Thunderclap

The cacophony of thunderclaps arrived a second after the Lorentz Contraction—contraction of objects in the periphery—left my sight due to the speed at which I was travelling. My overwhelmed senses—from the mixed colours of everything in conjunction with the little lighting—returned back to normal as I blinked a few times. 

A few seconds of utter silence passed before something exploded… no, landed right by my side. A tremor coursed through the entirety of the road that had now caved in to my left side. Looking from the corner of my eye, I saw Michael, a huge scowl over his face as his eyes glowed eerily. 

The sound of army and police vehicles was still there, but everyone seemed to be going towards the Frontier. The place from where the shimmer was expanding. 

"What escaped from the Frontier?" Michael asked, his arcanum taking an almost tangible form around him, and hissed against my own. However, his aura was like an agitated, hungry beast, ready to pounce on its prey at a moment's notice. 

"Beats me." I replied, just as unsure as him. We had personal differences, yes, however, if we kept them at this moment, it can result in both of us dying. Our arcanum reserves were really low, compared to even middle class monsters in Eden.

Or that is what makes logical sense according to Dotun's calculations of years of famine of ambient Arcanum and our body getting used to it. 

And if a higher grade threat had escaped from there and we are busy in personal scuffles, we both might die. Thankfully, despite being simple minded, Michael could understand our current predicament and merely nodded in response to my answer. 

"And it's messing with Arcane Arts as well, yeah?" He confirmed without looking at me. "Ah fuck! Without proper intel or location, there's only so much we could do." He clenched his teeth. "Only so many people we can save."

It was quite surprising. Thinking deeply over it, there was a high chance we could die here as well. However, he was still thinking about others. And exactly because he doesn't seem like this kind of person, hearing him say all of this makes it all so unbelievable. 

"We don't have to save everyone." I replied, voicing my thoughts. "Our primary objective should be to mitigate the bigger threat. Sacrifices are always necessary."

Just from the way his Arcanum blistered like a volcano bubble popping, I could tell how agitated he was. But he stayed silent. 

"It's messing with the magnetic field." I tried to change the topic. "That's why it's quite hard to pinpoint it."

"We don't have enough time though. We can't just jump into the Frontier and leave the threat that has escaped alive." Michael retorted, his frustration boiling over as he kicked a lamp pole. Its foundations juddered before getting uprooted as it went flying into the nearby car, causing it to create a sudden, systematic start of every car beeping. "Oh fuck me!"

Ignoring him who was letting out frustrated breaths and gnashing his teeth, I tried to focus on locating it..

 My—The Olvasens' Arcane Arts revolved around Magnetic and Electric fields.

Electromagnetism, in a simpler and much more familiar context.

The Arcane Arts that allowed the users to detect, follow, and with enough training manipulate them. However, everyone in the Olvasens was born somewhere on a wide spectrum. 

The Arcane Art was related to electromagnetism, but it didn't allow one to use all of its applications. Just like how my father—Aksel Olvasen—could only use electrical fields. As an external application. My mother's Arcane Art is much more complex, since the internal application of our Arcane Arts is always intricate. Multifaceted. 

Back to the main topic at hand. Whatever had escaped the Frontier was my natural enemy. It was interfering with the magnetic field I was using to detect anything out of the ordinary. Well, it was not interfering perse, however, it's method of communication was via waves. Almost the same frequency as my pseudo SONAR. 

Letting out a deep breath, I turned on my heel and faced Michael. "Cover me for a moment. I will try once again." I spoke and then closed one of my eyes, keeping the other open. Waiting. Waiting for whatever he was about to say.

"Haven't you tried that already?" 

"Do we have a choice?" 

He licked his upper lip and then shook his head a few times, as if talking to himself in his mind. His intentions were quite clear. "Fine. But I will give you 5 minutes. After that I am leaving to find it myself and then head to the Frontier." He spoke, his tone impatient. "And do not expect me to save you. I am not your little clingy girl."

I don't think there was a need to bring up Astrid here… whatever. "Fair enough." 

Not wasting any more time, I closed my other eye as well and focused my mind. The already palpable layer of Arcanum around me got snuffed out like a candle and I absorbed it inwards. 

Focusing on the inside, the Arcanum—like molten gold being poured in a mould—was flowing like blood through my veins, accelerating and decelerating according to need across the various nodes spread throughout my body. 

With concentration honed over years of practice and suffering—events I had more of a muscle memory rather than recollection—I grabbed a hold of my Arcanum. 

Like a balloon inside another balloon, as the inner one automatically expands the other one—upon blowing inside it—as I took hold of Arcanum, it took a hold of senses in return and expanded it outwards. 

Every sense. I could make use of it in an extremely enhanced way. Despite closing my eyes, and trying my best to bar away any foreign sound, I could hear everything in the vicinity. See everything. Feel it. With an almost uncomfortable clarity. 

The sound of my nails biting into my palm and grazing against the skin as my concentration strengthened, the tread design of Michael's sole as it scraped against the asphalt, the sound of wind coming from the northeast, the clamour of soldiers marching, the clatter of tanks as they went over a speed bump, Astrid's heel clipping, the wafting smell of the Pajeon we were eating and had dropped to the ground due to the abrupt change in circumstances…

Useless. 

These are not what I was trying to find or discern. As the overload of information flooded my mind, a strained shiver ran through my head and then down into my body. 

Focus! I reminded myself. Pain was not a new concept to me. This much was nothing. Perhaps I might be gritting my teeth, but the concentration in maintaining the hyperacute perception made me unable to focus on anything else. 

My senses expanded like a dome, outwards, more and more. And the more it did, the more I felt like I was losing my grasp on my body, the strain on the continuously fraying ends of my nerves serving as the only reminder - tether back to my normal self. 

As the dome of my enhanced perception increased from the street where I was and the one adjacent to it, it expanded more, engulfing blocks after blocks.

