After getting caught in the middle of their retreat, the rest of the rescue team looked dejected. They were ambushed in almost all directions—from the front, left, and right. In other words, their enemies had already been aware of their trespassing. The rescue team struggled, but they had been relying on the element of surprise and were greatly outnumbered. Thus, they thought they would die helplessly at the hands of their enemies.

But for some reason, the Indigenous Monster Alliance took them as captives and brought them back to the city. As if they were going to publicly execute all of them, they raised their swords and screeched for others to come out. The rescue team had no idea what was going on. They heard murmurings from around them. Shadia blankly looked up, and her eyes widened. A temple was revealed in the once empty space.

She might have seen it wrong, but Shadia felt a strange sensation like the time she had first seen the Academy in the capital. Everyone—those who were screaming, searching for something, or roaming about—all stopped what they were doing to look at the temple.

Some time later, the tightly sealed stone door opened, and a young man walked out leisurely. After descending the stairs, Chi-Woo looked around. Although he appeared calm on the outside,...