SILENCE!

After Axel Storm and the spaceship carrying the three nobles disappeared out of view, an eerie calmness swept over the destruction they had left behind.

At that moment, the scorching and bright noon sun rose, drenching the scene beneath with its golden radiance.

The streets lay bare.

Dozens of tall buildings had collapsed to the ground.

There were so many cracks and dents on the mobile roads that they had become completely unusable.

The largest structure in the area, the coliseum, now lay in ruins—its destruction greater than the others around it.

Floating above the ruined coliseum were twelve alien ships left behind by the Lunaris.

Their sleek steel reflected the rays of the scorching sun, casting deep shadows over the ruins beneath.

Far away from the chaos, the hunters who were previously kneeling finally rose from the ground with looks of relief, quietly celebrating the end of the calamity that had threatened their freedom and peace.

Crimson, holding the unconscious body of Norian, stood up as well and turned to the hunters behind her.

"Take care of things around here while I go check on the injured at the hospital," she instructed gently.

Although she was not the strongest among them, she was the sister of the vice president and someone who had greatly contributed to the Hunter Organization. Because of that, each of them nodded and did as she said.

Dozens of hunters drifted into the ruined battlefield to inspect the aftermath.

Crimson watched them leave, then held her brother tighter before launching into the air, drifting toward the central hospital several streets away—where all the wounded from the just-concluded battle had been taken.

She looked down at her brother's pale face as she flew, and a pang of sadness filled her chest as she imagined the pain he must have endured.

She grew even more emotional when she recalled the reason behind his rage earlier, when he had fought the first Lunaris noble alone.

It made her remember the day they lost their family—and the day they met the alien who had given them the powers that turned two orphans into some of the world's most recognized hunters.

"Please don't die on me, brother… you're the only family I have left," she whispered softly into his ear as tears slipped from her eyes and fell onto his battered body.

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She landed at the entrance of the massive hospital that stretched across a wide expanse of land.

Immediately, staff members rushed out to assist her.

When they saw who she was carrying, panic flashed across their faces—it was the man who had been fighting the aliens before the broadcast ended, after all the cameras had been destroyed in the brawl.

All around the world, only the hunters had witnessed the destruction of the Lunaris and the arrival of Axel Storm. The rest of humanity was still in panic and confusion, wondering what had happened.

These staff members were no exception.

"You have nothing to fear anymore. Axel Storm has taken care of all of them," Crimson said calmly.

Their eyes widened at the mention of that name—the same one they had been repeating in their prayers just minutes ago.

Relief and disbelief mixed in their expressions as they realized their prayers had been answered.

"Please hurry and start treating my brother. He's in a critical state," Crimson ordered before they could linger in shock.

"S-sorry, Lady Crimson!"

They apologized quickly and snapped back into duty mode.

Guiding her inside, they led Crimson through the facility.

The hospital was painted white and kept spotless, but now it was a beehive of activity. Doctors, healers, and nurses rushed from one ward to another, tending to the countless injured.

Those who spotted her immediately rushed forward, and upon seeing who she carried, they quickly led her toward a VIP ward where the best medical staff were stationed.

Crimson stayed for a while before asking one of the nurses to lead her to the room where Marlon was receiving treatment. The nurse happily agreed, as she was among the millions who admired the young hero.

They entered a ward just as neat as the others. On the single bed in the room, Marlon lay peacefully asleep.

"How is he?" Crimson asked.

But there was no response.

She quickly turned to the black-haired nurse in her early thirties, who was staring at Marlon with a dazed look on her face.

Crimson frowned.

"He is only eighteen, you know?" she said coldly.

The nurse snapped out of her daze, flustered and embarrassed, quickly apologizing.

Crimson ignored the apology and repeated the question that had been bothering her.

"How is he?"

"Oh… his brain wasn't severely impacted by the aura surge, so he should wake up in a few hours," the nurse replied.

Crimson nodded. She observed Marlon for a moment, then strolled out of the ward alongside the nurse, entering the noisy passageway.

She took out her phone from her inventory and called Norian's secretary—the same person who handled media for the Hunter Association. She gave precise orders on what to post online and what to send to various channels.

She wanted to fulfill Axel Storm's instructions: to ensure the people knew that the threat was no longer present.

After finishing the call, she left the hospital and flew toward the ruined battlefield to join the others in evaluating the destruction.

It took her about five minutes of flight to meet the other hunters.

After asking about the state of the wounded, she listened as they shared their findings.

According to their report, they had found the corpses of nine out of the ten Lunaris youths who had represented in the competition. They had been killed by the impact of the battle between Norian and his first opponent.

One of them, however, could not be found.

"Our conclusion is that nothing remains of the tenth one," a hunter from Weststone Nation said, "or he must have joined the others to challenge Lord Axel earlier and was wiped out of existence."

"Yeah, we've searched everywhere. We could not allow even one of them to roam freely and cause havoc. But we found nothing," another added.

"But even so, we're sure you can use your special vision to search for him," a third suggested.

Crimson listened calmly.

As the last hunter suggested, she activated her spatial skill. Her eyes turned bright golden as she scanned the area.

With her spatial vision, finding something as small as a corpse was as easy as spotting her own hand.

Nonetheless, after scanning the area for about a minute, there was nothing to be found.

She reported her findings to the hunters, and they finally discarded the topic.

Even if the missing young Lunaris was still alive, what real threat could he pose to them? they wondered.

After the short meeting concluded, the group spread out to cover other areas.

Oswald Ashleigh volunteered to take the alien ships away, intending to research them to improve his own aerospace company.

Six of his massive cargo airships arrived to transport the twelve Lunaris vessels. None of the hunters objected, so the operation proceeded without issue.

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The group spent more time on the site before finally departing.

At that moment, in an isolated section of the demolished coliseum, shadows crept out from under a massive debris pile and gradually materialized into a young Lunaris.

He had been among the ten representatives—and he was their leader.

Even amid the destruction, he remained unscathed.

His eyes burned with extreme rage, bloodshot and clenched with fury as he swore vengeance on the human race.

"I, Zareth, will make you humans pay! Starting with your young hero, Marlon Ashleigh!"

With that declaration, he dematerialized into dark, smoky mist and merged with the shadows left by the debris. Using the surrounding darkness, he navigated his way from the ruins as a lone survivor, fueled by vengeance. His presence and existence were unknown to the world he had sworn to destroy.

Alone, he vowed to defend the honor of the Lunaris.

And speaking of the Lunaris…

The Lunari planet, home to the proud Lunaris, was about to receive a dark visitor or more precisely..the golden visitor.

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