A thin tremor ran through my heart, the reserves of Arcanum taking a hit. It was the first time it was happening. After all, I had never needed to conduct a search this big before. It felt like my heart was being cooked in lukewarm water. 

Not that I had any experience in this… thing, but if I had to put this feeling in words, this was the only way I could explain it. 

Extrapolating the naturally existing magnetic field, I grabbed a hold of them and made whatever metallic object I could find oscillate, creating sound waves of different frequencies.

As they clashed and rebounded, I could make much more sense of objects, their shapes, density and composition. Needless to say, however, even ultrasounds could only do so much. 

Materials like concrete and metal often distributed it, making it almost useless. 

The nerve in my temple stretched, making me wince and disrupt my concentration. At the same time my senses shrank back into my body as my hold over the spell broke free.

As my senses retracted, I felt like an ant amidst the towering skyscrapers and other buildings, the previous feeling of omniscience as I could register everything and felt above everything slowly ebbing away, robbing me of the high I had obtained while using the Arcane Art. 

"Anything?"

"It's not working. It's camouflaged." I shook my head. Annoyance was something rare to experience. Perhaps it was because of the lack of competition.

However, I could feel mild irritation slowly creep into me. Like a snake, coiling around the leg. Scratching the back of my head, I ruffled my hair. 

"Keep finding, I will break into a building or two." Michael spoke and then jumped into a building in front of us. Kicking into the glass window, he went inside the building, followed by frightened screams of some people. 

Seems like there were still people hiding in their homes. Or perhaps packing to leave? 

It doesn't matter. 

Turning around, I sprinted. Astrid would still be quite some distance away from the entrance to the Frontier. I have to get rid of this thing that has escaped as soon as I can before moving onwards. Logically speaking, I should be inside the Frontier. But from what I can tell, the thing communicates using some special frequency of a wave. 

The shimmer overhead seems like a timer. As soon as it fully breaks, the Frontier would no longer stay a Frontier but would become a permanent part of our world.

If it's in the city while its kin is inside, it can coordinate with them and bring harm to Astrid who would be sealing their free ticket into our world.

I can't let that happen. Not yet. 

Spiralling down a vortex of self-doubt, I lost track of where I was going for a moment. And then something clicked. 

I was thinking too hard. Or rather I was too fixated on getting the intricate details. Up until this point it was trying to communicate with its kin which was still inside the Frontier.

That attempt at communication was hampering my ability to pinpoint it in a localised area. 

What I didn't consider was that by a method of elimination, I could narrow down the location to a few blocks by selecting only those areas which clashed with my spell.

Coming to a screeching halt as my feet dug into the road, I closed my eyes once again. However, this time, instead of disabling my Arcanum outside, I let it roam free.

Like a tsunami flooding the streets, some of it poured out of me and some of it took a hold of my senses and expanded it once again. 

The almighty feeling returned once again as I felt one with the source of my power.

Ever expanding. The shrill screech of the shimmer made me almost break my concentration and return back. Almost as if it was moaning, crying… in protest. 

Strange. 

As I was contemplating it, my concentration was drawn towards something more… important, for the current moment at least. Like a small oculus, a few floors of a tower were completely shutting out each and every frequency of the wave that my body was emitting. A tall building with a huge… antenna on its top. 

That's it!

My senses returned immediately as I took my phone out. Typing in Michael's number from pure memory and wishing it was correct, I called him. 

One ring… second…

Come on, come on. 

「WHAT?」 

He screamed into the phone. 

「I found it.」

「Where?」

His tone changed immediately. Something broke in his background, followed by violent clatters. 

「The building with the antenna on top.」

「On my way.」

Without saying any additional thing, he hung up. 

Good thing the city is in a turmoil and it's going to go unnoticed. I can only imagine the expenses required to cover up the mess Michael is making. Glancing over in the tower's direction, I extended my hand towards it. 

No need for a fancy spell this time. I just need to…

As I manifested my intent for the action, the Arcanum flickered to life once again and I was hurtling forward the split second later. Like a stone fired from a catapult, my elevation increased and it almost felt like I was flying. 

It was another application in the 「Phase 1」of my Arcane Arts. 「Ferrum Field」 

Using the loosely and haphazardly scattered magnetic domains inside a metal, I am able to align them in a specific direction using an external magnetic field and can then amplify it, to either pull it towards myself or pull myself towards it. The latter one, in my current situation. As soon as I got close to the building, the skyscraper beside me rumbled before the glass window of the upper floors broke down. 

From the corner of my eye, I saw Michael with a grin over his face as he hurtled like a comet towards the designated building. "This one's mine!" He jeered, his teeth flashing despite the dark of the night, which continued to get darker by the minute. 

The reflecting waves refracted suddenly, dropping down its defences, as the creature disabled its attempts at communicating using the special frequency and became acutely aware of our presence, closing in on it at an alarming speed. 

Michael was the first one to make an impact with the building's glass window. While maintaining the minimal hold over the magnetic domains that were close to getting magnetised permanently, I covered my eyes with my hand to avoid the flying shrapnel making their way into them.

My feet made contact with the blood stained marble with a sickening quelch. The metallic stench of blood was pungent, lingering in the air like a fog. The light overhead flickered a few times, revealing the broadcast room. 

"Fucking hell…" Michael exclaimed, his voice trailing off towards the end as he took in his surroundings. 

Corpses. Or rather, half corpses. They were badly mutilated. 

Not in a clean way, no. 

The method was much more primal. Not out of anger. But out of nature. Some people had their heads bitten off, while the others had their middle section ripped open, intestines sprawling like worms all over the stained and broken marbling of the broadcast room. 

A waste of expensive material. 

The stench was disgusting. Although not enough to make one throw their guts out. And by guts out I mean metaphorically. Not like these dead people, who literally have their guts thrown out. 

…

…

Nevermind. 

