The sky over the Himalayas was no longer blue. It was filled with white streaks—hundreds of them. The superpowers of the world, in a desperate attempt to destroy the 'Calamity-Class' threat that had appeared on Mount Everest, had authorized a full-scale nuclear strike.
In every corner of the globe, people watched their screens in horror. They knew that even if the Monarch died, the radiation would end life on Earth as they knew it.
Arthur walked out onto the balcony of his palace, looking up at the falling missiles. He could feel the radioactive cores within them, the raw, destructive energy of humanity's ultimate greed.
"System," Arthur whispered. "Activate 100x Multiplier on the skill 'Universal Nullification'."
[Ding!]
[Skill 'Universal Nullification' Multiplied x100!]
[Range: Global.]
Arthur raised both hands toward the sky. A wave of translucent purple energy erupted from his palms, spreading across the atmosphere like a drop of ink in water. As the energy touched the nuclear missiles, something impossible happened.
The missiles didn't explode. They didn't fall. They simply... dissolved. The metal turned into grey dust, and the nuclear fire was converted into pure, harmless mana that Arthur's system immediately absorbed.
[Ding!]
[Absorbed 50,000 Megatons of Nuclear Energy.]
[100x Multiplier Activated!]
[Total Mana gained: 5,000,000,000 Units.]
The world went silent. The streaks in the sky vanished. Instead of a nuclear winter, a beautiful aurora of violet and gold covered the entire planet. It was the most beautiful thing the humans had ever seen, and it was the work of the man they had just tried to kill.
"Is that the best you can do?" Arthur's voice boomed in the minds of every world leader. "You tried to burn the world to kill one man. Now, you will pay the price for your arrogance."
Arthur pointed a finger toward the West. "Generals! Deploy! Bring the leaders of the Association to me. In chains."