Outside the vanished City F, space cracked open like shattered glass, forming a widening rift from which a staircase of light unfurled. Three figures descended first, followed shortly by two more.
Elisse and her group stood in stunned silence as they took in the landscape of the Negative World. The sky was a pitch-black expanse without a single cloud or star; an eternal void. Everything around them—except the distant city—was barren earth, jagged stone, and endless mountain chains stretching to the horizon.
"So this is the Negative World…? The same place the Umbralux Draco came from?"
Archibald smiled faintly as he surveyed the surroundings.
"The problem is not where we are… but what might live here."
No one replied. They all nodded in tense silence. According to Aegis' data, Category 6 monsters were commonplace in the Negative World. Anything ranked Category 7 or above was considered a true threat.
"Our first step will be—"
Elisse never finished.
She felt it: a piercing gaze.
And judging from how her team shifted defensively, they felt it too.
A massive rhinoceros-like creature stood in the distance—undoubtedly within its own territory. Its skin burned a dark red, and several horns jutted out across its body. Thomas stepped forward with a smirk, running his tongue across his lips.
"A monster still in its natural habitat… it must be strong."
Archibald almost moved to restrain the beast, but Elisse raised a hand and stopped everyone—except Thomas.
Provoked, the rhinoceros charged.
The moment its forward horn struck, Thomas caught the blow with a single right hand. Then, without effort, he lifted the creature off the ground and tore it apart by its jaws, splitting its body into two grotesque halves.
Blood and blackened clots soaked Thomas' cloak. He discarded it, revealing bronze, heavily muscled skin beneath.
"The monsters here aren't much, Elisse."
Beneath the cloak, Thomas wore only reinforced leather armor around his lower body; his upper torso was bare.
"Capturing Allen will be trivial. I'll handle it."
Without waiting for Elisse's approval, he turned toward the city. Archibald watched him go, his gaze lingering on the large tattoo of the Taurus symbol across Thomas' back.
"The Zodiac Berserker of Taurus… Even with that title, he's only Category 6."
"Think of it differently, Archibald," Elisse replied. "We'll use him to gauge Allen's current strength."
But Archibald smirked and shook his head.
"Allen killed Marc using the earth element. Now he's under the influence of Darkness—and we're standing in this place. His strength has reached something incomparable. I believe only a Category 7 could match him now."
A chill crawled down Elisse's spine.
She was the only Category 7 among them—she understood exactly what Archibald was implying.
If she didn't know the same truth Archibald knew… she would have already killed him for speaking out of line.
A thunderous explosion erupted from the distant city.
A red flash illuminated the landscape—and when it dimmed, a gigantic red-skinned minotaur with black horns bellowed into the sky.
"Thomas is still reckless. Activating his Gigax Form right away…"
Archibald spoke first—and he was also the first to start walking toward the city, leaving the others behind.
"Are you truly going to let him act like that, Elisse?" Zack asked, glancing between the two of them. Something in Elisse's eyes unsettled him—something that looked suspiciously like… fear?
---
The minotaur ravaged building after building as people struck his massive body with whatever weapons they had.
At a distance, Shinobi and Titan watched with growing heaviness.
It was the fifth monster attack of the day.
"How many abilities have you detected, brother?" Shinobi asked over the earpiece, contacting Crimson Shadow.
"Fire-element domain."
"So he's just Category 1?"
"It's complicated… That's all we can detect, but I can't explain why."
Shinobi and Titan froze.
They knew that a monster's Category represented the number of abilities it possessed: the more abilities, the higher the Category.
But there were things they did not know about how monster skills worked.
"We've deployed several B-Rank heroes and none of them scratched it. What's its classification in Federation records?"
Minutes later, Crimson Shadow shouted through the receiver, forcing Shinobi to stare at the minotaur in dread.
"Category 6—Gigax Taurus! Evacuate everyone immediately!"
Yet a strange comfort washed over Shinobi when he saw Allen calmly walking toward the minotaur.
---
The moment the minotaur spotted Allen, it bellowed, exhaling two thick streams of white vapor.
"How have you been, Thomas? It's been a while."
Without answering, Thomas unleashed a pillar of fire that erupted beneath Allen's feet, swallowing him whole.
"I've been… well, I'd be lying. Nobody enjoys killing. But Calibur and your master Aegis left me no choice."
A surge of black light burst from within the flames, dispelling the pillar entirely.
Allen emerged, clad in a matte, ashen-gray suit—emotionless, unblinking.
"Just the other day—or week, time works strangely here—Marc left me no choice but to kill him. Do you want the same fate?"
A sinister smile crept across Allen's face as he raised his right hand.
A scythe of black radiance materialized in his grasp.
To Thomas—to Shinobi—and to everyone watching…
Allen, with that smile, that suit, and that scythe, looked like the incarnate god of death himself.
And his next harvest…
was Thomas.