The silence in the crater was a living thing, heavy and suffocating. Sung Jin-Woo removed his hand from Kafka's head, rising to his full height with a fluid grace that was utterly at odds with the devastation around him. He paid the downed Kaiju No. 8 no more mind than a man gives a rock he's just kicked out of his path.
His glowing violet gaze swept over the battlefield, landing on the other monster. Kaiju No. 0, the crystalline behemoth that had brought the Third Division to its knees, had frozen mid-regeneration. Its humming green core pulsed erratically, a frantic heartbeat of pure terror.
Jin-Woo's expression didn't change. It was the look of a master predator assessing lesser beasts.
"That one," he said, his voice quiet yet carrying to every corner of the battlefield. "It's made of processed energy. Inefficient. Messy." He lifted a single finger, pointing it at the S-Class threat.
He gave a one-word command, a death sentence spoken with the casual authority of a king ordering wine.
"Die."
For an instant, nothing happened. Then, the shadow at Jin-Woo's feet bled outward. A spike of pure, solidified darkness, silent and swift as thought, erupted from the ground directly beneath Kaiju No. 0. It speared through the monster's crystalline body, piercing the green core with surgical precision.
The humming stopped. The sickly green light winked out. The entire obsidian structure of Kaiju No. 0 trembled, then dissolved into a billion motes of black dust, scattered on the wind like ash.
The entire Defense Force stared, dumbfounded. He hadn't even moved.
Mina Ashiro finally found her voice, forcing herself to her feet. Her training screamed at her to re-establish control. "Identify yourself! By order of the Japan Defense Force, you are to stand down and surrender for questioning!"
Jin-Woo's head snapped toward her. His eyes, cold and ancient, pinned her in place. He didn't see a Captain. He saw a nuisance.
"Order?" he scoffed, the word dripping with contempt. "Your soldiers are weak. Your weapons are clumsy. Your energy is thin… primitive. You are in no position to give me orders."
His gaze drifted past her, landing on Kikoru Shinomiya. Even from a hundred meters away, she felt his stare like a physical touch, an invasive scan that seemed to see right through her battle suit, right through her skin, and weigh the very power in her soul.
"That one has potential," Jin-Woo mused aloud, a faint, almost cruel smirk touching his lips. "But she's shackled to a machine. A crutch."
Kikoru's blood ran cold, then hot with fury. He… How dare he!
Before Mina could issue another futile command, a new alert blared over the comms.
[Kaiju Signature Detected! B-Class 'Giga-Mantis' type! Sector 4! Engaging JDF Squad 7!]
Another battle erupted a few blocks away. The sounds of conventional ordnance and monstrous shrieks filled the air. Jin-Woo turned his head slightly, listening. An expression of profound disappointment crossed his features.
"They're dying," he stated, not with pity, but with the flat finality of an observer watching a failed experiment. "They're loud and disorganized. They telegraph their every move."
He sighed, a sound of immense boredom. He looked down at his own shadow, which had begun to churn and roil.
"This world has monsters," he said, more to himself than anyone. "But no real hunters."
Then, he spoke the word that would forever burn itself into the memory of this world.
"Arise."
The ground trembled. From Jin-Woo's shadow, two forms began to emerge, pulling themselves out of the tangible darkness like wraiths clawing their way out of the abyss.
The first was a knight, clad in obsidian plate armor that seemed to swallow the light. A tattered black cape flowed behind him, and a long, jagged scar ran over the helmet where his left eye would be. He held a greatsword that shimmered with violet lightning. He knelt instantly, his armored head bowed in perfect, silent fealty. This was Igris, the personification of loyalty and deadly grace.
The second was a nightmare. An insectoid horror, a humanoid ant-king with scythe-like claws and mandibles that clicked with ravenous energy. A high-pitched, chittering voice echoed telepathically across the battlefield, filled with manic glee and bloodlust.
[My King! A new world! So much to kill! So many heads to present to you!]
This was Beru, the avatar of fanatical devotion and brutal slaughter. He, too, dropped to a knee, though his posture was coiled, vibrating with restrained violence.
The civilians who had been peeking from shattered windows screamed. The remaining JDF soldiers took involuntary steps back, raising their weapons at these new, terrifying apparitions. They had just witnessed a man defeat a Kaiju. Now, that same man had summoned two more.
Jin-Woo looked down at his two most trusted commanders. His voice was sharp, absolute.
"Kneel," he commanded. "We're in enemy territory."
The soldiers flinched, thinking the order was for them. But Igris and Beru simply bowed their heads lower, a silent affirmation.
Meanwhile, in the crater, Kafka had finally managed to force his battered body back into its human form. He lay gasping on the cracked earth, naked, bruised, and bleeding. The sight of Jin-Woo's summoned knights sent a fresh wave of terror through him. These weren't Kaiju. They were something else entirely. Something ancient and subservient to a power he couldn't comprehend.
He had to stop this. This misunderstanding.
Stumbling, he rose and called out, his voice hoarse. "Wait! We're not your enemies!"
Jin-Woo turned, his violet eyes locking onto Kafka's small, vulnerable human form. He took a step closer, his presence a palpable wave of cold. The air around Kafka grew heavy, tasting of graveyards and deep space.
Jin-Woo's gaze was piercing, analytical. He looked from the crater, still radiating the energy of Kaiju No. 8, to the man standing before him. A flicker of genuine interest, the first he'd shown, entered his eyes.
"You," he said, his voice low. "You stink of monster… but you feel of man."
He was now only a few feet away. Kafka felt an involuntary shudder run through him. It wasn't just fear. Jin-Woo's presence, his aura of absolute death and shadow, was resonating with the Kaiju core dormant inside him. It wasn't a hostile reaction. It was something deeper, more primal. A strange, magnetic pull. A feeling of… recognition. As if a dormant god within him was stirring, awakened by the presence of another.
Jin-Woo tilted his head, his cold curiosity sharpening into a surgeon's focus. He saw the conflict in Kafka's eyes, the secret he was desperately trying to hide.
"What are you?" Jin-Woo asked, the question hanging in the air, a blade poised over Kafka's neck.
Kafka's mouth went dry. Behind Jin-Woo, he could see Mina and the other JDF members, their weapons trained in this direction. If he answered truthfully, he would be exposed. His life would be over. If he lied, this god-like being might simply erase him from existence.
The world held its breath, waiting for an answer he could not give. Blood, secrets, and the shadow of a monarch all converged on one, terrified man.