In a flash of light, Alma was gone.
Where he had once stood, a small crystal remained, hovering for only a moment before Quinex stepped toward it and carefully picked it up between his fingers. The crystal was strangely ordinary compared to what it had just accomplished. Behind him, the cloaked man and woman emerged from the shadows, their attention fixed on the small object in Quinex's hand.
"Is it done? Just like that?" The man asked.
"It is," Quinex responded simply.
"The realm you talked about sending him to... the place different from where the Rulders are. What is it? What kind of place did you send him to?" The woman asked.
Quinex looked down at the crystal for a moment. "Well... it's a land of nightmares. Horrors beyond this reality and the next." He carefully placed the crystal into a small, silver container, only slightly larger than the crystal itself, before closing it away.
"Will he survive? Can he escape?" The man asked.
"The Subatomic Crystal Sphere is the host of infinite dimensions, with countless universes and timelines contained within it. Each one is larger than the last. I have sent him to that place, the heart of the Subatomic Crystal Sphere, where all dimensions are connected and balanced. Alma Alastor will most likely remain unscathed by the monsters there, but his sanity will take the most damage. No human interaction. No reprieve from total isolation. And with how things ended on this side, he's bound to be anxious to escape."
"But can he escape?" the woman asked.
"You can trap a person there until they die, or for eternity if they're somehow immortal. So no, not at all. Not even Alma Alastor can achieve freedom. The being that resides there does not like to be disturbed. Now that he is gone forever, the Rulders will be able to return." Quinex paused before continuing. "However, I'm going to keep them in the Subatomic Crystal Sphere. After a year... no, a decade of Alma's sealing, I'll release them back into reality. Because if he's actually able to escape, the Rulders will be in danger again. He's simply too dangerous to their existence."
"So what do we do, then?" The woman asked.
"Now, we scurry out of here. I know you felt that when he activated his Dimension, right? The power behind it. Not just its presence, but the way it resonated through our souls and even through the Earth. It was frightening. But it also alerted every Monarch in the world to what was happening. Any second now, one of the others could show up."
Quinex disappeared into the shadows, the cloaked man and woman immediately following behind him.
Exactly one hour had passed since the sealing of Alma Alastor, and the world had already felt the absence of the Dragon Monarch.
Nearly every city across America, aside from rural areas and smaller towns, was engulfed in flames. The screams of people in panic and pain rang throughout the United States, blending with explosions, collapsing buildings, and the overwhelming destruction that had consumed the country.
Chaos was the only word that could properly describe America.
Beasts of Ruin, larger than skyscrapers and approaching the height of small mountains, stomped through cities without regard for what stood beneath their feet. The Monarchs fought desperately to stop their rampages, but even they were forced to make impossible choices, sacrificing smaller groups of people in order to save larger ones.
A mother carrying her small, barely six-year-old son ran for both of their lives.
She weaved through the destruction as quickly as she could, dodging debris from buildings, abandoned vehicles that had crashed onto sidewalks, and people desperately fleeing in every direction. Her arms tightened around her son as she ran.
She would not let her child die like this.
She would not let herself die like this, either.
The mother ran as hard and as fast as her body would allow. Somehow, she managed to make it into a less populated area, one that had not yet been consumed by flames. For a brief moment, there was nothing immediately threatening her.
Then a car came flying toward her.
One of the gigantic Beasts of Ruin had thrown it absent-mindedly while attempting to reach its target, sending the vehicle hurtling through the air directly toward the mother and her son.
She could only stare.
The flying mass of metal grew closer and closer, yet her body refused to move. The adrenaline that had driven her this far seemed to freeze inside her, leaving her completely motionless as the horrifying realization settled over her.
No matter what she did now, she could not change what was about to happen.
"Merged Beast: Inverted Creature Shot." A man's voice came from nowhere.
The car was instantly vaporized at its center. The destruction spread outward in an instant, consuming the entire vehicle until nothing remained.
The mother looked upward in shock.
Floating in the air was none other than Emmanuel Thatcher, the President of the United States and the Chimera Monarch.
However, the mother knew him only as the President.
"Take your son and flee immediately. Go into the rural areas. The Beasts of Ruin haven't gotten there yet," Emmanuel said before flying deeper into the city.
'What's happened to you... Alma Alastor?' Emmanuel thought.
───
57 minutes ago.
Emmanuel stood at the entrance of a small underground subway station, his eyes scanning the surrounding area as he searched for the Dragon Monarch. His face recoiled as he saw the corpses of multiple civilians, and the overwhelming amount of blood scattered throughout the place. What was more strange, was the still alive civilians standing amongst the carnage.
"Alma?!" he called out. "Alma, where are you?!"
