The world did not sleep that night.
Across continents, inside reinforced bunkers buried beneath mountains and oceans, leaders watched the sky fracture.
Satellites captured it first — a red distortion beyond the atmosphere, like something clawing at reality from the outside.
Then the tremors began.
Not earthquakes.
Something deeper.
Something cosmic.
The Panic of Presidents
In Washington, the President slammed his fist against the steel table.
"Evacuation protocols. Now."
In Beijing, emergency sirens screamed across military districts.
In Moscow, generals whispered a word no one had spoken in decades:
Extinction.
Within hours, every major nation had entered emergency summit mode. Screens flickered with the same image — a crimson fracture in space that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Scientists spoke of dimensional collapse.
Religious leaders called it judgment.
But the truth was far worse.
A classified briefing finally surfaced one name:
Antares.
Some leaders demanded immediate planetary evacuation initiatives. Experimental ark-ships. Underground habitats. Mars colonization acceleration.
"We cannot fight a god," one Prime Minister whispered.
"We leave," another said. "We preserve humanity."
But others were furious.
"We will not abandon Earth!"
"If we run once, we will run forever!"
Arguments erupted.
Fear spread faster than truth.
And above it all, beyond the stratosphere—
He watched.
Antares — The Crimson Sovereign
Antares did not yet descend fully.
He had only extended a fragment.
Twenty percent.
That alone had warped the sky.
His existence manifested in three forms:
Base Form – A cosmic silhouette crowned in burning horns, aura cracking reality.
Humanoid Form – Armored in crimson-black scales, eyes glowing like dying stars.
Crimson Dragon Form – A colossal dragon of annihilation, wings spanning horizons.
Within him resided three absolute powers:
Annihilation – The authority to kill anything. Even concepts. Even death.
Destruction – The erasure of existence itself.
Chaos Flame – Fire that burns creation and rewrites it.
But his true immortality came from something deeper.
The Chaos Flame allowed him to resurrect almost infinitely.
Unless that flame was extinguished at its origin—
He would always return.
The World Tree Awakens
Far from the political chaos, Jinyoung stood alone at the roots of the World Tree.
The sky above shimmered with green auroras.
Then—
The air parted.
The World Tree manifested in avatar form.
A figure woven of light and bark. Eyes older than galaxies.
"Jinyoung."
His name echoed through reality itself.
"You are not ready."
Jinyoung clenched his fists. "Then tell me how to become ready."
The Tree's presence pressed against his soul.
"If you face Antares now, you will die."
Silence.
"But that is not fixed."
Jinyoung looked up.
"What do you mean?"
The Tree's voice became deeper, layered with countless timelines.
"I have seen this timeline's future."
"You've seen… my death?"
"Yes."
"Then change it!"
"I do not change futures," the Tree replied calmly. "I observe them."
Jinyoung's jaw tightened. "How do you know the future?"
The World Tree's light expanded, roots spreading through invisible dimensions.
"Because I am the mechanism through which creation functions."
"I am the axis of existence."
"I see what flows through me."
"And you," it said, "flow differently."
The Absolute Fragment
"You possess a fragment of the Absolute Being."
The words struck like thunder.
Jinyoung's mind froze.
"That's impossible. I've never met it."
"You were never meant to."
The Tree's gaze deepened.
"Before you existed, before your birth, the Absolute Being placed a fragment of itself within your existence."
"Why?"
"To break limits."
Jinyoung trembled slightly.
"That's why… I keep surpassing walls."
"Yes."
"The fragment allows you to transcend fixed law."
"But it is incomplete."
The Tree extended its hand.
"To reach Stage Four — the Endless Aura of Abyss and Hollow — you must break your current boundary."
"And how?"
"Defeat the Monarch of Storms."
"Kaelor."
"And defeat Antares' subordinate."
"The King of Wyverns."
Only then will your aura evolve into the Endless."
Jinyoung swallowed.
"And if I fail?"
"You will die to Antares."
The wind around them stilled.
"And if I succeed?"
The Tree's light pulsed.
"You will stand a chance."
The Sky Splits — The Storm Arrives
Reality roared.
Clouds twisted violently across continents.
A vortex formed above the ocean.
Lightning did not strike downward.
It spiraled upward.
A voice thundered across the world.
"JINYOUNG."
Kaelor — Monarch of Storms, King of the Tempestborn — had arrived.
Wings of wind carved mountains apart.
Thunder obeyed him like soldiers.
Behind him, tearing through a second rift—
The King of Wyverns emerged.
A legion followed.
Thousands of winged shadows blackened the sky.
Their roars shook entire nations.
World leaders watching the screens went silent.
One whispered:
"…It's over."
Sillad Watches
From a hidden fracture between dimensions, Sillad observed.
His loyalty trembled.
He had once believed in order.
In the Law.
But watching Jinyoung stand before two Monarch-level beings—
He hesitated.
"If he truly carries a fragment…"
Then perhaps…
The Law was flawed.
Perhaps destiny was meant to be broken.
Sillad closed his eyes.
For the first time—
He did not pray to the Rulers.
He prayed for Jinyoung.
The Ultimatum
Kaelor's voice boomed.
"Kneel, vessel of false transcendence."
The King of Wyverns laughed, his wings tearing cyclones into existence.
"You are not ready, child."
Jinyoung stood firm.
The World Tree's avatar began fading.
"You must win," it whispered.
The sky ignited crimson for a split second—
A reminder.
Antares was watching.
Even at twenty percent—
His presence eclipsed them all.
Jinyoung exhaled slowly.
"If this is the path…"
A dark aura seeped from his body.
Abyssal.
Hollow.
Not yet endless.
But close.
Lightning struck him directly.
He did not move.
The ocean rose in a tidal spiral.
He stepped forward.
"This isn't about destiny."
His voice cut through the storm.
"It's about choice."
Kaelor smiled.
"Then choose."
The heavens cracked.
Wyverns descended like meteors.
Thunder became spears.
Wind became blades.
And Jinyoung—
Charged forward.
Because somewhere beyond the sky,
A crimson dragon waited.
And the future had already burned.