The dimensional tear had been destroyed, but that wasn’t the end. Junhyuk and the experts’ team ran without rest, dealing with the remaining monsters on the way. They joined up with Lucy and the novices at the end.

The monster decomposition liquid worked against C-ranked monsters, but fighting them wasn’t easy. The monster support squad and the j.a.panese Self-Defense Force joined the fight against the monsters.

The B-ranked monsters weren’t showing up in large numbers. They were actually appearing one by one, so Lucy really displayed her skills. Under her command, the novices showed that they could hunt B-ranked monsters. It wasn’t easy. To kill a twin-headed ogre, all of the novices attacking it had to use their powers. Thanks to their concentrated attacks, they were able to kill it.

So, after a while, the novices fought against B-ranked monsters one by one, and the armies and regular human squads took care of the C-ranked monsters.

When Junhyuk arrived, he saw what Lucy had done and was once against astonished by her skill.

That time, the disappearance of the monster area had been a problem caused by him, and all novices had survived through it. They deserved the compliments.

Junhyuk walked over to Lucy and patted her on the shoulder lightly. She was very glad for his support.

—

They had destroyed the j.a.panese dimensional tear, so they were being treated as national heroes.

Junhyuk refused to see anyone after he got back to the hotel. He wanted to get on a flight to South Korea immediately, and the monster support squad helped him with that.

They had flown military airplanes on their way to j.a.pan, but now, they headed back on civilian planes.

They had destroyed the tear, and now, the public knew how powerful the powered people were. The novices hadn’t stopped the dimensional tear, but they had dealt with B-ranked monsters successfully. Therefore, the leaders of the nations decided not to dismantle the novices’ teams.

Once the planes landed, vehicles were there to pick them up. They got in their cars and headed to Guardians HQ.

Junhyuk knew he had to meet them sooner or later. Guardians had called for him, and he had agreed to meet them.

He entered the HQ and saw people waiting for him: Eunseo and the delegates from other countries. They all had cheerful expressions on their faces.

So far, it had been impossible to destroy the dimensional tears. However, they had proved that it was doable now.

As he saw their cheerful expressions, he said calmly, “I must tell you that until the experts’ teams are complete, there won’t be another attack on a monster area.”

They all heard his words and frowned.

“Just wanting more experts doesn’t mean we’ll get more experts.”

Junhyuk replied calmly, “This time, we attacked the monster area without proper preparation, but the border had been punctured, so we had to do it. The powered people are all fine, but there were casualties within the monster support squad and the j.a.panese Self-Defense Force.”

He continued, “We won’t know how many casualties we’ll have with things this way.”

Steve spoke up, “DK, will you attack the dimensional tears once the experts’ teams are formed?”

“Certainly, but the experts’ teams have to be set up.”

Junhyuk thought there had to be more experts around the world. He knew people were hiding their existence, but if they came out in the open, they would be a big help.

He continued calmly, “There must be more unknown experts. If you treat them right, more novices and experts will volunteer.”

Eunseo answered, “We’ll publicize the satellites photos and pictures taken by the j.a.panese Self-Defense Force of your attack on the monster area. We’ll also make it easier for novices and experts to come forward.”

He looked at her, and she continued, “We’ve gained a lot from the monster area, so we’ll sell the materials and distribute the money among the powered people. More powered people will come forward if they see that.”

Junhyuk gave a light nod and said, “Fine. Then, hurry up on acquiring them. Our training is not over yet, so we’ll move on to Russia next.”

The Chinese delegate got up from his seat suddenly and protested, “But we are closer to you than Russia?”

Junhyuk looked at him and said, “We go to Russia.”

It was a curt answer, and the Chinese delegated shut his mouth. Junhyuk turned to the others and continued, “Then, I’ll be leaving now. We depart for Russia in two days. I’ll see you then.”

Junhyuk walked out. It was hard for him to escape their surveillance, and he thought he should focus on some kind of stealth power for his next one. It did not have to last a long time. He only needed it for a short period. At which point, he would accelerate and lose the surveillance on him.

Junhyuk walked through the garden at Guardians HQ and burned some time. He walked for an hour before pulling out his cell. He was calling Jeffrey.

“Where are you?”