He moved farther onto the platform, examining the immediate vicinity in search of any sign of Alma. 'Why were you here? You have no reason to be here.' His eyes eventually fell upon several burn marks across the floor.
'This is curious. It was like a pulse laser was used here.' He kept the thought in the back of his mind as he continued forward.
Several minutes passed.
Nothing.
Nobody.
"Damn it. Where the hell did you go?" Before he could give up, a voice suddenly came through his earpiece.
"Hello? Sir?" It was a boy.
"Hello? Who is this? How did you get access to this channel?" Emmanuel asked, confusion immediately entering his voice as he considered the possibility that the network had been compromised.
"Rest easy, sir. My name is Maxwell Lemuel. I am the son of Alma Alastor."
Emmanuel's eyes widened. He immediately became more attentive.
"My father has been sealed by an unknown device," Max said.
"Sealed? How can that be?" Emmanuel asked, evident shock entering his voice.
"It sounds impossible, I know. I'm still grasping with the reality myself. My dad hasn't told me how exactly it happened, but it's true." Max said.
"Well, how do we free him? Don't tell me we can't get him back..." Emmanuel said, his thoughts immediately returning to what had happened to his brother, the previous Dragon Monarch.
"No. There is a way to free my dad. I'm working on a way as we speak. I'm telling you this so you can prepare. I know that you felt it more than I did. That feeling. That overwhelming power my dad emitted. The sudden loss of that power is dangerous. Beasts and Humans of Ruin will surely become more active now that he's gone." Max's tone was serious.
And Emmanuel understood just how grave the situation had become.
"America will be overrun," he whispered. "Not only that. But the world. Each minute that passes while my father is trapped, the Beasts and Humans of Ruin have more time to dominate. He can escape himself, but I fear that by the time he does, there won't be a world left for him to come back to."
"Understood. I hope you can find a solution as soon as possible," Emmanuel said.
"Me as well. I wish you luck in preventing the collapse of America."
The line went dead.
Emmanuel immediately flew out of the subway and high into the sky. He reached toward his earpiece, intending to contact the others, but before he could fly even a mile after leaving the station, an explosion erupted in the distance.
Then another.
'What?'
Emmanuel immediately changed direction, flying toward the source of the explosions.
He stopped above the area where thick, black smoke was rising into the sky, but the source of the destruction was nowhere to be seen.
Then another boom echoed through the city.
Emmanuel turned toward the sound, only to see a gigantic hand flying directly toward him.
The hand struck him with tremendous force, sending him hurtling backward until he crashed through a building.
Emmanuel groaned as he pushed himself upright, dusting the debris from his suit. He immediately leaped from the building and aimed his hand toward the Beast of Ruin. "Merged Beast: Inverted Creature Shot!"
The projectile without form flew toward the Beast of Ruin, erasing a portion of its chest before rapidly expanding across its body until its entire torso and pelvis were consumed.
Emmanuel tapped the earpiece in his ear.
"Attention, all Monarchs. Alma Alastor has been sealed. I have no idea where he is, but he is confirmed alive. As for the soldiers of the United States... this is a Code Red. I repeat, a Code Red. Shut down all means of travel inside and outside the United States. Focus entirely on defending the nation from external threats. These Beasts of Ruin love to invade this country, so this is the barrier from the rest of the world, and the door for you to see tomorrow!"
Emmanuel flew down toward a couple attempting to escape from another Beast of Ruin, using Creature Shot once more to destroy it.
He carried them to safety before immediately flying back into the air.
"This is our last stand. If we fall here... the world follows. Do not give it your best." His voice grew louder. "GIVE IT YOUR LIFE TO WIN!!"
Emmanuel flew directly into a crowd of smaller, grouped-up Beasts of Ruin.
Ora and Montana immediately acted, with Amelia and Weston following soon after.
Montana equipped her lance and tore through the small Beasts of Ruin littering the sidewalk. Ora did the same, using nothing but his fists and boots to kill his enemies. Amelia and Weston destroyed hundreds of Beasts of Ruin scattered across the sidewalks, roads, and even throughout the town.
America had become a battlefield.
And with Alma gone, the Monarchs had no choice but to hold the line.
Weston's precision with his bow was nothing short of mythical, however. He ran along the sides of buildings as though the vertical surfaces were no different from the ground beneath his feet, drawing and releasing his arrows with such speed and accuracy that every shot found its way directly into the heads of the Beasts of Ruin. Then, without slowing, he leaped from the building and fired three arrows at once, each one finding a different flying Beast of Ruin and killing all three before they could even react. Amelia could only stare in disbelief at the display. Based on what she had just witnessed, and probably fueled by hope, Weston Cooper possessed the potential to even surpass the Cetus and Cerberus Monarchs.
