Theo and the others started moving away, and only after a few hours did the group’s nerves finally start relaxing.

The entire experience felt like a fever dream. They were supposed to leave the gaze a day ago, but just a single scenery check had led them to a new beast and a complete change of plans.

Theo resolved not to make such drastic and impulsive decisions again, especially when others were involved.

All this time, he had always worked along with his people, which had made things a lot more flexible.

And that thought lingered in his mind, leaving him with a quiet conclusion: he needed to become strong enough to handle such missions on his own.

After a day of travel and camping, the exit gate appeared in their view again. The group assigned to stay there sat around a campfire, eating.

Merek’s eyes met Theo’s, but Theo quickly looked away.

That apology had been made as a leader. It didn’t mean he had to be good to the man. The mission was over.

They shared one final meal before packing things up. All the tanky beasts were handled separately, while the restrained ones were carried along.

Theo held the paralyzed pup in his arms, while the other one was tied and kept with the female wolf.

He glanced down at the pup. It wriggled slightly, stretching its face toward him before sticking out its tongue.

Theo couldn’t help but think that the pup was too cute.

Soon, they made their way toward the gate. One by one, everyone stepped through. Clara dragged along a long section of a tree trunk her—a sample she had deemed better than the rest.

"Right behind you," Theo said, looking at Clara and Elias. They nodded.

For now, they were party members, not attendants, so nitpicking everything was bad for Theo’s image.

Once everyone had passed through the gate, Theo stepped forward as well.

As he crossed the threshold, the spatial energy of the gate washed over him, making him feel refreshed for some reason.

But just as Theo felt like he was about to return to the real world, his spatial senses picked up something to the south.

He snapped his head sharply toward the direction, only to feel a strange sensation ripple through his body.

But before he could react to it, everything shifted; within the next blink of an eye, he knew he had exited the gate.

"A gate..." Theo muttered out loud, drawing Clara and Elias’s attention.

_____

Inside the gate, far in the south, a small spatial distortion formed. It flickered several times before stabilizing into what looked like a proper gate.

The only difference was that the gate was far too small.

Then something emerged out of it.

A silhouette of blinding white light.

The moment it took its first step inside, the tiny spatial gate flickered and vanished with a soft ’POOF’.

The silhouette looked like that of a normal humanoid, but as it raised its hand toward the other, a sharp click echoed through the surroundings.

The next instant, the light coating its body began to fade.

From head to toe, the glow disappeared, revealing a mechanical humanoid.

It stepped forward and stopped before the massive beast that was still sleeping.

A thin beam of light shot out from the mechanical one’s eyes, sweeping through the entire beast from top to bottom, much like a scan. Moments later, the beam vanished.

The entity’s body resembled a sleek, premium grey, suit-like armor that looked almost more like a spacesuit than a mechanical one.

But something gave it away; all its joints were segments with visible metallic attachments, and the spacing between them made it clear that this wasn’t a human inside the spacesuit.

"Primary elimination failed. Residual target remains. Purging evidence."

A flat and monotone voice, much like a female’s, came out, devoid of any emotion.

As it spoke, the chest of the spacesuit-looking body opened from the side, and a small metallic cube extended outward on a mechanical arm.

The humanoid retrieved it and pressed a button on the attachment, retracting the arm, before tossing the metallic cube onto the big beast.

The throw was slow, deliberate... but when it fell, it felt like it was all calculated.

The moment the cube settled on the beast’s body, a faint sizzling sound began before it started burrowing itself inside the beast.

Over the next few minutes, something horrendous unfolded within the creature. Its majestic and massive body twisted, decayed and burned from the inside until it became a charred, rotting husk.

"Disposal successful."

The monotone voice rang out again.

The mechanical being stepped back and tapped a series of buttons on its left arm.

When it seemed to be done, it extended a finger forward, crackling with arcs of energy.

Sparks gathered before it...

...and a gate materialized from those sparks.

Without hesitation, the metallic one stepped through it.

The gate collapsed immediately after, vanishing without a trace.

Moments later, a small beast crept out from a nearby bush and made its way toward the rotten mess as it turned to ashes in real time.

It went and licked the residue once.

An instant later, its eyes turned bloodshot...

...and it dropped dead the next second.

_____

Theo stepped out of the gate’s energy and looked out at the real world.

The first thing he saw was his entire party in conversation with a group of robed figures.

The captured beasts were all lined up neatly, while the three instructors studied them with clear curiosity.

Theo couldn’t help but wonder if they had been near the gate this whole time as there was no way they got here so soon.

Oric’s gaze moved up, and the moment he saw Theo smiling at him, his face lit up with delight.

"My favorite student! This is the best haul I have seen in a while!" he exclaimed.

Everyone turned toward him, and then at Theo, who had just stepped out.

The gate mission was finally over.