Outside, the sun of the Ufrifa desert shone bright and unbearably cruel. The golden sands stretched for hundreds of miles in every direction, radiating a blistering, wavering heat that could scorch a normal human alive within hours.

But right at the absolute center of this hostile wasteland stood an architectural miracle. It was a colossal, hyper-futuristic stadium, built specifically and exclusively for this global event.

Its sheer scale was impossible to comprehend at first glance—its base spanned an area as large as one and a half standard cities.

Fighting the intense, sweltering heat, the official teams from every country had already arrived at the stadium hours ago, descending from the sky in their respective airbuses.

Inside the stadium, it was an entirely different world.

The roar of the crowd was a physical force, a tidal wave of sound generated by a sitting capacity of three hundred thousand people, packed absolutely to the brim. The entire colossal structure was enclosed beneath a specially engineered, pitch-black dome. The advanced material didn’t let a single ray of the desert sunlight pass through, creating an artificially dark, perfectly climate-controlled, and comfortably cold environment inside.

The inner surface of this massive dome was fully digitized, functioning as a seamless, 360-degree screen. It was large enough that every single person in the 300,000-seat arena could see it with perfect clarity. This screen was primarily installed to broadcast the rounds that would take place on Earth, capturing the chaotic battles outside the gates.

Down at the very center of the stadium was a sprawling, flat battleground made of compressed bedrock. Hovering faintly over the surface of the arena was a shimmering, translucent barrier—an unbreakable seal created by the combined magical contribution of the top ten S-Rank Exterminators in the world.

Suddenly, the stadium lights dimmed. A pair of spotlights snapped down, illuminating a hovering platform high above the sealed arena. Standing on it were two impeccably dressed commentators—a young woman in a sharp silver suit, and a young man in a dark blue tuxedo.

The crowd’s roaring gradually lowered to an excited murmur as the stadium’s acoustic amplifiers activated.

"Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the world, welcome!" the boy announced, his voice booming clearly across the massive expanse.

"To the absolute pinnacle of human strength and unyielding courage!" the girl followed, her voice ringing with electric enthusiasm.

"Today, we gather not just to witness a global competition, but to honor the very pillars of humanity!" the boy declared, gesturing widely to the massive screens above.

"Look around you," the girl continued, her tone shifting to a dramatic, respectful cadence. "Beyond the safety of these walls, beyond the heavily guarded borders of our protected cities, lies nothing but endless darkness and destruction."

"A world overrun by bloodthirsty Calamity Beasts, where nightmare is the reality, and survival is a daily, grueling war," the boy added grimly.

"But we do not live in fear. We thrive! And why? Because of the brave souls standing behind these arena walls today," the girl smiled brightly.

"The Exterminators! They are the absolute wall between the abyss and our peaceful lives!" the boy shouted, his voice rising in intensity.

"They are the ones who willingly walk into the jaws of death, leaving behind their families and their safety, stepping bravely into the violent unknown," the girl echoed.

"They put their lives in unimaginable danger, bleeding and breaking on the front lines, only to save the lives of strangers they have never even met," the boy said, placing a hand over his heart.

"When the sky tears open and the gates threaten to swallow our homes, they are the ones who hold the line so that humanity does not vanish into the dark," the girl proclaimed proudly.

"Without their sacrifice, without their unyielding resolve, our history would end in ash!" the boy yelled, hyping the crowd to a fever pitch.

"They are the shield, the sword, and the only thing keeping humanity alive in this unkind world!" the girl concluded, her voice echoing perfectly in sync with the roaring applause.

Then, raising their microphones, they both spoke up perfectly together.

"So let’s begin the 23rd World Exterminator Ranking Tournament and find out who of the new rising stars is the best of them all!"

The crowd completely erupted. The noise was deafening, shaking the reinforced concrete of the stadium tiers.

However, beneath the roaring stands, far away from the blinding lights and the cheering masses, the atmosphere was entirely different.

The stadium’s lower rings were dedicated to the competitors. Each participating country had been given a private, highly secure compartment consisting of eight individual rest rooms and one massive, luxurious main hall.

Inside Compartment No. 9, the designated staging area for Commander Maddox’s handpicked team, the silence was suffocating.

The main hall was spacious, furnished with expensive leather couches, tactical holographic tables and buffets. Gideon was sitting on a couch, his leg bouncing with intense, nervous energy. Sora was standing near the wall, rapidly twirling a dagger between her fingers, her dark eyes darting anxiously toward the closed entrance door. Evelyn, Elara and Kai were all seated around the central table, none of them speaking a single word.

Elara and Kai had reached here this morning to see the tournament but now their faces were grim.

Rol had left the room not long ago.

The palpable, razor-sharp tension in the room was entirely centered around the woman pacing back and forth near the far wall.

Claire stood in her pristine white combat suit, her communicator pressed tightly to her ear. Her red eyes were wide and burning with a volatile mixture of panic and fury. Her expression was not very pleasant. In fact, she looked like she was a second away from drawing her greatsword and tearing the stadium down to its foundations.

She listened to the static on the other end of the line for exactly three more seconds.

"Dammit!"

Claire suddenly whipped her arm back and threw the communicator directly at the wall with terrifying, explosive force.

CRASH!

The impact sounded like a bomb detonating inside the quiet hall and cratered the wall, sending a web of deep, jagged cracks spider-webbing across the grey stone.

The communicator completely shattered, turning into dozens of tiny, smoking pieces of plastic and wire that rained down onto the pristine floor.

Sora flinched. Gideon stopped bouncing his leg, and kai visibly gulped, pressing himself deeper into the leather couch.

Claire whirled around to face the team, her chest heaving, her red aura dangerously flickering at the edges of her skin as she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Where the fuck is Hide?!"

No one answered her. They couldn’t.

The World Tournament had officially begun. The entire world was watching.

And...

Hide had been missing since last evening.