The ground beneath Montana's feet suddenly shook and rumbled, throwing her off balance. She looked upward and saw a gigantic Beast of Ruin towering over the surrounding infrastructure, its body dwarfing even the nearby skyscrapers. It was a long, unnaturally thin humanoid creature with no discernable facial features or defining characteristics, its massive hands hanging from arms that appeared disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body.
At the same time, Ora heard the heavy flap of wings overhead. Each movement carried enough force to make the air itself seem to shift. He looked toward the sky and saw another enormous Beast of Ruin descending toward the city. It possessed the wings of a dove, while its black body was covered with tendrils that protruded from its back, slithering and moving in abnormal directions. Two bright yellow eyes stared from its otherwise featureless head, while its limbs resembled those of a duck.
At once, both the Cetus and Cerberus Monarchs found themselves facing EF-5 level Beasts of Ruin.
Montana was highly nervous and afraid to fight one of them, while Ora shared some of that nervousness, though beneath it, excitement was steadily building.
Emmanuel, the Chimera Monarch, was forced to deal with the EF-5 and EF-4 level Beasts of Ruin that had begun surrounding him. However, there was something strange happening within every Monarch and every Beast of Ruin alike. A feeling had begun building inside all of them, something that felt... less. It was difficult to describe, yet it hung heavily within their hearts, foreboding and unnatural.
Emmanuel could handle the most dangerous Beasts of Ruin much as he had before Alma became the Dragon Monarch. He could still destroy them. He could still protect people. But Emmanuel was only one man, and his protection could only extend to those around him.
It was a feeling Alma understood all too well from within that subway.
Ora and Montana, the Monarchs directly behind Emmanuel in terms of strength, pushed themselves closer and closer to their limits, approaching the same level of strain they had experienced during the battles that led to the unlocking of their Dimensions.
Emmanuel fired Creature Shots left and right from the sky, destroying the smaller EF-4 Beasts of Ruin with relative ease. The EF-5s, however, required considerably more personal interaction to defeat. The constant stream of Beasts of Ruin continued without end, extending all the way down to the weakest EF-1s. They kept coming.
And then... they all stopped.
The approaching EF-5 and EF-4 Beasts of Ruin suddenly stepped backward, forming a circle nearly a mile wide around Emmanuel.
For the first time, the sheer scale of the invasion became completely visible to him. Emmanuel could see just how numerous they were. They seemed to stretch across the city as far as the sunlight reached, an endless mass of monstrous bodies filling the streets and surrounding buildings.
He was shocked.
Not by their number, but by the fact that they had all stopped moving at exactly the same time. There had been no hesitation, no delay, no gradual slowing. Every single Beast had simply stopped.
Then there was movement.
Exactly where Emmanuel had been positioned in the sky, the Beasts of Ruin on the ground began moving aside. They shifted with unnatural coordination, creating a path through their enormous numbers as though every movement had been rehearsed beforehand.
Emmanuel narrowed his eyes.
He slowly descended from his position roughly 1,000 feet above the ground, watching as the splitting mass of Beasts of Ruin gradually approached his position from below.
Around him was destruction. Burning buildings illuminated the streets with flickering orange light, abandoned cars lay crumpled across the roads, and trees had been ripped from the ground and thrown across sidewalks. The entire area looked apocalyptic.
For some, it undoubtedly was.
It was difficult to make out what the Beasts were stepping aside for through their sheer density, but Emmanuel did not stop descending, and whatever was approaching from within their ranks never stopped moving.
Eventually, Emmanuel's feet touched the ground.
A figure wearing a black cloak stepped out from between the Beasts of Ruin, its head tilted downward beneath its hood.
Emmanuel's eyes opened slightly in confusion as he looked around, making certain that this wasn't some kind of trap and watching to see whether the Beasts of Ruin would remain still or suddenly move.
Then the figure's arm moved.
Emmanuel's attention immediately snapped back toward it.
In one smooth motion, the figure removed its hood, revealing a man wearing a white coat, black pants, and black boots. He smiled as he looked directly at Emmanuel, then began walking toward him.
Emmanuel watched the man cautiously.
The temperature around them seemed to grow heavy.
The man said nothing as he continued approaching. Then, without warning, he stopped.
He raised one hand toward the sky and muttered something beneath his breath.
Emmanuel followed his gaze upward, his expression shifting into shock as the fires surrounding the city began to rise.
But something was wrong.
The objects surrounding the flames, and even the things that the fires had been burning, were not being pulled upward with them. The buildings remained where they were. The cars remained where they were. Everything remained perfectly still as the flames themselves were drawn away.
