Olivia shifted in her leather chair, studying the faces around the ornate conference table. The Brussels eting room had a mix of modern tech and classical architecture. To her, it seed like an apt taphor for the difference between the old world and the new System-driven world that they found themselves in.
Representatives from various European organizations filled the seats around the table. There were tech innovators, private security contractors, and different advocacy groups for the Awakened. All of them had one thing in common: they distrusted their governnts' handling of the System integration.
"We're very excited about the deal between our organizations. The Adventurers Guild has experience in Rift managent and general System knowledge that could prove invaluable to our mbers," Ben Weber said. He was the leader of the German-based Rift Network. He leaned forward and clasped his hands, one covered in a glove which he'd shown two days before during a speech. Olivia knew it had been burned horribly in one of his first fights against a creature with acidic abilities. "But we need assurance of autonomy. Our governnt already pushes for more control each day, and we won't trade one overlord for another."
Olivia exchanged a knowing look with Rylan. The Adventurers Guild's success in Arica ca partly from maintaining independence from the governnt and Hunters Association's oversight.
The AG’s negotiator spoke up to reassure them. "We're not here to control or set ourselves up to be in a position of power here," he said. "We're offering resources, training, and a network of support. Your organizations keep their identity and leadership."
Several heads around the table bobbed, and a woman from the French resistance movent—Claire sothing—spoke up. "And what of the Hunters Association? We hear rumors that they're expanding their reach."
Rylan spoke up and Olivia was impressed, not for the first ti on this trip, at how well he did at speaking out in these situations. She was unsure if it was his general build and power level or that so of these representatives knew he was Elena's brother. "That's partly why we're here," he cut in smoothly and with confidence. "A united front of independent organizations stands a much better chance of—"
A sharp knock at the door interrupted him. Without waiting for an answer, it opened quickly, and a young man in tactical clothes rushed in and spoke up. "Apologies for the interruption, but there is a situation. A Rift just opened in Antwerp."
"So?"
"It's a Rare D rank Rift," he said with a flushed face.
Noise around the room imdiately erupted, and Ben raised his voice. "We can mobilize our teams. We would like to ask the AG representatives and the other nations' mbers to please remain here. This is sothing that our group should be able to handle and get under control as a demonstration of what we can bring to the table."
Olivia quirked an eyebrow. "Now isn't exactly the ti for posturing, not many D Ranks have spawned," she mumbled to herself.
"I have to agree," Claire said with her thick French accent. "A Rare D rank isn't sothing to use as a proving ground."
Another representative on the other side of the room spoke up and called out to Ben. Olivia recognized him as one of the private organizations from Spain. "This isn't what we ca here for. My organization's interest lies in research and developnt, not combat operations for another nation."
"Then please, stay here," Ben said firmly. "This is our territory and our responsibility. We've handled a D-rank Rift before."
From what Olivia rembered of her briefing before attending the conference, they'd struggled quite a bit to keep the monsters within the country's only D-rank Rift culled and were nowhere near actually closing it. She looked over to see Jared, who was in charge of their group, raising both of his hands in a placating gesture. "Perhaps we could lend so assistance. We brought with us so of our—"
"With all due respect," Ben said urgently. "While we look forward to the partnership with the AG, we don't want to receive Arican intervention every ti sothing goes wrong. Especially so early in our relationship." He looked at his phone and gave a sharp nod. "Our teams are already mobilizing."
Olivia looked over and saw Pete's jaw tighten, but both he and Rylan remained silent. She understood their restraint. Arguing with Ben in such a public setting and at a ti of such high stress could only serve to make things worse.
"Very well," Jared said after a mont. "We'll return to our hotels and wait for word on the situation. But please, don't hesitate to reach out if circumstances change."
Ben nodded, already clicking more ssages on his phone. "I'll touch base with you all tomorrow morning to discuss how the conference can continue. Look forward to talking with you all then." Ben stood and gave a quick wave to those gathered around the table before turning to the young soldier who had entered with the news. "Brief on the way."
Many people began to file out of the room, while others began to cluster around and talk privately about the breaking situation. Olivia fell in step between Jared and Rylan. "This is going to go badly," she said quietly.
"Yeah," Rylan replied. "But sotis, people need to learn their lessons the hard way."
They made their way back to the hotel, the tension from the eting still in the air. Olivia and Pete both agreed, as the leads for the team on the foreign mission, to have all of their mbers prepare and be on standby. Olivia had a feeling they wouldn't be waiting long before that call for help ca.
She paced in her hotel room, idly checking and rechecking the contents of her spatial pouch that Alex had given her. Each item she called into her hand caused the familiar weight of her gear to bring a small amount of comfort. She hated waiting, and being asked to stay at the hotel rather than going to help made her feel like so kind of caged animal. She was thankful that Pete had backed her suggestion that the team stay prepared with no hesitation.
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Her phone buzzed, and she saw a text from Pete that they were gathering down in the lobby to wait.
She went down and found most of the team already gathered. There was a clear amount of tension in the air, and Pete stood near one of the windows with his arms crossed. Rylan wasn't far away as he lounged in one of the oversized chairs, looking surprisingly nervous. The rest of their team had spread out across the lobby. So checked their phones and others made quiet conversation, but since she was the only one to have a spatial item, she did think that most of them looked out of place with varying amounts of weaponry.
Hours crawled by and they monitored what news they could from various channels. There were so social dia posts and a news alert for ergency response activity in Antwerp. Then, finally, they were called.
Jared put the call on speaker, and Ben's voice ca through strained, missing all of its earlier confidence. "We've had… so complications. Multiple teams have entered and those who have returned have almost all sustained injuries." He paused. "Both the Rift Quest and personal Quest ntioned creatures from 'The Night.' Does that an anything to your team?"
