The sky above the Pacific Ocean no longer looked like a sky.
It had become a shadow.
The cosmic rift tearing through the atmosphere continued to widen, swallowing stars one by one. The light of the night sky went out like candles snuffed by an invisible giant.
And all across the world—
people looked up.
In major cities, streetlights still burned, yet darkness had swallowed the sky long before dawn.
In villages, animals fled in every direction, driven by an instinctive terror they could not understand.
Across distant oceans, waves rose without a storm.
In the frozen mountains, cracks began spreading through the ice on their own.
For the first time in human history, night had fallen not because of Earth's rotation.
But because something was standing above the planet.
Aboard the research vessel, every monitor went dark before flickering back to life in a chaotic storm of data.
Numbers surged without meaning.
Graphs shattered into meaningless patterns.
Sensors burned out one after another.
Farhan stared at the screens, his hands trembling.
"I... can't make sense of any of this."
Lila forced herself to remain calm.
"It's not our equipment that's failing."
She looked toward the sky, holding her breath.
"That thing's existence... is beyond anything our instruments can comprehend."
Bimo stared at the gaping tear in the heavens.
"...I officially miss the old monsters."
Dika stood beside him, his jaw clenched.
"Don't look at its size."
He tightened his grip on his staff.
"Look at what we have to protect."
Sinta stepped forward, placing herself before the others.
Her eyes were wet, but her voice remained steady.
"Everyone, hold your positions!"
"Being afraid is natural. Giving up is not."
Her words kept the hearts of those around her from breaking beneath the weight of their fear.
High above them—
a colossal tentacle slowly emerged from beyond the galactic rift.
Its slightest movement dragged clouds upward into the heavens.
Its next movement sent the ocean surface plunging dozens of meters.
Then the Void Emperor rose from the depths with a roar of unbridled fury.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Its body was wounded. Its wings were fractured. Yet the void within it still radiated enough power to annihilate worlds.
Once, this creature had represented the end of everything.
Now—
it looked like a beast that had wandered into the wrong territory.
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"Look closely."
Arga turned toward him.
"That's not anger."
Kai pointed toward the Void Emperor.
"That's fear."
The Void Emperor's four crimson eyes remained fixed on the tear in the sky.
Then an ancient voice reverberated through the minds of every living creature.
It wasn't heard.
It was forced directly into their thoughts.
"Ah..."
The ocean trembled.
"One of my little ones."
Bimo blinked.
"...Little ones?"
Farhan swallowed hard.
"Don't tell me..."
Kai answered quietly.
"The Void Emperor... isn't a king."
His gaze lifted toward the heavens.
"It's merely a descendant."
Silence crashed over the ship harder than any wave.
The Void Emperor roared in fury, as if desperately rejecting the truth.
It spread its wings until they stretched across the horizon.
Void energy gathered throughout its enormous body.
The sky darkened.
Then, with everything it had, the creature launched itself upward.
WHOOOOOOOOOM!
Its body became a dark meteor, hurtling straight into the colossal tentacle.
The impact shook the entire planet.
Seawater surged into the sky.
The Guardians were forced backward by the tremendous shock wave.
But when the light faded—
the tentacle remained motionless.
It hadn't shifted.
It wasn't wounded.
It hadn't even trembled.
Bimo stared in disbelief.
"...It just rammed into the wall of the universe."
The tentacle moved.
Fast.
Far too fast for something of its unimaginable size.
CRASHHHH!
The Void Emperor was seized in an instant.
Its furious roar twisted into a scream.
Void energy erupted wildly from its body, scorching the sky and boiling the sea—
all in vain.
The tentacle tightened its grip.
Cracks spread through the bones of the Void Emperor's wings.
Kai whispered, his face pale.
"The difference in their power..."
He swallowed.
"...is like dust against a storm."
The ancient voice echoed once more.
"You've grown well."
A brief pause followed.
"But you're still small."
The tentacle began dragging the Void Emperor upward.
The creature that had nearly conquered Earth thrashed helplessly, like prey caught in a hunter's grasp.
Then—
its four crimson eyes turned toward Arga.
There was no hatred in them.
Only desperation.
For the first time, the Void Emperor spoke directly into Arga's mind, shutting out every other living soul.
"I came to this planet..."
"...to hide from it."
Arga froze.
Before he could process the words—
the sky blazed gold.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Gaia Primordia charged from the side like a falling sun.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The colossal Guardian of the World slammed into the tentacle with all its might.
The cosmic rift shuddered.
The tentacle's grip broke.
The Void Emperor plunged freely toward the ocean.
The sea exploded as its enormous body crashed into the surface.
But the colossal violet eye beyond the galaxy was now fixed on Gaia.
Then—
it laughed.
Its laughter sent cracks racing across the ship's windows.
"Interesting."
"This planet has fangs."
The Guardians gathered together.
Aethernox rose from the ocean, glowing with blue light.
Ignivar Draco burned like a living volcano.
Ursus Glacialis froze the crashing waves.
Leo Solaris carried the radiance of a sun in his mane.
Aurelion Siroth summoned a sandstorm from the far side of the world.
Thalorion and Leviathan Thalassa circled the ocean, their immense forms cutting through the turbulent waters.
One by one, they took their places.
They stood together.
Yet before that vast, darkened sky—
even the Guardians looked small.
On the deck, the MBG Lunchbox in Arga's hands began to tremble violently.
All thirty glowing grains of rice spun wildly inside.
Then—
the entire Earth pulsed.
BOOM.
Seven World Cores ignited simultaneously.
In the desert.
Beneath the ocean.
Within the forests.
Across the frozen lands.
In the heart of fire.
High above the clouds.
And deep beneath the Earth's crust.
Their energies pierced through the planet, converging into a colossal network of light that connected the seven Cores.
Farhan stared at the energy map, barely able to breathe.
"All seven Cores... they're operating at full power."
Lila gripped the edge of the console with trembling hands.
"They're not reacting to that creature..."
She turned toward Arga.
"They're reacting to you."
Silence fell.
Arga lowered his gaze to the lunchbox in his hands.
The thirtieth grain suddenly flared with an intense inner light.
White-gold radiance enveloped his body.
Then he heard another voice.
Not from the sky.
Not from the cosmic rift.
But from somewhere deep within himself.
"Awaken."
Kai went rigid.
The color drained from his face.
Slowly, he dropped to his knees.
Everyone turned toward him.
Bimo stared in disbelief.
"Kai...?"
Kai bowed his head toward Arga.
His voice broke.
"...Forgive me."
"I should have told you from the beginning."
Arga stared at him.
"Told me what?"
Kai raised his face, his eyes filled with pain.
"You're not merely a Guardian who was chosen..."
His gaze shifted toward the sky that was swallowing the stars.
"...you're the reason it came here."
Before anyone could speak—
the cosmic rift widened even further.
And something began to emerge.
Not a tentacle.
Not an eye.
A colossal jaw, larger than an entire continent.
Dead stars glittered between its teeth.
Its shadow stretched across half the Earth.
And for the first time—
the Guardians retreated.