The fires gathered in the sky, forming a blazing diagonal circle around an enormous, spectral sphere resembling a gigantic atom. Its exact diameter was impossible to determine, but Emmanuel estimated that it was roughly the size of the White House.
The man's left hand squeezed tightly before opening again. He repeated the motion several times, each squeeze and release seemingly drawing something more from the massive spectral atom. Finally, a confident smile appeared across his face.
"Alright... that should be enough," the man said before clenching his fist once more.
He stepped forward with one foot, shifted his body to the side so that he was facing toward Emmanuel's left, and swung his fist.
An enormous amount of force erupted from the movement as though it had appeared from nowhere. The ground violently shook beneath them while the force plowed through buildings, streets, cars, and even the clouds, extending outward for nearly three miles.
The man turned his head toward Emmanuel with the same confident smile, keeping his body perfectly straight as he repeatedly squeezed and opened his hand.
"I'm attacking you next. An overhead chop straight to the noggin," the man said, forming a knife-hand with his fingers before gently tapping his own forehead. "Get ready... and... go."
Emmanuel's attention became completely focused on the man standing before him.
Then he blinked.
In that single instant, the man appeared directly in front of him, his attack already in motion.
Emmanuel's eyes widened in shock. He immediately ducked forward beneath the man's arm and rolled away.
He had avoided the attack itself.
But he had not avoided the force behind it.
The same overwhelming force from the man's earlier punch, now traveling a greater distance and following parallel to the knife-hand strike, decimated everything caught within the attack's narrow range. The sheer power behind the strike pushed Emmanuel backward, sending him rolling onto his back before he quickly shifted onto his side and pushed himself upright.
The man groaned playfully. "Aw, man. That used up what little energy I was able to get from this area." He turned around to face Emmanuel once more. "I'll have to use my reserves."
───
Montana was thrown backward and crashed into a building. Before she could recover, the lengthy Beast of Ruin grabbed her with its gigantic hand and dragged both itself and Montana through several other buildings before finally flinging her away.
She crashed onto a rooftop, breaking through the concrete barrier before continuing through the sides of multiple buildings. Her body was finally stopped when she slammed into another structure, after which she fell toward the sidewalk below and landed hard enough to crack the concrete beneath her.
Montana groaned in pain as she slowly stood.
The enormous Beast of Ruin was already walking toward her, each step carrying a deliberate confidence as its massive body approached.
'Should I go all out?' Montana thought. 'I could use my Dimension first and limit my Liminal Bond usage afterward. But the amount used after a Dimension is taxing. I would deplete it way too quickly.'
Montana reached her right hand out to the side.
A whirlpool opened within the sidewalk, its water spiraling violently before her lance rose from its center and smoothly moved into her waiting hand.
'I'll weigh you down until you're vulnerable. Then I'll activate my Dimension to kill you as an assured victory,' Montana thought.
She spun the lance in her hand before pointing the tip of the blade toward the gigantic Beast of Ruin, the weapon glinting beneath the light.
"Come at me."
Seemingly influenced by Montana's taunt, the Beast of Ruin immediately began running toward her. The ground shook beneath every enormous step as it rapidly closed the distance.
But before it could reach her, Montana stabbed the butt-end of her lance into the ground, sending water splashing upward. She spun the lance in front of herself and then overhead, causing the tiny droplets suspended in the air to rapidly expand.
Within moments, they had become bubbles the size of cars.
Hundreds upon hundreds of them filled the sky before suddenly shooting toward the Beast of Ruin.
The bubbles slammed into its enormous body, rattling its form and damaging it to a noticeable degree. Water splashed from its body and poured down into the streets below as the barrage continued.
After seeing that her attacks were actually hurting the Beast of Ruin, Montana smirked.
But both she and the Beast knew that the damage was not nearly enough.
Montana stabbed her lance into the ground again as the creature continued its stampede toward her.
'I'm taking this out of your book, Tanner. I'm sure you can forgive me for stealing your originality.'
She repeatedly stabbed the ground, causing enormous amounts of water to erupt around her. She began weaving the water into waves, then using those waves to create even larger ones, until the mass of water eventually formed a gigantic construct roughly half the height of the Beast of Ruin.
Montana positioned herself within the construct's "head," watching as the Beast of Ruin approached and threw its enormous fist forward.
Montana met its attack with one of her own.
The two attacks collided halfway between them.
The impact between the two colossal beings produced a tremendous shockwave that expanded outward through the city, causing nearby buildings to shake and windows to shatter.
Within the water construct, Montana spun her lance.
