Somewhere in New Hades.....
In the Mutant District....
Kuro was walking through the Mutant District, searching for something specific, and he finally found it.
He saw a café sign that read Dusk Café. Kuro entered the shop, sat at a distant table, and stared at them.
The café was full of mutants, all wearing employee uniforms. Every one of them had animal mutations, and they were serving orders.
Eventually, they noticed him, and one of the employees approached. He walked over with a smile, holding a small notebook.
"What would you like to order, sir?" the mutant employee asked.
"The usual," Kuro replied coldly.
"The usual? Sorry, but could you tell me what your order is?" he asked awkwardly.
"Monster Drink," Kuro answered.
"Oh, that one! I'll bring it to you, just wait 10 minutes."
"Sure," Kuro replied.
Kuro looked around and felt something strange about the place. He didn't understand why at first, but after a while, he fully realized it when he saw some of the customers. He saw them with new expressions.
"The atmosphere here is different... a little different from usual?"
Kuro saw them smiling, talking, and laughing. Things that shouldn't exist, especially in New Hades.
"Usually the place is silent and gloomy, like a graveyard."
"But now they're smiling in a strange way."
"Hah... does this have something to do with what I did? Or did the police finally decide to intervene?"
"This isn't my business, so I don't care," Kuro thought as he watched the TV mounted on the wall.
[Anchor: Breaking News!]
"Ugh, great, what is it this time?"
[Anchor: We have breaking news about a monster escaping outside. We don't know its exact location yet, but hunters have been dispatched to deal with it. Stay tuned for the most important details.]
"All this for a monster? Fine, someone else's problem." . . . .
Somewhere else.....
There was a group of hunters equipped with gear, mages, swordsmen, and armored fighters. Some army personnel were also there, standing on a certain platform.
"Is everyone ready?" the Hunter Leader asked.
"Yes, the mages are ready," a mage hunter replied.
"Good! What about our supplies?"
"We have ten healing potions and three enhancement potions, sir," another hunter answered.
"Excellent. Mage, use your skill! Do you know where it is now?"
"Wait a moment!" the mage shouted.
"Did you find it?" the leader asked.
"I'm picking up something..... I've locked onto its location!" the mage yelled.
"It's three kilometers away and heading toward us...."
"It's close! Everyone prepare for engagement!"
"Wait a moment....!" the mage interrupted, his eyes widening in shock. "It's now two and a half kilometers away!"
"What?" the leader replied in shock.
"Didn't you say it was three kilometers away a moment ago? Did your skill malfunction?"
"It's two kilometers now!" the mage replied.
"Impossible... is it—" another hunter asked.
"It's covering a huge distance in seconds!" the leader said in shock.
"It's a fast monster!" another replied.
"Everyone, begin Hunting Formation 5!" the leader shouted.
"Yes, sir!" the hunters replied and moved into position.
"Mage, how much distance remains?" the leader asked anxiously.
"One kilometer!"
"Huh? What's that up above?" a hunter asked.
"It's the monster! Men, use—"
"Rzzzrrrrkkk!"
Somewhere else....
"What do you mean there's been a breach?!" a voice shouted angrily.
"I'm sorry, sir, but not only that, the entire facility has been destroyed. Some test subjects also escaped!"
"Damn it!" someone slammed their hand on the table in anger.
The assistant looked at his superior, sweating nervously because that thing was loose. "Forgive me, sir, but look at the positive side," he said.
"What's positive about this crap?" he asked angrily.
"It's heading to New Hades now."
"What?! Do you think— wait a moment.... this is actually a good thing. We'll be able to kill two birds with one stone."
"We're still on the same plan. We can still take advantage of this!"
"Tell everyone to prepare. We're going to hit them. A direct strike. And show them who we really are."
....
Back to Kuro...
Kuro was walking through the streets with the same indifferent expression. Some people saw him and thought about fighting him, before others pulled them back because they knew he was a hunter.
Some didn't know, but when they got close enough, they felt his pressure and backed away. Kuro, meanwhile, was either uninterested or unaware.
"Man, it's good that I bought food, but I still feel an emptiness in my stomach. But I bought three drinks?" Kuro thought with an annoyed expression. "And I still feel empty. Am I... bored?..... That's strange..... Is it because I was used to blood?"
"It doesn't matter either way. I'll go back to my room and live peacefully. Goodbye to—"
Whoosh!
Out of nowhere, in the middle of Kuro's thoughts, an explosion occurred. A massive explosion shook the ground beneath him, and a second later, the electricity across all of New Hades went out.
"WTF?" he asked as he turned around.
Kuro looked and saw the scene in disbelief, feeling shocked. He had seen many strange and crazy things before, but a complete blackout had never happened, even with a gate disaster on the horizon.
"What the hell just happened?" Kuro asked.
Everyone panicked and started running away as chaos spread throughout the area. People ran in all directions, began looting shops, and fires ignited everywhere. Kuro walked around, turning and watching all this chaos unfold before his eyes.
