The battle to retrieve the Relic of the Seven Stars had begun.
At the edge of the Monolith Barrier—a place where human presence was almost never seen—
Twenty-nine teams of Civil Officers had gathered.
Though these individuals were all high-ranking and elite among the Civil Officers, not a single one of them wore a relaxed expression.
In truth, even for them—Leaving the protection of the Monolith Barrier and heading into the outside world was extremely rare.
Though many among them had the strength to take down Stage Three Gastrea solo,
Outside the barrier—
Gastrea were nearly endless.
And bullets made from varanium metal would eventually run out.
Meanwhile, the Gastrea's strength and speed were far beyond human limits. Even a Stage One, if you lacked a varanium weapon or got distracted for a second—Could kill you.
Satomi Rentaro was not among these teams.
Since he didn't have an Initiator, he had been assigned to support duties—
Providing backup for the Civil Officers in action.
In a secret location somewhere in the Tokyo Area—
Several company presidents from Civil Officer contracting firms, along with top officials from the Tokyo government, had gathered.
On a large central screen, footage of the Monolith Barrier's outer perimeter was being broadcast—
Via drones.
To avoid being attacked by flying Gastrea, the drones used for this live feed had been crafted from pure varanium, making them extraordinarily expensive due to technological limitations.
The Tokyo Area only had three of these drones.
Naturally, Tendou Kisara, as a company president, was among those present.
That wasn't surprising.
What was surprising—Was that Haruto was there as well.
The room had fallen somewhat silent.
Whether it was the other company heads or the Tokyo high-ranking officials, they all looked at Haruto with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.
This mysterious youth—
Had appeared out of nowhere and driven away Hiruko Kagetane, the very instigator of the Seven Star Relic incident.
He had single-handedly broken into the meeting site and nearly crippled several Civil Officers.
None of them had ever heard of such a powerful figure existing in the Tokyo Area.
Because of the connection to Kagetane, they speculated that Haruto must be a mechanized soldier from the 787th Special Unit.
But they still couldn't understand—
Why someone so powerful was sitting here in a conference room, instead of out there helping to retrieve the relic.
Among them, the government officials were the most puzzled.
They had sent inquiries to Seitenshi regarding Haruto, and the reply they received was as mysterious as the boy himself:
"Just ignore him."
In short:
Treat him like air.
Do not give him orders, do not try to stop him from doing anything, and if he requests something—do your best to comply.
"Why is Satomi Rentaro staying behind?" Haruto suddenly asked, pointing to the screen.
In the footage, the teams of Civil Officers had begun advancing into the forest beyond the barrier—But Satomi Rentaro was still at the edge, remaining with Tokyo's military forces.
"That Civil Officer wasn't assigned an Initiator, so he was placed in support instead," replied a staff member responsible for logistics.
Haruto ignored him and turned to look at Tendo Kisara.
She gave a wry smile.
She understood what Haruto meant by asking that question.
After all, Satomi Rentaro was an adopted child of the Tendo family, and had left the family alongside her.
Which meant—
Kisara knew a lot more about Rentaro than the others did.
Like the fact that he was also part of the 787th Mechanized Special Unit—a result of the New Human Creation Project.
His left eye, right arm, and right leg had all been replaced with varanium cybernetic limbs.
His left eye functioned like a miniature computer—
When his augmentations were activated, he could analyze an enemy's movement patterns, predict their attacks, and assist in combat with something akin to future sight.
His right arm and leg housed bullets, allowing him to generate explosive propulsion for superhuman maneuvers.
He could even perform long-range attacks far more lethal than standard firearms.
In other words—
Even without an Initiator, Satomi Rentaro alone was likely the strongest Civil Officer involved in this mission.
So why was the strongest person placed in support?
If he were a selfish person, the answer might be simple—
He didn't want to risk his life for some mission, so he hid his true abilities.
That would be understandable.
But Rentaro isn't like that.
He's a kind person—a good man.
"Rentaro… is a contradictory guy."
That was all Kisara could say in the end.
Haruto nodded.
The chances of success in this game had now plummeted to near zero.
Relying only on the Civil Officers to retrieve the Seven Star Relic within the time limit—
The probability was virtually nonexistent.
In contrast—
If a recovery team were formed with Rentaro at the center, the chances of victory would increase dramatically.
On the screen—
The twenty-nine Civil Officer teams had already exited the Monolith Barrier.
And they hadn't gone far before—
Gunfire erupted from within the forest.
The battle had begun.
About half an hour later—
The first group of Civil Officers flatlined on the vitals monitor.
The Promoter confirmed dead.
The Initiator missing.
After that, the shrill alerts of vitals going dark kept echoing.
There were only twelve Stage Five Gastrea in the world.
Stage Fours were also extremely rare.
But Stage Threes were as common as weeds.
Outside the Monolith Barrier, encountering two Stage Threes at once was a very real possibility. And when that happened—Any Civil Officer not ranked in the top 1000 was as good as dead.
Even those between 500 and 1000 were highly likely to be seriously injured—
Whether from Gastrea infection, or from another ambush.
The chances of survival were slim to none.
The mood in the conference room turned grim.
No one was paying attention to the anomaly that was Haruto anymore. All eyes were locked on the screen and the vital signs monitor.
If they couldn't recover the relic before it was released—
Then the Tokyo Area's destruction was practically guaranteed.
Meanwhile—
Among the support units.
Satomi Rentaro looked around in confusion.
He was at the edge of the Monolith Barrier—the dividing line between Tokyo and the outside world.
Below was a dried-up sewer system.
But he didn't see any signs of Cursed Children.
He frowned.
Where had those kids gone?
He'd seen them here the last time he came.
Just as he was wondering that—His phone received a message.
An order from command: The support teams are to follow the marked route and attempt to recover the Seven Star Relic.
Everyone's face went pale.
First, because it meant they'd soon face danger.
Second—and more importantly—
This message confirmed that the 450 Civil Officers already sent ahead had suffered catastrophic casualties.
To the point that they could no longer complete the mission.
And it had only been three hours since they departed.
Clenching his fists, Rentaro dashed out beyond the barrier—
Following the route as quickly as he could.
Along the way, he saw battle scars everywhere.
Dead Gastrea lay scattered around.
And occasionally—a human corpse.
Each one had once been a top-tier Civil Officer.
Now, they were merely symbols of how impossible this mission truly was.
Even though the route had already been cleared—Gastrea kept pouring in from all directions. These mutated beasts had incredibly sharp hearing and smell. Even the support units began suffering heavy casualties.
Rentaro kept helping out where he could—
But mostly, he pushed himself forward, toward the marked location.
"As long as I can recover the Seven Star Relic quickly… everything will be over!"
That was the thought burning in his mind.
Watching Rentaro push forward with all his might—
Haruto shook his head.
Too contradictory.
Fighting so hard for others—yet unwilling to give those same people even the basic trust they deserved in times of crisis.
Why?
Why wait until things were on the verge of collapse—
Before jumping in, revealing your strength, and turning the tide?
Unfortunately—This world was too bleak.
Last-minute heroes didn't end up with admiration.
They only brought tragedy—
Again and again.