In the residential district of Green Valley, the afternoon remained peaceful until the ground suddenly shook violently. People stopped in the middle of the street, confused. Then the asphalt cracked and exploded upward, revealing a gigantic creature.
It was a black monster, around four meters tall, with an elongated body resembling a deformed fox. From its back and shoulders sprouted dozens of thick tentacles ending in sharp drills that spun nonstop. Its red eyes glowed with cruel intelligence.
"Where are the bearers?" the creature roared, its distorted voice echoing through the neighborhood. "I only want to ask… where are all of you?"
The tentacles pierced the ground and the nearest houses, drilling through walls and cars as if they were paper. People immediately began screaming and running desperately from their homes.
"Monster! Monster!"
"Call the heroes!"
Two Rank D heroes and one Rank C hero arrived in less than two minutes.
The first was Spter, Rank D position 78. Messy black hair, two customized pistols in his hands. He channeled bluish energy into his weapons and immediately opened fire.
"Stay behind me!" he shouted, firing concentrated blasts of energy at the tentacles approaching the civilians.
Beside him, Rohan, Rank D position 120, a muscular bald man, entered the fight head-on. He dodged the tentacles with impressive agility and punched the creature's joints with brute force, causing the drills to stop spinning for a second.
"This thing is faster than it looks!" Rohan growled, taking a glancing hit that opened a deep cut across his shoulder.
Rank C position 23, Lira, a woman with short green hair, raised her arms. Thick thorn-covered vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around the monster's tentacles and trying to immobilize it.
"Hold it down!" she shouted. "I'll restrain its movements!"
The battle was fierce. Spter fired nonstop, blowing apart drills and distracting the creature. Rohan leaped between tentacles, landing heavy blows on the monster's main body. Lira controlled vines that twisted like living chains, saving civilians who were moments away from being impaled.
"Watch your left!" Spter warned, shooting down a tentacle that was heading toward a child.
Rohan took another heavy hit to the chest and was launched into a car, crushing the metal frame. Blood dripped from his mouth.
"Damn… this thing is way too strong for a fox-ranked monster…" he spat, struggling back to his feet.
Even injured, the three managed to coordinate a final attack. Lira restrained most of the tentacles with reinforced vines, Spter unleashed all his energy into a concentrated shot at the creature's chest, and Rohan delivered the finishing blow, smashing the monster's skull with all his strength.
The creature let out a sharp scream before collapsing motionless onto the ground.
The three heroes breathed heavily, covered in injuries. Civilians applauded from a distance.
"We did it…" Lira murmured, falling to her knees in exhaustion.
But then the ground trembled again.
Three more identical monsters emerged a few meters away, even larger and more aggressive.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Spter whispered, reloading his pistols with trembling hands.
The heroes could barely remain standing. Rohan spat blood and raised his fists again, while Lira tried summoning more vines, but they were visibly weaker now.
That was when a figure descended from the sky.
A silver-haired boy wearing a simple black jacket floated calmly in the air. Zeki, Rank D Class 2 — one of the most talented heroes of the current generation.
"Oh… reinforcements already arrived," Zeki commented in a calm, almost bored tone.
Spter recognized him immediately.
"Zeki…!"
Without any visible effort, Zeki extended his hand. A powerful wave of telekinesis surrounded the three monsters. Their tentacles stopped spinning midair, and their bodies were lifted effortlessly as though they weighed nothing. In less than five seconds, he clenched his fist.
CRACK!
All three monsters were crushed simultaneously like soda cans. Their black bodies exploded into pieces that fell lifeless onto the asphalt.
Zeki slowly descended to the ground, looking around with indifference.
"Good job holding them off," he told the three exhausted heroes, who stared at him in shock. "You can leave the rest to me."
Without waiting for a response, Zeki rose into the air again and flew away, disappearing between the buildings.
Spter, Rohan, and Lira remained silent for a few seconds, still processing what had just happened.
"Rank D Class 2…" Rohan muttered, wiping the blood from his chin. "What a monster…"