Bubbles immediately began forming across its enormous body before disconnecting and shooting toward the Beast of Ruin. Once again, the barrage rattled its body and inflicted further damage.
However, after the assault ended, something had changed.
The Beast of Ruin's right arm had fallen off.
The massive limb collapsed toward the ground, crushing several buildings beneath it as Montana remained within her watery construct, staring down the enormous creature that still stood before her.
'Physical damage? I know they're capable of harming people, but not actually affecting material objects.' Montana thought as she looked toward the Beast of Ruin standing before her. 'Out of all the Beasts of Ruin... you are among the special.'
She spun her lance once more, preparing to cut off the creature's remaining arm, when something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. A tall humanoid figure had begun climbing up the side of her water construct.
Montana looked beyond the comparatively smaller Beast of Ruin and saw numerous humanoids with the exact same appearance climbing the construct, while others ran through the surrounding streets. Her eyes shifted toward the fallen arm, and what she saw made her expression change.
Those things were climbing out of it.
Montana swiftly created a spearhead along the right "arm" of the water construct and drove it directly into the fallen limb before slicing it in half. However, rather than stopping the creatures from emerging, another entrance formed within the severed arm.
And the number of smaller Beasts of Ruin pouring out had doubled.
Montana stared at the sight, her mind racing as she tried to understand what was happening. But before she could think for much longer, the massive Beast of Ruin's fist came flying toward her.
The water construct surrounding Montana acted like a solid wall when the fist collided with it, but the sheer force behind the attack tore straight through the water and struck her directly. Montana was sent flying backward, crashing through multiple buildings and smashing through several cars before finally colliding with a tree hard enough to bend its trunk backward from the force of her impact.
Montana let out a groan, partly from the pain, but more from frustration.
She slowly stood and continued thinking.
'The more I try to stop the arm from releasing those creatures, the more their numbers increase.'
She watched as the gigantic Beast of Ruin charged toward her, each of its steps making the ground tremble beneath them.
'Beating you to a pulp beforehand will only cause more trouble...'
Montana raised both arms in front of herself, her forearms covering her eyes as she considered the situation.
'In which case... I'll need to restrain you in a place where the number doesn't matter.'
The Beast of Ruin swung its fists wildly, destroying buildings in its desperate attempt to reach the Cetus Monarch. It reached one enormous hand toward Montana, attempting to capture her when...
"Dimension Creation."
---
A creature smashed through several buildings, its enormous body tearing through concrete and steel before finally coming to a stop amid the destruction. Almost immediately afterward, a joyous, nearly unhinged bout of laughter rang through the streets, echoing between the surrounding skyscrapers as though the destruction itself had given its source something to celebrate.
"HAHAHAHAHA! I COULD BEAT YOU WITH MY EYES CLOSED!" Ora True, the Cerberus Monarch, shouted with absolute glee, clutching the side of a nearby building with one hand as he watched his opponent struggle to recover.
The gigantic Beast of Ruin slowly rose into the air, its body recoiling and twisting in a peculiar motion before it suddenly shot a mass of black substance toward Ora. Recognizing the incoming attack, Ora immediately leaped away from the building and propelled himself toward the next structure. Behind him, the black blob struck the building with an explosive impact, splattering across its surface before seeping into the material itself. For a brief moment, nothing appeared to happen. Then, the entire structure began to groan under an immense and inexplicable weight, its foundations buckling as the floors started collapsing one after another.
Ora rolled across the roof of another building before coming to a stop, his head immediately snapping backward as he examined the damage.
'That's twice now.' He thought, his expression becoming slightly more serious as he recalled what he had witnessed.
'It has to do that little shimmy whenever it tries to shoot that dark stuff. Not only that, but whatever that substance does seems to apply an immense amount of weight to anything it touches. Just one direct hit from that could leave me completely immobile.' Ora considered the implications while pushing himself upright, his gaze returning to the Beast of Ruin as he leaped onto another building, maintaining his distance while preparing to launch his next attack.
"Bite of a Thousand Teeth..." Ora announced as he began running across the rooftop, his footsteps striking the concrete with heavy, rapid impacts while he closed the distance between himself and his opponent.
"But with how slow you are..." He pushed off the edge of the building and launched himself through the air, his body hurtling directly toward the gigantic creature.
"THAT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE!!" With a roar of exhilaration, Ora drew his fist back before throwing it forward with all the strength he could muster, his entire body following through with the punch.
His fist connected satisfyingly with the Beast of Ruin's head, the impact so devastating that its entire head was obliterated into millions of fragments. A tremendous shockwave erupted from the point of contact, surging across the surrounding buildings and shattering their windows in an instant. The force continued down the streets, ripping through the urban landscape as chunks of concrete and asphalt were torn from the ground and thrown into the air, leaving destruction in its wake.
