Chapter 192: First Look at a Sky Gate
The lieutenant is the expert.
As soon as he said to brace, Kai and the others prepared themselves for whatever was waiting on the other side. But when the ramp dropped open to reveal a green plain, there was nothing on the other side.
A frown crept to Kai’s face behind the mask.
"Come on out," the lieutenant said, walking ahead.
He curled his index finger over his shoulder repeatedly, gesturing for them to follow him.
Kai and the others followed.
But as they walked down the ramp to exit the ship, they realized something was wrong.
It was Barbara who noticed it first.
She noticed her breathing had already grown heavy just from descending the ramp, almost as if she had run a marathon in those few steps. In the next second—she stumbled in her last step down the ramp and collapsed to her knees.
One hand flew to her throat as she gasped for air that wouldn’t come.
And like a domino effect, Kai and Bree followed.
Both wobbled and fell to their knees; their breaths were short and desperate.
"Hahhk!"
Kai gasped; it felt like he was being choked by an invisible hand.
He looked up at the lieutenant and saw that he was fine. Not on the ground gasping.
"Anyone, even a Supernal, would die from suffocation quickly in the Second Sky without their masks. Awakened Supernals like you would only survive for five minutes at the longest." The lieutenant placed two hands on his back. "Not only that, the air here is different. Let’s say that it’s more corrupted.
"Even with a proper mask on, you still would need to adapt to the air first."
Once again, Kai and the others would appreciate it if he had warned them clearly.
Not vaguely say to brace themselves as he said earlier.
But it seemed the professors and even the military people loved to teach through experience.
A method that would certainly make one learn fast.
Just that it’s extremely unpleasant and, in this case, really painful.
Since the mask isn’t airtight, the outside air still played a crucial role. The Ox Leaves enriched it with oxygen, but they didn’t change its fundamental composition. If the air is foul, then it’ll still remain foul but oxygen-rich.
In a place like this, even oxygen-rich air wasn’t enough to make breathing truly safe.
It’s probably why the lieutenant is wearing such complicated equipment.
For five agonizing minutes, Kai, Bree, and Barbara endured a state of suspended—between breath and asphyxiation. Their bodies slowly, painfully adjusted to the foul air. Each of them succumbed at least once, blacking out from the strain.
But the lieutenant was always there, dragging them back to consciousness with a taser.
Among the three, Barbara had it worse.
Perhaps because of the muscles she carried, she passed out three times.
"Oh, five minutes," the lieutenant nodded—in acknowledgment. His eyes then settled on Kai, "For a Lesser Angel, your body is quite strong. Now I understand why the Eventide Academy would even entertain the idea of sending you here."
Kai rose to his feet, still breathing heavily, "What’s the average?"
"About eight minutes."
"What about normal people like you? Does that thing on your back make it safe to breathe?"
"Not entirely. Just like Supernals, we also need to adjust, and the process is even more tedious. But why would you even want to know about that? You’re a Supernal. Come. Let’s meet your seniors."
Moments later.
The lieutenant gunned the black café-racer across the grassy plain.
Its engine had a low, throaty growl that reached far.
Kai and the others ran alongside him on foot; their strides were effortless and their breathing steady. The difference in physicality between a Supernal and a normal person made this kind of arrangement inevitable—without the motorbike, the lieutenant wouldn’t be able to lead the way.
Stood no chance of keeping up.
In fact, one of them would need to carry him the whole way.
Not a problem for them as lifting an adult man is easy with their strength—but the lieutenant probably did not want that, so he prepared his motorbike. He twisted the throttle backwards and pushed the motorbike to fifty miles per hour—while smoking a cigarette with his other free hand.
Police didn’t exist in the Second Sky.
And thus, nobody is going to stop him from driving his motorbike however he wants.
Kai and the others especially wouldn’t say anything.
A figure materialized in the distance, standing alone amid the swaying grass while watching the horizon with his back straight. He turned when he heard the thrumming engine and saw the lieutenant alongside the three juniors.
Once the figure’s mask was clear, Kai and the others recognized him instantly.
Senior Asher—the signature two long points that rose from the mask’s temples gave him away.
Even with his face hidden behind the mask, he looked every bit the fierce, no-nonsense soldier the image had promised. A strong jaw was suggested by the mask’s contours—weathered skin visible at the edges, and sharp eyes that seemed to measure and weigh everything.
But when Kai and the others arrived before him, Asher smiled politely.
It could be seen through the squint of his eyes.
And the façade of a fierce and no-nonsense man cracked.
His face and posture might be scary, but the warmth radiating from him was undeniable.
