Chapter 66: The Barrier

Killing intent worked differently on monsters than it did on humans.

After all, killing intent was nothing more than one’s intent to kill given form.

When it came to monsters, Adam had no hesitation, moral weight or resistance.

His intent aligned perfectly with action, so against monsters his killing intent could push all the way to execution without friction.

Humans were different initially.

Adam could think about killing, but following through was another matter entirely. His past, his circumstances, and the internal line he was forbidden to cross created a physical resistance. That hesitation weakened his intent at its core; when action was required, the impulse would vanish.

Fortunately, humans were far more sensitive to killing intent than monsters, so even a restrained aura was enough.

But now that Adam was no longer held back by his trauma, the weight of his killing intent was more than any heir could handle.

But that wasn’t the issue right now.

Adam looked at Sebastian, his voice calm but sharp.

“What do you mean by can’t leave the sector?”

Sebastian, who could finally breathe properly now that the pressure had vanished, stared at Adam in confusion.

“You… don’t know?”

Adam’s gaze hardened.

That alone was enough.

Sebastian immediately explained.

“When I left the incursion after the explosion, I tried contacting my clan,” he said quickly.

“The signal wouldn’t go through. At first I thought it was just interference, but it wasn’t only me. It was the same for everyone.”

Adam cut in before he could continue.

“Then how does your call not going through stop you from leaving the sector?”

Sebastian answered immediately, his tone careful. He had no interest in provoking Adam again.

“We couldn’t tell at first,” he said, “but once we confirmed the signal failure, we realized something far worse was happening.”

Adam waited.

Sebastian hesitated, then said,

“Look up.”

Adam frowned, but he did it anyway.

[Connect] flared briefly.

Sebastian’s soul flame showed slight hostility but no deception.

So Adam lifted his gaze.

At first, there was nothing.

Just a clear sky. Thin clouds drifting lazily overhead.

Adam was about to question the point.

Then he saw it.

A faint shimmer.

So subtle it almost felt imagined. A distortion in the air that should not exist in an open sky.

Reality rippled.

Understanding struck him instantly.

“A barrier.”

Back at the center of the swamp, Vanessa was still trying to get a call through to the higher-ups.

But she only got Static.

She pulled the device away from her ear, frowned, and tried again.

Nothing.

Still static.

“What’s going on…” she muttered, irritation bleeding into her voice.

She couldn’t make sense of it.

The line wasn’t jammed. The device wasn’t malfunctioning. Everything should have been working.

“Ma’am.”

One of the Acolytes called out from the temporary tent they had set up nearby.

Vanessa turned sharply and walked toward him.

Her frustration was already high, and the failed call had only made it worse.

“What is it?” she asked, hoping, against reason, that this would be good news.

It wasn’t.

The Acolyte didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he raised a finger and pointed upward.

Vanessa followed the gesture, confused at first.

Then she saw it.

A faint shimmer stretched across the sky, it was barely visible, like a heat distortion, but it was unmistakably there.

Something that shouldn’t exist in a clear sky.

Her eyes widened.

“A barrier?”

In that instant, everything clicked.

No calls could leave the area, but internal communication still worked perfectly.

That made sense. Modern communication no longer relied on satellites or towers like in the pre Martial Era.

After the rifts appeared, space had become one of the most dangerous places in existence.

Instead, devices communicated directly with each other, point to point. No intermediaries. No infrastructure.

This was why there had been no network issues throughout the sector, the surrounding area, or the entire alliance.

But also why nothing could get out.

Vanessa cursed under her breath.

That damned Henry.

Whatever he had done had trapped them all beneath a barrier.

She forced herself to calm down, then turned to a group of nearby Acolytes.

“I want you to spread out.”

“Find out how far the barrier extends. I need to know exactly what we’re dealing with.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They moved immediately, leaving the swamp to investigate.

Vanessa remained where she was, staring up at the shimmering sky for a moment longer.

Please… don’t let the worst come before we’re ready.

The thought was grim but sincere.

Then she turned back to the center of the swamp, refocusing on her duties.

****

Adam simply stared up at the barrier.

By now, it was obvious, to Sebastian and to every heir present, that Adam had no idea what was happening either.

That realization unsettled them.

Before anyone could decide what to do next, movement erupted from the entrance of the incursion.

The Acolytes Vanessa had sent to investigate the barrier stepped back out of the swamp, their expressions tense and focused.

The heirs noticed them instantly.

And like water finding a crack, frustration surged toward the first targets they could reach.

Compared to Adam, the Acolytes were the perfect outlet for their frustrations; so, they swarmed them

“What are you people planning, trapping us here?!”

“You’d better let us go immediately, unless you want—”

“Do you think your position gives you the right to act however you want? Let me tell you—”

Voices overlapped. Accusations flew.

The heirs, still blind to the truth, latched onto the easiest conclusion, that the Mission Hall was behind it all.

After all, who else could possibly seal the entire sector?

Some went even further.

A few began spinning ridiculous theories, claiming the sector itself had fabricated the rumor of the water lily, deliberately luring them here just to hold them hostage.

It sounded absurd.

Yet, somehow, they believed it.

Stupidity, it seemed, had no lower bound.

The shouting grew louder. The crowd pressed closer. The Acolytes were shoved back, hands tightening around their weapons as the situation teetered on the edge of escalation.

Some heirs even began openly cursing the manager, blaming her for everything that had gone wrong.

The tension spiked.

“Enough.”

With one word.

Adam’s voice cut through the chaos like a blade.

The heirs froze mid-sentence.

The paranoid accusations died in their throats, stopped before they could turn into something they would never be able to take back.

****

[Author’s Note]

Thank you for reading.

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