*scrrckkkkkk*

The grating sound of something sharp against a broken piece of marble reverberated in the entire room. I looked back, over my shoulder, in Michael's direction. Behind him, sticking to the uppermost corner of the wall was a wide silhouette of something. Although I could see its head and feel its gaze, there was something really wrong with it. 

In a split second, it was right behind Michael, the long and thick arm making its way down like a hammer striking an anvil. Spinning on his heel, Michael turned around and raised his arm upwards, absorbing the impact. 

The force of the strike made his feet dig deep into the floor, until it eventually gave out. The wall and the roof shuddered as a spider web of cracks ran all along the floor before crumbling. A nasty snarl made me look back as it had jumped to the wall behind me and was attempting to lunge at me. 

The creak of its joints as it lunged was audible. 

Somersaulting to my left, I avoided the bull charge and the crumbling floor. Catching a hold of it with my right hand, my left hand pulsed with a crackling bolt of lightning before ramming it into its body. The lightning sparks frizzante, followed by a sizzling pop as the skin scorched and a foul stench filled the air. 

A loud thud indicated Michael had landed on the lower floor. The creature snarled and whipped its head towards me, flicking its saliva towards me. The caustic nature of its saliva made my own skin burn, like a piece of coal had been placed on it. Letting out a loud groan, I hammered repeatedly at its skin while still being airborne. 

「Phase 1 — Forge」

The heavy metal ring that Albert had slipped into my pocket turned malleable before sliding out of pocket and slithered towards my hand. Using my knee, I turned the creature down and made it crash into the ground with me on top of it. 

The impact, once again, cracked the floor and we were hurtling down again. 

Focusing on the ring, I moulded it, taking a desirable shape. As I was doing so, Michael arrived and kicked the side of the creature. The shockwave from the impact broke every glass in the vicinity—computer screens, windows and even tables—expelling the creature and me both outside the building. 

As the shards of glass rained down on me and we were expunged out, the light of the full moon finally revealed the creature. I felt my eyes widen for a fraction of an inch and panic surged from my guts. 

Kicking it away from me, I created some distance as its meaty claws flailed in the air. Flipping backwards, I repositioned myself midair and Arcanum flowed through the nodes in my legs with a fast speed, allowing me to cushion the impact. 

With a swish, Michael landed beside me, a thick layer of Arcanum augmenting his fists and legs while a thin, translucent sheen stuck as armour all around his body. 

"It's surely dead, isn't it?" He asked without looking at me. "It fell from 40 stories, for crying out loud!"

I tilted my head. "If it was anything else, then it would've." I replied, taking an offensive stance as the ring that had turned ductile a while ago moulded itself in midair, like kneading a dough before taking on a coherent shape. 

The shape of a knife. A double-edged blade with a symmetrical dagger-like profile, tapering to a sharp point. The blade was around 6 to 7 inches in length and was perfect for both stabbing and slashing. Or even better, really efficient at puncturing existing wounds. Perfect for the current scenario. 

The handle of the knife was slender and cylindrical, with a symmetrical shape that fit in my hand like a glove. "Suit yourself."

As the dust settled, Michael was finally able to see it properly and I caught a glimpse of its form correctly as well. 

Standing underneath a limping lamppost was an eight to nine feet tall, dark green quadrupedal creature with eerily long limbs and snout. 

From the first impression it looked like a carnivorous reptile, almost similar in appearance to chasmosaurine dinosaurs. 

The lack of eyes in its eye sockets greatly emphasised the two unblinking eyes, each one located at its shoulder. Its head had three lines or… runes that resembled straight lines—like Roman numerals—etched deeply into it, like a tattoo. 

The side of its head had retractable membranous frills that extended outwards. As it did, it started vibrating. A force like the dull side of a knife scraping against the bone of my skull invaded me, making me wince back. 

Clenching my teeth, I threw the knife at it. The knife lodged itself into the right frill as it let out a loud roar. Michael exploded from my side towards it. Taking a steady breath as the interference from the monster vanished, I lunged at it as well. 

Flicking my hand backwards, the knife lodged itself out of its frill as Michael punched at it. Using its long front arm, it attacked and clawed at him, however, Michael simply side-stepped, letting the claw land on the road and break it. The force of the blow made the road cave in and the creature to stumble into the sudden dent it had placed. 

With a huge grin on his face, Michael kicked the thick area of its long, slender front leg, which was its knee. Its bone creaked from the impact and a shockwave followed from it. It raised its snout upwards and roared in pain. 

"Oh shut up, you fucking lizard dog."

Enjoying it so far, Michael punched it again, making it stumble backwards. Quickly stepping into the frantic and berserk clawing movements, he grabbed a hold of its back leg and elbowed it, breaking the bone and twisting the leg at a grotesque angle. 

Its left frill opened once again.

It is going to try to convey a message once again. 

Holding my palm towards it, I send a radio wave towards it. As it interacted with its own transmission, I matched the wavelength and balled my hand into a fist. The waves of same and different natures at the same frequencies collided and interfered with each other at the source, making its left frill explode. 

Right before it could let out another screech, I boxed in, lowering my stance and stabbed its throat with my knife. Right where its vocal cords are supposed to be, I twisted my dagger and then slashed to the side like a C-section, opening up its throat. Withdrawing the dagger, I stood up and then stabbed the upper side of its neck, once again twisting it and then incising along the line of the tissue fibre, severing the thick muscles of the neck. 

The half-severed neck dangled loosely before its body fell down with a loud thud, kicking up a small wave of sand. 

"Good riddance." Michael spat, disgust visible on his face. "What on fucking earth was this anyways?"

Rubbing the blade against the handkerchief I had used to wipe my own blood earlier, I returned the knife to its original shape—a silver ring—and wore it on my ring finger of the right hand. Looking up at the sky… the moon, I heaved in a deep breath. "Can't exactly say but…" As I was racking my brain over it, he interrupted. 

"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" The scorn in his voice was awfully palpable. 