Olivia sucked in a breath through her teeth. The Night. Alex's notes about the shadow serpents during his ti in the Epic Rift ran through her mind, and she had gotten so information on the creatures of the Night from her brief dips into the Rift herself but hadn't seen much outside of normal monsters.
Early on, when Alex told her of that experience, it had been worrying, but it seed like a far-off concern. Shadowy monsters trapped within a D Rank Rift wouldn’t be a concern for them any ti soon, not when they were able to cull random monsters in the cherry tree forest with the aid of the Celestial Sect mbers. But here she was, another D rank Rift and a group of potential allies calling for help.
"We're already prepared," Jared said. "Send us coordinates. We'll head in your direction as fast as we can."
"There's a private airfield ten minutes from you. The helicopter should be there soon to pick you up. I'm here at the site and will et you when you get here—will need to coordinate with local authorities."
Rylan grinned as they loaded into their vehicles. "Now, this is more like it. Didn't know we'd get the VIP treatnt. Maybe I should think about getting a helicopter."
"Try not to get too excited," Pete said, but Olivia caught his own small smile. The Adventurers Guild might be powerful, but they weren't military. A helicopter ride was a first for most of them, Olivia included.
The sun had begun to set by the ti they arrived at the Rift site. The helicopter touched down in a cordoned-off area of what looked like an industrial park. Ergency vehicles crowded around the periter and their lights cast erratic shadows in the early dark. The Rift itself held its characteristic blue shine, reaching above the tops of the surrounding vehicles and tents that had been set up as a small command center.
Ben t them as they ducked their heads and tried to hold down their clothes and items from the spinning propellers of the helicopter. He had two of his own n with him in tactical gear, and it took a mont for Olivia to realize that they were Belgian federal police, not part of his own organization.
They entered a small tent and then introduced the older of the two. "Commissioner De Vries. He's been coordinating local response."
The commissioner's expression looked strained, but Olivia could see the activation of a skill in his eyes and assud that he was using so sort of scan skill. His eyes widened slightly at seeing the power levels and he spoke up with a nod. "Dennis told a lot about you all," he said in accented English. "We've established a periter and evacuated the surrounding area. The military has been notified, but their response is slower than normal."
Olivia looked around the scene and outside of the tent she could see the local police had maintained the outer periter and many civilians were looking on with interest, completely unaware of how dangerous things were inside of the Rift. dical personnel had set up several tents in a row and had a lane to allow vehicles in and out.
She began to feel more anxiety in her stomach that had built during their flight in the helicopter. A very greedy part of her wished that Sam and Alex were there with her, knowing that the entire group would be safer with those two. She gave a brief shake of her head and clenched her jaw.
This is about earning my own power. Not leaning on theirs.
"What can you tell us about what's inside?" she asked.
The Commissioner deferred to Ben, who had been receiving all the firsthand reports.
"It's all a dense forest environnt from what we've seen so far. The trees are massive and ancient-looking, though the entire environnt is so dark it's hard to actually tell. Those who made it the deepest report finding an edge to the forest and there being a huge open set of fields before seeing a large castle with walls surrounding it in the distance. Only one person made it back from that team—no one has even been close to the actual castle."
He pulled out a map that soone had sketched. "The Rift opens up right into the forest. The first groups had the most ti within to try and look around and explore, but the last few groups that have gone in have reported the creatures are smart enough to set up ambushes near the entrance..." He hesitated. "They move like living shadows. A lot of them are different sizes, but they're all deadly. The personal quests ask us to kill five of them—just five. From what my n tell , that alone should tell you how dangerous they are."
Pete whistled. "Usually, a cull quest asks for a lot more than that. Even in a common Rift."
"Exactly," Ben said. "The Rift Quest ntions defeating the Leader of the Night that occupies the city, but we haven't even made it halfway there. The reports we've gotten so far show monster level ranges from 28 to 45, just in the forest area."
"If the Rift boss is in the city, it ans there are likely higher ones there as well," Rylan said seriously.
Olivia studied the rough sketch and felt that it wouldn’t help much. "What's your current strategy?"
"Well, we don't have enough D-Ranked awakened to even think about closing it. Right now, we just need to establish so way to keep the monsters culled. That way, the Rift won't have the chance to break and cause massive damage here in the city." Ben looked at Olivia's team. "If you can help us set up a sustainable defense strategy, or at the very least kill a handful of the beasts so that it's not at risk of breaking, then we should be able to maintain things even after you leave."
Olivia and Pete nodded before exiting the tent and eting back up with the rest of their team. They both checked everyone's gear, and as the strongest of the Peacekeepers there, Olivia decided to take point. Rylan would be in the front with them; his massive greatsword and high levels would make him an asset in any fight. The rest of their team comprised a mix of combat and support specialists, mostly made up of peacekeepers who had seen their fair share of Rift combat.
"Rember," Olivia said as she addressed the team, "this isn't about proving anything. We go in, we assess, we work together. If we need to, we retreat out of the Rift and form a new strategy before reentering. No heroes, and no going off solo." Her gaze lingered on Rylan, who raised his hands in mock surrender.
"Jared," she called out to their political liaison, who stood back with Ben and the Commissioner while wringing his hands, "can you get more information out of the teams that have already entered and have a dical team on standby in case we need it?"
"Got it," he said. "Just focus on staying alive in there."
The Commissioner spoke up and thanked them again for putting themselves at risk and helping to prevent such a catastrophe.
Olivia shook her head. "Nothing's been done yet; don't thank us like we've already succeeded," she said. She looked over her team one last ti and felt her pulse begin to quicken as they all turned and made their way through the small crowd toward the Rift entrance.
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