Chapter 441: The Tracking Shadow
Alexander stood up in the center of the crater, exhaling a sigh as the fog of his berserk state cleared from his mind. Through that entire ordeal, he had felt like a prisoner inside his body; the thirst for blood had been an experience he never wished to relive.
He inspected his chest. The cuirass of [Lord of the Night] was cracked in several places from the impact of the Divine Judgment, exposing his skin beneath. However, thanks to [Divine Regeneration Lvl 1], his flesh and bones began knitting together and healing at speed.
"That light technique nearly wiped me out," said Alexander, adjusting his gauntlets as the armor regenerated alongside his injuries.
He locked his gaze on the horizon, where the surviving officer’s silhouette was growing distant. Alexander had no idea how to return to the outside world—no one at the TMC shelter had briefed him—making the fleeing soldier his guide.
"I can’t let him slip away," muttered Alexander, channeling the camouflage properties of his skill.
His physical body and presence dissolved into the surrounding shadows of the wasteland. Blending with the darkness of The Breach and maintaining a distance, Alexander stalked the officer without the man suspecting his presence.
The soldier ran without pausing, driven by the terror of being caught. He stumbled over jagged rocks, dodged deep fissures, and burned through his stamina while cold sweat drenched his face. The trek stretched on for hours across the hostile landscape.
Finally, after navigating through a canyon, the soldier spotted a fortified structure in the distance.
"Open the gates! Federation emergency code!" shrieked the soldier, his voice ragged from exhaustion, as he collapsed before the entrance of the nearest Federation military shelter.
From the shadows atop the ridge, Alexander’s crimson eyes watched the fortress while a smirk touched his lips.
"At last... we’ve arrived," whispered Alexander, remaining concealed within the darkness.
Inside the shelter’s command center, three high-ranking commanders listened with incredulous expressions as the surviving officer trembled, clutching a glass of water with bloodied hands.
"That thing wasn’t an ordinary mist monster!" yelled the officer, glancing around the room. "It devoured the squad! Even the General’s Divine Judgment only served to make it stronger!"
"Calm yourself, soldier," ordered the lead commander, slamming his fist onto the control console. "The General was one of the Federation’s most resilient defenses in this sector. Are you telling me a single entity wiped out her group in a matter of minutes?"
"It wasn’t a being from this world!" said the officer, squeezing the glass until it cracked. "It wore a crown of bone, had eyes red as blood, and a mantle of shadows that absorbed every attack... It babbled about blood before slaughtering us all!"
Concealed within the ceiling of the room, blended into the darkness of the ventilation duct thanks to [Lord of the Night], Alexander listened to every word without making a sound.
"This is critical," said the second commander, adjusting the holographic display. "If that abomination is roaming the tectonic fault, it will jeopardize the extraction of the relic in the newly discovered ruins."
"What about the escape route?" asked the third commander. "If that entity reaches the primary transit portals, the earth will be at risk."
"The evacuation portal to the central sector activates in two hours," explained the lead commander, typing on his console. "No one enters or leaves this shelter until capital reinforcements arrive to investigate."
In the darkness of the duct, Alexander’s crimson eyes gleamed upon hearing the portal’s activation time.
Alexander glided through the ventilation ducts like living shadow, utilizing the base’s darkness to pinpoint key junctions. He had no intention of waiting two hours; he needed them to open the escape route immediately.
Sliding down to the sub-level, he located the primary generator room.
"Time to speed things up," said Alexander.
Extending his hand from the gloom, he released a tendril of dark energy that seeped into the facility’s mana core, overloading the circuits. The console sparked before exploding.
The base lights flickered and died, replaced by the red glare of emergency beacons. A siren echoed through every corridor.
SECURITY ALERT! CRITICAL FAILURE IN MANA CORE! INITIATING EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROTOCOL!
Inside the command center, chaos erupted among the commanders.
"What is happening?! Did the core collapse?!" shouted the lead commander, staring at consoles flooded with error codes.
"Sir, containment systems are failing!" warned the second commander. "If we don’t open the portal right now, we’ll be trapped in the rift with no power!"
"Activate the evacuation portal immediately! Everyone to the transit bay!" commanded the lead commander.
Concealed above the doorway of the command room, Alexander watched the officers race toward the main hall. A smile touched his lips as the black mist of [Lord of the Night] draped over him, following behind as they rushed toward the portal.
Amidst the stampede of Federation personnel surging toward the transit bay, the surviving officer tried to hold back the crowd, clinging to the doorway frame with wide eyes.
"Don’t open it! That’s what it wants! Stop everything!" shrieked the officer, trying to block the way.
However, the widespread panic meant no one paid him mind. The lead commander, furious at the insubordination and eager to escape The Breach, shoved his way through and delivered a punch to the officer’s stomach.
The impact doubled the soldier over onto the ground, knocking the breath out of him.
"If you want to stay, stay by yourself! Otherwise, shut up!" barked the lead commander, seizing him by the collar. "Today was my last day in this godforsaken place! I’m not waiting another second for an imaginary creature, you hear me?!"
The commander shoved the officer onto the floor and bolted with the rest toward the evacuation portal’s ring, whose bluish radiance began rotating, illuminating the bay.
"Everyone inside, now!" shouted the platform guard.
Concealed within the smoke of the destroyed core and the ceiling shadows, Alexander watched the scene as the mist of [Lord of the Night] shrouded his form.
"Thank you for opening the door," thought Alexander.
Without making a sound, Alexander glided through the air like an imperceptible shadow, passing beside the commander and stepping through the threshold of the evacuation portal amidst the chaos, ready to return to Earth.