"No, I am not supposed to be anything." I replied. "Although from what I can tell it's something from Chinese folklore. If I remember correctly, they represent the grave sin of Gluttony." I pointed out at its mouth that it was agape. 

"Oh I can tell it's gluttony. The fucker ate like 50 people upstairs."

I tilted my head once. "It didn't eat it." I spoke, crouching down. Using my left hand, I opened its mouth, revealing parts of people upstairs stored in the side of its mouth. "It's trying to take it for someone else." I felt my brows furrow. "But who?"

"Fuck knows." Michael spoke as he walked over and placed his foot on the creature's face. "But Chinese, eh? They're always up to some nasty shit."

I cocked my head. "It's not like they made it. It's a part of their culture. Folklore. Fables. Whatever you want to call it. Remnants of stories from Eden." 

"Ye, ye, whatever, 'Mr. I am a nerd'. This thing got a name or something? Or we calling it a dino-doggy?"

"Wújìn Tānshí, is what they are called." I replied, remembering what I had read about them. "Translates literally to boundless hunger." I recalled. It made sense now. From the start, I had issues conducting my Arcane Arts. Why did I not think of it before? 

"Wu—ehhh? Wugin?"

"Wújìn Tānshí." I corrected. 

"For someone speaking fluent Chinese, you sure acted hella surprised when I talked in Korean."

Shrugging my shoulders, I replied. "Compulsory courses. Had to pick something practical. It is the most spoken language in the world, afterall. And it's called Mandarin not Chinese."

"Ye, ye, whatever. But the most spoken language is English for sure." He argued back with a snort. "An uneducated bas–" Before he could finish his sentence, a strong radio wave washed over the entire city.

Not direct, but like an echo. At the same time, the Wujin's body twitched and it pounced upwards, throwing Michael off balance. 

With its neck half cut and head dangling, it attacked him with its long claws. Still on the ground, Michael grabbed his front leg—the one which he did not break before—and blocked its strike. The next moment he pulled it towards itself and kicked its middle section, throwing it over. 

Flailing its dangling snout and the two unbroken limbs, it tried to attack me. Holding the dagger in a reverse grip, I augmented the blade with Arcanum before swinging it at the joint. The blade entered the flesh and made its way towards the bone followed by a clang against the blade like it had hit metal instead of bone. 

Kicking down at its leg and pinning it in place, I swung at it once again, from the opposite side and severed it this time. Following it with another stab to its head, right between its two hollow sockets, I twisted it. 

However, it still wasn't dead. Using the front leg that Michael had broken earlier, it swung it like a whip. Michael arrived at my side and grabbed it with his bare hand and then placed his foot over Wujin's head.

"I've had enough of this zombie doggy." He spoke and ripped it apart. The shoulder joint connecting the humerus and scapula popped open, followed by the hardened bones being forcefully ripped out of its flesh due to him holding it in place. It let out a deafening shriek, however, I placed my own foot over its head, shutting its mouth. 

With one final tug, he completely ripped its front leg apart and then tossed it to the side. A pool of green blood filled the crater underneath the Wujin and an acrid stench rose up from it. The bone that was ripped apart and was still attached to the monster's body looked like it was made of something else, rather than the usual collagen bones humans and animals on Earth have. 

As Michael was looking down at it, I raised a brow. "Zombie doggy?"

Shaking his head with a smirk, he responded. "The damned thing won't die."

As if agreeing with him, the almost limbless creature withered once again. It truly lived up to its name. Boundless hunger. But why wasn't it dying…?

"Maybe we need to crush its head?" He suggested. 

"Perhaps." I replied. 

As if he realised something, he clutched his head. "What's wrong with me? Working together with you? EWWWW!"

Ohhhh. He just realised it?

As the Wujin kept its feeble attempts at attacking and Michael went down a spiral of self-lamentation while muttering things like 'I can't fucking believe myself', I tried to observe the creature.

It was badly mutilated. And by running a basic ultrasound at its body that was not being protected by the frequency anymore, I could tell that crushing its head won't kill it as well. That was because… it had no brain. The skull was empty. This could mean a few things, but factoring in the information we have on them, it's possible that the Wujins share a hivemind. 

But it is a hypothesis at the end of the day. However, there was a way to test it. 

Placing my hand over its head, I channelled a pure magnetic wave. And much to my own surprise, it stopped moving. However, as soon as I removed my hand from it and removed the waves, it started to struggle again. 

My eyes glowed hot as I focused on its body once again. The anatomy was strange. It had all the faculties to maul and hunt and eat prey multiple times the size of its own body. It had a heart, but no brain. It had a mouth, an oesophagus to carry out peristalsis and a stomach to store food, but no digestive organs. No intestines, no presence of digestive fluids breaking down the multiple heads and parts of humans it had consumed. 

They were just present there. Like a suitcase. As if its only purpose was to store food. 

There isn't much known about Wujins so I don't know why this is the case. 

It's frustrating. Lack of intel has always made me uncomfortable. 

As I was looking through it, my eyes met with its own, looking at me with an intent to kill, despite the condition it was in. However, that is when I saw it. The huge congregation of nerves from every part of its body, three inches behind the actual eye that rested over its shoulder. The congregation of nerves that connected into core. 

Just like humans have a primary node, monsters have cores. Different monsters have cores in different parts of their body. A core develops in a weak spot. A part where Arcanum has not slipped into and has failed to augment that part. This imbalance in natural Arcanum absorption created a weak spot and is what is referred to as cores. In the books written by Adam, at least. Or what's left of it.

The ring on my finger slithered towards my index finger and formed a long, three inches talon. Since the ring had quite a lot of volume, I could make a weapon up to 9 inches. Just like the dagger I was using before. Poking it slowly in its eyes, I pushed it. 

The green liquid squirted out and I turned my neck to the side, avoiding it. 

"Whatcha doing?"

"Stab the eye."

"Why should I?"

