Chapter 414: _First Contact

Amazon Rainforest

An SS-Rank Rift shone brightly deep within the thick trees of the forest, wisps of white aether pouring out. Animals had long fled; those unable to either dying or undergoing silent mutations.

Some of the top Hunters from neighbouring nations had already gathered, placing barricades around the portal.

Helicopters buzzed above.

Armoured vehicles dotted around the Rift as orders were passed between comm devices.

The joint Federations of the Amazonian Hunter Federation had sent their best S-Ranks for this.

SS-Rank Rifts were calamity-grade anomalies, easily prone to causing a dungeon break.

Just like this one.

Reports had come in from a few tourists that unidentified monsters roamed the forest parts just a couple of miles away from the Rift.

"Hunter Javier." The Hunters around it immediately stood on attention when a familiar, powerful presence got near. They made way for the man behind such power. "Welcome, sir."

The man in question was a titan standing at exactly seven feet tall. He had bronze skin and long black hair tied behind him, his sharp golden eyes scouring past the faces before him.

His Hunter uniform was a full-body, sleeveless, form-fitting dark green suit. He was barefoot and had tattoos resembling vines wrapping both muscular arms.

Javier was one of two SS-Rank Espers affiliated with South America—particularly the Brazilian Hunters Federation.

A reclusive man, he avoided any form of politics despite his power, choosing instead to live with nature.

"Sir," one of the leading S-Ranks walked up to him. "So far, our aether trackers have detected five S-Rank signatures and several weaker ones that broke out into the forest. They don’t appear to be typical bosses."

The SS-Rank nodded, not bothering to respond.

He didn’t need to.

Beneath the noise of the Hunters shouting orders and checking on their gear... he could sense it.

Vibrations from the forest reached him, pointing him toward the direction of their targets. Everyone present subconsciously turned to him and instantly quieted down.

Javier lowered himself to the wet ground, pressing a palm onto it. His fingers dug into the Earth as his eyes shifted to a bright green colour.

Every tree, shrub, moss, vine, flowers... all of it within the forest linked to him. To his mind. Like one giant nervous system that made him aware of everything happening hundreds of kilometres around him.

’There...’ He nodded. ’I see them.’

The green glow in Javier’s eyes slowly faded as he withdrew his hand from the earth.

The surrounding Hunters waited.

No one dared interrupt him.

They had worked with the Brazilian SS-Rank long enough to know he never spoke before he was certain of what he’d perceived.

Finally, he rose to his full height.

"There are five S-Ranks indeed," he confirmed. "They’ve all left the Rift."

The leading S-Rank gave a firm nod before pointing toward a digital map projected from his wrist device.

"We’ve already prepared interception teams. If you tell us their locations, we can surround them before they reach any populated area."

Javier remained silent.

His golden eyes stayed fixed on the rainforest stretching endlessly before them.

Something wasn’t right.

"Their movements..." He murmured.

The S-Rank frowned. "Sir?"

"They aren’t hunting."

Confused looks spread among the

Hunters.

"What do you mean?"

"They’re moving with... purpose."

The answer only deepened everyone’s confusion.

Dungeon creatures didn’t move with purpose.

The moment a Dungeon Break occurred, monsters scattered in every direction. Some destroyed cities. Others hunted humans. Powerful monsters usually established territories before massacring anything unfortunate enough to wander inside.

That was how every recorded Dungeon Break had behaved.

This... was different.

"They’re avoiding the nearby villages," Javier continued. "One group changed direction after sensing a logging camp. Another crossed a river instead of taking the shorter path toward a highway."

The Hunters exchanged uneasy glances.

One woman laughed awkwardly. "So... they’re intelligent?"

"I’m not certain." Javier’s answer came immediately.

Silence settled over the camp.

Without another explanation, Javier lowered himself once again, placing two fingers against the damp forest floor.

The connection returned instantly.

Roots stretched beneath mountains. Vines wrapped around forgotten ruins swallowed by vegetation.

Every towering tree whispered information into his consciousness, extending his awareness farther and farther until it reached the escaped signatures once more.

Then...

His brows furrowed. "Impossible."

"What is it?" The commanding Hunter asked.

Instead of answering, Javier focused harder.

His senses sharpened.

The first signature came into view.

It wasn’t charging through the jungle.

It was walking.

The second was helping another figure climb over fallen trees.

The third was carrying something.

Children.

Javier’s eyes snapped open.

His expression changed for the first time since arriving.

"They aren’t soldiers." The words barely left his mouth before every Hunter stiffened.

"What?"

"They’re transporting civilians."

"Civilians?"

"The signatures I detected..." Javier slowly looked toward the Rift. "...They’re protecting vulnerable members of their own species."

Nobody spoke.

Just then, frantic voices burst through the communication network.

"Recon Team Three reporting!"

Every radio around the encampment crackled to life.

"We’ve established visual contact!"

The commanding Hunter immediately grabbed his communicator. "Report!"

