The skies above Earth were burning.
Not just over Jakarta.
Not just across Asia.
Not just on one side of the planet.
Everywhere.
The cosmic rifts that had once hung far beyond Earth's orbit were now fully open, like colossal wounds carved into space. Red, violet, and black light swirled within them.
From every opening, thousands of metallic pods plunged through the atmosphere.
They descended like a meteor shower.
But they brought no hope.
They brought war.
In Jakarta, the streets were still buried beneath the rubble of the previous attacks.
Black smoke rose from half-collapsed buildings. Ambulances struggled to navigate through the wreckage of abandoned vehicles.
The survivors had only just begun to catch their breath when a new sound shook the sky.
WHOOOOOMMMMM!
Every head turned upward.
Dozens of trails of fire tore through the clouds.
A little boy tugged at his mother's sleeve.
"Mom..."
His voice trembled.
"Are those shooting stars again?"
His mother pulled him into a tight embrace.
This time, she had no gentle lie to comfort him with.
At the emergency headquarters in Jakarta, global monitors began lighting up one after another.
Farhan stood before dozens of screens, his trembling fingers hovering over the keyboard.
"Incoming contacts across every continent!"
The words rushed out of his mouth.
"Tokyo, Seoul, Mumbai, London, New York, Cairo, Rio, Sydney—everywhere is under attack!"
Lila gripped her tablet as she studied the energy surges.
"They're targeting population centers."
Bimo let out a long sigh.
"Of course they are."
He spun the metal rod in his hand.
"If you're going to be evil, why not make it dramatic too?"
Nobody laughed.
Arga stood silently, staring at the screens.
Every live broadcast showed the same nightmare.
People running.
Fire raining from the sky.
Buildings collapsing.
Sirens wailing.
He gripped the MBG Lunchbox so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Thirty-two glowing rice grains revolved slowly inside.
Each tiny light seemed heavier than before.
Sinta stepped into the center of the room.
Her face was exhausted.
Her uniform was torn.
A fresh bandage covered her left arm.
Yet her voice remained sharp.
"Listen up."
Everyone turned toward her.
"We're done waiting."
She pointed at the world map.
"From this moment on, we move."
Before anyone could respond—
the city's alarm blared.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Farhan turned toward the local radar.
His face immediately went pale.
"One object is falling toward central Jakarta!"
"Estimated impact... ten seconds!"
The headquarters shook.
Outside the windows, the sky turned crimson.
Arga was already moving.
"I'm going."
Sinta grabbed his arm.
"We're going."
They rushed outside.
The streets were filled with panicked civilians screaming and running in every direction.
Above the damaged buildings, a massive black pod spun through the air, scorching everything around it.
WHOOOOOMMMMM!
The object was roughly the size of a bus.
Its trajectory—
a major intersection crowded with evacuees.
"Everyone, move!" Sinta shouted.
But panic spread too quickly.
People collided with one another.
Children became separated from their parents.
A man fell and was trampled by the crowd.
Bimo leaped into the middle of the road.
"HEY!"
He raised his metal rod.
"If you're going to panic, get in line first!"
He struck a streetlight, bringing it crashing down across the road. The fallen pole forced the crowd to split, creating an opening for the evacuation route.
Dika dragged chunks of concrete into position to form a barrier.
Lila guided the children toward a safer alley.
Farhan shouted through a portable loudspeaker.
"The southern corridor is clear! Head south!"
The pod was only seconds away from impact.
Arga looked up.
The world seemed to slow down.
The screams faded into the distance.
He could see only one thing:
A little girl standing frozen in the middle of the road.
She couldn't move.
She couldn't even cry.
Arga sprinted toward her.
Every step cracked the asphalt beneath his feet.
He scooped her up and held her against his chest.
Then he leaped as high as he could.
The MBG Lunchbox blazed with light.
WHOOOOOM!
A golden shield formed in midair.
The next second—
the pod struck.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
An explosion swallowed the entire intersection.
The shockwave shattered the remaining windows in the surrounding buildings.
Cars flipped over.
Dust and flames swept across the streets.
As the smoke slowly began to clear—
a golden dome still stood.
Cracked.
Trembling.
But intact.
Inside it, Arga knelt with the little girl held tightly in his arms.
Blood dripped from his nose.
His right hand trembled violently.
The girl stared at him with wide eyes.
"Are you... a superhero?"
Arga was struggling to catch his breath.
Still, he managed a faint smile.
"No."
He gently helped her to her feet.
"Just someone who grew up a little too late."
The black pod in the middle of the crater began to open.
CRACK.
Its metal shell split apart.
Red light burst from within.
Something moved inside.
Then the creature rose.
It stood three stories tall.
Its body looked like a fusion of machinery and living flesh.
Six sharp legs dug into the asphalt.
Inside its transparent chest, a red core pulsed like a beating heart.
Its mouth split vertically.
A Void Ravager.
The creature stared at the humans surrounding it.
Then it roared.
RAAAAAAAAAA!
The sound wave shattered the remaining glass in the nearby buildings.
The civilians screamed again.
"Ugly things always have to make a scene," Bimo muttered.
He charged forward.
The Void Ravager fired a red beam from its mouth.
Bimo barely managed to dodge.
The beam sliced through a bus behind him, cutting it cleanly in half.
Dika lunged from the side and slammed into one of the monster's legs.
CRASH!
The creature staggered.
"Arga!" Dika shouted.
Arga slowly rose to his feet.
Blood was still dripping from his nose.
But his eyes had changed.
All thirty-two rice grains lit up simultaneously.
Golden energy wrapped around his arm.
He launched himself forward.
WHOOM!
His fist slammed into the Void Ravager's chest.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The monster's red core cracked.
It let out a piercing shriek.
Arga twisted his body and struck again.
CRASH!
The colossal creature was hurled backward, smashing into a parking structure.
Concrete collapsed around it.
Yet the monster rose again.
Angrier.
More ferocious.
The core inside its chest began glowing a darker shade of red.
Kai, who had just arrived, fixed his gaze on it.
"Destroy its core! Now!"
The Void Ravager charged at Arga like a runaway train.
Arga didn't retreat.
He raised the MBG Lunchbox in front of his chest.
The light of all thirty-two rice grains began revolving in a circular formation.
"If you want this planet..."
He drew a deep breath.
"...you'll have to get through me first."
He drove his fist straight forward.
WHOOOOOMMMMM!
A golden beam pierced the monster's chest.
The red core shattered into countless fragments.
The Void Ravager froze for a brief moment—
then exploded into a shower of black dust.
Silence followed.
Then a small pair of hands began clapping.
A child.
Then another.
And then dozens more.
The civilians slowly emerged from their hiding places.
They looked at Arga standing in the middle of the crater.
Wounded.
Covered in dirt.
Gasping for breath.
But still standing.
Hope began to flicker once more.
Farhan stared at the monitor.
But instead of relief, his face grew even paler.
"Don't celebrate yet."
Everyone turned toward him.
On the global monitors—
thousands of other pods were landing.
In every country.
In every major city.
And near the Global Presidential Palace—
an enormous pod had just crashed down.
It was the size of a building.
Its surface was covered in symbols of the Void Empire.
Kai stared at the screen without blinking.
"...That's no ordinary troop deployment."
Lila whispered,
"Then what is it?"
Kai answered quietly.
"An invasion commander."
On the screen—
the colossal pod began opening from within.
And something far more dangerous was beginning to emerge.