The Author's POV

'”BOOOOOM!

"'”'”!"

The whole building shook, and all the furniture in the room fell onto the ground. Stumbling back a couple of steps, my eyes opened wide. 'What in the world just happened?' Without wasting time, dashing out of the room, I ran towards the entrance of the dorms.

Because the area had been sealed by Matthew and his two companions, there was no one in my area. It took a while for me to spot some people.

"What's going on?!"

"What happened?"

Turning right and walking into a corridor, startled guards appeared everywhere as they wondered about what had just happened. The confusion only grew deeper as more and more people came out

'Is the Monolith under seige?'

I wondered as I recalled the explosion that had just rung not long ago.

The force coming from the explosion was so strong that I knew that a big enemy had attacked the whole building.

The real question was, who attacked the Monolith? Was it perhaps the Union? Or was this due to some internal disputes inside of the Monolith?

Quite frankly, I wasn't sure.

There was a chance this was the work of the Union.

'If I don't remember incorrectly, they have an artifact that allows them to travel to the main headquarters of the Monolith'

This was something that I knew they had since it did not only teleport to the Monolith, but to other places as well. In the novel, they actually never used it to travel to the Monolith, but I knew all too well just how much the story had deviated from the original one.

The chances of this being the Union were not low.

'”BOOOOOM!

Disrupting me out of my thoughts, the building once again shook. This time, the explosion was even louder than before as the tremors intensified. Holding onto the side of the wall, I tried not to fall.

'”WHIIIIIII! '”WHIIIIIII!

[This is an emergency message, we're currently under attack. I repeat we're currently under attack. All personnel and members please make your way to the first level to aid the defense unit. I repeat, all personell...]

The blaring sound of the sirens rang out, and a warning echoed from the speakers around the building. Immediately after, almost everyone around me rushed towards the exit of the second level.

"Quick!"

"Everyone onto the first level!"

With almost everyone here being a guard, upon receiving the orders, everyone rushed towards the first level just like the alarm had told them to. Because of the chaos, no one particularly noticed me, as they all rushed downstairs.

"Might as well take advantage of the situation."

Lowering the cap on my head and putting my mask away, I decided to follow them downstairs.

Though I had the mask available to me, now that the whole place was in chaos, I could take advantage of it and escape through them.

This was for the best. With this, my mana which was quite low could be conserved. The mask did consume a lot of mana after all. Furthermore, amongst the chaos, the probability of someone actively looking for me through the cameras was low. They had probably forgotten about me by now.

'Perfect'

Joining the crowd and hiding my presence amongst the masses, I quickly headed for the first level.

Freedom had never been this close.

***

At the same time.

as they coldly looked down below them. Their majestic mana filled the area causing the air around them

malnourished with sunken cheeks and red-blood eyes. Their bright red eyes swept the entire forest until finally, they paused

three elders spotted them. Had it been someone else and not them, their legs would involuntarily become limp under these violent gazes that were filled

"Hmph!"

on the ground, the killing

won't work on me," Monica muttered in utter

were lower than hers, a seriousness that was difficult to mask covered Monica's

be able

appeared in the sky. Just his expression alone made it obvious that he didn't

leisurely as he nodded his head with a faint smile on his face. Staring at the sky, he mused for a moment before looking

to help you, or can you take care

I am? I can at least take care

them combined have a strength equivalent to rank." Amon chimed in. Even though he knew that she could do it,

them quickly,

Monica did not fall

whatever you want. We're here to stall for time

deal with the small fries

holding her sword vertically, Monica's brow twitched.

shut up?

sorry. Do

bitterly laughed before taking a step back and looking at the enormous infra-structure

Monolith should've already been lured out of the headquarters. By directly exploiting one of the spies amongst the higher-ups, the Union had set up

the real Monica was with them. Unless an external factor that they did not account for meddled their plans, their plans of dealing

be looking for death." Surprised by Monica's power, one of the elders levitating in the air throatily laughed. His

enough to

last elder and the youngest brother spoke up. "I can't seem to be able to make out their

the two elders that were talking to each other glanced at each other before taking a better look

they had a fatal flaw, and it was that

might be using an artifact to mask their

"True."

indifferently swept over them before once again raising her sword. Slowly an orange hue enveloped

guys talk too

the three elders, was Monica's

her body trembled slightly. Wild and violent energy suddenly surged out explosively from the veins within her

ground slowly lifted up as Monica's

abruptly soared. An instant later, the glow disappeared and an orange-colored armor materialized, covering her

and childish, right now she looked like a war goddess that was craving

Monica from below, Amon showed a

now see why those bastards

her childish character, he had to admit, she

the process in which someone whose control over psyons reached such levels of fine control that they could summon tangible mana in the air and form

case, an

the strongest individuals could use it. For Monica, who was only 28 years old to be able to accomplish this, it was nothing

"T-that's mana-conglomeration."

not so far from her turned extremely ugly. Their

her eyes, a bright shine enveloped the area as Monica's voice

"Haaa!"

violent energy that lingered inside of her body rushed out, reaching all the way towards the tip of her sword where it converged together before releasing

WHIIIIING!

"Get into formation!"

at the incoming attack, the three

back, they got into a triangular formation and frantically moved

appearance of this formation, three powerful mana signatures that were all dark green in color surged out from the bodies