Hiro stood at the edge of the Gate portal, watching the swirling streams of blue Aether pulse slowly like breathing light.
Up close, the Gate was beautiful.
Terrifyingly beautiful.
The energy lines inside it moved like living water frozen in time, bending space around the entrance as faint ripples of distortion radiated outward.
"So this is a Gate…" Hiro muttered.
"I've never seen one this close before."
He felt strangely mesmerized.
"How can something this beautiful bring calamity?"
"That's what the idiots from two hundred years ago thought," Daisy said casually as she walked past him. "Until these 'beautiful' things started vomiting Abyssals."
"Don't stand so close to the Gate," Elira said suddenly, appearing right behind him.
Hiro nearly jumped.
When did she get behind me?!
"An Abyssal can come out anytime and tear you apart," Elira continued flatly.
Hiro's face turned pale.He immediately dashed and hid slightly behind her.
"At least you have some common sense," Bailey said as she checked her equipment.
The entire unit was already prepared.
They entered Gates just like they had done countless times.
Hiro was the only one whose heart was pounding like a war drum.
Hopefully this thing doesn't tear me apart like some bad sci-fi movie.
"I used to run away from these things," Hiro muttered. "Now I'm going inside one. Life is weird."
He swallowed and stepped forward.
The moment he crossed the Gate threshold—
His senses went silent.
Then violently disoriented.
It felt like his body was being pulled apart and compressed at the same time, like jumping from a cliff while his organs were floating somewhere behind him.
"THAT HURTS!!" Hiro suddenly shouted, as he stumbled out of the portal on the other side and immediately fell to his knees.
Then he vomited beside Daisy's boots.
"Watch where you puke, idiot!" Daisy said while stepping sideways.
Marian laughed softly. "Haha, the first time is always like this."
Hiro wiped his mouth
.
"You all went through this too…?"
"Yes," Marian said.
Entering a Gate was similar to crossing into another world. The human body resisted the spatial transition.
If an untrained awakened male or female tried to enter, the gravitational distortion inside the Gate could cause internal rupture from pressure shock.
People avoided Gates.
Because survival depended on it.
Hiro stood up slowly.
Then he froze.
The world around him was dark. A purple sky stretched overhead, covered with heavy black clouds that slowly released falling ash-like particles.
They were standing inside a dark forest.
Gray grass spread across cracked soil.
Spooky, twisted trees stood like silent witnesses.
The air felt dead. Like breathing inside an empty void.
"Where the hell are we?!" Hiro asked.
"Hiro," Bailey said quietly, "welcome to the Abyss."
His heart sank slightly.
"The Abyss is an endless dark environment that spawns the creatures that attack our world."
Shit. I am really inside one.
The place was filled with Aether.But it felt wrong.
Corrupted.
Tainted.
Dangerous.
"Don't even try interacting with the Aether here," Bailey warned immediately. "If you absorb it, you may become corrupted."
"So it's poison?"
"For humans, yes."
Hiro nodded quickly.
"So where's the gatekeeper?" Marian asked while chewing gum.
A few seconds passed.
Then—
SCREEEECH!!!
Croaking and scraping noises echoed through the dark forest.
"They already sensed us," Daisy whispered.
Bailey's voice turned sharp.
"Formation! Hiro, stand in the center!"
The girls moved instantly. Training replaced conversation.
Bailey pulled out a large wooden paintbrush-like sword from her spatial storage ring.
The blade was red, engraved with glowing Aether runes. The tip looked like a brush dipped in black ink that dripped faintly despite gravity.
Marian cracked her brass knuckles. Elira's bandages began floating around her body like living ribbons as her eyepatch slowly lifted on its own.
Daisy stood still, but the air around her became unnaturally quiet — almost frozen.
"Elira! How many are coming?" Bailey shouted.
Elira's right eye suddenly glowed. Gold shifted to fierce crimson.
"Hunter's Eye — Hawk Vision."
Her vision expanded dramatically. She saw movement through the forest darkness.
"150 ground-type Abyssals."
Pause.
"74 flying-type."
"Classification: Class 1 to Class 2."
Bailey nodded. "Good. Within acceptable combat range."
Hiro's brain screamed internally.
150 plus 74 is…
224?!
That's within your range?!
Marian smiled. "We might be the weakest Princess Unit."
She cracked her knuckles. "But it doesn't mean we can't stand on business."
Rustling sounds grew louder.Shadows moved between the trees.
Something massive walked slowly toward them.
"HERE THEY COME!!" Daisy shouted.
Hiro's hands trembled slightly.
What did I get myself into…?!
His heart was beating so fast he could hear it in his ears.
But he didn't run. He stood in the center like they told him.
Because behind him were five girls who were somehow called the weakest Royal Unit.
And for some reason…
He didn't want to disappoint them.