"Mark of the Dreaded Dog," Ora declared as he descended toward the streets below, his voice carrying the same casual confidence he had displayed throughout the fight.
He landed upright, his feet meeting the pavement with a heavy impact that failed to inflict even the slightest injury upon him. Ora barely seemed to notice the force of his landing as he looked upward and watched the now-lifeless body of the Beast of Ruin fall from the sky. Its enormous mass crashed through multiple buildings on its way down, reducing portions of their structures to rubble before finally disappearing into the wreckage below.
"Welp, now that that's taken care of, I should probably go help the others," Ora remarked, turning away from the destruction without giving the fallen Beast of Ruin another glance. He immediately broke into a run, heading in the opposite direction as he prepared to join the ongoing battles elsewhere.
However, the farther he traveled, the more he began to notice something strange happening to his surroundings. The sunlight that had illuminated the streets moments earlier was gradually disappearing, an unnatural darkness spreading across the area as though something enormous had begun blocking out the sky. Ora glanced toward the ground, raising an eyebrow in confusion when he noticed the growing shadow stretching beneath his feet. He turned around to investigate, only for his eyes to widen as he discovered an entire office building hurtling directly toward him, its enormous structure rapidly approaching with enough force to crush anything caught in its path.
"What the fu—" Ora began, but the building slammed into him before he could finish speaking, its immense mass swallowing him beneath a storm of concrete, glass, and twisted steel.
Several seconds passed before Ora emerged from the debris, brushing aside the wreckage as he looked back toward the direction from which the building had been thrown. Confusion lingered on his face as he tried to understand what had just happened, but that confusion quickly gave way to surprise when he finally noticed the source of the attack. Atop one of the surrounding skyscrapers rested a gigantic cocoon, its swollen body approximately twice the size of the structure beneath it. It pierced the sky at a height that made the skyscraper itself seem insignificant by comparison, while thick vines sprawled across its surface and extended downward along the building's exterior, winding their way toward the streets below.
Flowers had bloomed along the sprawling vines, their petals releasing a green mist that steadily spread throughout the surrounding area. Ora watched the substance drift through the air before inadvertently inhaling some of it. He sneezed once, shook his head, and narrowed his eyes as he considered what he had just breathed in.
'It's poison.' He thought, immediately recognizing that the strange mist was likely responsible for the abnormal conditions spreading throughout the area.
Before he could investigate further, a groan sounded from behind him. Ora turned toward the noise and spotted a person slowly walking in his direction, their movements appearing sluggish and unnatural. At first, the individual seemed no different from an ordinary human, but the enormous flower protruding from their head immediately caught his attention.
Ora reflexively recoiled in disgust, his face twisting as he took several steps backward to distance himself from the grotesque sight. Unfortunately, the first person was far from alone. One after another, more individuals emerged from the surrounding streets and buildings, each bearing a similarly enormous flower growing from their head as they gradually converged upon him.
'It can also mind-control people!?' Ora thought, his eyes widening as he began piecing together the full extent of the Beast of Ruin's abilities.
The flower-headed individuals suddenly rushed toward him, throwing themselves at his body and attempting to tear into his flesh with their teeth. Or, at least, they tried. Their jaws strained against Ora's skin, but his extraordinary durability proved more than they could overcome, and several of them cracked their teeth against his body without leaving so much as a meaningful scratch. Ora grimaced at the sight before abruptly jumping away from the growing mass of people, scaling the side of a nearby building with the feral agility of an animal escaping a swarm of predators. He reached the rooftop and immediately surveyed the surrounding landscape, his expression growing increasingly grim as he took in the full extent of the green mist spreading across the city.
The mist had already covered approximately fifteen square miles, and its reach continued to make the situation more alarming by the second.
'This is bad... While these people are being controlled against their will, they're also dying at the same time. I only have about ten minutes until they're all killed... maybe even less.' Ora thought, his gaze moving across the streets below as he considered how many lives were now in danger.
The situation had changed dramatically. This was no longer simply a fun battle against a powerful Beast of Ruin. He was dealing with an enemy capable of turning innocent people into unwilling extensions of its power while simultaneously poisoning them to death.
Ora's expression darkened, and the playful excitement that had accompanied his earlier fight disappeared beneath a growing sense of irritation. His eyes narrowed as he stared toward the enormous cocoon towering above the surrounding buildings, his hands slowly tightening into fists.
"Okay... now I'm getting pissed."
