Let's go back to the moment before Nea was abducted.

In the same dark cave, a white light suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Several shadows gradually emerged from the stream of light, one by one, stepping out of the pure white brightness. It was none other than the members of Team 4, Finix's team. As soon as all the members had passed through, the light gradually disappeared, and everything again plunged into darkness.

* Ugh, another pitch-dark place, unbelievable with these portals; they're always placed in spots like this. Hey, Cain, can you give us some light here?

Liana's grumbling voice echoed in the dark cave. Immediately, Cain turned around, his sea-blue eyes shining brightly in the darkness. Right then, a beam of light shone directly into Cain's eyes, causing him to turn away instantly due to the glare.

* Never mind! I've got a flashlight here.

Liana cheerfully twirled her flashlight around, casting erratic beams of light.

* Oh! Cain, look over there; there's some light. It must be the way out. Let's go!

Liana urged Cain, but noticing he was silent and seemingly annoyed, she quickly realized he was slightly irritated.

* Ha ha ha, sorry, don't be so quick to sulk!

As she spoke, Liana laughed and playfully thumped Cain on the back.

* It's convenient. Now that we have Hyun, we don't have to worry about the flashlight running out of batteries. Hey, where's Selene?? SELENEEEEEEEE??

Liana spun around, searching.

* She might be waiting outside.

Hyun spoke up.

Liana directed her flashlight towards the solitary light, and the group slowly approached the cave's mouth. Before long, they found themselves in a strange new terrain. Liana's eyes lit up when she saw a figure in a dark hooded cloak standing motionless.

* Selene!

Liana called out, but Selene didn't react. Curious, Liana approached and asked:

* What's going on? Is there someone around here?

Only then did Selene turn around, hesitating slightly before shaking her head.

* Let's get to work if there's nothing suspicious around here.

Cain addressed the group, then turned his gaze to Hyun:

* Hyun, this is your first field mission, so try to keep up with us.

* Come on, Cain, don't be too harsh on him right from the start. Hyun, since it's your first mission, follow what we told you. And don't wander off and get lost.

* Understood, Captain Liana.

Hyun responded clearly and confidently.

* Ha ha! You don't need to be so formal; call me Liana as usual.

* Um... but, Captain, I mean Liana, those two have already gone ahead.

Liana turned around to see Cain and Selene already disappearing into the forest. She grumbled:

* That damn Cain! I hadn't even given the signal to start, and he's already taken off!!

Then Liana quickly followed them, with Hyun and a dozing Violet on his back trailing behind. Hyun curiously asked:

* Hey Liana, who usually looks after Violet during missions?

* Violet? Oh, she doesn't really need anyone to watch over her. She sleeps soundly during the day like this. But it's gonna be different at night. Just wait, you'll see.

As the group departed, two figures emerged from the dense forest. One of the figures breathed a sigh of relief and said:

* Phew! That was close to being discovered.

The other remained silent, advancing towards the dark cave. The first quickly followed, calling out:

* Wait up, my friend. Wait for me!

The leading figure paused at the cave entrance, turning to his companion with eyes full of murderous intent and emitting a sinister red glow.

* Come on! Don't look at me with those eyes. Save that look for your friend.

With a sly grin, the leading figure stepped into the dark cave, followed closely by his wary ally.

***

A while later, Liana and Hyun finally caught up with Cain and Selene, standing at the edge of a cliff, observing the valley and hills before them. Cain spoke up without even looking back:

* You two are too slow.

Liana rested her chin on her hand, looking at Cain with a thoughtful expression:

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"I wonder if I should kick this arrogant prick down the cliff?"

As if reading Liana's thoughts, Cain immediately said:

* Liana, remember you're the team leader. Be serious. Hyun! It's time to survey the terrain here.

Cain gave Hyun a meaningful glance, and he instantly knew what to do. Hyun opened his large backpack, releasing dozens of small drones into the air. The group watched the drones scatter in all directions. Once they reached a certain height, Hyun switched them to stealth mode using his wristwatch. Cain asked curiously:

* How long does it usually take them to scan the entire area?

Hyun replied:

* It should take about an hour.

* Oh, that's faster than you, Cain. Modern technology is advanced. Sigh! If only "someone" had learned to use this earlier, it would have saved us a lot of trouble.

Liana's teasing remarks struck a nerve with Cain, who immediately retorted:

* Hey! Who are you calling technologically inept?

* You, Mr. Slowpoke.

* Humph! You think you're better, tech-blind.

* Who did you call an old hag, you old goat??

