!

Before the sentence even ended, pillars of fire shot up from every direction.

Click, click!

Jonathan Kudo aimed precisely at Meierbold and pulled the trigger—

No bullet fired.

The combustion reaction was being controlled.

The mage’s lips curled upward.

“Unfortunate opponent.”

He raised his right hand.

“Farewell, inferiors.”

The blazing inferno swallowed the parched wasteland.

***

I blinked.

The blurred outlines in my vision gradually sharpened.

Color drained from the world. The place that grew depressing if stared at too long greeted me again.

The familiar black-and-white world.

It wasn’t completely colorless, of course.

The Emperor stood before me.

And not only that—we were face to face.

The Emperor was crouched directly in front of me.

Awakening from the dream, I found myself staring straight into my lord’s face at close range.

If my mind had been clearer, I would have recoiled in shock.

Why was there a pair of emotionless, vivid sky-blue eyes right in front of me?

Frankly, it was unsettling.

“Your Majesty?”

Sky-blue eyes.

It had been a long time since I’d seen my lord’s eyes at the same level as mine.

There was usually a difference in height between us. When reporting or being reassigned, my gaze was lower than his. When protecting him at close quarters, my eye level was usually higher. He would be seated upon the throne, and I would stand beside him.

Only during banquets, when we walked side by side, did our eyes nearly align.

And even then, busy with escort duties, I never had time to look directly into his eyes.

Clear, refreshing irises...

No matter when I saw them, his face was impossible to read.

As I stared blankly at the lord to whom I had devoted my entire knightly life, I thought—

What did humans call this again?

The uncanny valley?

His features resembled Kysis’s so closely that despite his beauty, I often felt he wasn’t quite human. In all the long years I served him, I had never once seen the Emperor’s genuine emotion. Even those with broken minds like Yun or Colton displayed emotions and corresponding expressions.

The Emperor, however, revealed only expressions that were impeccably refined.

And even now, I could not guess his true thoughts.

The face staring at me from inches away looked like an AI model with no expression input.

The brainwashing...

“Yes.”

Has it... broken?

“It’s been a while.”

I stared at the Emperor.

Still nothing readable.

His eyes had focus—so perhaps the brainwashing had lifted. But I couldn’t be certain. I turned my head to check what Jaeyeon was doing.

On a nearby rock sat a blonde woman, hugging her knees.

At first glance, she appeared asleep.

Eyes closed. Motionless.

A resident of this world.

I watched her braided hair strands shift in the dry wind before returning my gaze.

When our eyes met again, the Emperor spoke.

“I thought I should support whichever side you chose. But as expected, you chose to return.”

With an expressionless face, he lightly patted my head.

“Did you have a good dream?”

...I...

“Have you awakened from the brainwashing?”

My voice came out rough and cracked.

“I waver,” he said without smiling.

“As I did in the Empire.”

Hah.

With this man, it was always impossible to tell whether he was joking.

I stared at him in disbelief.

What kind of answer is that—‘I waver’?

I carefully suppressed the sigh trying to escape my lips.

I thought you had become nothing more than a hollow puppet. I was ready to cut off your head.

“Well done.”

The Emperor spoke regardless.

“You must have struggled.”

“Your Majesty.”

I steadied myself.

“What happened?”

Sky-blue eyes fixed on me.

I didn’t press further. I simply met his gaze and waited.

He was someone who understood without lengthy explanation.

I used the silence to compose myself.

Honestly... my thoughts were still tangled.

Only after he seemed to judge that my swelling emotions had been suppressed did he break the silence.

“Kysis killed the dragon.”

Ah.

“And I threw Kysis into the dimensional gate.”

“What?”

The foolish sound slipped out of me.

“Pardon?”

“However, when I reopened the gate after sending you through, there was insufficient mana. The passage had already warped.”

The Emperor spoke calmly.

“I do not know where he went.”

I stared at my lord blankly.