───
Weston fired multiple arrows in rapid succession, each projectile cutting through the air before striking a Beast of Ruin directly through the head. Beside him, Amelia remained vigilant, watching the areas his attacks could not cover and providing defense against anything attempting to exploit his blind spots. Whenever a Beast of Ruin approached too closely, she intercepted it with a forceful swing or drove a precise stab into its body, preventing the creatures from surrounding them while Weston continued eliminating their enemies from a distance.
"How much longer do you think we have to keep this up for?" Weston asked, releasing another arrow that pierced the head of an approaching Beast of Ruin before its body could get any closer.
"Until Alma is found," Amelia replied, continuing to strike down the creatures that attempted to advance upon their position.
"I hope they hurry up. We can do this for a while, but not forever. Not like he can," Weston said, firing another arrow and watching as it struck its target with enough force to bring the creature crashing to the ground.
"Do you think he's okay? The Dragon Monarch?" Amelia asked, glancing toward Weston as she continued defending their surroundings.
"Of course he is. We'd better hope, anyway," Weston answered, his tone carrying an assurance that sounded more like something he needed to believe than something he could genuinely confirm.
Amelia fell silent for a moment, her attention returning to the battle unfolding around them as she considered the circumstances that had led to their current situation.
"Why do you think Alma was at that festival?" she asked, turning the question toward Weston as she recalled the overwhelming sensation that had accompanied the activation of his Dimension. "You felt it when he activated his Dimension, right? His location was exactly at the heart of that festival. But why?"
"I have no idea. The only reason I can think of is that Emmanuel told him to. That's it," Weston replied, his bow remaining steady as he prepared to fire at another approaching Beast of Ruin.
"But why would he do that? He knows that it would have been dangerous. Beasts of Ruin have a high chance of attacking because of the crowd of people, but adding a Monarch into the mix nearly makes it guaranteed," Amelia said, driving her weapon into a Beast of Ruin that had approached too closely before turning her attention toward the next threat.
"Whatever the case, he needs to be found. I like the idea of fighting all these enemies, growing stronger, and testing our limits... but this is a life-or-death situation. If we fail... we're killed. There's no try harder. No safety net. Nothing," Weston said, his voice becoming more serious as the reality of their predicament settled over him. He continued firing at the Beasts of Ruin, refusing to let his growing concerns interfere with the responsibility that remained directly in front of him.
"I hope he's found soon... I'm starting to get scared," Amelia admitted, her voice quieter than before as she continued fighting beside him.
"You and me both," Weston replied.
—
Emmanuel was thrown backward by a powerful gust of wind, his feet scraping against the ground as he skidded to a halt. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the man standing before him, his expression growing increasingly wary as the realization of his predicament settled in. The two combatants had continued fighting for another hour after Alma was sealed away, and the longer their battle dragged on, the more apparent the difference between them became. Emmanuel was growing tired, his Liminal Bonds gradually running out, while the man before him seemed to grow more energized with every passing moment.
'His power seems to come from that giant atom in the sky, absorbing energy around it and using it to strengthen his own body.' Emmanuel thought, straightening his posture as he prepared himself for another attack. 'I've tried destroying the atom myself, but it's completely intangible.'
The man began walking toward Emmanuel, slowly clenching and unclenching his fists as though testing the strength that continued to accumulate within them.
'What's more... his strength is beyond that of an EF-5 Beast of Ruin. This guy...' Emmanuel's body tensed, every muscle tightening in anticipation of the attack he knew was coming. '...is trouble.'
The man suddenly surged forward, his body weaving through a zigzagging series of movements that carried him across the ground twice before he appeared in the air, where he changed direction three more times before finally arriving directly in front of Emmanuel, his palm already open and reaching for his face.
Emmanuel reacted immediately, seizing the man by the throat and driving him violently into the ground before pinning him beneath his weight and tightening his grip. However, just as he began squeezing, he noticed the earth beneath them shifting, and before he could understand what was happening, the man broke through the ground, leaving behind a small crater shaped around his body as he descended into the earth. His descent began slowly, but his speed increased rapidly as he continued sinking deeper, forcing Emmanuel to release him and retreat upward before he could be dragged down with him.
Emmanuel hovered above the newly formed hole, staring into its depths with a bewildered expression, until he felt the air around him shift. His eyes widened, and he immediately twisted around, raising both arms in front of his face just in time to block a kick from the man, whose foot struck with enough force to send him crashing back toward the Earth. Emmanuel regained his footing and looked upward as his opponent descended toward him, one foot extended directly toward the spot where he stood. He barely managed to escape before the man collided with the ground, producing a massive crater whose impact sent a shockwave rolling outward for miles.
Emmanuel stood once more, adopting a defensive stance as the enormous cloud of displaced dirt and debris rose around him, his caution now considerably greater than before.
