A few minutes earlier — Portal Zone.

The Commander-in-Chief had rushed in, visibly agitated and furious.

I had seen plenty of nobles and superiors in that exact state before, so I immediately understood the situation.

He was angry because he had been ignored.

He probably couldn’t see anything right now. War or not, the man was grinding his teeth over making someone pay for disrespecting him.

“Do you idiots not know that HQ portals can only be used for official missions?!”

Trevain slowly walked toward the entrance, passing the gathered Black Badgers.

The Commander jabbed a finger at him.

“This is insubordination! Earth is officially in a wartime state!”

The room was painfully white and vast.

Every sound echoed in the cavernous chamber as his furious shouting rang through it.

“In wartime, insubordination means execution!”

“Commander.”

Trevain answered.

The senior stood firmly in place, holding a firearm larger than a grown man’s torso.

“We came down here under orders.”

The other Badgers remained silent.

Behind the Commander stood Ska, Yehyeon, Gilbert, and Ju. They had run in after him and now halted where they stood, assessing the situation.

“The order to descend to the portal zone and wait was issued five minutes ago.”

“I! Never! Gave! That! Order!”

“I did.”

Yehyeon stepped in calmly.

“My apologies. I was confident you would issue the same command anyway, so I told them to move ahead. You’re far wiser than I am, Commander, so I assumed you would immediately recognize the severity of the situation.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit!”

The man shouted, eyes bulging.

“Don’t feed me that crap! You think I don’t know what you’re trying to pull?! You were trying to bypass me! You think I’m just a puppet with no strings left! But I’m still your highest superior! All authority still lies with me!”

When people feel their authority is being ignored, they often lose their reason in anger.

The Commander-in-Chief was doing exactly that.

“I can take away your enhanced body!”

Veins bulged in his neck and forehead.

“Your enhanced bodies!”

This time his finger pointed straight at Trevain.

“Your power!”

Spit flew from his mouth.

“Your immortality!!”

“Heh.”

I couldn’t help it — a snort slipped out.

No one else had spoken, so the sound echoed loudly through the chamber.

I was still looking toward the portal machine, but I could tell from the silence that the Commander had turned his head to find the source.

Then came Trevain’s irritated click of the tongue.

Leeho and Ricardo let out heavy sighs.

“You.”

The Commander spoke.

“Turn your head.”

Nearby seniors shot me looks that said you really couldn’t keep that to yourself?

I smiled at them lightly.

Don’t worry. I’m administratively dead anyway.

“What the hell is that bastard doing, turning his back on a superior?!”

His voice rose another level.

“You gonna turn your damn face or not?!”

CRACKLE—

The moment I turned my head toward the portal entrance, electricity began running through the device.

A bluish glow spread from the machine and lit up my right side.

The Commander saw my face—

—and recoiled in shock.

“You!”

His face went pale.

“You... you!”

“Good evening.”

Listening to the portal loading sound, I gave him a faint smile.

“Thanks to the speed with which you processed my death, I am currently not a Black Badger. So please show some manners.”

“Attack him!”

Oh.

So he wasn’t completely stupid.

“Attack the intruder in the portal zone!”

For a moment I thought he’d panic like a fool upon seeing me alive.

But apparently the Commander’s brain still worked enough to recover.

“Order! Capture that Creature!”

The Black Badgers in the portal zone remained standing where they were.

The Commander finally pointed directly at Jason Trevain.

“You there. Blond.”

“Yes.”

Trevain answered with one corner of his mouth curling upward.

The Commander shouted.

“Capture him! That’s an order!”

“Order acknowledged.”

Trevain replied politely.

Hummmm—

The portal device made a sound like a computer booting up.

Having grown somewhat familiar with the machine, I recognized it immediately.

Fifty percent loaded.

Perfect timing.

I drew my sword from its sheath.

Things were going more smoothly than expected. Thanks to him declaring me dead, I no longer had any obligation to obey the current Commander-in-Chief.

If I calmly pointed my sword at my seniors and told them to jump through the portal, they could all cross without technically committing insubordination.

