"Gilbert!"

A sharp voice called out through the pitch-black darkness of the cavern, the desperate shout echoing loudly off the stone walls.

"That fucking human...!" Gilbert grunted, his voice ragged as he pressed his battered body flat against the damp ground, leaning heavily against a protruding rock formation for support.

A small campfire crackled to life nearby, casting a flickering orange glow across the cavern. The light illuminated Gilbert as well as his younger brother, who possessed the exact same distinct, pointed ears.

Gilbert’s physical appearance had undergone a grotesque transformation.

His former glorified, handsome appearance—the pale, smooth face and smooth, charismatic vibe he projected—was now harsh, weathered, and covered in dry brown skin. His eyes had narrowed into sharp points, his pupils glowing a dangerous blood-red, and sharp, spiky fangs protruded slightly over his lower lip.

Gilbert’s darting eyes locked onto his younger brother, who shared the exact same altered physical features, looking like a slightly younger mirror image of himself.

"What happened to you?! Did you manage to secure the sacrifice?" the younger brother asked frantically.

Gilbert groaned in agony, his hand clutching at a severely damaged part of his torso. He couldn’t even tell where the pain was coming from anymore since his entire body was screaming in agony, but he knew he had to keep firm pressure on the wound.

"That bastard... he had an ace up his sleeve the whole time," Gilbert growled out, his tone dripping with bitter disappointment and frustration. "He actually knows how to fight... and he has two S-Rank beasts under his command!"

"What?!" His younger brother gasped, his eyes widening in complete shock while his mouth hung agape in utter disbelief. "How is that even possible?! Humans can’t handle the strain of two high-tier beasts! If he contracted both of them, his soul should be completely crushed under the weight of those dual contracts!"

Gilbert hissed through his teeth as he recalled the eerie, unflinching calmness in Terrence’s eyes during their fight. He clicked his tongue sharply, trying desperately to purge the memory of the humiliation and defeat he had just suffered.

"I don’t know how he did it, but he didn’t seem bothered by the strain at all," Gilbert muttered through gritted teeth. "And one of his contracted beasts... was a pureblooded Vampire race."

This time, his younger brother’s eyes widened even further, his breath catching in his throat.

"A V-Vampire race?! How is that possible?! Those ancient beasts never form contracts with anyone, especially not a human!"

Gilbert clicked his tongue again, a involuntary groan of pain escaping his pale lips.

"I know that! But he still managed to pull it off. Which means our initial observation about using him as a fuel source was completely flawed from the start."

"Didn’t I explicitly tell you to wait for the right moment before acting?!"

A sudden, commanding voice cut through the damp cavern air. The mere sound of the voice made the younger brother snap his posture straight, his eyes instantly filling with deep respect and intense admiration.

Gilbert weakly turned his head toward the newcomer, a sarcastic smirk spreading across his face despite his fading consciousness. He struggled to maintain eye contact with his colleague.

"I only acted early because you were so damn sure he didn’t have a strong beast to protect him!" Gilbert spat out weakly, coughing up a trail of dark blood. "You swore he didn’t have any high-tier contracts! But it turns out the human can completely hide his soul signatures—and he’s carrying multiple S-Rank beasts! Also, your plan is boring."

"Mister Klein, please forgive my brother’s failure! I will clean up his mess personally!" the younger brother pleaded, bowing his head deeply with his arms saluting the man who had just stepped out of the shadows.

The heavy leather boots of the man named Klein tapped methodically against the stone, echoing throughout the dark chamber.

"Why are you two standing out in the open like this? Get back inside the hideout immediately," Klein nagged sternly, his cold eyes scanning Gilbert, who was lying on the ground weakly attempting to laugh off his agonizing injuries. "With both of your altered appearances and unshielded mana signatures sending out signals, you’re going to get our entire location discovered."

Shaking his head in annoyance, Klein casually waved his right hand. A surge of invisible telekinetic pressure enveloped Gilbert’s broken frame, causing his body to lift off the ground and float gently mid-air.

"Tell me everything else about Terrence while I deliver you to the medical bay," Klein ordered flatly, turning around as Gilbert’s body floated alongside him effortlessly without Klein showing the slightest bit of physical exertion.

Gilbert couldn’t move his limbs on his own, forced to simply ride the gentle cushion of spatial energy carrying him forward.

"Like I said... he commands two S-Rank beasts. One of them is a mutated Shadow Hound... and the other is a fully realized, ancient Vampire."

Klein’s neutral expression flickered slightly, a rare gleam of genuine interest flashing across his sharp eyes at the mention of the second beast.

"You’re telling me a human actually managed to bind an ancient, sovereign race to a contract?"

"What, are you deaf?" Gilbert wheezed out, his sarcastic demeanor returning. "I already told you he did! On top of that, your original research report on him makes zero sense. While his physical body is ideal for destroying the spatial inclusion and wiping out that damn rift, his soul structure is completely abnormal. I don’t even know how to properly describe it, but my mental attacks bounced right off him—they didn’t work at all!"

"That alone doesn’t prove anything," Klein dismissed calmly as they reached a dead end in the cavern.

Klein pressed a hidden mechanism, and a massive slab of solid stone slid back silently, revealing a hidden entryway. Inside, soft blue LED lights from ultra-advanced technology illuminated a sleek, futuristic pathway leading directly into their subterranean settlement.

"I know what I felt," Gilbert insisted weakly as they moved down the brightly lit corridor. "You know that whenever I injure a target, I can partially control their central nervous system and get a complete read on their latent potential. But Terrence was completely different. Yes, just like you noticed when you first scanned him from afar, he has an untapped potential for absorbing volatile spatial energy from that connected world. We could definitely use him as a living battery to overload and destroy the rift that’s currently devouring our world. But... I don’t know. Deep down, I felt something else inside him. Something... divine."

"Divinity isn’t real," Klein replied coldly, stepping through the automated glass doors of the infirmary bay. "Get over yourself, Gilbert. You were likely just concussed, bleeding out, and overthinking things. Forget about him for now. You are officially withdrawn from this operational mission until further notice."

Klein motioned with his hand, lowering Gilbert’s floating body gently onto a sterile metallic medical bay table.

"I will summon you when your physical body heals. For now, leave the target to me while I continue preparing our secondary homeland—just in case we fail to save our original world."

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