Shadows and Light

"Is there any guarantee that the portal won't close while I'm inside?" 

"Of course not. No one knows what will happen."

Adam felt unsure about going inside. However, looking at the injured people, the destroyed buildings, and the dead, he felt their sacrifice should be atoned for. If the portal remained open, Adam feared a second attack from Ordog. 

"Hey! You!" Someone shouted at him. 

Adam looked down. He saw a Jager who asked him to come. It looked like the person was a senior Jager. It was obvious from his rather old face. 

"You shot that thing?"

"That's right."

"Are you one of the Jagers?"

"No, I'm not. I'm just a citizen."

"Just a citizen? That doesn't make sense."

"Then why?"

"An ordinary person with Jager powers as strong as yours should be in the Jager organization. Are you a newcomer?" 

The Jager continued to ask her questions. He was curious about the identity of the man who had killed the black gorilla. While the junior and senior Jagers cleaned up the mess, he continued to urge Adam to be honest. 

"I work in the Jager administration office. Do we have to talk about my background?" Adam didn't seem to like the conversation. 

"Alright, I won't ask again." Jager stopped talking. 

"Can we go in there?" Adam suddenly asked a question. 

"What are we going in there for?" Jager was confused. 

"To close the portal. The Paladin inside me told me to go in there." Adam turned to him. His face looked serious. 

As Adam spoke of the Paladin, Jager was reminded of the Paladin within him. Before he followed Adam's orders, the Paladin inside him requested that he follow what the young man told him to do. It was like there was a connection between the Paladins. 

"Does your Paladin know how to close the portal?" Jager asked. 

"Yes, but there's a chance we might get stuck there. How's that? Do you want to come?" Adam looked at Jager. 

"Okay. Let's give it a try." Jager agreed to Adam's crazy plan.

They finally entered the portal when everyone seemed busy. The portal turned out to be a long hallway. The walls were made of very strong electromagnetics and had electric voltage.

"By the way, my name is Oliver Gates. I'm a class A Jager. How about you?" He looked at Adam. 

"My name is Adam Warlock. An ordinary worker at the Jager administration building. I only found out about having this kind of power a few minutes ago." Adam looked regretful that he had to spend so much time seeing Malachiel again. 

"That's strange. But it's okay. And by the way, Paladins don't usually talk to their masters. Only Paladins of class A and above can do that. This means that your Paladin is not just any guard. He's probably in class A or far above. For example, SS class." Oliver was just guessing. But he hoped his guess was right. 

When they were at the end of the hallway, the portal on the other side led them to a barren land. The ground was black and smelled like sulfur. It also looked empty. There was no life. Not even a tree grew there. 

"Is this what being inside a portal is like?" 

"Is this your first time inside a portal?" 

"Yes. This is the first time."

Oliver who often fought with the Ordogs inside several portals felt something strange about this place. Usually the portals he entered were dungeons. But this time it was a large land mass. 

"Look! There's a tall building over there!" Adam saw a building shaped like a tower. It was about two kilometers away. 

"There's a crystal on top of that building. It could be their watchtower." Oliver just assumed it. 

"Let's go!" Adam immediately created a motorcycle using his light power. 

Oliver looked surprised at his partner's handiwork. But he also had something special. Using the power of shadow, Oliver created a black horse. 

"Horse? Is it faster than my motorcycle?" Adam mocked him.

"Do you want to race me there? The loser has to buy you food." Oliver got on the horse's back. 

"It's okay." Adam started riding his motorcycle. 

The two of them were racing each other to see who could get there first. The horses or motorcycles they rode had the same speed. Both were side by side and neither would budge. 

Everything seemed to change when some black wolf-like Ordogs came towards them. There were so many of them. More than fifty of them! 

"We need to get to the tower first!" Adam shouted. 

"Then let's go!" Oliver asked his friend to hurry up. 

The Ordogs immediately chased after them. Fortunately, their vehicle speed was still faster than the Ordogs. 

"How do I close the portal?!" Oliver turned to Adam. They were already near the tower.

Adam was thinking. He had no idea at all. But fortunately Malachiel told Adam to destroy the crystal at the top of the stone tower with the power of Mana. However, the Mana needed to destroy the crystal in the tower must be as strong as when killing the gorilla. Unfortunately at this time Adam only has a little Mana left. It took a day to recharge the Mana inside him. 

"My paladin said to destroy the crystal! Do you still have a lot of Mana?" Adam talked to his friend. 

"I only have a little mana left. I don't think it's possible to destroy the tower with this little Mana." Oliver felt that his Mana wouldn't be able to either. 

"Shit! We should stop and think!" Adam felt there was no way out. He stopped his motorcycle. But unfortunately there was still a pack of wolves heading towards him. 

"Those wolves are so annoying!" Oliver immediately got off his horse. He transformed his horse into another form. 

"Stay here. Let me take care of them. You concentrate on finding a way to destroy the crystal." Oliver made two katana swords in both hands. He advanced to face the Ordogs alone. 

On the other hand, Adam was still thinking of a plan to destroy the crystal. 

"Combine the power of you two. Shoot the tower with the combined Mana of you and Oliver. The elements of light and shadow are two elements that are connected. Plus, Oliver's Paladins are both almost the same level as mine." Malachiel gave him an idea. 

"I'll try. Thank you." Adam immediately rode his motorcycle again. He headed to Oliver's place. 

Using the light gun in his right hand, he fired at the crowd of Ordogs. Once hit by Adam's shot, the Ordogs immediately disappeared. But Adam had to save his Mana. He couldn't use too much Mana just to kill the Ordogs. 

"Oliver! Come here!" Adam shouted. 

"What's wrong?!" Oliver was still busy slashing the necks of the Ordogs. 

"We should combine our Mana. I'll shoot the crystal!" Adam approached the man. The last Ordog was successfully killed by him. 

"You want to shoot the crystal by combining our Mana? How did you know that?" Oliver was surprised. 

"The paladin told me." Adam remade a light sniper rifle. He started aiming at the crystal while amplifying the bullets with Mana. 

"Really? Paladin? He turned out to be very useful. I didn't know about that at all." Oliver felt that his Paladin was stupid. 

"Quickly flow your Mana into my weapon!" Adam had to concentrate fully to strengthen his weapon. 

Oliver followed his orders. He placed one hand on Adam's shoulder. Slowly his Mana energy flowed into Adam's body. The merging of these two Mana energies allowed Malachiel to sense the presence of Oliver's Paladin. 

"Mana is enough!"

"Fire quickly!"

Adam pressed the trigger of his rifle. A bullet in the form of a combination of light and shadow shot towards the crystal.