Chapter Title: Prologue
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2015.
A beautiful woman's face appeared in the sky.
It was witnessed simultaneously across every region of the world.
The enormous face, manifesting like a hologram over the entire planet, did nothing for two full days.
It simply hovered there, as if quietly observing the Earth.
Naturally, the world lost its mind.
NASA dove headfirst into investigating this unidentified phenomenon.
But they came up empty-handed.
Earth's scientific knowledge was nowhere near enough to unravel the bizarre events unfolding right before their eyes.
As time dragged on, humanity plunged deeper into chaos.
Day or night, looking up meant seeing that massive woman's face first, instead of the blue sky and white clouds.
And her eyes... they gave the uncanny feeling that she was staring right at you, no matter who you were.
Even if a hundred people looked up at once, it was the same.
All hundred swore she was gazing straight at them.
For the first two days, the woman merely observed the planet, but on the third, she began to wear a faint smile.
As beautiful as the woman herself, the smile was breathtaking.
But eerie all the same.
Chills were inevitable when, no matter where you went or hid, a glance upward revealed her serene smile fixed on you.
Thus passed a week thick with terror and the uncanny.
In that time, every global defense agency pored over the face relentlessly.
Just like NASA, though, they yielded zero results.
In the end, they realized preparation for the worst was their best bet.
Not that it would come to that, but the face—impossible to replicate with humanity's cutting-edge tech—inevitably evoked thoughts of aliens. To ward off any potential invasion from beyond, they focused on defense.
It was the eighth day since the face appeared.
"Hohohohohoho!"
Dawn broke over Korea when her laughter engulfed the world.
And just like that, the worst-case scenario unfolded: alien life-forms swarmed Earth.
It was as sudden as the face's appearance in the sky.
Once the alien races pierced the atmosphere, the woman's face finally vanished.
Without warning, the aliens set about turning Earth into an inferno.
Had humanity prepared from the start and ramped up defenses, the initial blows wouldn't have landed so hard.
But time had been too short.
Unable to erect a flawless defense network, Earth's ragtag forces clashed with these blatantly hostile extraterrestrials.
Fortunately, for invaders striking with such blitzkrieg speed, they weren't all that strong.
Humanity's advanced weaponry and biochemical agents wiped out the roughly thousand-strong force clean.
It took a year to finish them off.
And the human death toll? Around 40,000.
Forewarned and forearmed, as they say, fewer lives would have been lost, and the cleanup might've wrapped up months sooner.
Regardless, it was Earth's first war against extraterrestrials in history.
Like some sci-fi flick, humanity emerged victorious.
But they knew better.
This was no movie—it was reality.
Movies end in eternal happily-ever-after once the big crisis passes.
Reality offered no such guarantees.
Now acutely aware of the alien threat, humans geared up for a potential second round.
And half a year later, their fears came true.
Aliens invaded again.
These were far stronger than the first wave.
Fewer in number than the initial horde, but leagues ahead in quality.
That said, humanity hadn't been idle.
They'd upgraded every weapon and fortified defenses further.
Thus dawned the Second Alien War.
But these new aliens shrugged off most firearms with ease.
Biochemical weapons at least made them squirm, but that was it.
Not enough for total victory.
Two months in, and of the hundreds invading, they'd only slain dozens.
The aliens trampled all life in their path, acting like Earth was their playground.
Darkness blanketed the planet.
Voices worldwide whispered that these damn aliens would wipe us out.
Yet amid the gloom, a ray of hope pierced through.
Since the first invasion, Earth Vanguard had dissected alien corpses nonstop.
And now, they'd uncovered something fascinating.
Unlike human hearts, alien hearts were amorphous red clumps pulsing with faint light—an energy source more potent than anything Earth had ever harnessed.
Their hides were insanely elastic yet nigh untearable, unsliceable.
Their bones boasted strength and hardness that defied breaking.
Earth Vanguard gathered the world's top military experts and scholars to forge new weapons from alien hearts, bones, and skins.
It was a paradigm shift in weaponry the likes of which Earth had never seen.
They dubbed the hearts "Mana Hearts."
Weapons powered by Mana Hearts, crafted from alien bones and hides, became humanity's saviors.
The invaders crumbled helplessly before arms born of their fallen comrades' remains.
Those corpses, in turn, fueled yet more weapons.
Now, humanity obsessed over upgrading defenses and bolstering military might.
Twice invaded already—who said it wouldn't happen three, four times more?
Their grim predictions panned out.
Aliens kept coming, each wave tougher than the last.
The fifth hit hardest—weapons from alien corpses barely scratched them.
Just when doom seemed certain, another miracle unfolded.
Injecting Mana Hearts into humans birthed espers—wielders of supernatural abilities.
Not everyone survived the process, mind you.
Ninety percent of volunteers perished; only the surviving ten percent gained powers.
Powers of every stripe: body enhancers, shapeshifters, telekinetics, clairvoyants.
Even mages who bent elements to their will.
Their surge let humanity repel several more invasions.
But limits loomed.
Esper numbers trickled like rain in drought, while invaders grew twice as strong each time.
After the tenth wave, nine in ten humans lay dead.
Earth's once-verdant face was unrecognizable.
All survivors agreed: one more invasion, and it was over.
So humanity converged on American soil, pooling efforts into one project.
A time machine.
Every last soul saw it as their sole hope and threw themselves into the work.
The learned aided development in their specialties.
The unlearned hauled gear, cooked for nutrition, cleaned—whatever it took.