Barbara straightened her back, "Reporting for duty, Sir!"
Both Kai and Bree followed, giving the respect that Asher’s existence demanded as an Angel who had been protecting mankind—for years. As Angels who had gone through the initiation to this harsh world, they could imagine how hard it must be for someone to survive as long as Asher had.
"No need for formalities." Asher raised a hand, gesturing for them to be at ease. "It’s good to see that you’ve arrived safely. How was it? How was the experience?"
"It’s certainly new, Sir."
"I wanted to vomit the entire way."
"Exciting."
Asher turned his eyes towards Kai, who seemed to be completely fine.
"You’re the Lesser Angel, aren’t you?"
"Yes, Sir."
"I don’t mean this to offend you, but how did you survive this long?"
"I get that a lot, Sir. Don’t worry," Kai smiled sheepishly as everyone practically had that exact question in mind after seeing him survive the Blood Rite. "I only have one Divine Lock, but I think it’s a mutated one, Sir. I can store more mana in it than normal."
"You don’t say..." Asher nodded, satisfied with the answer.
"In that case, I will leave them to you, Young Asher," the lieutenant snapped a salute from the seat of his motorbike, holding Asher’s gaze. Once he received a nod in return, he twisted the throttle while the brake was still engaged; the rear tire bit against the ground—as he pivoted the bike in a tight arc.
Then he released, and the machine surged forward, carrying him away in a fading roar.
"He does love his bike." Asher shook his head.
Sometimes he wondered whether the lieutenant accepted being assigned to the Second Sky— simply because he wanted to ride his bike without any laws binding him, as he never wasted a single chance to ride his bike.
But that’s not important right now.
Asher focused back on his three juniors and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.
"That’s the Sky Gate we’re going to tackle."
Kai had noticed it from the start. He’d tried to keep his focus on Asher, but his attention kept slipping, pulled toward the horizon by something impossible to ignore. His eyes drifted there now, locking onto a sight he’d only ever glimpsed in flickering news broadcasts.
A Sky Gate.
It hung horizontally in the sky.
A vast and silent swirling vortex of white energy; its edges rippled with distortions that made the air around it shimmer like heat over sun-scorched stone. On screen, it had already been endearing. Beautiful, even.
Here, beneath its full and terrible presence, it was surreal.
Beyond that gate lay another dimension; the theories surrounding it were endless.
Some said it was a fabricated pocket dimension that was manifested through the gathering of corruption and power from the Star Beasts, while some claimed it was an area within the Blue Void that was tethered to the world.
No one knew for certain.
But what was certain was the death toll.
Countless Supernals had entered Sky Gates like this and never returned.
Even the Supernals of the Olympian Gods had fallen to the danger that lies beyond.
Kai should’ve felt nervous; this was his first Sky Gate. His first real step into the real world of the senior Angels. But the nervousness he had braced for never came. Instead, something else in him was stirred.
A heat in his chest; a low and primal hum that coiled through his veins.
Bloodlust. Anticipation.
And beneath it, in the deeper part of him—there was a sense of strangeness that he could not really grasp. As if some buried part of him was riled up by the sight of this Sky Gate. He then blinked and realized the heat was real.
His Primordial Bloodline was actually stirred.
Roused by the Sky Gate’s presence.
He was confused for a second until he remembered something. Remembered one thing that he learned recently after killing a Star Beast and feeding on it using the Deep Slumber Legacy Skill.
That the House of Night somehow loves to be fed with Star Beasts.
"Your main task is to assist the Assault Unit by carrying their gear and harvesting precious materials such as the Null Gems and Fragments that the Star Beasts would drop," Asher said with stern emphasis. "Stay at a safe distance behind us, and don’t engage. Losing even one of you would be trouble for me. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir!" Kai and the others replied in unison.
As long as things didn’t escalate, this mission should be easy enough for them.
Staying safe is far easier than killing a Star Beast.
"Good." Asher took something out of his pocket and tossed it at them. "Use those to store the gears and precious materials that you gathered. Press the button, and you’ll understand what it was."
Kai pressed a small button, and the leather pouch suddenly grew larger.
It turned into a big sack.
He tried putting the Blood-phantom Scimitar in it and closing it again, and surprisingly—it still returned to a leather pouch, making it easy for them to store things. How in Zeus’ name? Is it a new tech? No, it must be made with mana.
"Come." Asher turned around and walked. "Let’s meet up with the others and gear up."
A few steps in, he paused and looked over his shoulder.
"Oh, we decided to accept more aid, so there’s also another group of juniors like you."
"Another group? From the Eventide Academy?"
"No. They are from the Aurelian Academy."
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