Heavy breathing answered him first.

Then the rustling of leaves and the snapping of branches followed.

The unmistakable sounds of someone hiding.

"We have... five unknown larger entities."

"Threat assessment?"

"They’re..." The scout hesitated, "sir, something’s wrong."

The entire command post stiffened.

"What do you mean something’s wrong?"

"They’re not behaving like Rift creatures."

The commanding Hunter frowned. "Clarify."

"They’re..." Another pause followed. "...They’re talking."

Silence crashed over the camp.

One of the technicians hurriedly activated the translation arrays connected to the scout’s helmet.

Static filled the channel.

Broken syllables echoed through the speakers.

An unfamiliar, rhythmic language.

The translation software struggled.

Then... A synthetic voice suddenly interrupted the static.

"...Please... keep... moving..."

Another voice followed.

> "...The children first..."

The command centre froze.

No one breathed.

The scout whispered into the communicator. "There are hundreds of them."

"... Hundreds?"

"Yes, and they’re not marching." His voice shook. "They’re fleeing."

Javier didn’t wait another second. "Nobody attacks."

The order echoed across every frequency.

Several Hunters instinctively protested.

"But sir—"

"Nobody attacks." His tone remained calm. "If they’re capable of speech, then they are no longer targets."

The commanding Hunter looked horrified. "But Federation protocol—"

"I’ll answer for the consequences."

Before anyone could argue further, Javier stepped into the rainforest.

The forest welcomed him.

Massive roots slowly withdrew beneath the soil.

Walls of tangled vines peeled away from his path.

Ancient branches shifted overhead, allowing beams of evening sunlight to illuminate a narrow passage leading deep into the Amazon.

Every step carried him closer to the unknown.

Closer to what could potentially be the first intelligent civilisation humanity makes contact with as allies.

Several minutes later, the sounds reached him first.

Children crying. Parents whispering reassurances.

The shuffling footsteps of exhausted people who hadn’t rested in days.

Javier emerged into a vast clearing.

His breath caught.

Before him stretched an entire procession.

Towering humanoid beings with bark-like skin threaded by glowing emerald veins helped wounded elders walk while others carried frightened children on their backs.

Warriors armed with spears fashioned from crystal wood formed a protective ring around the column, their white eyes filled not with bloodlust... but fear.

One of them noticed Javier.

The caravan immediately stopped.

Hundreds of luminous eyes turned toward the lone human standing at the edge of the clearing.

Neither side moved.

Then, far behind the fleeing civilisation... the SS-Rank Rift violently expanded.

The forest trembled.

A roar unlike anything Javier had ever heard rolled out from the portal, carrying enough pressure to make even an SS-Rank Esper instinctively tense.

"What on Earth...?"

★★★★★

Two Days Later, Aurelia City

The Hale-Ferguson residence had finally begun settling back into something that vaguely resembled normalcy.

The heaviness left behind by Gabriel’s father’s funeral still lingered in every corner of the house, but life, stubborn as always, insisted on moving forward.

Ambrose rested against the kitchen counter, a mug of coffee growing colder between his hands as his attention remained fixed on the dining table.

Orion quietly ate from a bowl of cereal.

There were no complaints about the milk.

No dramatic stories about superheroes.

No requests for ice cream before breakfast.

The little boy simply lifted one spoonful after another with mechanical precision, his golden eyes staring into nothing in particular.

Ever since that nightmare, he’d become almost unnaturally calm. Even Aura’s periodic scans hadn’t detected anything abnormal, yet Ambrose couldn’t shake the feeling that something inside his son had fundamentally changed.

A television murmured from the living room where Viktor lazily flipped through channels.

"...and we return now to our developing coverage of the Amazon SS-Rank Rift Incident."

The change in the reporter’s tone immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Viktor stopped changing channels.

"The International Hunters Council has officially confirmed successful first contact with the intelligent civilisation discovered beyond the Amazon SS-Rank Rift. According to preliminary translations, the species refers to themselves as the Yaxari, with communication efforts progressing far faster than initially expected."

Images flashed across the screen.

Towering bark-skinned beings escorted frightened children beneath the rainforest canopy while Hunters maintained a cautious distance rather than drawing weapons.

"The Brazilian Federation has described the Yaxari as refugees fleeing an unidentified calamity originating from deeper within the Rift. Authorities continue searching for the entity responsible, though current estimates place its threat level at no lower than SS-Rank."

Another image appeared.

Rows of temporary shelters were already being erected near protected sections of the Amazon.

"World leaders are currently debating long-term accommodation plans while critics continue raising concerns regarding security, resource allocation and the unknown creature that remains unaccounted for."

Before anyone could comment, Ambrose’s phone vibrated.

He frowned as he pulled his device from his pocket.

>" EMERGENCY PRIORITY NOTICE"<

"To all registered SS-Rank Hunters. Calamity-Level Threat detected within the Amazon Containment Zone. Stand by for immediate deployment instructions."