“They aren’t guarding us since we are experts. We heard we’ll depart for Russia two days from now, so they gave us some free time. The guards are still following us, but Doyeol helped me get some time for myself.”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes, you should join me.”

Junhyuk hung up the phone and teleported, appearing on the roof of Guardians HQ. There, he pulled out the item Vera had given him.

“This costs me a lot of money every time I use it.”

He wanted to completely get away from people’s surveillance of him. The items enabled him to teleport through dimensions, so he turned it on and appeared where Jeffrey was.

Jeffrey had his own item out. He was in a hotel, and when Junhyuk arrived, he looked around.

“What is this place?”

“We are in Seoul. This is just temporary accommodations.”

Junhyuk shrugged.

“You helped me out this time,” he said as he put his item away.

“Then, I’ll see you in two days.”

Junhyuk teleported to the roof of the building and took the stairs down. He grabbed a cab. The driver saw one of his masked faces. He was wearing gla.s.ses that made him look like a scholar.

The cab went in the direction of Elise’s house. He had just left Guardians HQ, but now he was going back.

When he arrived near Elise’s house, he got out and walked the long way there. He went down a long, winding path, teleporting every so often before arriving at her house. There, he changed his appearance again, back to himself, and entered her lab.

Had she been waiting for him? Elise was there, and it was a good thing that she was there and not at the Guardians’ lab.

“Elise.”

When she heard his voice, she turned, taking off her goggles, and said, “You came!”

He nodded, and Elise smiled and signaled him closer with her hand.

“Come here.”

Junhyuk walked over to her, and she showed him some new equipment with pride.

“I used the recipes to make these.”

Junhyuk looked at the equipment laid out in front of them and was speechless. There were fourteen different items.

“Have you slept at all?”

“I was focused, so I have not.” She smiled, looking at the pieces. “I sent one piece to Tirot for testing. These are entirely different from before.”

“Nice! Our strength will increase if we use them.”

Elise nodded and replied, “I realized just how superior magitek was. That’s the problem.”

“What is?”

She turned to him and said, “I want to focus on this, but Pentagram has asked me for a favor.”

Junhyuk turned to her, and she shrugged.

“You know we make the batteries for the iron models out of mana stones, right?”

“I know.”

“This time, they got a lot of mana stones from the dimensional tear in j.a.pan. Are you aware of that?”

“I haven’t gotten the report.”

Elise said, “Well, they got a lot of mana stones, so they want a generator powered by mana stones.”

Junhyuk frowned.

“Perhaps, they want to monopolize the energy sector?”

“Probably.”

“When you make the generator, how much energy will it yield per mana stone?”

“That depends on the size of the mana stone, but the energy will be ma.s.sive.”

Junhyuk took a moment to think before shaking his head. The energy sector might be important, but they had a job to do: stopping the dimensional tears.

On top of that, his goal was to become a legend in the Dimensional Battlefield.

He had enough money on Earth, and when the energy business took off, the mana stones would become even more valuable.

Sarang had a training facility of her own. She and Junhyuk had access to an unlimited amount of mana stones, so the training facility would become even more important.

Junhyuk emptied his mind. Right now, he needed magitek equipment. He had to gain more gold coins so that he could find himself in a better position.

He needed more gold to become a legend.

Turning to Elise, he asked, “Can you work on two projects at the same time?”

Elise smiled.

“Sure, but Tirot and Brita have to help me on the generator.”

“Of course, I will tell them that.”

Elise smiled.

“Then, I’ll share the generator’s patent with you.”

“That’s a good idea.”

He did not really need it, but Elise was willing to share, so he shouldn’t refuse her. She looked at the equipment in front of them and said, “I made each piece once, and they all turned out a success. The book said there was a high rate of failure. I must’ve been lucky.”

It could’ve been that she had been lucky, but she was highly intelligent to begin with.

“I’ll make a few more items, and then I’ll start on new recipes.”

Junhyuk turned to her, and she smiled at him.

“You must know that new recipes will require astronomical amount of ingredients,” she said.

He smiled and replied, “I know.”

Development cost money and materials, but they had to do it.

“I’ll support you with anything you will need.”

She smiled and touched her Ring of Promise, saying, “This ring was worth it.”