Chapter 204: Beginning (IV)
The cargo hold of the International Exterminator Corporation’s heavy transport plane was freezing, vibrating with the constant, deafening hum of its massive engines. Erin Volter sat huddled behind a large, reinforced steel crate marked with biohazard symbols, her knees pulled tightly to her chest.
She shivered, her breath pluming in the frigid air, but a fierce, triumphant smile played on her lips.
She had actually done it. Bypassing the security grid at the Area 5 Airbus terminal had been surprisingly easy for someone who had designed half the encryption protocols for the NEA’s internal network. Slipping into the cargo hold of an IEC transport, however, had required a significant amount of luck and a hastily forged maintenance clearance.
But she was here.
Erin shifted her position, her muscles cramping from hours of hiding. To keep her mind off the cold, she replayed the data she had unearthed in the lab. The official narrative was that Commander Maddox had sent a ten-man vanguard team to the Central Continent to assist in clearing a volatile 4-Star loop gate.
But Erin knew the truth.
The budget allocations she had intercepted didn’t align with a simple gate clearing. You didn’t requisition three S-Rank defensive artifacts to fight standard Calamity Beasts. You used that kind of equipment when you were preparing to step into an environment that fundamentally rejected human existence.
They were going into the Reverse One-Way Gate.
And according to the heavily encrypted files she had decrypted, this wasn’t the first time. The data referenced a massive operation five years ago, right before the catastrophic 5-Star dungeon break that had erased a portion of the Eastern Continent and orphaned little Claire.
Three S-Ranks. The thought made Erin’s blood run cold. S-Ranks were walking gods, capable of leveling cities. For three of them to simply disappear... whatever lay beyond that Reverse Gate was beyond human comprehension.
But that was exactly why she had to go.
"We are beginning our descent," the pilot’s voice crackled through the intercom system, echoing in the cavernous cargo hold. "Secure all equipment."
Erin peeked around the edge of the crate as the massive transport plane banked sharply. Through a small, reinforced porthole on the side of the hull, she caught her first glimpse of the Central Continent.
It was nothing like Varisus. Where the northern Continent was defined by its cold, grey skies and industrial sprawl, the Central Continent was a testament to unbridled, aggressive human ambition.
Towering skyscrapers constructed from gleaming chrome and reinforced glass pierced the clouds, making the buildings of Area 5 look like toys. Massive, glowing holographic advertisements floated in the air between the structures, and sleek, high-speed transit lines wove through the city like a complex web of light.
It was the wealthiest, most technologically advanced region on the planet. The birthplace of the Awakened Era, where the very first gate had opened. And yet, beneath the glittering facade, Erin knew this place held the darkest secret in human history.
The plane touched down with a heavy thud, the reverse thrusters roaring as they slowed the massive vehicle. Erin quickly adjusted her disguise—a standard IEC mechanic’s jumpsuit she had ’borrowed’ from a locker back in Varisus. She pulled a stained cap low over her silver-white hair and grabbed a heavy toolbox.
When the cargo bay doors finally hissed open, revealing the brightly lit, bustling tarmac of the International Airbase, Erin didn’t hesitate. She stepped out of the shadows, joining the flow of technicians and loaders moving toward the exit.
She kept her head down, her heart hammering as she walked past two heavily armed guards checking identification tags. She casually flashed her forged clearance badge, holding her breath. The scanner beeped a pleasant green, and the guard waved her through without a second glance.
Erin exhaled a shaky breath as she stepped out of the military terminal and into the sprawling, chaotic streets of the central continent. The air here was warm and tasted faintly of ozone and expensive perfume.
She adjusted her grip on the toolbox, her brilliant mind already mapping out her next steps. She knew the IEC vanguard team had arrived yesterday. They would be staging their equipment at one of the primary forward operating bases before moving into the Dead Zone—the massive, cleaved-out section of the continent where the Reverse Gate was located.
Finding them wouldn’t be easy. The IEC operated with ruthless efficiency, and the Central Continent was their undisputed stronghold. But Erin Volter hadn’t crossed an ocean in the freezing belly of a cargo plane just to give up.
She found a small, crowded cafe near the edge of the military district and sat at a table in the back, pulling out her modified datapad. She needed to access the local grid, track the movement of the S-Rank artifacts the team had requisitioned, and find their staging ground.
As her fingers flew across the screen, a thought suddenly struck her, cold and sharp.
If normal one way gates close when the Gate Guardian is killed... how do you close a Reverse Gate?
It was a question that defied everything they knew about dimensional physics. If the Reverse Gate was a permanent tear, a bridge leading directly to the Calamity Beasts’ world, then closing it wouldn’t just be a matter of killing a monster. It would require understanding the very nature of the dimension itself.
It would require an Oracle.
Erin shook her head, dismissing the absurd thought. Oracles were a myth, a theoretical concept whispered among researchers who had spent too much time reading ancient texts.
Right now, she had a more immediate problem. The datapad beeped, a string of encrypted coordinates flashing across the screen. She had found the vanguard team’s staging area. It was located deep within Sector 4, right on the border of the Dead Zone.
Erin smiled, her green eyes flashing with determination. She grabbed her toolbox and headed out.
She was going to find the truth, even if she had to walk straight into hell to get it.