CHAPTER 184: EX 184. FIVE ALTARS

The battle hadn’t ended with the fall of the giant mole beast.

Before Ethan could even draw another breath, a voice echoed across the clearing, sharp and commanding.

"Starfall Barrage."

The air shifted. Dots, tiny, glowing green markers, blossomed in the sky above, dozens upon dozens, locking onto every surviving monster. The beasts froze, trembling under an invisible weight of dread. Then came the sound; twang, the unmistakable release of a bowstring.

In the next heartbeat, the sky rained death. Energy-forged arrows tore downward, each one finding its mark with brutal precision. Screeches rose, cut short as arrowheads pierced hide and bone. In seconds, the clearing went silent, littered with the corpses of beasts too terrified to run.

Ethan and his squad stood rooted to the ground. Even Caleb, who never flinched, betrayed something close to shock, though on his expressionless face, it was little more than a twitch of the eye.

Their gazes snapped toward the edge of the trees. A figure stood there, slim and cloaked in green, a black mask hiding most of their face. From beneath the hood spilled a few strands of pristine white hair, bright even in the gloom.

"Thank you for helping us," Ethan said. The strangers head, then dipped slightly, eyes flicking downward as though studying something no one else could see. Then, just as quickly, they looked up, they gave the faintest nod, and vanished into the forest with effortless speed.

Zoe blinked after them. "What... was that about?"

"I don’t know," Chloe said, exhaling, her eyes still locked on the trees. "But her archery skills are out of this world. Don’t you agree, Captain?"

Ethan didn’t answer at first. He was still staring at the path the figure had taken, mind replaying the scene. Finally, Chloe’s question cut through his haze.

"Yes," he said, slowly. "They were... good."

He forced himself to turn back to his squad. "We return to the settlement, and report the altar. And this time... let’s be more careful."

"All right, Captain," they replied in unison.

The squad began their march back, their footsteps crunching over the battlefield. Ethan followed, but his mind lingered on the green-cloaked archer.

’Who was that? I know every trial taker in the settlement and none uses a bow like that. Could they be new?’

The thought turned darker. He remembered the way their eyes had lingered on him before leaving.

’Were they sizing me up?’

He shook the thought off, berating himself.

’No. I’m overthinking it.’

Still, as the forest closed around them, the image of the white-haired figure lingered, refusing to leave his mind.

****

The squad finally reached the settlement, the defensive walls looming over them like a protective barrier against the chaos of the wilds. Dust clung to their boots, the fatigue of the mission weighing on their shoulders.

Ethan turned to his squad, his voice calm but steady. "You guys can wait at our residence. I’ll go and report the mission details to the center."

They nodded without question. Ethan carried himself with quiet authority, and after what they’d just survived, no one felt the need to argue. The group broke off toward the small cluster of buildings that served as their quarters, while Ethan headed down the main path leading deeper into the settlement.

The center loomed ahead, larger and more fortified than the other structures. Inside, the air was cooler, the walls lined with neatly arranged shelves of reports and files. He made his way to the reporting area, a new section set up at the insistence of Ben Stallion himself. The man had taken the discovery of altars so seriously that he’d constructed a special chamber just for squads to file their findings.

Standing before a desk carved with the Federation’s crest, Ethan gave his report in detail. The pyramid-like altar, its strange presence, the aura that lingered around it. He left nothing out. The officer on duty noted everything down, sealing the parchment before tucking it away for official confirmation. Ethan gave a curt nod and left the area. His mission was done. Now came the waiting, the part every trial taker disliked. Until the special unit confirmed the altar, there would be no rewards.

By evening, the center was quiet save for the scratching of pens and the low hum of lamps. In his office, Ben Stallion sat behind a heavy oak desk, the yellow glow of the bulb above catching the smooth curve of his bald head. His eyes moved carefully over the documents spread before him.

Five. Only five. That was the number of confirmed altars discovered so far in the mortal zone. For anyone else, it would have been disappointing. For Ben, it was expected. Rank D, Tier VII altars were the pinnacle of what the mortal zone could birth. Anything higher simply didn’t exist here.

He leaned back in his chair, sighing as he picked up the first report.

A temple, like altar, nestled in the heart of a volcanic region.

The second, an impossibly tall tower that pierced the sky.

The third, an altar carved into the side of a mountain.

The fourth, a tomb-like structure buried deep beneath the earth.

And the fifth, the pyramid altar Ethan’s squad had uncovered.

Ben tapped the edge of the parchment against the desk, his brow furrowed. "I should pick one that’ll be safest for the Colonel..." His voice trailed, the thought unfinished. Before he gave a small, dry laugh and shook his head. "What am I even thinking? The Colonel could tackle all of them without blinking. It doesn’t matter which one he starts with."

Closing the files with a firm hand, Ben neatly stacked them together. Decision made. There was no need for him to overthink what someone like Leon could or could not handle.

He stood, the chair creaking as it shifted back, and gathered the reports into a sealed folder. His next step was clear. Tonight, he would contact Leon.

****

Steam still lingered in the air of the squad residence as Leon stepped out from the shower, running a towel through his damp white hair. His muscles ached faintly from the spar with Nikko, but the tension felt good, it reminded him he was alive, sharpened, and moving forward. Just as he pulled his shirt over his shoulders, the communicator on the table pulsed with a faint blue glow.

He tapped it. The steady voice of the commander filtered through. The message was short, but enough to light a grin across Leon’s face.

When he turned, Elizabeth was watching him from the couch, her long hair spilling across her shoulder as she tied it back. She raised a brow at the sight of his rare, unguarded smile.

"What happened?" she asked.

Leon dropped onto the armrest beside her, eyes gleaming. "It seems the stars are showering us with favor. Five Rank D, Tier VII altars have been found, right when we needed one to clear."

Elizabeth’s lips parted, stunned. "Five? At once? Are those... easy to find nowadays?"