Chapter 132: The Nine Returning Gates

BOOOOM!

An explosion tore through the abandoned freight terminal shortly after sunset, sending a wave of shattered concrete and twisted steel across the deserted industrial district.

Cassian stood on the roof of a neighboring warehouse, watching the terminal’s eastern wall collapse beneath the force of the blast. Three masked Awakeners emerged from the smoke, their weapons drawn, while another two leaped through the broken windows of the upper floors.

Their enemies had discovered the ambush sooner than expected.

"Five outside, at least twelve remaining inside," Cassian reported through his communication device, narrowing his eyes as another section of the terminal exploded. "They’re moving toward the southern exit."

"Don’t let them reach the residential blocks," Adesewa ordered. "Marcus, seal the southern approach. Safiya, take the eastern road. Bastian, you’re with Cassian."

Cassian glanced toward the distant apartment buildings beyond the industrial district. Although most of the surrounding warehouses had been abandoned, several residential neighborhoods remained within reach of the fighting. Allowing the assassins to escape in that direction would endanger hundreds of civilians.

He tightened his grip on his sword.

"Understood, Captain," Cassian replied before stepping off the roof.

He dropped six stories and struck the ground hard enough to fracture the pavement. Before the dust settled, two masked Awakeners rushed toward him, one carrying a massive hammer while the other wielded a curved blade.

The hammer descended first.

Cassian raised his left hand.

A circular marking appeared in the air before him, resembling an ancient stone gateway engraved with nine concentric rings.

Nine Returning Gates.

The hammer struck the invisible boundary, but instead of crushing Cassian, its momentum vanished into the first gate.

The masked Awakener staggered.

Cassian stepped forward and drove his palm into the man’s chest.

The stolen momentum returned.

A thunderous impact erupted as the assassin was hurled backward, smashing through the warehouse wall and continuing through two reinforced support pillars before disappearing beneath a mountain of collapsing masonry.

One gate expended.

Eight remained.

The second assassin swung his curved blade toward Cassian’s neck, but Cassian ducked beneath the attack and drove his sword through the man’s shoulder. Before he could finish him, a tremendous pressure descended from above.

Cassian looked up.

A masked Awakener stood atop the terminal, holding an enormous black greatsword.

The man swung.

A crescent-shaped slash erupted from the blade, cutting through the roof of the warehouse behind Cassian before descending toward the street.

Cassian activated his second gate.

The approaching slash carried enough physical force to tear apart several buildings. The gateway absorbed the momentum of the attack, its rings trembling violently before Cassian redirected that force sideways.

The resulting impact demolished an empty warehouse across the road.

Concrete walls burst outward, steel beams snapped, and the entire building collapsed beneath an expanding cloud of dust.

Cassian exhaled sharply.

His advancement to 4-Star had transformed what his Divine Rune could endure, but absorbing an attack of that magnitude still demanded considerable control.

"You’re making quite a mess," Bastian remarked as he landed beside him, his enormous shield resting against his shoulder.

Cassian glanced toward the collapsing warehouse. "I redirected it away from the residential district. You’re welcome."

Bastian grinned beneath his helmet. "Then leave the next one to me."

---

On the southern road, Marcus stood between two abandoned office buildings as four masked Awakeners charged toward him.

The strongest among them carried a pair of hooked swords, while another wore heavy gauntlets covered in glowing markings.

Marcus planted his foot.

A circular pattern spread across the pavement, extending six meters in every direction.

King’s Measure.

The hooked-sword wielder entered the circle first.

Marcus imposed a single relationship upon him.

Footing.

The assassin’s next step failed to find the balance he expected. His body lurched sideways, throwing his attack off course.

Marcus seized the opening and struck him across the jaw.

The blow sent the man crashing through the ground floor of a nearby office building, bringing down an entire section of its exterior wall.

The gauntlet wielder attacked immediately.

His fists struck the pavement, unleashing a violent shockwave that ripped through the road and overturned several abandoned vehicles.

Marcus leaped above the destruction, landing atop a broken concrete barrier.

He couldn’t impose multiple relationships simultaneously within King’s Measure. Every change required judgment, particularly when several opponents attacked together.

"You’re not getting past me," Marcus declared, watching the assassins regroup.

The gauntlet wielder roared and charged.

Marcus changed the relationship governing his opponent’s footing again.

The assassin’s leading foot slipped at the critical instant, and his enormous punch missed Marcus by inches.

Marcus answered with a devastating kick.

The man’s body tore through the wall of an empty office block, crossed the interior, and emerged from the opposite side amid a shower of shattered glass.

The remaining assassins hesitated.

Marcus smiled coldly. "What happened? I thought you were in a hurry."

---

Farther east, Safiya moved through the ruins of a demolished loading depot, following the blood trail left by a fleeing assassin.

The man had escaped the initial confrontation with a deep cut across his arm.

That wound was all she needed.

A faint marking resembling a hound’s footprint appeared upon the blood staining the ground.

Hounds of Ngalam.

Safiya’s Divine Rune didn’t summon beasts to pursue her enemies. Its Hunt Marks allowed her to follow wounded targets and guide subsequent attacks with terrifying precision.

She sensed the assassin’s direction immediately.

"Three streets north," Safiya reported through her communication device. "He’s moving toward the drainage tunnels."

"Intercept him," Adesewa replied. "Don’t let him disappear underground."

Safiya accelerated.