* What?? Are you deaf, you buffalo!!

* Eh? Who are you calling buffalo, you shorty!!

Cain and Liana's eyes flashed with blue and red lightning while Selene and Hyun stood outside, attentively observing their verbal duel. Hyun whispered:

* It's surprising to see Cain, usually calm and composed, flare up like this. They must be close. But are they always like this?

Selene nodded vigorously in agreement.

After a back-and-forth exchange, both eventually stopped – partly because Cain didn't bother to continue and partly because it seemed Liana had enough fun teasing Cain. She haughtily gave an order:

* Let's find a place to set up camp for the night. Hyun, have you spotted any lovely places for camping yet?

* Let's see, we need a safe place to camp...

* Uhm... somewhere with a poetic scenery.

* A place that's hard to be discovered...

* Uhm... somewhere with a cool breeze under the moonlight.

* A secluded spot...

* It should be beautiful, too.

* Beautiful...

* Uhm, exactly!!

"We're not going on a picnic trip!!" - Hyun sweated profusely.

As Cain had regained his composure, he adjusted his demeanour and calmly suggested:

* While we wait for those machines to finish scanning the terrain, we should head to the top of that hill for a better view. This spot needs to be higher.

* Oh, that sounds reasonable; let's go!

Liana, full of enthusiasm, invited Selene to lead the way while Cain stayed back for a moment to instruct Hyun:

* Try to keep up with us.

Then, they both set off. The path up the mountain was rough and treacherous, but only for Hyun. The other three members moved swiftly and effortlessly, almost as if flying. After some struggle, Hyun finally reached the top. The view from the hilltop was much more transparent, offering a better perspective of the surrounding landscape.

The electronic watch on Hyun's wrist beeped twice, signalling an update:

* Everyone, we now have a map of this area.

A three-dimensional model of the terrain within a 100-kilometre radius appeared from Hyun's watch. The landscape was primarily a mountainous forest with a few scattered villages. Most notably, a mountain range was near them, extending in a circle resembling a stadium but about ten times larger. The valley inside it also housed several villages. More intriguing was a significant fortification structure on the mountain cliff, stretching from the peak down to about a third of the valley.

Cain murmured a spell under his breath. Raising his hand, he cast a spell towards the sky, hitting one of the drones and then spreading the magic to the others. A circle of magic appeared beneath Hyun's three-dimensional projection. Tiny dots of light began to emerge on the map. The group noticed two large red dots close to each other, and Cain glanced at the group as if he had something to say. Hyun, somewhat confused, asked:

* Is something wrong?

* Hyun, I've just enchanted your drones so we can identify the location of those carrying seals, which usually appear as large red dots. But here, we have two of them.

* That's impossible!

Liana exclaimed in shock. She crossed her arms, deep in thought, and then spoke:

* We need to split into two groups now. Cain and Selene will scout the situation. Hyun and I will look for a camping spot. Remember, just recon, no rash actions. Stay in touch, and I'll come to assist if needed.

Seeing Liana finally taking charge a bit, Cain breathed a sigh of relief and then went with Selene to scout the situation. The location of the two individuals possessed great energy; one was slightly far from the position of the spatial gate, while the other was right near the gate. Both decided first to investigate the area near the gate. After about 30 minutes, Cain and Selene returned to the spot the group had just left. As soon as they arrived, they immediately noticed something unusual. The trees and rocks were in disarray, revealing a gigantic stone gate under the clear sky. A fierce battle had just occurred here, but strangely, none had sensed anything. Cain looked at Selene and succinctly concluded:

* A barrier.

Selene looked at the remaining traces on the ground, appearing to have discovered something near the gate. Seeing Selene standing frozen in place, Cain approached her. What he saw also changed his expression. In Selene's hand was Nea's backpack. Before they could speculate about the situation, a loud noise erupted.

BOOM

Immediately after, Hyun's voice came through the earpiece.

* Cain... Selene... do you read me... the signal is still weak.

* I hear you, Hyun.

* Cain, one of the red dots has disappeared, and the other is moving considerably, not far from your location. I'll send you the coordinates.

Selene and Cain immediately moved without even looking at the coordinates Hyun had sent. Their instincts told them that their target was definitely at the source of the noise, and perhaps Nea was there as well. They moved as quickly as they could, dashing through the dense forest, leaping down a ravine tens of meters deep, following the trail of blood on the ground. Finally, they arrived at the location, but it seemed they were too late. Before them now lay a lifeless, blood-stained body.