He kept looking down at me before snorting. A layer of sharp, blade-like arcanum solidified on his shoe's tip as he kicked. The blood splattered all over his jeans. As soon as he kicked, the movement's in Wujin's body died out and it let out one last growl before dying. 

"Fucking hell, it works."

Standing up, I wiped the few stains of foul smelling blood over me. "Let's leave. The entrance won't hold for much longer." I announced, making him frown. "The merger between Korea and this frontier is about to happen anytime soon."

—-------------------------

The clipping sound of Astrid's heel echoed amidst the empty streets as she ran towards her destination. The clamour of soldiers and heavy artillery shifting drowned out the echo as the soldiers' heavy boots stomped and shuffled, creating a cacophony of multiple noises. 

Three metres away from the sealed dome of the Frontier were seven ranks of soldiers, the front line crouching while the ones in the back standing, their guns pointed at the entrance. The slimy shimmer was extending outwards from the Frontier, covering the entire dome just like how it did with the city. 

Behind the soldiers were tanks, their canons already directed at the supposed entrance. 

"Move in line! Go, go, go!" One of them barked, making another group of soldiers stand at the flank of the entrance. Just in case that the enemy rushes in right when it opens, so that they have them surrounded from all sides. 

"Load the tanks with HEAT and APFSDS. Hurry up!"

Projectiles that could pierce any tank in the world and multiple inches of augmented, hardened steel were being loaded. Since the scale of destruction from just a creature or two was on such a wide scale, every government was extremely anxious and had done their best to prevent them. Or in a much more realistic approach, mitigate them as much as possible. 

The shimmer seemed to get lighter in the sky and grow heavy on the surface of the Frontier, as if keeping it from breaking. Like a wet cloth, it stuck to it, letting out low-pitched grating shrieks. Like metal scraping against metal. 

The soldiers shifted, their fingers resting on the trigger, shaking ever so slightly. 

The shimmer seemed to moan and a nasty snarl filled the air. 

No. Not a snarl. It was definitely more than one. The snarl came from every direction. From the other side, behind them, above them. 

"FOCUS ON THE ENTRANCE!!!!!!!" The commander prompted, collecting the attention of all of his soldiers. "DO NOT WAVER!" He continued to speak, and picked up a rifle himself. "GET READYYYY!" He exclaimed as a crack ran all along the Frontier's dome. The slimy cloth got heavy, like a sentient being. Like a human trying to keep a cracked vase from totally breaking down. 

The tension was almost palpable. One could cut it with a knife. The only ones who were a bit less frightened were the tank drivers, having some confidence in the durability of their ride. As everyone's senses went into high alert, ready to open fire at any moment, Astrid appeared and stopped right before she crossed the small distance between the beeline formed by tanks and the multiple assembly foot soldiers with rifles aimed at it. 

In a split second, every rifle turned towards her as they panicked, ready to open fire. 

"DO NOT OPEN FIRE!" The commander barked, prompting the soldiers to remove their fingers from the trigger, but it did not let them lower their guard as they still had the muzzles pointed towards her. 

As he jumped down, he walked towards Astrid, his rifle pointed at her. "Identify yourself." He spoke in Korean. 

Astrid shifted uncomfortably, her arms raised up in a placating manner. "I can't speak in Korean. Can you understand what I am saying?" She spoke, taking something out of the pocket in her skirt. Another soldier placed the tip of the gun at her back as they observed her movements closely. Letting out a rasp breath, she shakily showed her identification. 

It was her student ID. 

Taking it away from her and directing with a shake of his head to his soldiers, more than half of them redirected their attention towards the entrance. Astrid's body was shaking, the tens of guns ready to blow her body to bits making her become increasingly paranoid with every passing second. 

The commander looked down at her ID card. 

Frowning, he tapped at the lower part of the card. 

"Norway? What… you do here?" He asked, using the movement of his hands more than actual words. 

"I—" She desperately looked over the man's shoulder, "—I don't have time to explain, please, you have to let me go towards the entrance of the Frontier." She pleaded, desperation evident in her voice. 

With her hands still in the air in a conciliating manner, the man behind her pressed the rifle's muzzle in a way that Astrid felt its hard texture against her back with a chilling clarity, despite the woollen dress she was wearing. 

"All of you will die. Let me through, please." 

The commander exchanged gazes with the one surrounding Astrid and spoke something in Korean. A moment of silence followed it. And then another. 

She could feel her heart's beat in her ears. Do they finally understand? She thought to herself. 

As if answering her mental thought, they burst into a barely restrained laughter. With wide smirks and condescending gawps, they stopped aiming at her and chuckled until they could no more. With a somewhat embarrassed expression, Astrid stood petrified for a few seconds, her hands balling into fists. 

The commander talked, however, in Korean. But from his tone, she could tell it was not anything good. She tried to move but everyone redirected their guns at her. As they were talking in their native language, a soldier stepped up. Talking to his commander once, he stepped towards Astrid, his rifle strapped to his back instead of holding it in his hands, at her. 

"Are you lost, little girl?"

He asked. He was around the same height as Astrid. Wearing a helmet, a bulletproof vest and three black stripes over his face, he looked no different than all the other ones. Except for the fact that he was speaking English fluently. "The commander says a posh girl like you is supposed to be outside the city. I can have someone escort you outside the danger zone."

"No-" She spoke and took a step forward. The others suddenly shuddered, but the commander shook his head, allowing her to get close to the man. "-you don't understand. You have to let me touch the Frontier entrance. All hell will break loose if you are not prepared until they arrive."

He scoffed and then licked his lips. "Listen to me while I am still being nice." He spoke and took a confident step forward. "You don't want these guys to capture you as a criminal and put you in barracks. You'd rather wish to die than stay alive. It's clear you are lost, separated from your parents…" as he talked, a jolt of pain went down Astrid's chest at the mention of her parents. "...and you do sound kind of delusional as well. If you had such capability, we'd know." He continued and then placed his hand on her shoulder. 