Her 4-Star strength propelled her across the ruined depot in a blur. She leaped over a collapsed building, landed on the opposite street, and drove her blade toward the fleeing assassin.

The man twisted aside.

Her blade struck the road instead, splitting the pavement for several meters.

The assassin retaliated with a burst of black flames that consumed the abandoned vehicles surrounding them.

Safiya retreated through the heat, her eyes fixed on the Hunt Mark.

The man escaped into a narrow passage between two buildings.

Safiya followed, using the mark to anticipate his direction before he emerged.

When he burst from the passage, she was already waiting.

Her sword flashed.

The assassin’s injured arm was severed at the elbow.

He screamed and stumbled backward, but Safiya struck him across the chest before he could recover.

The impact sent him through the wall of an abandoned factory.

"Target disabled," Safiya reported, advancing toward the wreckage. "He’s alive. I’ll secure him for questioning."

---

Back at the freight terminal, Bastian stood before an enormous wave of destruction.

The greatsword wielder had descended from the roof and unleashed three consecutive attacks, each powerful enough to tear through reinforced buildings.

Bastian met them with his shield.

A massive tortoise-shell pattern appeared across its surface, divided into thirteen distinct plates.

Thirteen Burdens.

The first strike crashed against his shield, splitting the road beneath his feet.

One plate illuminated.

The second attack shattered the remains of the warehouse behind him.

Another plate illuminated.

The third drove Bastian backward through several meters of concrete, leaving a deep trench across the street.

A third plate glowed.

Bastian gritted his teeth.

His Divine Rune stored fractions of the impacts his shield endured, allowing him to release their accumulated force through a subsequent strike.

However, that power wasn’t limitless.

The greater the burden, the more punishment his body had to withstand.

"Is that all you’ve got?" Bastian roared, bracing himself as the greatsword wielder charged again.

The assassin swung horizontally.

Bastian caught the attack against his shield, activating another plate. Then he stepped forward. Four illuminated plates flashed simultaneously. Bastian slammed his shield into the man’s chest. The resulting explosion of force tore through the street.

The assassin was launched backward like a cannonball, smashing through the freight terminal’s outer wall and continuing through several interior structures before finally disappearing beneath a collapsing section of the building.

The shockwave shattered windows across the industrial district.

Cassian landed beside Bastian as the dust expanded around them.

"Remind me never to stand in front of that shield," Cassian remarked.

Bastian laughed breathlessly. "Then stop giving me reasons to use it."

Their amusement vanished when six additional masked Awakeners emerged from the ruined terminal.

Two carried spears, another wielded a massive axe, and the remaining three bore Divine Rune markings across their exposed arms.

Cassian raised his sword. Five gates remained unused after the exchanges that followed his first two activations.

The assassins attacked together. One spear wielder thrust forward, producing a devastating shockwave that ripped through the street.

Cassian caught its physical momentum with his third gate and redirected it into the ground.

The pavement exploded. The axe wielder followed with a descending strike.

Cassian activated his fourth gate, absorbing the force before returning it through a sword strike that hurled the man into a concrete support column.

The column shattered. Above them, another assassin unleashed a barrage of enormous stone projectiles.

Cassian couldn’t intercept everything.

"Bastian!" he shouted, retreating toward his companion.

Bastian raised his shield. The projectiles struck in rapid succession, illuminating several more plates while pulverizing the surrounding pavement.

Cassian used his fifth gate to redirect the momentum of a falling steel beam, sending it crashing through the assassins’ formation.

Two enemies were buried beneath the wreckage.

The others scattered. Then a terrifying presence descended upon the battlefield.

---

Adesewa landed in the center of the ruined freight terminal.

The impact alone shattered the concrete beneath her boots, sending fractures racing outward across the floor.

Three masked Awakeners turned toward her.

One immediately attempted to flee. Adesewa disappeared from his sight. A moment later, her fist struck his abdomen. The assassin folded around the blow before being launched through three interior walls, each collapsing beneath the impact.

The second attacker swung a flaming sword.

Adesewa caught his wrist, twisted it, and drove him headfirst into the floor. Concrete erupted upward. The third assassin released a concentrated blast of Mana that tore through the terminal’s remaining support columns.

Adesewa advanced straight through the attack.

Her shoulder struck the man’s chest. The collision sent him flying through the terminal’s western wall and across the street, where he smashed into an abandoned warehouse.

The building collapsed around him.

Cassian watched the destruction from the opposite side of the terminal. Even after witnessing Adesewa’s strength several times, he still found it difficult to comprehend the difference between a 4-Star and a 5-Star Awakener.

She hadn’t activated Agassou. Everything she’d accomplished came from her physical strength alone.

"Captain, we’ve secured one prisoner," Safiya reported through the communication channel. "Several others are down, but some are attempting to escape through the northern streets."

Adesewa surveyed the devastated terminal.

"Marcus, block the northern route," she ordered. "Cassian, Bastian, finish securing this area. Safiya, keep the prisoner alive."

Cassian glanced at the collapsing structures surrounding them.

The operation had transformed an entire section of the abandoned industrial district into rubble. Yet their enemies had demonstrated enough strength to inflict even greater destruction had the fighting reached populated neighborhoods.

Cassian tightened his grip on his sword. Their advancement to 4-Star had given them power far beyond what they’d possessed during the Palladium expedition.

But it had also revealed how dangerous the people hunting them truly were.

And somewhere beyond the ruined district, the person responsible for sending these assassins remained hidden.