Date: June 16, 2018 (Saturday)
Location: GDA Central Command, Geneva, Switzerland
Time: 09:00 AM
Exactly two days had passed since the first great battle. Inside the subterranean bunker of GDA Central Command, the air remained heavy and cold. Aris stood before Richard's desk, his face etched with visible exhaustion and lingering traces of fear.
In his hand, he held a glowing data-pad containing the final casualty report.
"Director," Aris began, his voice carrying a slight tremor. "We have lost 98.9% of the mutants in the Dangers Division. Those who survived are only C-Rank or higher. Everyone else... has been wiped out."
Richard's fifty-four-year-old veteran face remained devoid of emotion. He absorbed the devastating news as if it were a mere routine statistic. His focus was not on the lives lost, but on the price paid for those deaths and what it had bought them.
"Very well," Richard replied coldly. "What is the status of the Essence Stones we collected?"
Aris swiped the screen on his data-pad, projecting a sharp holographic blueprint into the air.
"Sir, the magical structure of those stones made them impossible to forge through ordinary means. Normal blast furnaces failed, and using plasma heat simply turned the stones into useless ash. Our scientists had to pivot to a new logic."
"They crushed the low-tier Essence Stones into 'Essence Dust' and mixed it with Earth's strongest Titanium alloy," Aris continued. "This 'Hybrid Alloy' isn't pure Magitech, but we have successfully forged weapons from it. All Mana Cores are secured in heavy-security vaults."
Richard stood up, his voice steady and clinical.
"It is a logical workaround. Until we find a 'Blacksmith' class mutant, we cannot create an internal mana flow within these weapons. However, this is a start. Mutants can now coat a thick layer of mana on these hybrid weapons from the outside. The Essence Dust within the alloy will hold that mana, ensuring these weapons do not shatter in three minutes like ordinary iron."
Richard walked toward the main screen, his mind calculating the next move. Suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence. His internal senses detected a violent shift in the atmosphere. A wave of extreme, suffocating mana density surged through the bunker's heavy walls.
He pulled the live feed from the surveillance drones at Geneva Ground Zero onto the main screen. What appeared was a literal nightmare.
In the center of the ruined square stood a massive, twenty-foot-tall gate. Its frame was constructed from a thick, glowing boundary of Essence and Mana stones. At its center was a swirling, purple-red spatial vortex.
The gate leaked a terrifyingly heavy mana that sent nearby rubble flying into the air. While the staff in the bunker gasped in horror, Richard's heart rate remained perfectly normal. His 'Basic Knowledge' skill had hardwired this pattern into his brain before going silent.
"Aris," Richard ordered, his tone like ice. "I told you the threat would come. Bring the new Hybrid Alloy weapons here immediately. I am going inside that Hell Gate."
Aris stepped forward in a panic. "But Sir! That gate is twenty feet high, and the mana readings are off the charts. This is pure suicide!"
Richard turned to look at Aris. His S-Rank aural shadow seemed to drop the room's temperature below freezing.
"The real game has only just begun, Aris," Richard said in a sharp, straight voice. "Carry out your administrative duties as ordered. I will enter the Hell Gate alone."
Without another word, Richard turned and walked toward the heavy steel doors of the bunker, his silhouette disappearing into the shadow of the corridor.