And then his vision changed. Everything turned upside down. Grabbing him by his wrist, she had turned and twisted it, throwing him over her shoulder. The smirks on everyone's faces were still there and the situation had barely registered to them. 

Except the commander. 

*bam!*

Pressing the trigger, he shot at Astrid. Tilting her head to the side, the bullet whistled past her ear, severing a few strands of her hair before eventually following back and hitting the commander's own subordinate in the neck. The man fell down and flailed his arms and legs, like a fish out of water. His hands clutched at his neck for a few seconds as everyone watched with a petrified interlude. 

As the gushing pool of blood slowly reached their feet and the man stopped moving with his eyes wide open and staring at his comrades as if he had seen a ghost, only then was when the whole situation registered to them. 

Astrid's inner euphoria transitioned from 'I am so freaking cool!' to a chilling wave of pure, frigid horror as the man drowned in a pool of his own life blood. Placing a hand over her mouth, she gagged before throwing her guts out, the acidic bile burning her throat and blurring her vision as the sight of a dead body was too much for her. 

The commander rushed forward and while she was still on all fours, spilling out, he kicked her in the gut. She rolled to her side, clutching her abdomen. 

The heavy rumble of a snarl filled the air. Barking orders to his men, he made them focus at the entrance while he himself placed his knee at Astrid's back before cuffing her hands behind her back. Arcanum spilled like a tidal wave from her primary node and the shackles on her arms exploded as she broke free. Twisting her body she immediately stood up, the sudden action throwing the commander—who had mounted her—a few yards away. 

A split second later, the familiar snarl was followed by a green-ish blur that whisked the commander away. 

Before his half-formed gasp could fully escape his lips, Astrid's eyes widened with an unbridled fear as she watched the quadrupedal creature—its jaw laced with shark-like teeth closing like a hydraulic press—tear through the commander's body with an unrestrained savageness, rending him in half with a sickening crunch of bones and odious squelch of flesh ripping and punctured organs spilling down. 

Before it even fully landed, the lower half of the commander's body was already swallowed. 

As soon as it landed, its long snout probed for the commander's middle section. As she took in a deep, trembling breath and fought back the urge to look away, a shout cut through the air. 

"OPEN FIRE!" The man who was talking to Astrid screamed atop his lungs. The soldiers—monetarily rattled—ignored Astrid altogether and opened fire at it. 

The soldiers' faces were etched with grim determination and morbid fear at the same time as they heeded the call without hesitation. 

The rifles recoiled back in tandem, the muzzle flashing lighting up the entire area. In that light, Astrid saw it. The hollow sockets, misplaced eyes and the three tattoo like scars on their forehead. 

The air became acrid with the stench of gunpowder as the soldiers unleashed a barrage of firepower on the quadrupedal monster. The tanks began to move around, aiming at the monster that was still tearing the commander to bits and pieces while taking the full brunt of the rifles from the foot soldiers and machine guns from the stationed personnel at a higher vantage point.

Astrid instinctively covered her ears. She crouched down, hugging her knees to her chest and pressing her palms against the ears, trying her best to shield herself from the ear numbing cacophony of shots. Each gunshot felt like a hammer blow to her senses, reverberating through her skull with bone-jarring intensity. 

Arcanum surrounded her body in a thick veil of multiple protective layers. 

However, the Arcanum layering did little to dampen the rapid, staccato rhythm of the deafening shots fired by multiple arms. She was still in training. She could barely augment her body enough in places where there were nodes. Augmenting an area that had no node was practically impossible for her. 

The metallic clang of spent shell casings hitting the ground only added to the discordant battle. 

The bullets flew through the air with a sharp whizzing sound, hitting the monster's tough skin with a heavy thud. 

"RELOAD!!! SNIPERSSSS!!!!! COVERRRR!" The same man shouted once again as the foot soldiers and stationed machine gun users started to quickly reload their guns while reverberating shots started to assault the creature. The metallic clinks of ammunition being loaded into guns rumbled through the air. 

While they were reloading, Astrid stood up, her eyes glowing in an azure shade. "Oh hell no…" She mumbled as she turned her head towards the man who had talked to her before. Without a second thought, she jumped at him and pushed him away as the wide maw of the creature jumped in from the rising smoke, seemingly completely unharmed. 

The gaping maw of the monster closed in on her shoulder and dug into the dense layer of Arcanum, stopping just an inch before gnashing into her flesh. 

"Urgh—eek…" Astrid tried to push it away however the Wujin pinned her feet down with its long limbs. "GAHH!" She let out a pained gasp, the immense weight of the creature taking its toll on her body. The long snout and the dentition clobbered heavily against the shield of Arcanum, being the only thing that kept the monstrosity from ripping her face apart. 

Astrid glanced over in the man's direction who had halted the fire. He had a conflicted expression over his face. Despite the small scuffle, she was still a human. As his emotions became more and more visible over his features, Astrid gulped audibly. However, it fell on dull ears due to the adrenaline coursing through her body. 

She looked in his direction, giving him a knowing nod once. The shield of Arcanum started to flicker away, as a tear ran through her eye. I'm sorry, Arthur…

The man ordered and the tank with HEAT shells pointed at Astrid. She closed her eyes and surrendered herself to the inevitable fate. The propellant lit up, generating a high-pressure gas that propelled the HEAT shell out of the barrel at high velocity, making the whole tank recoil that left a dent into the road

As the aerodynamic bullet spun through the air and made its way towards Astrid and the Wujin atop her, who was still mindlessly trying to rip her apart, she saw it in slow motion. The slowly approaching death. She gulped and let out a loud moan. "Eeerrggghhh!" She willed the last bits of her remaining strength into her limbs and tried to hold the Wujin by its lower body and stood up, redirecting it directly towards the incoming HEAT shell. 