I was no different.
My post at the time machine lab "Retro" was securing the key research labs.
Put simply, top-tier guard duty.
I could fight decently and handle firearms well enough for the gig.
No salary, though.
Everything for survival came standard issue.
Entertainment was sparse—few had the stomach for fun with extinction on the line.
Every day was a race against time.
I pulled twelve-hour shifts: twelve on, twelve off.
Off-duty? Booze, nonstop.
Only way to numb the mental grind.
The lab I guarded housed radioactive materials and the brain of "Mother," Retro's master supercomputer.
Time machine R&D happened there too.
With all humanity united, progress flew.
Final tests were all that remained.
Then, in the cruelest twist, aliens struck again.
Saucer-shaped craft blotted the American sky.
From them poured spider-like behemoths, eight stories tall, like rain.
Every esper banded together for a desperate stand—but they were slaughtered.
Retro fell too.
Now a smoldering ruin, no one knew when or how they'd breached.
Mid-patrol, a thunderous BOOM! rocked me unconscious amid a massive blast.
Coming to, I found my waist pinned under a massive rebar.
Before me, three espers battled a brute five times bigger than the usual aliens.
I knew them well: the world's strongest trio, the Miracle Emperors.
The black man trading bare-fisted blows was Danzel Jones.
His power: Aura Fist, channeling aura into punches.
Each swing unleashed violet aura blasts hammering the alien.
Danzel wielded the mightiest aura around.
No one matched his refinement.
His aura pierced anything—even alien magic users crumbled before it.
Not just melee; he hurled it at foes up to 100 meters away. Facing him was no joke.
Beside him stood Korean woman Yu Ji-yeon.
She commanded lightning.
In her right hand: "Indra," a staff embedded with a Mana Heart.
An artifact amplifying her spells, forged from alien bone and heart by humans.
A bit apart, South American "Caesar" provided support.
His ability: Taming.
No beast escaped his dominion—even aliens.
But aliens suicided before full control, earning him the "Reaper" moniker.
His Miracle Emperor status? Taming a Phoenix, the mythical bird that proved real on Earth.
All three donned armor from alien hides.
I prayed they'd crush the damn thing.
Danzel unleashed a barrage of one-two jabs at blinding speed.
Each punch birthed red aura arrows slamming into the alien.
Aura Arrow.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Aura Arrow
KABOOM!
The deafening roar stung my eardrums.
"Hraaah!"
With Danzel's roar, a colossal aura—dwarfing all before—coalesced on his fists.
It swelled boulder-sized.
Could it be!
Even teetering on death's door, excitement thrummed in my chest.
Danzel's ultimate: Aura Plasma!
The massive aura orbs on his fists contracted, erupting in blinding light.
"Haaaaap!"
Dodging the alien's laser, Danzel charged.
Yu Ji-yeon covered him, unleashing lightning barrages.
Worlds flashed white-black, quaking earth and rending hides battering our ears.
Phoenix spewed endless lava.
Ultra-hot, bone-white, it melted anything on contact.
Lava and bolts ensnared the alien's body.
Rumble-crash!
Groooar!
Earth and sky groaned under falling thunder and molten torrents.
The alien couldn't budge, its footing cratering deeper with each impact.
Now a meteor-crater pit.
Inflowing lava engulfed the sunk beast.
Bubbling, it melted soil and stone, birthing a vast, deepening lava lake.
The alien sank further.
Then Yu Ji-yeon's ace struck.
"Thunder Annihilation, Final Form: Wall Thunder Extinction!"
⟨ Wall Thunder Extinction ⟩
Blue mana surged from Indra.
White flash blanked the world; an unprecedented shockwave rent heaven and earth.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dozens of lightning bundles hammered the same spot over a dozen times.
Survive that? Despair's the only path left.
But it wasn't over.
Danzel's Aura Plasma remained.
Before the alien fully submerged, Danzel leaped, smashing it into the beast's crown.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Aura Plasma
KABOOM!
Shockwave hurled Danzel back; he landed safely beyond the lake.
Yu Ji-yeon and Caesar flanked him.
The Aura Plasma flared brighter from the alien's head, then detonated massively.
BOOOOM!
Sonic boom scattered Retro's debris far and wide.
Dead for sure!
So I thought.
The Miracle Emperors' all-out assault.
No way it survived those spells amid boiling lava.
But.
Grrrrrooooaaar.
A hollow, chilling groan echoed.
Fwhoosh!
Black light lanced skyward.
No—afterimage of the alien bursting from the lava.
Thud!
Lava dripping from its body, it loomed before the Emperors.
Incredibly, not a scratch marred its hide.
Despair incarnate.
Kiririririruk!
It shuddered, mocking them openly.
Suddenly, its maw gaped.
Violet beam erupted.
It engulfed Emperors, Phoenix, me under the rebar, even the key lab I guarded.
All touched by the beam disintegrated to sand grains.
Molecules unraveling before my eyes.
The lab exploded, sickly waves wracking my body.
⚠️ CRITICAL WARNING ⚠️
Danger... ous.
Radioactive material... leak... ing outside...
Supercomputer... brain... destroyed...
Time machine... unknown external... factor...
Forced activation... Control impossible... Control impossible...
A mangled speaker nearby crackled Mother's monotone voice amid static.
BOOOOM!
Vast explosion, earth-shaking quake, flames swirling.
There, my memory cuts off.
Oddly, no pain.
But I knew: this was the end, my path to death.
Humanity... has met its end.