Chapter 67: Rebirth and Reunion

All one hundred portals had exploded.

Humans were smart enough to decipher the situation simply by the simultaneous destruction of the gates. Whenever a challenger entered a portal and perished, it blew up.

When that happened, monstrous hordes poured out into the mortal realm. The military classified this catastrophic event as a Portal Break.

Then what would happen if every single portal exploded at once?

There were many theories circulating among the high command, and among them, the one with the highest approval rate was chilling.

"A massive cataclysmic explosion will happen, and a monster tide combined with the raw strength of a hundred portals will break through."

If that happened, even the combined strength of every awakener in the city would not be enough to stop it. Containing a single Portal Break was already a brutal, bloody process.

The military had already lost roughly twenty percent of their forces, and if the Rogues hadn’t suddenly fought as though possessed, those losses would have been far worse.

So when rumors spread that a monster tide powered by a hundred exploding portals was coming, true despair settled over the ranks.

Yet, even after all one hundred portals exploded across the continent, not a single monster emerged.

Although this eerie anomaly allowed the higher-ups to breathe a temporary sigh of relief, the unknown reason behind it terrified them even more.

That was until a frantic report reached the command center stating that the single portal which had blown up earlier was beginning to stabilize and reopen.

Heavy military blockades, temporary mana-shield pillars, and reinforced steel barriers walled off the entire perimeter of the Seattle River bed.

Rows of elite military squads, high-ranking hunters, and rogue representatives stood in full tactical gear, their weapons drawn and their eyes glued to the flickering, violent tear in space.

The dungeon break had reached its absolute climax.

Overhead, emergency mana flares lit up the dark, cloudy sky, casting harsh crimson shadows over the rushing river waters below. Sirens blared continuously from the command tents, announcing the widespread collapse of the subterranean sectors.

Standing right at the front line, mere meters away from the unstable exit portal, was a tall, terrifying woman.

Salma Al Mansari.

Her long hair whipped violently in the cold wind, but her sharp, icy gaze never wavered from the portal’s edge.

She wore her heavy obsidian-reinforced combat armor, covered in deep scratches and dried, black mutant blood from her previous rampages through the portal breaks.

The oppressive, blood-soaked aura radiating outward from her body came in heavy waves, forcing even the high authority figures standing behind her to keep a respectful distance.

Nobody dared to approach Salma when she was like this.

She had been standing at this exact spot for over twelve hours without moving an inch, refusing food, medical treatment, or rest.

The portal that had once exploded had mysteriously returned to its previous form. That specific portal happened to be the one her daughter had entered.

The thick despair that had clouded Salma’s mind dissipated slightly as the fragile hope of her daughter being alive took root in her chest.

Derrick stood quietly near her. He kept his guard up, maintaining a silent vigil over his commander.

He too prayed that the young lass would return alive, because he was certain that if she perished, his young mistress would be better off dead than facing Salma’s unrestrained wrath.

HUMMMMMMM!

Suddenly, a deafening, high-pitched frequency resonated from the center of the exit portal.

The violent crimson swirling of the spatial tear abruptly stopped. The surrounding mana-shield pillars sparked wildly, their energy indicators spiking straight into the dangerous red zone as an overwhelming, unnatural coldness burst out from the spatial rift.

The ambient temperature at the river bed plummeted in a split second. Water seemed to rush out from the mouth of the portal, instantly freezing solid into thick sheets of dark blue ice the moment it exited into the open air.

From there, a thick white frost spread rapidly across the steel barricades and coated the heavy boots of the surrounding soldiers.

Every soldier instantly raised their weapons, channeling their respective elemental mana into their blades and staff tips.

Salma simply stepped out in front of everyone, her hands clenching into tight fists, her dark eyes staring fixedly into the freezing mist pouring out of the tear.

Step.

Step.

The sound of small, bare feet stepping onto frozen stone echoed clearly through the dead silence of the river bed.

From the pitch-black void of the exit rift, a small, slender figure walked out with slow, effortless grace.

The surrounding soldiers held their breath, expecting a gigantic, horrific monster or a hideous mutated beast to breach the surface.

But what stepped into the light of the emergency flares was a small child.

She looked no older than eight or nine years old. Her pale, flawless skin was as white as porcelain, contrasting sharply with her long, dark hair that floated gently in the freezing breeze.

She wore a simple, dark tunic, her bare feet stepping lightly onto the icy ground without leaving a single trace of cold discomfort.

Her eyes were a striking, mesmerizing crimson, glowing like twin rubies in the dim light.

And extending from her back was a massive, magnificent pair of pitch-black wings spanning over four meters wide.

The feathers were made of light-devouring shadow mist, radiating a subtle, terrifying pressure that made the high-ranking hunters’ mana cores tremble inside their chests.

Walking right behind the small girl, like a silent, loyal shadow, was another female figure.

Her grayish-blue skin was covered in pulsating purple veins, her crimson eyes staring blankly ahead.

The entire river bed fell into a suffocating, absolute silence.

The awakeners were completely speechless. The military commanders stared with wide, unbelieving eyes.

"What... what is that creature?" an awakener whispered in terror, his voice shaking violently. "Is that a zombie? An angel of death?"

Summer didn’t even turn her head to look at them. She stood calmly at the portal’s edge, her small crimson eyes sweeping over the massive crowd of armed humans, completely indifferent to their shouts and aggressive mana fluctuations.

Then, Summer’s gaze shifted, landing directly on the tall, armor-clad woman standing at the very front of the military blockade.

Their eyes met in the freezing cold air.

Salma froze. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the small, pale girl with black wings and red eyes.

The overwhelming, bloodthirsty killing intent that had surrounded Salma for the last twelve hours vanished instantly, replaced by a raw, overwhelming surge of disbelief and sudden recognition.

Summer tilted her small head slightly, looking at Salma. A faint, almost imperceptible shadow of a smile touched the corner of her lips.

"I’m back," Summer said softly, her small voice piercing through the freezing silence of the river bed.

Salma couldn’t contain herself any longer. The moment she recognized her daughter, she broke into a sprint toward Summer. Derrick instinctively reached out to pull her back, but he froze dead in his tracks the second his eyes locked onto the little girl.

’It’s that young lass! How did she turn into a child?’

Before Summer could even register what was happening, Salma closed the distance in a fraction of a second, dropping to her knees and pulling the little girl into a desperate, crushing hug.

Summer immediately went on high alert.

The memory of her last encounter with Salma flashed in her mind, recalling the agonizing pain that had nearly shattered her mind when she had hugged her before.

But contrary to that horrific memory, no burning pain came this time.

Instead, a massive wave of pure, soothing warmth washed over Summer’s tiny body. For the first time since her rebirth into this brutal world, the intense urge to fight vanished, replaced by an overwhelming sense of safety.

The suffocating exhaustion she had been hiding throughout her relentless battles broke through her mental dam, flooding her senses like a surging waterfall.

Summer’s heavy eyelids fluttered shut.

The last sight she caught before her consciousness faded into complete darkness was the tear-streaked face of the woman, holding her tight against the cold wind.