'Can he also absorb my attacks? I've tried shooting Creature Shot at him, but he dodges rather than absorbs it. That would end him in one attack, but him choosing to dodge instead has me worried. My Dimension would only prolong the fight more than necessary, even if he can't absorb my attacks.' Emmanuel thought, carefully considering his remaining options as he watched the cloud of dust surrounding him. 'If he can absorb them, then both are off the table. I don't need to give him more resources to work with.'
Before Emmanuel could reach any further conclusions, the man appeared behind him through the smoke, already launching another attack.
"But in that case..." Emmanuel seized the man's wrist as he struck, redirecting his momentum downward and forcing him toward the ground before immediately following through with a powerful stomp to the head. "I'll just kill you with my bare hands."
The man reached upward and grabbed Emmanuel by the ankle, his body beginning to sink into the earth once again as he attempted to drag his opponent down with him. Emmanuel responded by punching and stomping on the man's head, desperately trying to force him to release his grip, only to discover that his opponent's skin was extraordinarily hard. Each strike seemed to hurt Emmanuel more than it hurt the man, and the realization became increasingly apparent as his efforts failed to loosen the grip around his ankle.
The man smiled before reaching up with his other hand and seizing the same ankle, tightening his hold as the ground swallowed more of his body. "I'm taking you to the core of the Earth! We'll see how well you handle the heat down there!" he shouted, his voice carrying an unmistakable confidence as he continued dragging Emmanuel beneath the surface.
Emmanuel pointed his hand downward, aiming directly at the man's face, preparing to shoot a Creature Shot. Instantly, their descent came to a halt, and the giant atom appeared high above Emmanuel's head, suspended within the enormous hole his opponent had carved into the earth. Yet, despite having a clear opportunity to fire, Emmanuel refrained, instead forcing the man's hands away from his ankle with a cocky smile before ascending rapidly into the sky.
The man clicked his tongue as he rose to his feet within the crater, his expression tightening as he realized what had happened.
'He found out what my Ability does.'
A moment later, the man shot upward from the ground, floating several meters away from Emmanuel as they faced one another high above the earth.
"I figured you'd disable that ability if it meant you couldn't have it active and absorb energy at the same time," Emmanuel said, maintaining the same confident smile as he studied his opponent.
"Seems that you've gotten confident all of a sudden. Are you sure that it's not misplaced?" The man replied, his eyes fixed on Emmanuel as he assessed the implications of what his opponent had just discovered.
"Your main ability is being able to absorb nearby energy, right? However it works, it's obvious you can't absorb energy while applying it to yourself. I'd be careful if I were you," Emmanuel said, his smile never quite leaving his face.
'Since the beginning of our fight, he hasn't used any of his abilities. That makes sense given what I showed him, but he didn't fall for my trap.' the man thought, recognizing that Emmanuel had begun to understand the limitations of his power. 'I need to hurry and kill him before the other Monarchs defeat their assigned Beasts of Ruin and come to help him.'
'That look on his face... I seem to have gotten him worried. That's good. When he attacks, I'll pin him to the ground and force him to increase his weight. Then I'll kill him in one shot!' Emmanuel thought, preparing himself to exploit the opening he expected his opponent to create.
Both men moved at once, surging toward each other as they prepared to land their next attacks, when a gigantic crack suddenly appeared in the sky above Topeka, Kansas. Smaller, thinner fractures branched outward from it, spreading across multiple states before eventually covering the entire sky of the United States. A strange light shone from within the cracks, its many colors illuminating the fractured sky, although red dominated the others, lending the spectacle an ominous appearance that seemed to stretch across the entire nation.
The moment the cracks appeared, every Monarch felt a familiar presence, one they had desperately hoped to feel again. Their expressions changed almost simultaneously, and relief spread across their faces as the realization reached them. The enormous crack and its countless smaller fractures gradually closed, and in the space they left behind floated none other than Alma Daedulus Alastor himself.
'There you are,' Emmanuel thought, the words carrying a quiet relief that he had scarcely allowed himself to feel throughout the battle.
"Oh, shit," the man muttered, fear seizing his voice as he stared at the figure who had appeared in the sky.
Alma had not moved from his position. He simply hovered there, his face hard and serious, his expression devoid of any visible warmth. Yet, within his eyes, something far more terrifying had taken hold: a hatred beyond what Alma was capable of. Alma did not look at the man directly. He did not move at all. There was a lifeless quality to his body, while the raw emotion burning within his eyes suggested the opposite.
Emmanuel noticed this difference as well. He became slightly worried as that unmistakable feeling enters his body alongside the man: fear. This was not the Alma he knew.
The Dragon Monarch returns, reborn as a vengeful spirit!