And he had even given us the perfect excuse.

Satisfied, I stepped toward Trevain.

Ricardo let out a quiet laugh, as if he had read my train of thought.

Isn’t it a brilliant solution?

No one commits insubordination, and everyone crosses the portal safely.

I suppressed the urge to say that aloud and raised my sword.

Then Jason Trevain moved his arm.

THUNK!

CRACK!

THUD!

“Ah!”

Ju let out a short cry.

I was startled too.

“Good lord, Jay!”

“My hand slipped.”

Jason Trevain flicked his right wrist and answered casually.

“Wasn’t intentional.”

“You threw it way too hard!”

“Then maybe no one should’ve given a shitty order like that!”

I...

The words died in my throat.

I had been about to point my sword at Jason Trevain’s neck, but now I could only stare at the man collapsed on the ground.

Something had struck him directly in the head.

What did he throw?

I stared down at the fallen Commander-in-Chief, speechless.

Is this... allowed?

“Ah.”

Yehyeon made a small sound.

Then he rubbed his face with a troubled expression.

“This kind of solution really shouldn’t become widespread...”

“What nonsense are you talking about?!”

Trevain snapped.

“I told you my hand slipped! What, are your ears clogged?!”

“Hopefully not everyone learned this from Yun...”

“Hey! If someone suddenly orders you to fight a humanoid Creature alone, your hands might sweat a little!”

Chen leaned out and shouted.

“If I got that order, my hands would be sweating buckets!”

Dead—

No.

Probably not.

He must’ve held back.

I tried to detect signs of life from the unmoving man lying face-down.

He’s just unconscious, right?

“What should we do?”

Perhaps thinking the same thing, Ju approached and checked the man’s pulse.

“Fortunately he’s not dead. But when he wakes up, he’ll definitely try to figure out what happened. What should we say...?”

“I already told them to turn off the CCTV here.”

Ska muttered, hands in his pockets.

“Is it off?”

“It is.”

A staff member working quietly beside Kate immediately answered.

“It’s been off the whole time. Nothing should’ve been recorded.”

“Good work. Our scientists really are aces.”

“Thank you!”

“Oh.”

Perfect.

Then if we say the thing I was about to do actually happened, everything will work out.

When that thought slipped out in a small sound, everyone turned to look at me.

Technically this didn’t need to be explained to everyone here.

But I doubted I’d have time to brief only the leadership separately.

So I raised my sword slightly.

“Perfect timing. I actually had an idea.”

“Let’s hear it.”

Ska answered.

That’s a bit harsh.

Your face clearly says, This is probably nonsense, but I’ll listen anyway.

But I don’t say nonsense every time, do I?

And this one is actually a great plan where no one gets hurt.

Holding my sword, I calmly explained the idea.

Fortunately, the concept of Black Badgers forced through the portal under my threat seemed to appeal to the leadership.

Those standing behind the unconscious Commander tilted their heads with interest.

“Oh?”

The ones who objected were the direct seniors.

Jason Trevain ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) turned toward me, veins bulging in his forehead.

“You just get ready to go in!”

“I’m ready anytime.”

I answered immediately, raising my free hand in a thumbs-up.

“Thanks for the cover, Senior. If you spin the story the way I suggested, there shouldn’t be any problems later.”

“Hey!”

Chen shouted.

“You think we’re that easy?!”

“No.”

They probably heard it as numbers don’t matter to me.

Which was understandable.

But wasn’t it true?

Even most residents of Center Core already knew that fact. Why not use it to our advantage?

Ricardo buried his face in his hand and sighed, which suggested I had somehow done something wrong again.

Still, I knew how serious insubordination was during wartime. Even if Colton was dead and the Commander had lost his backing, there was no telling what he might do in a last desperate move.

So it was better to remove the possibility of problems entirely.

Rick probably knew that too.

“Is there any logical flaw or administrative loophole in this argument?”

“No.”

Ska answered.

Then he lowered his head and began laughing quietly.

I wasn’t quite sure what part he found funny.

But I didn’t ask.