The entire world seemed to fall into slow motion. Her tears were suspended in the air as her life flashed before her eyes. I failed him… 

A thin spark of lightning flashed in her azure eyes and a small dagger dug into the Wujin's eye. It's hold over Astrid's body loosened up. With the sudden change in force, she lost control of her body and fell back.

A person flashed right in front of her. His long white hair was loose and it blew like a flag. Scooping her up at a blinding speed, he immediately got her away from the blast radius. At the same time, the nose of the HEAT shell made contact with the Wujin's body. 

Simultaneously, the shell's fuze was activated, triggering the explosive charge, detonating and creating a focused jet of superheated metal. A plasma jet was created as a result and before the Wujin could even screech in pain, it melted its body. 

Its huge form twitched as the scalding plasma jet found its mark, engulfing the creature in a seething inferno prison of molten metal. 

The air was suddenly filled with the acrid stench of burning flesh and charred bone as the creature's skin began to blister and bubble. The heat intensified, searing through layers of flesh and sinew. Its body that had endured an onslaught of one of the best rifles and machine guns without a scratch withered and blackened, tendrils of smoke curling upwards. 

As the flames consumed its outer shell, the creature's bones began to warp and twist, their metal-natured composition failing against the heat that burnt the soldiers' breath. 

The skeletal frame began to buckle and deform, crimson rivulets of molten metal cascading down its twisted form as they began to liquefy, getting reduced to a glistening pool of crimson-red liquid. 

After a few seconds, all that remained was a charred, smouldering crater. 

However, this victory was not without collateral. Dozens of soldiers were lying in the mess as well, not faring any better than the monstrosity. Reduced down to mere ashes. 

Michael looked down at Astrid who was tightly clutching his sweater, her face hidden and her entire body trembling. A huge cloak of pure Arcanum covered them. Despite the explosives used in this particular HEAT shell not being potent enough, it had still managed to destroy and obliterate everything in its path. Amidst the 40 metres blast radius of molten asphalt and many other things, Arthur's form was the only unharmed thing. 

He was staring down at the Wujin, his eyes glowing. 

"Alright, scaredy cat, it's done now." Michael groaned, flicking the backside of Astrid's head. As she looked up and saw Michael looking down at her, his hair dishevelled all over his face, she immediately pardoned herself. With a blush over her face, she looked down. 

"Sorry."

"Hah?!" He was about to talk in his usual tone, however, looking at how Astrid was still trembling from the whole turn of events, he shut his mouth. "It's alright." He spoke. 

He's not as bad as I thought he would be…

"But please, fuck off now."

Or maybe not… but he still saved my life. 

"Thanks for saving m—" Her sentence was cut midway as Michael shook his hand, as if shooing her away. 

Normally she would've taken offence to this kind of behaviour. However, she wasn't in a sane headspace at that moment. All her mind kept thinking of was the gnarly form of the monster hungrily trying to devour her and the incoming tank shell which would've obliterated. Blown her to pieces.

She took a step back and collided into something. Turning around, she saw Arthur, looking straight into her eyes. "You seem a little roughed up." He spoke before tucking the stray locks of her hair behind her ear. Looking at the torn piece of fabric over her shoulder and then at the shoe mark on her middle section, he sighed. "But now won't be the good time to go shopping for a replacemen—"

As he was talking, she let her body weight lean forward, letting her head rest on Arthur's chest. Coming to a still and standing firmly, he supported her weight. For a few moments they stayed silent. However, just as Astrid sniffled, Arthur patted her head. "It's alright now." He reassured, correcting the frayed ends of her hair. Her crying only intensified as she wrapped her hands around him. 

"I was so scared." She hiccupped, speaking between tears. "I thought I was going to die."

"Well… you were."

"I thought…" She sniffled once again, "...about how disappointed you would be. In me. After everything you did for me, I ended up not being able to return anything."

Arthur stood silent for a while, patting her head consolingly. Michael looked away and walked towards the clamouring soldiers who were marching near the blast radius. 

"It was a miscalculation on my part." Arthur replied after a moment of silence. "I shouldn't have let you go. Not when I knew you had not manifested any offensive property of your Arcane Art." He continued and then removed her head from his chest, cupping her face into his palms. "You don't have to feel that way. I am not disappointed. I can't be. It's not your fault."

Despite holding her face in a way that she would meet his eyes directly, she kept her eyes low, not looking him in the eye. "Mhmm…" she hummed. Letting her go, he took off his overshirt and wrapped it around her shoulders. 

"Stand there. I will be right back." Lightly ruffling her hair, he walked away. 

She hobbled slightly to the side, the rushed events that happened—from her almost getting imprisoned, first time seeing someone die right in front of her eyes, in such a grotesque way at that, the fear of the Wujin almost biting her face. The fear of death and not even having a body intact for a proper send off later on. But most of all, the fear of disappointing the one person she had vowed to give everything that belonged with her to him—making her dizzy. 

She walked behind Arthur for a few steps and then turned around, slumping over a huge piece of stone. Letting out a long breath, she placed her face into her palms and hiccupped once again, breathing a sigh of relief. 

Michael was talking to the soldiers. Or rather arguing. 

As Arthur approached them, he stood by Michael's side and glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "Something wrong?"

With a scowl, he replied, without turning his head towards Arthur. "The bastards are saying that if we are really here for help, what's the fucking code name." He spoke with a disbelieving voice. "What fucking code? And why do 'I' of all people have to prove it? I can just smack their faces in—"

As he was talking, Arthur turned towards them. "Os Poucos." 

Hearing that the soldiers started talking to each other before nodding. They relaxed and flung the strap attached to their rifles around their shoulders.

As if struck by lightning, Michael cringed. "What a shit name that is. Os Poucos? For fuck's sake. And—"

"Maria was the one who came up with it. Not me. She referred to herself but apparently all of us are Os Poucos now." 

Grumbling, he looked away. "It isn't that bad then, I guess."

