A sharp alarm cut through the tense atmosphere of the warehouse. The blue holographic display on the woman's wrist pulsed with urgent data, lines of code shifting as her network tried to analyze the intruder.
"Unknown entity… unregistered energy signature," she repeated under her breath, her golden eyes narrowing.
The protagonist felt it before he saw it—a disturbance in the air, a ripple that sent a shiver down his spine. The space around them warped slightly, something twisting just beyond normal perception. His instincts screamed a warning.
They weren't dealing with a normal opponent.
The silver-haired woman snapped into action. "Defensive formation. Now."
Her subordinate, the quiet man who had been watching the conversation, pulled a compact firearm from his belt, its surface humming with faint blue energy. He moved toward the entrance without hesitation.
The protagonist didn't wait for an invitation. If this thing was after him, he needed to know what he was dealing with.
He reached out with his spatial awareness—and immediately regretted it.
Something was there, lurking at the edges of reality. Not a person, not a creature… but a presence. It wasn't moving through normal space; it was phasing in and out, slipping between dimensions like it didn't belong in this world.
Then—silence.
A second too long.
A presence too close.
His instincts roared. Move!
He barely shifted in time before something lashed out—a jagged distortion of space, a black tendril of energy that left a thin, glowing tear in the air where it struck. The impact shattered a metal crate behind him like glass, sending debris flying.
The subordinate fired instantly. Blue energy bolts streaked through the air, but they passed through the entity like it was an illusion.
"Physical attacks won't work," the woman growled.
The thing stepped forward—or rather, it flickered into existence for a fraction of a second before vanishing again. The protagonist caught a glimpse of its form—humanoid, but wrong. A figure wrapped in shifting shadows, its 'body' made of fragmented energy that refused to settle.
It turned its head toward him. Not toward the others. Toward him.
It was here for him.
He clenched his fists. Then let's see how it handled space manipulation.
With a flick of his wrist, he compressed the space around the entity, trying to crush it like a vice. For a split second, the thing resisted—then its body phased through the distortion, slipping out like it had never been caught at all.
His eyes widened. That shouldn't be possible.
The woman cursed. "It's adapting."
The thing flickered again—one moment near the entrance, the next right in front of him.
A clawed hand, pulsing with dark energy, slashed toward his chest.
He warped backward, barely escaping the attack. The air where he stood seconds ago fractured, the very fabric of space trembling from the strike.
He had to think fast. It was resisting space compression, but what about spatial severance?
He exhaled sharply, focusing his will. If it could slip through distortions, then—he'd make sure there was nothing to slip through.
The moment the entity flickered again, he sliced downward with his hand.
The space where it stood vanished.
For a split second, the thing lost stability. Its body glitched, its fragmented energy struggling to hold form without a plane of existence to stand on.
The woman saw the opening. "Take it down. Now."
Her subordinate switched weapons, pulling a small metallic disk from his belt and tossing it forward. The disk activated mid-air, pulsing with a golden light—a contained energy field designed to restrain anomalies.
The entity twisted violently, trying to escape— but the golden field snapped around it like a cage, crackling with power.
For the first time, the entity let out a sound.
A low, distorted hiss—like a radio signal warping between frequencies.
Then—a voice.
"…You… should not be here."
The protagonist's breath hitched. It spoke?
The silver-haired woman's expression darkened. "That thing isn't just a mindless monster."
The entity's body flickered, struggling against the golden field. It wasn't breaking free—but it was learning.
"…We… see… you…"
The protagonist stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The thing twitched. Its form distorted. The golden energy around it began to tremble.
"…Watching… waiting… correction… required."
Correction?
His stomach twisted. Was this thing here to eliminate him because of his knowledge of the future?
The woman didn't hesitate. "Containment won't hold forever. We finish this now."
She raised her hand, and the golden field pulsed brighter, compressing around the entity.
The thing let out a screech, its body writhing. For a moment, it almost looked like it was splitting apart—then, without warning, it collapsed inward.
Gone.
The golden field snapped shut, now empty.
The silence was deafening.
The protagonist exhaled, his pulse still racing. That wasn't a creature. That was something else.
The woman's voice was steady, but her expression was grim. "That wasn't just an enemy. That was a message."
The subordinate nodded. "And we barely survived."
The protagonist's mind raced. If these things existed now—before the collision—what would happen when the energy impact actually hit?
One thing was certain.
This was just the beginning.