On the Verge of Eruption

In the desert region of one of the many worlds within the Maze Cube, the blazing sun hung high beneath a cloudless sky. Across the vast, tawny sea of sand, heat billowed everywhere like the breath of a furnace.

At this moment, above a stretch of rolling dunes near the boundary barrier, a burly figure was speeding through the low sky.

He was the Iron Fist Hunter of the Dawn Squad—Erigat.

A few minutes earlier, Erigat had been transported into this empty desert by the force of spatial reorganization. Without the slightest hesitation, he had taken to the air and begun urgently scouting the unfamiliar terrain before him, staying alert for enemies while searching for traces of his teammates.

After swiftly confirming that he was the only person in this desert region, Erigat's mind began to race.

(Both our side and the enemy's spatial positions have been completely scattered, but they clearly outnumber us.)

(The longer this drags on, the easier it will be for their scattered members to regroup, gradually magnifying their numerical advantage.)

(I absolutely have to prevent that from happening. Not another second can be wasted!)

With that thought, Erigat immediately made a decisive choice. He headed at full speed for the neighboring unknown Cube region, intending to continue until he encountered either an ally or an enemy.

Before long, he arrived at the desert region's boundary barrier.

However, just as Erigat closed the distance between himself and the barrier to only one kilometer—

At the barrier surface level with Erigat, another figure suddenly emerged without warning.

He stood over two meters tall, roughly half a head shorter than Erigat. His scalp was bald and gleaming, his bare upper body packed with sharply defined muscles, while his lower half was clad in beast-hide trousers with a primitive