As he watched the catastrophe, alarm sirens were broadcast through loudspeakers, quickly drawing everyone's attention and stopping the chaos.
[Everyone, go and take shelter!]
[The city is under attack by a rogue monster!]
[I repeat, everyone to the shelters!]
[I repeat, this is not a drill. There is a rogue monster in the city!]
[Everyone proceed to the shelters.]
As soon as it ended, everyone rushed toward the shelters. The city turned into complete chaos as people ran as fast as they could, scattering in different directions.
"Man, people panic so easily. Well, I guess I should—"
Boom!
Suddenly, multiple explosions occurred, shaking the streets violently like an earthquake. Some people fell to the ground, and even cars fell from the sky toward them randomly.
"Aaah!" someone screamed.
"Run!" another shouted.
"Wing! Wing!"
"Whrooom!"
Cars fell from the sky, causing explosions. Kuro remained in place, ignoring the chaos. A truck was heading directly toward him from above. Kuro looked at the truck indifferently as it came straight at him.
When the truck was about to hit him, he waved his hand like brushing away a fly, and the truck slammed into a distant wall. People stood in shock as they witnessed this.
"Alright, who's responsible for all these supernatural phenomena? Show yourself!" Kuro shouted while scratching his head.
"Rzzzrrrrkkk!"
Kuro turned toward the irritating sound and saw a shadow flying in the distance. It was clearly something giant, moving slowly. People fled quickly while Kuro remained frozen in place, staring at it, his eyes narrowing for a second.
What he saw was a terrifying, demon-like dragon monster. It had two mouths, one inside the other, both filled with teeth, large wings, and a massive tail. It was at least 10 meters tall, perched on a skyscraper, staring down at the street where Kuro stood.
"So the troublemaker was a Satan spawn, huh?"
"Probably the least strange thing, I guess."
"Rzzzrrrrkkk!"
The creature let out an inhuman roar at Kuro and prepared to pounce.
"Well, I was getting bored of a comfortable life anyway. So why not?" Kuro said as his eyes glowed.
. . . .
At the same time, inside a facility running on backup power,
Martin was sitting in the communications room with other men.
"Send an urgent call to all units!"
"Send repair crews, and deploy army units to speed up the evacuation!"
"Yes, sir!" a soldier replied.
"There's an incoming call from the Colonel!" another soldier said.
"Put him through immediately!" Martin shouted.
[Leo: What's the situation now?]
"The entire city's power is out, Colonel!" Martin answered.
[Do you know what caused it?]
"The cause is still unknown, sir."
[Leo: The power outage happened the moment the monster arrived.....]
[Leo: The situation is going from bad to worse.]
"Actually, I have a theory!" Abraham shouted as he entered the room.
[Leo: Who is that voice?]
"It's Professor Abraham, sir. He came here to study gate phenomena!"
[Leo: It doesn't matter who he is. If he has information, tell him to speak.]
"I would've done so even if you hadn't said that," Abraham replied confidently.
"Please, Mr. Abraham, be respectful. That's the Colonel," Martin said as politely as he could.
"This isn't a time for formalities, is it, Colonel Leo?" Abraham asked.
[Leo: Speak quickly! There's no time for jokes!]
"Understood."
"In the past few hours, the monster was detected roaring. Using our magical signal detection device, we picked up its magical energy signatures."
"It appears the monster's roar generates specific magical frequencies that caused a complete power outage."
"So its roar is like a magical electromagnetic wave?" Martin asked.
"Yes, essentially," Abraham replied.
[Leo: If one roar caused all this chaos, that means—]
"Exactly. As long as it keeps roaring, the power outage will continue every time."
"Oh my god," Martin said in shock.
[Leo: This is a nightmare.]
[Leo: Contact Aegis and the Heroes. Have them deploy their forces immediately. I'll stay in my foxhole. Things aren't good here either. There are many problems—]
"I'm afraid it will take time," Martin replied.
[Leo: What do you mean?.... Don't tell me they're actually doing this, at a time like this!]
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Abraham asked.
"Article Three, Clause 22. No official hunter is allowed to engage a monster outside a gate without official authorization," Martin answered.
"Oh shit, I completely forgot about that," Abraham said.
[Leo: Tell them we don't have time for this! Civilian lives are at risk!]
"I'm afraid that's beyond my authority, sir. Orders are absolute. We must wait until the organization issues a statement," Martin said with regret.
[Leo: Damn it..... I really thought something would change with this new system.]
"Well, it's a new organization. We're still trying to understand gates. Every system has loopholes," Abraham said sarcastically.
"Abraham!" Martin shouted angrily.
[Leo: Are you joking in a situation like this?]
"Yes. Because at the end of the day.... we have a lone wolf, right?" Abraham asked.
[Leo: A wolf? We don't— wait, do you mean?]
"Ironic, isn't it?" Abraham asked as he lit a cigarette.
"Our biggest hope is that emo teenager."