With something that could only be discerned as a scoff, Arthur mumbled under his breath. "Sure, it isn't now."

ඞ ඞ ඞ ඞ ඞ ඞ ඞ

TWENTY MINUTES LATER)

Once the soldiers had contacted the authorities and they were given the green signal to cooperate with Os Paucos—Arthur and Michael—despite the reluctance, they started to do as they were instructed. 

Most of the forces were now stationed at the outer perimeter of the place, along with the shimmer's boundary.

The other national forces were mobilised to move towards Seoul. However, they were still some distance away. Aerial support had already arrived, the circling jets flying just beneath the shimmer that loomed right above the troposphere. 

Astrid was now in a much better state. The shock from seeing a man not only die but being ripped apart while he was alive and consumed by monsters she had only heard about in movies had its effect imprinted deeply on her, however, the thought of similar creatures coming to Earth in huge hordes was what made her and the others to forget the absolute nightmare and focus on the bigger threat. 

Korea had reported the incident to the United Nations in that little time as well, however, they decided against the containment of Arthur and Michael. It was because the other heirs, or according to the UN, The Os Paucos were appearing in front of other Frontiers as well. 

Due to their coordinated appearance, they had decided to not get in their way. They were of national threats, believed to hold enough power to destroy cities in a small time, however, right now they were helping. Surrendering and accepting their loss, the UN decided to let them do their thing. 

In front of the Seoul frontier, Michael was preparing his bag, stuffing things quickly into it. Astrid was sitting on a chair right beside the opening. Her hand was pressed against the rock solid dome surrounding the frontier. 

"Well at least we know it's this small area that will be added." Astrid spoke out loud for the first time since Arthur consoled her. 

Arthur shook his head. "It's a space-time thing." He tried to explain in simpler terms. "The dome contains it. And the shimmer is resisting it from fully manifesting." He turned his head towards Astrid who looked up at him. His features were obscured by the looming shadow of his curtains that were dishevelled haphazardly. "Which one do you think is in jeopardy?" 

Astrid looked towards the sky and then at the dome. The entire sky looked like a cracked vase, ready to break into bits. "The shimmer…but look, even the dome is cracking as well. I guess we have hope–"

He shook his head once again. "The shimmer breaking isn't a good thing. It seems like it's the automatic response from the Gods' divinity acting against the holes into the separation. On the contrary, the dome breaking is even bad." He paused, taking in a deep breath and then exhaling, forming a smoky cloud. "It means the merger is nearing."

"..." She turned her head down. 

"I'd want you to leave the country as soon as possible but I need you to do something." Arthur spoke, placing his own hand at the dome, a few inches away from Astrid's. "I need you to keep the dome from breaking. Even after the shimmer is gone. Can you do that?"

She flicked her loose hair behind. "Of course." She replied with a smile. "Anything you ask."

From the corner of his eye, he looked down, turned around and patted her head before pulling it into a hug while she was still sitting. Her head was against his midsection as he gently held it like that for a while. "Take care."

A small slither of something coiled through Arthur's fingers and then seeped into her skin. 

"Mmm. You too." Staying like that for a while, Arthur let go of her. Her hands stayed at his sleeves for a while but he pulled them away. Astrid stood up and picked up a bag from the side. "Here, your bag."

"Oh, thanks." 

"Finally done, geez." Michael groaned as he walked towards the dome. A group of soldiers walked right behind them. "Let's go."

Arthur walked past and stood between the soldiers and Michael. "Which one is in command now?"

"I am." A man walked up to him. It was the same man who was acting as a translator between Astrid and his commander. "After the death of Major Kim Min-seok, Colonel Lee Sang-hyun has decided to select me as the next in command."

Arthur stood in front of him, his back straight. His jaw tightened. "What's your name?"

The man suddenly felt a shiver down his spine. "Captain Park Ji-hoon."

Arthur dusted Park's shoulder before crouching enough to reach his ear. "Your Major is lucky to be killed by that Wujin. If I hear about any kind of thing happening to Astrid…" he paused, letting his words sink in. "...you will find out I am much worse than those things."

Keeping his voice under a whisper, Park replied. "Are you threatening me? Us?"

Arthur's eyes glowed. "Yes. I think you are still not aware of the direness of your situation." Park gulped a dry lump of saliva. 

"It's a direct order to do as you say. As long as that doesn't change, I can guarantee no one will place a finger on her."

Straightening his back, Arthur cracked his neck. "I can work with that."

Saying that, he picked up his bag and went towards where Michael and Astrid were. 

As they stood in front of the dome, Arthur looked at Astrid who had both her hands on the dome. 

"Just a little, alright?" Arthur reminded her.

"I got it."

As the skin of her fingers cracked against the dome, Arcanum slipped out in a sudden burst. 

「Spirit's song. Twilight. Fate's hand.」---「Phase 2: Unseal」

The crack on the dome widened. The huge crack caved inwards and the ethereal shards flew outwards. The huge shards were connected by a chord of light as they started to drift away from the dome. Followed by a huge rumble in the ground that made even the buildings shudder violently. 

Not wasting a single second, both Arthur and Michael jumped inside the small crack. At the same time, Astrid reversed her touch on the dome. 

「Titan's chains, Sage's curse. Fate's hand.」--- 「Phase 2: Seal」

She chanted again with a practised ease, not breaking a sweat.

The chords of white that connected the dome's broken shards retracted and pulled it back into place, sealing the broken area once again. With a steady breath, Astrid leaned against it, her palms still touching the dome as she maintained it. 

'Good luck…' 

She saw herself smile in the translucent dome before a surge of determination flooded her. 

On the inside, Michael had his eyes wide open. 

"Bloody hell… " He mumbled as a gust of violent wind slapped his face and blew his white mane behind. 

A surge of pain invaded Arthur's primary node as he swallowed a dry lump of saliva. "No, this is… Eden. Our real world." He spoke to himself, excitement bubbling in his chest.