Chapter 424: _Barely Worn the SS-Rank Title

Silence returned to the Amazon soon enough. Flocks of birds that had escaped the trees they nested in minutes ago flew back.

But there was a difference that probably won’t be clear at first glance.

A section of the rainforest—about ten square kilometres to be precise—had been zipped away from reality, now existing outside it.

Essentially a pocket dimension, only accessible by Gabriel and Ambrose.

To make up for the space taken out to create the dimension, reality corrected itself, knitting parts of the forest that weren’t originally connected before.

The SS-Rank Rift also existed within the pocket dimension now, alongside Javier and the entity.

Sadly, Ambrose couldn’t celebrate or even acknowledge this new feat.

"What?" Gabriel nearly shouted after Ambrose filled him in on what happened with Orion. "He just... took him? Just like that?"

Alongside Valentine and the other SS-Ranks, they were in a clearing in the forest. The others outside the trio were too busy contacting their respective Federations or tending to injuries to listen in on their conversation.

"Yep." Ambrose hid the tension in his voice behind a wry smile. "Aura swept through all of reality. There are no signs of them within this universe or beyond it."

Valentine leaned against a tree.

Gabriel exhaled, clearly at a loss.

Meanwhile, Ji-Hoon had her eyes on the three SS-Ranks from a corner.

Especially on Ambrose.

She still couldn’t believe that this man was the same C-Rank Guide her late brother had been so obsessed with months back.

Look at him now.

Not only was he one of the only reawakened humans on the planet, but she also suspected he might be one of the most powerful among SS-Ranks as well.

’I’ve always known there was something fundamentally different about his fate thread,’ she thought. ’But this? It almost feels... like a divine miracle.’

"I’m so sorry, Rose," Gabriel finally said after heavily considering if it was an appropriate thing to say. "We’ll find him. And if we can’t, he’ll just come back to us like he did last time."

He held his shoulder.

For a moment, Ambrose almost forgot every other problem, eyes staying on the space god’s hand. Just casually laying a hand on his shoulder after days of being stone cold after his father’s death.

Such a little gesture managed to pierce a sliver of hope through the dark cloud that had consumed his mind.

"I agree." Valentine nodded. "Orion’s a tough kid. And he loves you. I’m sure he’s trying to find a way back to us as we speak."

Those words should’ve been comforting.

They weren’t.

Because deep down, Ambrose knew older Orion was right. He wasn’t strong enough to protect Orion from the Archons.

His actual father, a man who was already ridiculously powerful compared to him, had only come barely close by sending him through time.

So what?

Would he just give up and do the same thing over again? How long before the Archons shred every possible timeline and reality until there’s nowhere else left to run?

The loud buzz of helicopter blades interrupted his reverie.

He looked up.

[SS-Rank signature detected.]

A black, sleek helicopter with the emblem of the Argentinian Hunters Federation landed several meters away. The winds made most squint.

Soon, someone hopped out, adjusting his grey suit. Two more men jumped out of the helicopter as well—S-Ranks with stern expressions.

Valentine sighed. "You two should’ve portalled us out of here while we still had the chance." He turned to Ambrose, noticing his confusion. "That’s the Argentinian Federation’s President. Santiago González. Half as annoying as Josiah."

Santiago’s gaze swept across the battlefield, lingering on the unnaturally seamless stretch of rainforest before settling on Gabriel.

"The Rift report said the breach was here." His brows knitted together. "Where is it?"

Gabriel folded his arms. "Still here. Just... not on Earth anymore."

The Argentinian President frowned.

"What?"

"We isolated roughly ten square kilometres of rainforest inside a self-contained pocket dimension." Gabriel gestured toward the seemingly ordinary jungle. "The Rift was inside the affected area, so it went with it."

For several long seconds, Santiago simply stared.

Then his expression hardened. "And Javier?"

Silence answered him.

Every pair of eyes slowly drifted toward Ambrose.

He met Santiago’s gaze without the slightest hesitation.

"The entity from the Rift possessed Hunter Javier." His voice remained calm, almost detached. "Its control had spread through the Amazon’s root network. We couldn’t separate them without risking the entire continent."

Santiago’s jaw clenched.

"So instead..." his voice lowered, "...you decided to imprison one of South America’s only SS-Ranks inside another dimension?"

"We contained the threat."

"You made that decision on behalf of an entire continent!" Santiago snapped, taking a step forward. "Do you have any idea what kind of political disaster you’ve just created? Javier isn’t some expendable Hunter. He’s one of our strongest military assets."

His eyes narrowed.

"And you’re the reawakened everyone’s been talking about."

They swept over Ambrose from head to toe.

"You’ve barely worn the SS-Rank title, and already you’re making decisions that seasoned Federation Presidents wouldn’t dare make."

Around them, the clearing became deathly quiet.

Gabriel frowned.

Valentine looked ready to intervene.

Ambrose simply held Santiago’s stare.

"Would you have preferred," he asked evenly, "that we left him here?"

Santiago said nothing.

"Would you have preferred losing the Amazon?"

Still no answer.

Ambrose took one slow step forward.

"Or perhaps South America. Or the entire planet, maybe." His expression never changed. "We didn’t have the luxury of choosing a perfect outcome, President. If your politicians disagree, they’re welcome to reopen the pocket dimension themselves."

He turned away before Santiago could answer.

Space folded around him.

Gabriel barely had time to sigh before Ambrose disappeared without another word.

★★★★★

Hale-Ferguson Residence, Aurelia

Ambrose materialised inside the silent house.

The absence of Orion hit him harder than any wound he’d sustained today. His gaze lingered on the empty hallway for only a moment before determination replaced the grief in his eyes.

"Aura."

[Yes?]

"Open the storage."

A silver rift unfolded before him. From within, an obsidian mask drifted into his waiting hand, its surface swallowing even the light around it.

Without another second of hesitation, Ambrose lifted the mask toward his face.