Chapter 004: Prototype Commander-Class Humanoid MS - UMA

The monster’s clear yellow eyes had now turned a deep blood-red, their savage gleam filled with a crazed, murderous intent. Amid the heavy, fetid breaths, viscous drool dripped from its uneven, yellowed teeth, and its suppressed roar rumbled from its broad chest like distant thunder.

Facing the MS-UMA, now driven into a frenzied state, Maya instinctively halted, her hand once more retrieving a blazing orb and pressing it between her fingers. Inside the tennis ball–sized transparent sphere swirled a beautiful orange glow, but the dangerous aura emanating from it forced even the enraged MS-UMA to crouch down warily, issuing constant threatening hisses.

This brought Maya a slight sense of relief. Although humanoid MS-UMAs were somewhat weaker than their beast-like counterparts, they possessed a wisdom that allowed them to weigh risks and benefits. It could clearly sense that the orb in her hand posed a real threat to its safety, so it hesitated, unwilling to attack recklessly. If she were facing a beast-type MS-UMA, which knew no fear, her current condition would be hopeless—if it charged, both she and Jason would be doomed.

Maya now deeply regretted her earlier bravado—she should not have dragged Jason out alone for the “Surface Dimensional Overlap Point” patrol, especially with the team’s roster incomplete, simply to compete with that Eastern girl on her squad. She had never expected that a point deemed “mild danger” by the “Dimensional Space Fluctuation Radar” would, due to abnormal energy field fluctuations, suddenly manifest a “Multidimensional Spatial Rift”—and from it, a humanoid MS-UMA of quasi-leader level, its danger rating above six, would emerge.

It was well known that multidimensional MS-UMAs contained “X particles” at concentrations over four times that of native EN-UMA mutants of the same grade. Though four times the energy did not translate to quadruple the danger, an MS-UMA with higher X particle yield was certainly more formidable and hazardous than its EN-UMA counterpart.

Super-limit warriors like Maya, endowed with abilities surpassing human bounds, might be able to defeat a native EN-UMA of equal rank in single combat, relying on weaponry and skill. But to take down an MS-UMA of the same level often required at least four such warriors working together.

Now, the two of them possessed only third-level combat strength, yet they faced a humanoid MS-UMA with a danger rating of six. The disparity was far beyond what they could withstand.

Maya glanced furtively at the high-tech silver watch on her wrist. Jason’s companion marker glowed red—his vital signs had dropped into the danger zone. The “secondary barrier” could hold off EN-UMAs below level ten, but was far less effective against MS-UMAs that far exceeded EN-UMA threat levels. In the previous skirmish, the energy maintaining the barrier—provided by the “Multidimensional Zero-Point Inert Energy Crystal”—had been depleted to a mere thirty-one percent. If the quasi-leader MS-UMA stopped attacking the barrier, it might hold for another nine minutes or so.

She just needed to stall a little longer; surely, her teammates who’d received her distress signal would arrive soon to help—wait! Maya’s striking emerald eyes widened in shock as she stared at the thin figure behind the MS-UMA. What was that Eastern boy doing?

White Jade Seal quietly picked up the sharp short sword dropped by the blonde girl and stealthily crept toward the monster’s back. His presence was so negligible that both combatants had overlooked him, just as he had inexplicably entered this “barrier” which blocked external space.

Since the blonde had shifted into a guarded stance, wielding that unusual spherical weapon as deterrence and maintaining a tense standoff rather than attacking aggressively, White Jade Seal surmised she was stalling for time. Whether she waited for the barrier to fail so she could escape, or for her teammates to arrive, he felt compelled to act.

The monster, growing restless and repeatedly roaring as it tried to approach her, was losing patience. If she fell, he would surely be next. With his frail, sickly frame, White Jade Seal knew he would not survive even a single blow to the head.

He had managed to sneak up behind the monster, raising the short sword and aiming for its back. Yet the foreign girl, locked in a standoff with the beast, glanced over in terror and unwittingly exposed his presence. This alerted the monster, which spun around with a vicious snarl, suddenly facing White Jade Seal point-blank.

Perhaps it was the proximity, or the height difference—White Jade Seal’s supposed “one-point-seven meters” versus the monster’s towering two meters—that caused a visual gap. As it spun, the monster didn’t immediately see him, and its empty rear momentarily confused its somewhat intelligent mind. Instinctively, it assumed the female human had deceived it and started to turn back, wary of being ambushed.

But then, as it twisted again, it caught sight of the small, thin figure of White Jade Seal, half-crouched and poised to strike. The monster froze mid-turn in a contorted, awkward pose; by the time it realized, it was too late.

Even as he maintained “relative composure,” his demeanor cold and mechanical, White Jade Seal could not suppress a violent surge of emotion, nearly cursing: “Useless teammate!”

He forced down his agitation. With unwavering composure, White Jade Seal bent backward, dodging the monster’s massive claw as it lunged with a furious roar. The short sword, held in a reverse grip, swept narrowly across its hideous face, just grazing its disproportionately small eyes.

A guttural howl escaped the humanoid monster, and it instinctively reeled back, clutching its face in pain.