The matter was settled, after all.

If we simply claimed that I had knocked out the Commander myself, it would simplify a lot of things.

If he stayed unconscious for the entire war, he wouldn’t be able to cause trouble either.

Feeling the blue glow from the portal grow stronger along one side of my body, I smiled at the seniors.

Then I focused again on Kyle’s presence.

To shift my mind back to the war.

Hummmm—

[Portal activation in 10 seconds...]

“Well then. I’ll be going.”

I braced myself to step forward the moment the countdown ended.

“With the current Commander unable to command personally, Assistant Ska will act as Commander-in-Chief, correct? I’ll report directly to you.”

“Right.”

Ska answered briskly.

A faint smile still lingering at the corner of his mouth.

“Report the moment you cross over.”

“Yes.”

“And Hilde... come back alive.”

A small laugh escaped me.

Then I fell silent and listened to the countdown tick down.

The seniors were muttering behind me, but I couldn’t hear them.

A clear voice was announcing that I should jump in three seconds.

Straight through the portal—

—and straight to Kyle.

“Below!”

Trevain’s sharp shout cut through the air.

“Ska!”

Ricardo shouted next.

[Portal activation]

Something tried to pull my body forward along with the announcement.

I resisted the suction by bracing my legs and turned my head.

Then I immediately understood the situation.

A magic circle.

A massive magic circle had appeared on the floor beneath the leadership.

It formed as if swallowing Ska, Yehyeon, and Gilbert.

“Move!”

Jonathan shouted sharply.

“Your feet!”

Unlike normal teleportation circles, the giant one on the floor was red.

This place was obsessively kept clean, so there was no way seeds for a golden teleportation circle had been scattered here.

Which meant the owner of this circle could create one even without seeds.

There was only one person capable of that.

The circle glowed red—

—and collapsed inward.

I tried to run toward them, but Ska shouted sharply.

“Hildebert! Go!”

I had no chance to disobey.

Hesh, standing nearby, shoved me hard toward the portal.

I stumbled forward, instinctively swearing in Imperial language.

That’s Meierbold’s magic!

I tried to shout the explanation, but at that moment the suction force intensified dramatically.

One of my arms had already been almost swallowed.

The only reason I wasn’t dragged completely into the portal was because I had reflexively stabbed my sword into the floor.

“Flame!”

I shouted as I saw Trevain, Ricardo, and Jonathan rushing forward toward the leadership.

Trevain grabbed Yehyeon.

Jonathan grabbed Ska.

Ricardo grabbed Gilbert.

They rolled outside the magic circle.

“Get as far from the circle as possible!”

FWOOOOSH!

Flames burst out from the magic circle.

Scorching heat and smoke slammed into my body.

Through the dizziness, I saw someone rising above the circle like a massive Olympic torch.

The portal zone was instantly flooded with burning heat.

The Archmage of Flame...

“Ha ha.”

The mage emerging from the fire laughed.

“This will be our final meeting.”

“Archmage.”

I clenched my teeth.

“Why...”

Those were the last words I spoke to Meierbold.

As I tried to pull my hand back from inside the portal, something suddenly yanked me.

I had been resisting the portal’s suction with all my strength, but the sudden extra force threw me off balance.

My vision shrank into a single point.

That was all I could clearly see.

The silver wall Ricardo created.

The seniors preparing to face Meierbold.

The Archmage descending into the flames with a long laugh.

A gun that never fired.

“Win and come back!”

With Hesh’s shout as the last thing I heard—

I was swallowed by the portal.

***

And then I saw Yun.

“What the hell.”

Yun frowned deeply at me.

“What’s with that expression?”

I bit my lip and looked up at my Sasu.

The battlefield stretched before my eyes.

Before I could even answer, the sensations flooded in.

The sound of artillery.

The smell of blood.

Endless gunfire.

Combat drones and Creatures covering the sky.

A swarm of Creatures filling every sense.

And Kyle’s overwhelming presence.

“The traitor has arrived!”

Imperial language rang out.

“The Swordmaster has arrived!”